Chanson de dimanche Vol #7 et Une Solde à TpT

Apologies for the rather extended break from my Sunday feature.  I've been finding a weekly commitment a bit much to actually complete, as it does take me at least a couple of hours to put together, plus the time it takes to write and share the blog post.  I'm going to keep on giving it a shot, but probably more like once a month.  Eek! I think that will be more manageable for me, given my family and work schedule. In any case, I'll still publish my blog (avec des activités basées sur une chanson) on Sundays when I do have something to share.

This week, I'm featuring a song called Décembre by a singer who is a true slice of franco-canadien culture, Roch Voisine.  The activities that I've prepared are at a couple of different levels as usual, but I've aimed a little lower than is typical. The song is nice and slow, which makes it easy to understand, and there are certain simple words that are repeated a few times, so I think even a grade 2-3 French class could handle some of these activities. Another thing I really like about it is that it's suitable if you have students who do not celebrate Christmas. Yes, there is still a reference to multi-coloured lights, but nothing too religious or holiday-focused, which makes it very inclusive.

In this 7th free download, you will find:

• Two versions of a 'reassemble the lyrics' puzzle activity (one with only 4 chunks and one with about 10).
• A creative draw-and-share activity for students to complete as they listen to the song, and then to practice some winter or holiday vocabulary as they talk about what they decided to include in their pictures.
• Three versions of a cloze activity. One using just 6 simple word cards which students can hold up as they hear the word each time within the song, which you could assign them with or without the actual lyrics page in front of them. A second version has a word bank included, and a third version does not but the words are all very common even by grade 6 core French.

The grammar teacher in me really had to be fought down this time around as I considered including an activity to highlight the usage of the imparfait as well. There is some potential there, especially for older grades, to discuss how winters used to be spent when they were younger, and to share holiday memories.

There is an opportunity to develop some vocabulary as well, since much of the lyrics are made up of simple and common words, but there are sure to be a few news ones, even for elementary immersion students.

I also wanted to let you know, in case you haven't heard elsewhere, that TeachersPayTeachers is having its annual Cyber Monday sale starting at midnight tonight.  A huge thanks to Jen Jones for sharing this very appropriate graphic to help other teacher-authors to announce the sale.

Use the coupon code listed here for an extra 10% off at checkout, and many stores will be marked down up to 20% already, so that will give you the 28% discount listed.  (Pstt - a tip - it can be even more if you happen to locate the items that a seller marked down before setting up the sale price, as such items are twice-reduced plus still eligible for the extra 10% off at checkout.)

Happy online shopping and don't forget to download my holiday freebies, if you haven't already! Check out the free winter bingo too, which is great to use in the days leading up to the December break.