French Resources: Le Carnaval de Québec
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Every year at our school, we take a few days to celebrate in the style of le Carnaval de Québec and invite students to participate in fun games and activities. This may range from school-wide bingo over the P.A. system, poster contests, mask design, parades, French café and more. We usually kick it off with an assembly in the gym led by the grade 8 students who are in the midst of the Fêtes et Mardi Gras unit. This year, we wanted to try something different that would get the students excited over the celebration so I posted a thread on the Ontario Core French Teachers group on Facebook looking for some ideas. And thanks to some great tips, I think I now have what I'm looking for:
Update: The official Carnaval de Québec website used to have a whole bunch of videos, photos and samples of songs from the album "En amour avec hiver" (including lyrics) but they updated their site for 2019. To access their videos, check out the carnavaldequebec YouTube channel where you will find a variety of video montages and highlights from over the years.
The site also has a teacher's corner where you can download free levelled educational kits containing worksheets.
For the assembly, I wanted an updated video that illustrated the many activities one can enjoy at the carnival and the video above is just perfect! I can't wait to show it to the students. I have already received our order of last year's effigies, which are absolutely adorable. They're like mini figurines (see photo above) but every year they are different. I try to place my order early since they sell out every year. We use the effigies as prizes as well as some Bonhomme beanies that we ordered from Tralco-Lingo, which unfortunately they no longer carry. I have already been bringing my Bonhomme puppet to class and will pick students to use the puppet during French. They love being able to answer questions while playing the role of Bonhomme.
There are only a few weeks left to prepare everything but if you have any ideas or suggestions, I hope you will share them in the comments section below. It's always good to try something new every year. Merci et...
The site also has a teacher's corner where you can download free levelled educational kits containing worksheets.
For the assembly, I wanted an updated video that illustrated the many activities one can enjoy at the carnival and the video above is just perfect! I can't wait to show it to the students. I have already received our order of last year's effigies, which are absolutely adorable. They're like mini figurines (see photo above) but every year they are different. I try to place my order early since they sell out every year. We use the effigies as prizes as well as some Bonhomme beanies that we ordered from Tralco-Lingo, which unfortunately they no longer carry. I have already been bringing my Bonhomme puppet to class and will pick students to use the puppet during French. They love being able to answer questions while playing the role of Bonhomme.
There are only a few weeks left to prepare everything but if you have any ideas or suggestions, I hope you will share them in the comments section below. It's always good to try something new every year. Merci et...
Joyeux Carnaval!
12 COMMENTS
Thank-you so much for sharing this, I am always looking for French ideas to use at home with the girls to build on their French school education!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Jody! I really do love the video and I think it will be a great conversation starter for the students since they likely have never attended the Carnaval in Québec. After watching it, I really want to go myself! LOL
DeleteThat sounds like fun! It looks like a really big celebration! I'd like to learn more about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the biggest winter carnivals ever and this year it will go from Feb. 1- Feb 17. Plenty of time to fit in fun, games, entertainment and more! I have never been but it is definitely on my bucket list. You can visit http://carnaval.qc.ca/en/ for more information.
DeleteThis is a great video because it captures the energy and excitement of this world renowned winter festival. I like the fact that the tourists mention where they are from because once again it shows that the Carnaval de Quebec has world wide attention. My students will comment that they feel as if they are there.
ReplyDeleteI know! It's the perfect video!
DeleteOne question: where can I order the effigies from?Daniela d-dente@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteTo order effigies, you have to visit the Teacher's Corner (http://carnaval.qc.ca/en/teachers-corner/school-kit/) sometime in the fall and order by the end of December, I believe. Download the order form and mail it in with a cheque. The sooner the better since they sell like hot cakes. The good thing is you can order a set of 50 and only pay shipping, which is about $15 and it comes with 2 posters.
DeleteI would love to go to Carnaval in Québec one year. I remember hearing about it when I was in grade school. We even had Bonhomme de Neige come to an assembly!
ReplyDeleteSalut Diana! Merci pour les renseignements! I have just begun planning my school's first ever school-wide week-long Carnaval! Your website has given me an excellent point de départ. You mention that your school plays bingo - do you have a suggestion as to where one can find a wide assortment of Carnaval bingo cards? Merci! (PS - Any other words of advice are welcome!)
ReplyDeleteSalut Jessica! Merci pour ces mots gentils. For our school wide bingo, we usually have the grade 8 students design an extra large bingo card on bristle board for each class and for the centre space we glue a printout of Bonhomme that they colour in. We find that calling out a few numbers each morning for a week and then calling numbers on the last day until we have a winner keeps them excited. The winning class then gets a free pizza lunch.
DeleteSalut Diana! Merci pour les renseignements! I have just begun planning my school's first ever school-wide week-long Carnaval! Your website has given me an excellent point de départ. You mention that your school plays bingo - do you have a suggestion as to where one can find a wide assortment of Carnaval bingo cards? Merci! (PS - Any other words of advice are welcome!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to leave a comment here on Toronto Teacher Mom. Hope you have a great day!