Can I just say how much I love Canva? Not only do we have access to so many great features and endless clipart, photos, audio files and more, but Canva also makes video creation rather easy once you figure out how to manipulate the layers in the video editor timeline. I made a karaoke style version of Bonne fête à toi last year and had lots of fun with it, I decided to make another video using an instrumental version of the Canadian national anthem with lyrics in French. It took me about a half hour to make and now that it's done, it will be easy to make a copy in order to create a bilingual version. Here is the French version:

Tonight I attended a webinar presented by Jordan Sloan to introduce ONlit's embedded picture mnemonics en français. This research-based way to teach children about letters and the sounds they represent uses letter cards with a picture of a key word embedded directly in a letter to help reinforce letter-sound correspondence. Their printable French resources are available for download via onlit.org and include:

• a set of half-page flashcards with a mnemonic on one side and a sample instructional routine on the other (set printer to flip on long side)
• a set of half-page flashcards with a mnemonic on one side and a plain letter on the other
• a set of mini flashcards with 8 mnemonics per page 

They have also created a set of videos, one with the instructional routine that is narrated and one without. The animations are adorable and I plan on sharing these videos with my colleagues. And if you know me, I always create a Google Slides document and embed the videos directly within the presention. It's not only easier for me to have everything in one place, it also eliminates those annoying YouTube ads and suggested videos that pop up at the end. I have already compiled all 27 of their vidéos pédagogiques, in order of the Son-au-graphe sequence, so if you'd like to access the Google Slides document, click on the link below.

Les mnémoniques intégrés - les 27 vidéos pédagogiques d'ONlit

If you want to learn about upcoming webinars, check out ONlit's event page or follow ONlit fr on Instagram for French specific updates.

Did you know that you can easily create animated videos using Canva? I love making fun videos to use in my core French classes and this will definitely be one of them - a karaoke version of Bonne fête à toi! In fact, I make it a routine to check my birthday list of roughly 200 students or so before classes begin to make sure I don't miss anyone's special day. I usually play my ukelele but I think this video will be a fun way to celebrate, too. What do you think?

September is fast approaching but I'm excited to share that the 2025-2026 French Digital Calendar is now live on Teachers Pay Teachers. There is a Google Slides version as well as a PowerPoint version. For those who are hesitant about allowing TPT access to your Google Drive, consider the PowerPoint version and, after downloading it to your computer, you can upload it to Google Drive and it will automatically convert to a Google Slides document. Here is what both versions include:

• a weather board with images and word cards with additional weather descriptions Il y a du brouillard and C'est partiellement nuageux as per user feedback.
• a pre-populated monthly calendar with weeks beginning on Sunday from September 2025 through to August 2026
• a pre-populated monthly calendar with weeks beginning on Monday from September 2025 through to August 2026
• a Comment ça va? board featuring Ananas with interchangeable eyes, mouths, and word cards
• a "Quelle est la date aujourd'hui?" board with all the word and number cards needed to formulate a complete response.
• NEW! The tally chart slide can be used to count the days by simply moving the vertical and diagonal lines to create les marques de pointage. (There are enough to count to 200.) It now features number tiles and a place value chart!

Everyone who knows me can attest to how much I love being a Core French teacher. I knew as young as 10 years old that I would become a French teacher and I still recall the thank you card I wrote to one of my elementary French teachers who inspired me to pursue my passion. A few years ago, I took a break from the classroom and joined the SIS Project to become a teacher-trainer. Once the term of my position ended, I ended up taking a position where I taught Core French for half of the day and French Specialty (French Immersion) for the other half, since there weren't any full-time Core French positions available in my area. Visual Arts was one of the French Immersion subjects I taught to grade 5, 6 and 8 students. 

As much as I love art, I struggled to find ideas that worked within my schedule given the time constraints, especially seeing as I had to travel from class to class. Luckily, I knew of a number of digital art activities that I had come across over the years. One such activity was the use of Google Drawings to recreate portraits, which I had learned about at a 2016 Google Summit workshop with media specialist George Barcenas (check out slide 4 for an animated gif demo). He demonstrated how you can insert a photo onto one side of the Drawing canvas and trace over parts of the head and face using the curve line. The trick is clicking multiple times as you draw the line until you reach the starting point to close the shape. You can then right-click on the shape to edit any of the points (or double-click on it), format the colour of the line and shape fill/gradient, and even add a drop shadow. 

Then move it to the other side of your canvas. Thinking in terms of layers, it is recommended that you begin with the head and hair since they will be the lowermost layers, and then draw the facial features, since every time you add a shape, it becomes the topmost layer. Or, you can simply right-click on the shape and click on Order to change the layer.

As you can see in the photo above, there are many different layers to the eyes and mouth but a tip I shared with my students was to choose a face that was somewhat symmetrical since, once they make one eye, they can duplicate it, right-click on it and select Rotate to flip it horizontally. This avoids having to start from scratch and they can always edit the points if need be. It's the same technique I used for the teeth. I created one tooth, duplicated it and adjusted the points. I used this activity in my grade 8 class and was truly impressed by their work!

Additional Tips:

• Use the eye dropper tool to create custom colours that match the original photo.
• Use a basic circle shape for the iris and pupil, layering them underneath the eyelids.
• Click on a shape to activate the Format Options menu (or right click on a shape) to add a drop shadow, which helps create a sense of depth, rotate a shape using precise degrees or to lock aspect ratio. 

• a weather board with images and word cards with additional weather descriptions Il y a du brouillard and C'est partiellement nuageux as per user feedback.
• a pre-populated monthly calendar with weeks beginning on Sunday from September 2024 through to August 2025
• a pre-populated monthly calendar with weeks beginning on Monday from September 2024 through to August 2025
• a Comment ça va? board featuring Ananas with interchangeable eyes, mouths, and word cards
• a "Quelle est la date aujourd'hui?" board with all the word and number cards needed to formulate a complete response.
• NEW! A tally board to keep track of the number of school days. There are enough tally marks to count to 200.