Aug 6, 20233 min read

Building a Strong French Classroom Community with this Engaging Activity

Updated: Jul 29

Free French Classroom Community Activity

Click For Freebie French Immersion Lessons!

Creating a strong sense of community in the classroom is essential for fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment. This activity can help promote a sense of community among students. This activity not only encourages being kind and tolerant of one another but also provides opportunities for students to practice their French language skills in a supportive setting. By implementing this activity, teachers can create a classroom community where students feel valued, supported, and motivated to succeed.

Please note that the downloadable lesson is at the bottom of this post!

Step 1: Hand a heart sheet to each student. Tell them that you want them to colour it in with things that are meaningful to them, and to take their time to accomplish it well. Then, have them cut it out.

Step 2: Have students stand in a circle, holding up their heart that they created. Ask them about their heart. It is beautiful and perfect. Tell them to imagine this heart as their own heart (which it is since they worked so hard on it). Now, have students hand their heart to the student on their right. Tell the students to say mean things about the heart. Then, instruct them to crumple it up into a tiny ball, throw it on the ground and stomp on it. Students may have different reactions to this. Some may laugh, some may be upset because their perfect heart isn't perfect anymore.

Step 3: Tell students to pick up the heart they just damaged, and apologize to their friend, and also to the heart they damaged. Tell them to de-wrinkle the heart and try to smooth it back out to its perfect shape.

Step 4: Have students hand the heart back over to the original owner and have them hold it up. Does it look as good as it used to? Did the person they handed it to care for their heart? How do they feel about what the person did to their heart?

French Engaging Activities for Middle School

Step 5: Now, explain to students that every time someone talks behind someone else's back, makes rude comments on social media, says negative things to someone, bullies them, etc., they are responsible for adding a crinkle to their heart. Even if someone apologizes later, that crinkle stays in the heart. It may become less crinkled with time, but nonetheless it remains crinkled. Once you say something, you can't take it back. Scars last a lifetime. Take some time to talk about how we are responsible for our actions and feelings.