31 Jan Newsletter

Here’s what’s new today and what’s coming next:

-This week in episode #258 we cover the winter Olympics in Beijing, it’s the beginning of Le Carnaval de Québec (this weekend). It’s black history month, so we introduce the course “Bienvenue en Haiti”, which includes texts and videos at 3 levels of difficulty to cover most grades.

Feb. 2nd is groundhog day, “La Journée de la marmotte”. We also discuss some animals who can actually predict the weather.

Cours: LE CARNAVAL DE QUÉBEC

This is probably the most complete French course on Le Carnaval anywhere. We interview Bonhomme, visit all the attractions and even revisit Carnaval through history. The course has content at 3 levels of French (colour coded) and contains texts for reading, listening and fun videos.

To get a quick preview, click the video next to this or click here: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/199164845 To get to the actual course, click here: https://planetfrench.com/courses/bienvenue-au-carnaval/

You can do this course over the next several weeks, depending on your student’s levels.

Cours: Bienvenue en Haiti

It’s Black history month so there’s no better time to introduce the amazing course “Bienvenue en Haiti”.  The course has content at 3 levels of French (colour coded) and contains texts for reading, listening and fun videos where we meet Haitians who tell all about living in Haiti, the culture, the festivals, the way of life, what it’s like going to school here compared to going to school in Canada.

Your students will be surprised at what they learn in this fascinating course about fascinating people.

To get a quick preview, click the video next to this or click here: https://vimeo.com/213827785 To get to the actual course, click here: https://planetfrench.com/courses/bienvenue-en-haiti-2/

You can do this course over the next several weeks, depending on your student’s levels.

Cours: La maison

Many teachers are covering the theme of “La maison” in February since it’s cold outside and many Canadians spend their time indoors. This unit is designed for the young learners, K-3 but can be used with older students as they’ll appreciate the comedic tone.

Here is the link to this course: https://planetfrench.com/courses/la-maison/  We are continuously adding more content to this course, and welcome your suggestions.

You can do this course over the next several weeks, depending on your student’s levels.

In case you missed last week’s newsletter:

-In episode 257,  we cover the winter Olympics in Beijing, a surprise in Mexico, and the Metaverse. We introduce le Carnaval de Québec and la ville de Québec and we continue with winter sports. We are also running a special on printed books ending in 7 days (see below).

-I made a quick planner for you indicating my Planet French suggestions for this week. The planner tracks 3 paths.

The easy/beginner, medium and advanced paths. Click image to enlarge.

-As Planet French now has over 830 lessons, We try to give you organised recommendations but you can easily tailor your syllabus to your specific student’s needs by using the search “loupe”, the advanced search features, or by browsing the courses. As always, I welcome your content suggestions.

-We have many more lessons coming up for the categories K-3, advanced/senior, sciences and social studies and are adding to hundreds of intermediate lessons. If you’d like to work with us, email guy@planetfrench.com

Only 7 days left on printed books, books, books…

We have received several emails from teachers looking to order printed books to go along with the Planet French Booksmarts eBooks and courses.

We put together a special promotion ending January 31st, in 10 days, featuring our French culture and everyday situations courses.

It seems that while digital content is practical, there is still a need for physical books.

Here are the deals, but please note: we are not supplying DVDs. All the DVD content (the videos and teacher’s guide–when it exists) is now online.

Also note that the pandemic has left us with very low inventory levels. Titles not on the “Current Specials” page may or may not be available. Please check with us for titles not on the specials page.

Bienvenue au Carnaval!

The biggest French course on Le Carnaval for the biggest winter festival in the world! The video and the book feature: • An interview with Bonhomme Carnaval • All the key attractions of the Quebec Carnaval • The “Carnaval” parade • The ice palace • The Snow sculptures competition • The canoe races on the icy waters of the St. Lawrence river • The history of the quebec carnaval. • Vintage video footage and photos of the first carnaval. The video and the book go hand in hand. The video plays on PCs, Macs and on DVD players.  The books are 28 pages full colour, beautiful photographs. The books has a variety of texts and genres including descriptive texts, narrations, dialogues, and more! Click here for the course. 

How pandemics end/Comment finissent les pandémies (Episode #256):

This episode puts things in perspective. It’s not the first pandemic in history. There are 4 ways pandemics end. In the second part of the episode, students compare studying from home and studying at school.

This 4-week planner works for in-person as well as for remote learning. All your French students have access to Planet French with their own accounts. More on that later.

You can see the 4 week planner by clicking here if you’re already logged in to your Planet French account.

To login, visit www.planetfrench.com or click here and enter your username and your password. If you are a Planet French member, you should see your username and password Guy emailed you this week. Please check your spam folder. If you don’t see that email, please contact guy@planetfrench.com for all the relevant links.

The activities, videos and eBooks provided herein are designed to maximize oral communication opportunities around topics relevant to them. They expose students to authentic French speakers and engage students in meaningful tasks.

YOUR STUDENT LOGINS AND REMOTE LEARNING

Many of you might be teaching remotely again because of Omicron. Fear not, we’ve made student access to Planet French easier still.

Your students get access with their own accounts. If you haven’t already registered your French students, it’s easy. Just give them the link and password Guy emailed you this week. Please check your spam folder. If you don’t see that email, please contact guy@planetfrench.com for all the relevant links. 

You can assign Planet French content to all registered students. They can access and open it REMOTELY. All you do is share the target page’s URL with your students.

TUTORIAL VIDEO FOR TEACHERS

See how other teachers use Planet French, check out this tutorial for teachers, specifically at 9:09 and at 9:58 to see how to share assignments and how to register your students, or better still, watch the whole video and you’ll fly with Planet French. It only takes 10 minutes!