Create a French Magazine - French Class Project

Language classes are as fun or as boring as the teacher and students make them. Grammar drills, vocabulary tests, and pronunciation labs are the basis of many successful language classes, but it's also good to incorporate some creative interaction, and projects can be just the thing.

While this project is best suited for a final project and can be used as the basis for an end-of-term presentation, it can also be adapted for less time - whatever fits your schedule.


Project

Create a themed magazine in French.


Instructions

1. Choose a topic and create a name for the magazine.
2. Find or write features related to the chosen topic.
3. Select photographs or pictures from real magazines or internet and turn into ads.
4. Create cover page and table of contents.
5. Staple or bind into a magazine.

Customization

• Individual students, pairs, or groups
   
• Features: news, interviews, opinions, book/movie reviews, gossip, jokes, quiz, horoscope
   
• Length: four to ten features plus four to six ads
   
• Level: beginners find French articles, more advanced students write their own
   
• Theme: francophone countries and/or regions, sports, fashion, politics, culture, technology
   
• Topic: teacher can assign or students can choose

Notes

"I use this as my final exam for the spring, but you can also scale it down to use as a smaller project. The students pick a theme for their magazine based on the various topics that were taught/discussed during the school year.  They are graded on content, creativity, grammar, and writing skills, which are all curriculum driven. In my school the Foreign Language framework is based on state and national standards: Communities, Connections, Comparisons, Culture, and Communication.

"The results of this project tend to be exceptional because the students work very hard on the magazines to make them unique. The teacher ends up with great sample materials to display on school bulletin board and for back-to-school night the next fall, the principal loves the display of such polished work, and lower-level students get a chance to see how well they will be doing in years to come. During the 2 hour final time we share the projects with the class and discuss them. The students also get a chance to evaluate each other's work, and we pick the blue ribbon edition."

- SamanthaCarr, who shared this project idea on the Profs de français forum. Merci beaucoup !