Francophone Culture Reading Comprehension in French Print & Google Forms™

These 5 unique ready-to-go reading resources increase French students' cultural awareness in the francophone world by learning about le Carnaval de Nice, Poisson d'avril, Mardi gras, la galette des rois, and le Carnaval de Québec all in French. Each reading comprehension resource includes multiple reading passages, comprehension questions, comprehensible input, cognates, and cultural authenticity.

Available as a printable or a self-grading digital Google Form™ or TPT's Easel.

1. le Carnaval de Nice

-5 sections of correspondence between an American girl and a French girl

-14 questions

-present tense

-The level is beginner to intermediate with many cognates (des musiciens, des costumes, des spectateurs) and words students would most likely be familiar with (les fleurs, février, ils portent).

-Potential new words in the text include: un défilé, des chars, une tête, une marionnette, des gens, lancer, attraper.

2. Poisson d'avril

-4 sections of correspondence between an American boy and a French boy

-16 questions

-There is a mix of present and past tenses as well as more varied vocabulary, so intermediate level students would be best.

-There are cognates (des journalistes, l'origine, continuer) and words students would most likely be familiar with (avril, le poisson, couper, le dos).

-Potential new words that will be seen in the text include: une farce, une blague, accrocher, rigoler, l'époque, le nouvel an, le roi, la pêche, s'amuser.

3. Mardi gras

-5 conversations between a boy from Martinique and a boy from New Orleans

-22 questions

-intermediate-advanced students

-Students will see mostly the present tense but a couple past tense verbs.

As for vocabulary, students will see the following words associated with Mardi gras:

gratuit, les défilés, les chars, attraper, les colliers, les krewes, la foi, le pouvoir, jeter, chaque, la Carême chrétien, le Moyen-Âge, oublier, les colons, les flambeaux

Other cognates/familiar vocabulary includes:

le carnaval, la fête, les concerts, le monde, un masque, les perles, organiser, l’histoire, les spectateurs, les couleurs, la justice, mars, un explorateur, le gâteau

4. Le Carnaval de Québec

-7 conversations between a tourist and a tourism expert

-23 questions

-intermediate-advanced students

-Students will see mostly the present tense, but also some future and conditional. They will also see a couple object pronouns (Je veux le rencontrer !).

As for vocabulary: les défilés, des chars, les trompettes, la course en canot à glace, le bain de neige, les glissades sur neige, les promenades en traîneau à chiens, une tuque, des carnavaleux, la poutine, la tire d’érable

Other relevant vocabulary includes:

la saison froide, les rues, le fleuve, un maillot de bain, des sculptures, le palais, la glace, la joie de vivre, attirer, se dérouler, se passer, chaque année

5. La galette des rois

5 conversations between a Japanese student and her French classmate

23 questions

intermediate-advanced

mostly present and past tense with some future and object pronouns

Key vocab: l'Epiphanie, les trois rois mages, la fève, une couronne, une part de gâteau, une pâte feuilletée

More examples You can see some visual examples of the resources in the TpT preview and video preview above.

How much prep is needed?

Google Form™/Easel: share link with students

PDF: print and distribute

Three ways to implement:

➯➯1. PRINT

PDF printable. Just print and implement into class! Answer keys are provided.

➯➯2. Google Form™

This is an editable activity designed in Google Forms™. You can add questions of your own to the activity or delete any questions you do not want to use. You can also change the answer type if desired (short answer, multiple-choice, etc.) or switch the order of the questions.

You will receive instructions on how to download this file to your Google Drive and how to share with students. You and your students must have a free Google account in order to access the activity.

This activity can be shared with students through email, Google Classroom, Moodle, etc. All passages and questions are viewed as images to help prevent automatic translators. You can add/delete questions/answers as you deem necessary.

➯➯3. TPT's Easel Tool

This resource is also available via TpT's Easel Activity Tool. However, due to the limitations of Easel, the reading passages are viewed as questions, so the points are skewed. Plus, there is only multiple choice and vrai/faux as answers. There are no fill-in or long answer options. This resource still grades for you.

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What other French teachers shared:

"Great product" - Raymond (Mardi Gras)

"This is a fabulous way to teach/review the April 1st holiday through comprehensible reading strategies. All the information is already formatted into a Google form, with comprehension questions after each little reading. So easy to assign and to grade! Merci!" - Sherri (Poisson d'avril)

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➯➯ATTENTION! These EXACT same reading comprehension resources are also in the form of self-checking decks of digital task cards from Boom Learning™.

9 ways to use these resources with your French students:
1. Use as introductory material before instruction (What can students figure out?)
2. Independent work and practice (Self-pacing and instant feedback)
3. Whole class interactive discussion and practice (do it together)
4. Distance & remote learning (virtual engagement)
5. Homework and at-home practice (more engaging than worksheets)
6. Skill review and individual practice (check for understanding as formative assessment)
7. Assessments (as summative assessment)
8. Fast finishers (use as review of past materials)
9. Sub plans (sub shares a link and off they go!)

You could ask students to complete this individually for practice and cultural understanding. Then, it could be beneficial to go back through the written text and discuss the answers as a class. When students can explain their answers, they move from knowledge of the text to analyzing and evaluating the text.


**Which option will you choose today to make your lesson planning less stressful and your students’ learning more engaging?

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