Celebrate the end of the school year with a little culture. Enjoy a French, Spanish, German, Italian, or Chinese themed party.
If you're a teacher like me, you probably know exactly how many days are left until the end of the school year. Even though there's an incredible amount of work to be done in these final days, I try not to forget the importance of bringing closure to the year and leaving my students with wonderful memories of their foreign language class. Why not a party?
Well, some schools--especially high schools--don't allow them. When I was a high school student back in the day, my French teacher organized "cultural experiences" instead. How do you make a party a cultural experience? Easy! It's all about relevant food, music, and games.
I had a crepe making celebration with my French students just the other week. I brought in a mixer, ingredients, and a crepe maker. My students took care of a topping bar, complete with Nutella, pie filling, powdered sugar, lemon, jam, chocolate chips, and whipped cream. We cooked, ate, and listened to French music. What fun!
As the culminating event to one of my elementary programs, my fifth grade "graduates" participated in an ethnic potluck meal. I supplied the snails, snapping photos and awarding "I ate escargot" certificates.
Cultural class picnics are a hit, too. Check out my ideas for a French pique-nique, as well as Catherine Fortin's Spanish-themed picnic party. Picnics are a great opportunity to get outside and play language games or other authentic games from the target culture, such as petanque or bocce ball.
Whether you teach French, Spanish, German, Italian, or Chinese, create a cultural party your students won't soon forget.
