Warm-Up Activities and Fillers for the French Classroom

Most language teachers find that there is a bit of dead time during class. This may occur at the beginning of class, as the students are arriving; at the end of class, as they are thinking about leaving; and right in the middle of class, when transitioning from one lesson to another. During this dead time, the best option is to spend five or ten minutes on a short, interesting activity. Teachers in the Profs de français forum have shared some great ideas for warm-up and filler activities - take a look.

20 Questions
Find like pairs by asking questions of other students.

Building Sentences
Put together the parts of a sentence.

Categories
List all of the vocabulary in a particular category.

Conversations
Pair off for short discussions.

Meet your neighbor
Practice greetings and personal details with other students.

M + Ms
A way to get to know each other on the first day.

Music videos
Watch and discuss French music videos.

Name Game
Learn all of the students' names.

Quotations
Discuss quotations by famous Francophones.

Repetitions
Have students repeat a list of vocabulary.

Rounds
Practice vocabulary in logical groups.

What kind of warm-up activities work best in your language classes? Let us know!