If you're teaching French, worksheets can be a big help in reinforcing concepts and helping students practice when they are not in class. Sometimes, fun French worksheets that include games like word searches or crosswords can help reinforce vocabulary.
When You Should Use French Worksheets
It might be tempting to use worksheets often, but the reality is that when your students are trying to learn a foreign language, a worksheet has limited possibilities. The best way for them to learn is to practice speaking and practice listening to French. On the other hand, a good French worksheet can help your students understand, and learn, the vocabulary necessary to speak. Worksheets are also great tools to provide additional practice.
Where Can I Get French Worksheets?
In general, the curriculum that you use is going to provide the worksheets to go along with your lessons. However, you may find that there are concepts that need additional reinforcement; in this case, worksheets can be an additional resource. Here is a list of places where you can find French worksheets:
- Project Happy Child-This site has a fairly comprehensive database of beginning French worksheets. The sheets are free and cover everything from verbs to prepositions to how to structure an interrogative sentence. Don't expect to see a ton of color and fun characters though--these sheets are for serious practice.
- ABC teach--You'll find worksheets here for a bilingual classroom or for an immersion school. The worksheets look like they are for younger students with cute little cartoons but will require a moderate amount of writing--appropriate for a primary student who is immersed in French.
- The Worksheet Library--You will have to be a member in order to access these worksheets. However, membership is about $30 per year, and it comes with worksheets for other subjects as well.
- French Linguistics--Offers a few very well done worksheets to hone skills. They also offer fun French worksheets like word searches that are great for practicing vocabulary.
- French Teacher--Offers a pretty comprehensive course of worksheets for the very beginner as well as the more advanced student. In addition, the site is worth checking out if you're a teacher for the other teaching insight that it offers.
Making Your Own Worksheets for French
If you're looking to make your own worksheets for class, never fear, there are sites that can help you do that as well!
- The Teacher's Corner has some software onsite that allows you to make your own word searches, calendars, and other nifty worksheets. A great site if you want to create a fun worksheet based on what you've been doing in class.
- ABC Teach, which was mentioned above, also has what they call ABC tools, where you can create your own worksheets. Of particular interest to those who teach French would be the word search, crossword puzzles, and the word scrambler. You can also make your own flash cards at this site. What better way to reinforce vocab with your students?
Tips for Creating Your Own Worksheets
If you feel you must create your own completely from scratch, keep these tips in mind:
- Stick to one concept or one idea per worksheet. If your goal is for your students to learn vocabulary. . .then the worksheet should be about the vocabulary.
- Do incorporate clip art or other colorful images into your worksheets. It helps make the task at hand less mundane for your students.
- Do consider offering an extra credit question that incorporates several concepts learned. For example, if you're creating a vocabulary fill-in-the-blank type sheet, then a bonus question can ask the students to write sentences using the vocabulary words.
- Try to make it fun. If learning is fun, the language will stick better.
