8 Easy Steps for a Successful Festival du Voyageur Unit

Le Festival du Voyageur is one of my absolute favourite core French units! Kids love learning about French culture and history which makes this unit super fun and engaging. 

Here are 8 steps to a successful Festival du Voyageur Unit!

1) Hook Them With a Video

I love to show this Festival du Voyageur video because it highlights a ton of different roles that people would have had during the time of the voyageurs. It helps to bring this history to life for students. 

2) Introduce Key Vocabulary Terms with a Google Slides TM or PowerPoint Presentation

1. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about introducing vocabulary with short Google Slides presentations. When introducing new vocabulary terms, it is super important to show students images that represent each word. This helps them to make associations with the terms and better remember them. 
2. I suggest starting by going through the vocabulary presentation once all the way through, having students look at the pictures and hear the words. 
3. The second time you go through, I suggest asking students to repeat the terms after you. 
4. Then the third time that you go through the presentation, ask students to whisper, state or yell out the vocabulary terms that they remember. It can even be fun to have students say the words in different voices like rap or opera.
   • Reviewing key Festival du Voyageur vocabulary terms with a presentation is a great warm-up activity throughout your unit.
   • You can make your own presentation or use mine, which includes the French audio for each term. Click HERE to check it out for yourself.

3) Whole Group Game

A really great game to start with is LOTO which is the French version of BINGO! This is because it is easy for everyone to be successful, especially if you show the images that you are calling under the document camera.

Kids respond really well to having the opportunity to win small prizes like candy! 

Another game that students LOVE to play is Would You Rather. Students choose between two options and it’s a ton of fun!

4) Small Group Practice with Games!

There are so many options when it comes to French vocabulary games! Some of my favourites include:

• POP
• Aller Pêcher
• Concentration
• Jeu de Société

Putting students in small groups and using games as stations works super well! Each group can spend around 15 minutes playing a game and then you can switch.

I always insist that students are ONLY allowed to speak French during game time. This cuts down dramatically on off-task behaviours.

5) Independent Practice with Digital Activities

Digital Activities are like a worksheet on steroids! They are super engaging for students because of the moveable pieces. I love that they require no prep and are super easy to assign in Google Classroom.

6) Whole Group Review with Games

I love using classic games like charades and hangman to help students review their vocabulary terms before the quiz. 

7) Partner Review with a Study Guide

I suggest providing each student with a list of the vocabulary terms and their associated images. Then they can work with a partner to quiz each other and prepare for the test. This also works great as a little homework assignment.

8) Test Time

My absolute favourite way to assess is through Google Forms. They are self-marking which means a huge time saver! Plus since they are in full colour, students can clearly see images. 

There you have it, a full Festival du Voyageur unit! Are you interested in these activities? Click HERE to grab them on TPT.

Want to learn more about teaching French winter festivals? Check out this blog post all about teaching le Carnaval de Québec in the French as a Second Language Classroom.