Note: Older posts linked in this post may contain out of date information or links. That’s not to say there’s not still useful some information in them, though!
Back in grad school, I learned a lot about Backwards Design. The concept is simple really: determine what you want students to be able to do at the end of the unit (or course) and then work your way backward to the instruction. One of the key components in Backwards Design is Big Ideas: the overarching themes that spread across multiple units, or even your whole course. Big Ideas are the takeaways you want your students to leave your class with at the end of the year. I have identified four Big Ideas that I want students to understand at the end of the year. In this post, I will share those ideas and also some links, resources, and activities that help me reinforce them.
- French is Spoken All Over the World. French Speakers Come from Many Different Cultures and Have Many Different Ethnicities.
This is a Big Idea I continue to work to reinforce through various learning experiences. My travels in the francophone world have only taken me thus far to locations in North America and Europe. There is still a great deal of the French-speaking world that I haven’t seen or experienced in person. It’s important to make sure as a language teacher that you don’t limit the locations you talk about with your students to just the ones you’ve personally visited.
Above is the map of the francophone world that I have hanging in my classroom. It even has my classroom marked on it! I reference this frequently throughout the year.
At the beginning of the year, I show the above video to my students, which highlights reasons to learn French, shows where French is spoken and some French speakers, and samples some francophone entertainment. I update it every few years to keep celebrities current. Email subscribers, click here to watch the video. Click here to read a 2023 post about more ways I reinforce with my students why French is important.
Every year for National French Week, students draw flags of French-speaking countries with sidewalk chalk on the walkway leading into the front of the building. Click here to read a 2015 post containing more ideas for National French Week.
If students don’t have something to write with, they can borrow one of my pens with flags of francophone countries. Click here to read a 2019 post containing more ways to reinforce geography in French class.
For National French Week last year, students made keychains with flags of francophone countries. It reinforced geography (they had to learn where their country was on a map), and it was a great conversation starter. Click here to read about how I did this same activity with pumpkins two years ago.
Guest speakers are a great way to bring new perspectives into the classroom. I’ve had guest speakers who were either from or lived in France, Sénégal, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. It also mixes things up a bit. They hear from me every single day, why not have someone else take the spotlight?
Teaching weather and seasons provides a great opportunity to incorporate many different locations in the francophone world and their varied climates. Click here to read a 2016 post on writing and speaking activities to reinforce weather and seasons.
French teacher Kathryn Mangiamele created a Canva template with 2024 Olympic medalists from French-speaking countries around the world. I love how each medal states what country the athlete is from. When introducing how to state what someone’s name and nationality are, I showed these.
My students have pen pals in Loupian, France. The letters provide an opportunity for them to learn about French culture, but they also learn that their pen pals have many different cultural backgrounds. They see that not all French speakers have traditional French names and that not all of their families are originally from France. We talk about, for example, how there are many immigrants from North Africa living in France. Click here to read a 2013 post about the pen pal project.
More Posts Reinforcing This Big Idea:
My Favorite #Authres (and More!) for Mardi Gras & Carnaval (2015) – When teaching students about Mardi Gras and Carnaval, I show them resources from all over the world, including countries where French is not spoken. This reinforces the global reach of the holiday.
Finding and Using #AuthRes (2015) – Finding level-appropriate authentic resources from around the francophone world can be a daunting task! I presented on the topic at a couple of conferences back in 2015 and shared some tips on how to curate them and make use of them in class.
Using Google Maps and Flickr to Reinforce Francophone Geography (2013) – Talking about photos of francophone locales or people is a great way to reinforce geography and the different cultures that make up the francophone world.
Learning About Ramadan (2024) – The past couple years, I have taught a lesson about Ramadan and Islam in the francophone world. Most students are surprised to learn that Islam is a major religion in the francophone world.
Independent Exploration: The French-Speaking World – This is one section of my Independent Exploration library that students can access at any time and for Independent Exploration assignments. Click here to read posts about Independent Exploration.
iPad Diaries: Volume 6 (Making A Commercial About a French-Speaking Country) (2015) – This is a project that I used to do with my students and brought it back again last year. It’s a nice way to wrap up the year.
20 Authentic Restaurant Menus from Francophone Countries (2014) – Learning about food and meal-taking provides an opportunity to incorporate menus from all over the francophone world.
Musical Connections (An Activity with Authentic Songs) (2024) – Last year I did this activity a couple of times. Students learn about several singers/bands, then watch music videos from around the francophone world and describe them in French. Finally, they state if they like them or not and vote on their favorite. It was a big hit and gave students some new songs to listen to!
What’s In a Name? Part II (2020) – I used to assign French names to students, but I haven’t in several years. Giving students a French name sends the message that all French speakers need to have traditional French names and doesn’t accurately reflect the diverse cultures of the francophone world. This post explores this more in depth.
2. Everything Cannot Be Translated Word for Word
We’ve all had our students go to Google Translate to try to find out how to say something. In some situations, it might work, but in others it doesn’t. Students need to understand that literal translation doesn’t work in a lot of situations.
I have a bulletin board of popular English-language movies with their French titles. I point out how many of them are not literal translations and that the translator has to find a title that is catchy in the new language. When students make their “C’est moi” posters, they have to name a movie and singer they like. This is a good opportunity to introduce how proper nouns are not usually translated. They can also learn what their favorite movie is called in French. Students usually take to Google Translate to try to find this out, but I explain how that’s probably not what the movie is actually called in French. Students can find this out by searching up the movie on Wikipedia, then changing the language to French. This will show them what the movie is actually called in the French-speaking world. Sometimes there is more than one title (France/Quebec), and sometimes the English title is used. At the end of the year, my students play this “Movies and Memes” Quizizz game to try to figure out what the titles of popular English-language movies are in French.
Looking at song lyrics that have been translated from English to French is another opportunity to really showcase why everything can’t be translated word for word. In December, students learn the lyrics to “Jingle Bells” in French and are pretty surprised to see that they look absolutely nothing like the English lyrics. In the video (see above, Big Idea 1) I show students at the beginning of the year, there is a clip of the song “You’re Welcome” from Moana and the lyrics with translation are displayed at the bottom. Students see how different they end up being.
3. Fluency Doesn’t Happen Overnight and Requires Lots of Practice
Many students come to French class expecting to be fluent by the end of the first year, and it can be disappointing to find out that that’s not possible when not living in a country where French is spoken. It can also come as a shock at first when I speak to them so much in French and they don’t always understand every single word. It’s my job to set reasonable expectations of what they can expect and help them build their confidence as they progress.
At the beginning of the year, students set goals and generate norms as a class to help them achieve those goals. Many of the students have a goal of eventually becoming fluent or being able to have a conversation in French. Most of the times the norms that are generated focus on practicing outside of class, participating, and doing the work. Students have already made the connection that they need to practice outside of class to get the most out of the language learning process. Keep reading to see how I help facilitate that. Click here to read a 2019 post about the norming process.
I have these proficiency level posters hanging up in my classroom. I point out to students that everyone progresses along the different levels at different times, but one thing they can do to progress more quickly is to practice outside of class. Students also see reasonable expectations of what they can expect to do with the language throughout their middle and high school journey.
One thing that is absolutely necessary for students to acquire language is to be immersed in it as much as possible. Not only do I conduct the majority of my lesson in French, but I give students the vocabulary they need to be able to participate in activities using only French. That’s not to say that students don’t ever try to slip some English in, but I’m there to remind them that they don’t need to.
Back in 2020, I created an Independent Exploration library for my students to access at any time. They also have several Independent Exploration assignments that they have to do during the year. The library has a number of different categories to spark students’ interest. Many of the categories contain YouTube playlists that I’ve curated and continually add to. On the pages with YouTube playlists, there are instructions for students on how to slow down playback and add and auto-translate subtitles to aid in comprehension. When the students have an assignment, they must submit to me some sort of proof that they learned something (for example, a list of words they learned or recognized). When students finish a task or an assessment early, I direct them to go on Independent Exploration. This is also a great resource for when there is a sub. Although I leave plans for the sub, this is something that the students can do quietly if they finish the work or activities early.
We all know students will not acquire the language if they don’t use it and see/hear it. I strive to use French (and have my students use it) as much as possible during the lesson. At the beginning of the year, this can be overwhelming for students, as it’s something new, but over time they get used to it and realize that they can navigate the lesson using French. Click here to read a 2013 post about target language use in class.
More Posts Reinforcing This Big Idea:
L’exploration indépendante – Encouraging Learners to Delve Deeper (2020) – In this post, I talk about how I created my Independent Exploration library and describe each category.
My Independent Exploration Library – A publicly accessible version of the library I share with my students. I keep it up to date so you can see exactly what my students have access to. Feel free to take any ideas you like from my library and add them to yours!
How to Create Your Own Independent Exploration Library for Your Students (2022) – In this post I give some tips for creating your own library.
4. When Listening and Reading, You Don’t Have to Understand Every Word to Get the Main Idea, and When Speaking and Writing, You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Get Your Point Across
Lots of students are reluctant, particularly at the beginning of the year, to use a new language. In middle and high school, their affective filters are higher and they are embarrassed at the thought of making mistakes. One thing I try to reinforce through the various activities we do is that you don’t need to be perfect to communicate your ideas, nor do you need to understand every word to get the main idea of something. In this 2021 post, I share some of my communicative expectations for novice level students, which include not grading spelling, allowing sentence fragments as answers, and grading for proficiency over accuracy.
Write, Draw, Pass is an activity I learned about from Martina Bex which is similar to telephone but on paper. Students practice their writing, but the best part is that if something is misinterpreted, that’s part of the fun of the activity!
A student’s written work contains errors, but is comprehensible.
More Posts Reinforcing This Big Idea:
Headlines Can Be Authentic Resources, Too! (2014) – This article focuses on giving novice level students brief reading tasks using headlines instead of entire articles.
What are the Big Ideas in your class? Do we have any in common?
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