You often find the best things while you're looking for something else, and this morning I found this Money Count Generator.  You decide how many questions you want to have, and how many of each note and coin you'd like it to use, then click "PDF" at the bottom and it generates you a worksheet.  Here's one I've just made, to show you what you get:

I'm working on Euros at the moment with my 3rd year Spaniards, in particular saying prices and working out change.  This will come in handy.

 

Something else that I found was a giant online calculator suitable for the IWB.  You can view it in two different sizes and can also be downloaded and saved so that you can use it offline as well.

 

Some activities, like "Follow-me" can be spiced up by timing them or trying to beat the clock.  Why not use this online stopwatch and countdown timer?

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.

I thought I would share the links to Olympics ideas, information and resources that I have so far.

FRENCH:

French resources from PetitesTetes, especially suitable for KS1

French Olympic Rings song

Information in French about the Olympics of the last 20 years

Information in French about the 35 Olympic sports

Interactive French map of the 204 competing nations

Colouring and craft from Tête à Modeler - especially suitable for Primary

Short texts in French about the history of the Olympics

Dossier sur les Jeux Olympiques

SPANISH:

List of the Olympic sports in Spanish

Sport pictures for colouring and flashcards from PrimeraEscuela

GENERAL:

London 2012 Facts and Figures

Global resources with an Olympic theme - cross-curricular ideas for all key stages

Olympic medals timeline - BBC news article

The Global Children's Challenge

Cross-curricular Primary ideas which can be adapted for MFL

Resources from Get Set London 2012

 

Do you have any Olympic links that you would like to share?  Put them in a comment!

UPDATE 21.4.12:  I've added more links in the comments below, so please read those too.

 

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

Easter 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 Easter colouring

Easter crafts

Some more Easter crafts

French Bible stories for children, including the First Easter

Fantastic French Easter chocolate

Easter wordsearches in French

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

Colourings and cards

More colourings

The history of Día del Padre

Ideas for crafts

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.