Valentine’s Day in the French as a Second Language Classroom Made Easy

Are you tired of using the same old French Valentine’s Day activities year after year? Don’t worry teacher bestie, I’ve got some fresh ideas for your core French or French as a Second Language classroom!

1) Make a French Valentine’s Day Book

I love having FSL students make class books because they provide authentic reading and writing practice in the second language classroom.

The class book that I love making for la Saint-Valentin is called “Once I was a heart…” or “Autrefois j’étais un coeur.”

The idea of the book is that the hearts become all sorts of different animals! Then the book ends with the heart becoming a Valentine.

On each page, students use hearts to create the animals. This mini-crafting opportunity can be so good for students! After all, even our big kids seem to be struggling with fine motor skills these days. I love to play French Disney music while they cut and paste.

2) Pass out Valentines

One way to celebrate this special day is to have your students create Valentine cards in French using the vocabulary they have learned so far. You can also use this as an opportunity to introduce new words and phrases related to Valentine’s Day. Consider giving your students a list of French phrases to use on their cards, or challenge them to come up with their own.

Want some super cute and punny French Valentines? Click HERE to have a FREE set sent straight to your inbox!

3) Play LOTO

FSL students always love playing BINGO! Try having students create their own LOTO boards by cutting and pasting images from your French Valentine’s Day Unit. Then you can play a few rounds of LOTO.

After playing as a whole group, consider leaving the student boards as well as the calling cards out as an early finisher option. Students LOVE to “be the teacher” and call out the terms. What they don’t realize is that calling out the terms is AMAZING French oral language practice! What a win!

I hope that these three ideas help to jazz up your French Valentine’s Day unit.

Want a low-prep option? Check out my French Valentine’s Day Unit! It contains a fantastic mixture of printable and digital activities that your students will love.

Need some ideas for a general upper elementary classroom or an English class? Check out my Valentine’s Day in the Upper Elementary Classroom blog post.