This is an M4v update of the popular old file. Use it as a karaoke singalong or as a dictée activity (included). I’d appreciate a quick message if you and / or your students enjoy it.

DIRE OU INTERDIRE? can be played by intermediate and advanced students For advanced, immersion and francophone groups: If your students are confident and articulate in French, have them play DIRE OU INTERDIRE? like traditional Taboo®. Divide the class into two teams. Place the deck facedown on a desk. A player from the first group chooses a card and tells his/her team everything s/he can about the word at the top of the card. The only catch is that s/he may not use any of the words listed under the orange and black lines in the descriptions. If the class cannot guess the word within 60 seconds, the mystery word is announced to the class and a player from the second team tries his or her luck. A point is scored each time the mystery word is correctly guessed. It’s usually a good idea for you as a teacher to announce that you will accept synonyms. For example, in Canada, a student might guess “un party (de Halloween)” rather than “une fête”. For intermediate level learners: If your students are uncomfortable giving clues, turn the rules upside down. Tell them to use the words beneath the black and orange banner in their descriptions! This topsy-turvy approach encourages and empowers everyone to participate. You won’t believe what a positive game-changer it is. This package includes 28 Halloween-themed cards, a template for students to make their own DIRE OR INTERDIRE? game and a how-to-play guide.

Here's a simple gap fill sheet to accompany La Chanson des Squelettes. It's a joyful way to reinforce French Halloween vocabulary. I've corrected my cut-and-paste error in this updated file.

This activity works well as a full class, teacher directed game or as a small group activity. After the fun of the oral treasure hunt, you can also assign co-ordinates to create an instant written assignment to reinforce the correct spelling of the verb endings. You’ll find that even reluctant learners will be motivated to listen carefully and the promise of “treasure” tends to generate enthusiastic oral participation as well. My answer key is for le présent, le passé composé, le futur simple and le présent du subjonctif but the game works for virtually every verb tense. To see if this activity is right for your students, try the free, “Où sont les trésors cachés (les verbes ER): https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/o-sont-les-tr-sors-cach-s--les-verbes-er-6438862

Engage your pupils in reading (and writing) through play by  printing and cutting out these simple puzzles for them to solve. There are separate files for puzzles in upper and lower case letters. pepper broccoli peas corn carrot celery tomato (even though it’s actually a fruit)

If your students are fans of the original, try this version sung in French by Sara'h. The video is also captioned in French. (I've attached a gap-fill worksheet and corrected a few grammar errors found in the subtitles.) Again, the age range will be determined by whether your programme is for French as a first language, Immersion, Extended or Core French students. If your students enjoy it, I'd love your feedback.

A five minute filler for French teachers. If your classes enjoy my Christmas puzzles, please let me know and I'll post some of my others . . . les verbes ER, la Saint-Valentin, au bord de l'eau, au cinéma, etcetera.

MOTDOKU6 (Noël) is a simplified MOTDOKU (word sudoku). The challenge is to slot the following words into the grid: 1 le lait de poule 2 la couronne 3 le réveillon 4 le Père Noël 5 le lutin 6 le renne MOTDOKU6 ((Noël) est un MOTDOKU simplifié qui met en valeur le vocabulaire ci-dessus. Joyeux Noël!

Unlike Scrabble players, Scribblescrabblers can choose which letters to use for each of their turns. As in Scrabble, however, they will score the most points with the strategic placement of those letters. You may ask your students to incorporate a thematic vocabulary list or to play using general vocabulary only. Either way, they will be engaged! In fact, very competitive students tend to want to play every possible open square. This file includes English, French and Spanish versions of each grid and a blank grid for those of you teaching other languages. If you’d like to view other Scribblescrabbles just enter “Scribblescrabble” in my shop’s search bar: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Carlav

La fin de chaque mot dans ce mini-cercle vicieux est aussi le début d'un nouveau mot. Comme dans un mots croisés, les lettres sont toutes représentées en majuscules sans accents. Un mot accentué peut donc croiser un mot qui ne l'est pas. Fais la ronde. Combien de mots qui se chevauchent peux-tu y trouver?

Imagic After your students have solved the Imagic (visual crossword) puzzle, challeng them to make a little Imagic of their own. Broken Words In this virtual race, players have to reconstitute and recopy words that have been broken into pieces and scattered over the game grid. Students may play individually or in pairs. The words in this puzzle are: 1 hero 2 honour 3 prayer 4 silence 5 bugle 6 poppies 7 service 8 weapon 9 courage 10 parade 11 battle 12 defend I’ve included a suggestion for extending the lesson for this activity.

I’m reposting this old file because it’s Roald Dahl’s centenary and because “The Landlady” is an exceptionally well written, suspenseful and eerie short story that cries out to be explored at Hallowe’en by both middle and high school students. (It is not to be missed if “foreshadowing” and “appearance versus reality” figure in your curriculum.) I’ve summarized The Landlady and stirred the pieces in my cauldron. After your class has read the story, your students should be able to reconstitute the summary as a small group, co-operative activity.

Embedded in this ‘Boggle’ grid are the holiday theme words, ‘an, carte, chant, fête, gui, houx, jouet, noix & toit’ plus 60 general vocabulary words.

Les quinze expressions - avoir - illustrées - sont: to be thirsty - avoir soif, to be hungry - avoir faim, to be cold - avoir froid, to be hot - avoir chaud, to be wrong - avoir tort, to be right - avoir raison, to be sick - avoir mal, to be x years old - avoir x ans, to need - avoir besoin de, to be ashamed - avoir honte, to be sleepy - avoir sommeil, to be afraid - avoir peur, to be slap happy - avoir le fou rire, to be lucky - avoir de la chance, to feel like, to want - avoir envie de, J’espère que vous en serez vachement content! Click here for the free activity, ‘Let’s get to the bottom of LES EXPRESSIONS AVOIR’, to solidify the concept in an entertaining way: http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Les-expressions-avoir-a-review-game-6312195/

'Let's get to the bottom (or top) of LES EXPRESSIONS IDIOMATIQUES' is a competitive, repetitive game that will help your students master 20 idioms through the process of osmosis. The game defines 'active listening skills' and tends to generate very enthusiastic participation! See if this game suits your purposes by trying the free resource, of LES EXPRESSIONS AVOIR' http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Les-expressions-avoir-a-review-game-6312195/ The file comprises the following idioms: appeler un chat un chat, avoir le bras long, avoir la langue bien pendue, avoir une peur bleue de quelque chose, brûler un feu rouge, c’est la barbe!, c’est le pied!, c’est une autre paire de manches, connaître les ficelles (du métier) , coûter les yeux de la tête, le dernier cri, les doigts dans le nez, dormir sur les deux oreilles, être mauvaise langue, faire la courte échelle à quelqu’un, faire le pont, faire la une, passer une nuit blanche, pour une bouchée de pain, se perdre de vue.

The 15 avoir; expressions illustrated are; to be thirsty - avoir soif to be hungry - avoir faim to be cold - avoir froid to be hot - avoir chaud to be wrong - avoir tort to be right - avoir raison to be sick - avoir mal to be x years old - avoir x ans to need - avoir besoin de to be ashamed - avoir honte to be sleepy - avoir sommeil to be afraid - avoir peur to be slap happy - avoir le fou rire to be lucky - avoir de la chance to feel like, to want - avoir envie de The free activity, Let’s get to the bottom of LES EXPRESSIONS AVOIR, should solidify the concept in an entertaining way: http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Les-expressions-avoir-a-review-game-6312195/

This triangle puzzle can be used as a co-operative activity or as an enrichment puzzle for individuals. Students have to match the edges of the triangles that ask and answer questions or begin and finish sentences . If possible, laminate the puzzle sheets. Then cut up one puzzle for every two or three students. Put the 12 triangles into an envelope. Et à vos jeux. Is this grammar activity for you? See for yourself by trying the free resource, Le futur simple (a triangle puzzle): http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Le-future-simple-a-triangle-puzzle-6450469/

The latest update of this 38-page resource includes a tutorial on how to make regular and irregular adjectives agree with nouns and several activities and exercises to reinforce the concept. The topics covered include: • regular adjectives and • irregular adjectives including adjectives ending in: - é - e - eux - if - el - en - on - er • beau, bon, nouveau, vieux • BANGS adjectives • adjectives that change meaning when they change position • adjectives of colour • possessive adjectives • demonstrative adjectives les adjectifs possessifs “meilleur versus mieux” I’ve also included one of my favourite, most playful activities, " la vente aux enchères (des adjectifs de personnalité)" , a playful approach to mastering French adjectives

It includes thematic puzzles for Hallowe’en, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hannukah and • full colour copies and B &W copies of each puzzle • a thematic vocabulary for each theme • answer keys • a “how to play” guide Try the free TES activity, “Hippity Hoppity, Easter’s on its Way” to see if this activity is for you: https://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Hippity-Hoppity-Easter-and-39-s-on-its-way-boggle-6194577/

“Où sont les trésors cachés? (DEVOIR, VOULOIR et POUVOIR)” works well as a full-class, teacher-directed game or as a small group activity. After the fun of the oral treasure hunt, you can also assign co-ordinates to create an instant written assignment to reinforce the correct spelling of the verb endings. You’ll find that even reluctant learners will be motivated to listen carefully and the promise of “treasure” tends to generate enthusiastic oral participation as well. My answer key is for le présent tense but the game works for virtually every verb tense. Try the free, “Où sont les trésors cachés (les verbes ER) to see if ”Où sont les trésors cachés? (Les verbes DEVOIR, VOULOIR et POUVOIR)” is right for your students: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/o-sont-les-tr-sors-cach-s--les-verbes-er-6438862