Thankyou to all the #MFLTwitterati who suggested famous historical female Spaniards on Sunday evening. Here's the resulting speaking activity that I have made, to practise numbers with thousands, hundreds, tens and units and get some Intercultural Understanding in there too.
And the accompanying PowerPoint:
Sunday 3rd June in France will be la Fête des Mères - Mother's Day. I am thinking that a good activity for the last week before half term will be to make cards for the children to take home.
Here are some links with information about la Fête des Mères:
This mini-dossier from the ever-reliable Momes.net has information about the origin of la Fête des Mères, plus ideas for crafts, gifts, recipes and games.
There are plenty of craft ideas and colouring pages from Petites Têtes.
Tête à Modeler also has a dossier about the history of la Fête des Mères. It also has a list of how to say "Happy Mother's Day" in lots of languages and a selection of "certificates for the best mum" as well.
I've designed a card which the children will do in conjunction with my "French handwriting" sheet. They can have a go at copying this comptine in "French writing" onto the lined section of the card, and then can decorate and colour the rest.
UPDATE: Here's the PowerPoint that I've made for the lesson. It shows a completed version of the card.
Easter in Spain is a very different affair to Easter in the UK, so this time of year is an ideal opportunity to bring an intercultural element to Spanish lessons.
Last Easter I showed my Year 2 children a video of a procession of Nazarenos, and then we made our own procession, with lots of different cofradías. I'm going to be doing the same with my current Year 2s tomorrow.
Here are some other useful links and ideas for Spanish Easter lessons:
Spanish Bible stories for children, including the First Easter
YouTube video of Semana Santa in Spain
Spanish Easter colouring, including Nazarenos and other aspects of processions
Making Nazarenos (it's in Catalan but you can see what to do)
Information about Easter in Spain, plus colouring and crafts
Origins of the Semana Santa processions
Easter wordsearches in Spanish
Euroclub Schools page about Semana Santa
It's finally the last week of term (for most of us!) and people are looking for activities with an Easter theme.
My Year 2 French classes today made Cloches Volantes We talked about the chocolate shapes that we have at Easter (eggs, rabbits and chicks) and then I showed them some of the chocolate shapes that can be bought in France - fish and bells. I gave them the basic bell and they coloured it in and some drew wings on them. You can download the bells and the PowerPoint below.
Here are some other useful links:
French Bible stories for children, including the First Easter
Fantastic French Easter chocolate
Tuesday 20th March is Jour Internationale de la Francophonie. If you would like to celebrate the day in school, here are some useful links:
PowerPoint presentation from TES resources
Account of a Jour de la Francophonie celebration in the West Midlands
Conte-moi la francophonie - stories from Francophone countries
Les cantines scolaires du monde francophone
Le monde de la francophonie - a useful map
Dis-moi dix mots qui te racontent - learn 10 French words chosen by the Francophone countries
Official website of the International Organisation of Francophonie - lots of useful facts and figures about French
Les grands champions de la francophonie - Video that begins and ends with a bit of Monty Python! - and ideas from TES resources to go with it.
19th March (a Monday this year) is Día de San José in Spain - St Joseph's Day. And as Joseph was such an important father, it's also Father's Day - el Día del Padre.
If you fancy marking the day with your students, here are some useful links:
Crafts and colourings for San José
Text with ideas of how you could celebrate the day (for more advanced students)
21st February - next Tuesday - is also International Mother Language Day. Find out more about the day here. An opportunity to explore languages in their wider context and an excuse to make the case for languages and linguistic and cultural diversity.
Next Tuesday, 21st February, is Pancake Day here in the UK. In France it'll be Mardi Gras. If you'd like some links and activities for Mardi Gras and Carnaval, please have a look at page 4 of this newsletter. The dates have changed but the information is the same.
You may also be interested in our Chandeleur, Carnaval and Mardi Gras podcast, details of which can be found here.
14th February is well known for being Valentine's Day, but did you know that in much of South America it is also Friendship Day, or el Día de la Amistad?
Last year my KS2 Spanish students found out about Día de la Amistad and we had a go at singing the song "Hay un amigo en mí" (You've got a friend in me) by the Gipsy Kings from Toy Story 3. Then they made Valentine's and Friendship cards.
This year, our Spanish link primary school in Madrid has asked us to make them something for 14th February which they will be able to display in their school. The children will be thrilled to see a photo of their work being displayed in another school in another country, so this week they will be making friendship bracelets for their penfriends and attaching them to a small card on which they will write a saying or proverb to do with friends and friendship.
If you'd like to have a go at making the friendship bracelets, you'll find available to download here the instructions, the friendship sayings and a PowerPoint to introduce the day to your class.
Some other links you may find useful:
Valentine's Day around the world
San Valentín para niños - with some good craft ideas
Colouring and crafts - from Primera Escuela
