Lapbook du Printemps

This “lapbook du printemps” is a fun, new, and engaging way to introduce, practice, or review spring-related vocabulary, farm vocabulary, and life cycle key concepts as well. Students also get to practice reading and writing, too.

Everything comes in B&W and color. The idea is for students to use the B&W pages. The color alternative has been included for teachers to create a lapbook sample in case students need a reference.

Check out the pictures and descriptions below to see the components of the lapbook du printemps. And keep scrolling to the end of the post for a selection of spring-themed and farm-themed videos to be used in the classroom.

FOLDABLE MINI-BOOKS: fruits and vegetables

Lapbook du Printemps - Fruits & Vegatables Foldable Mini-Books — Foldable mini-books to practice vocabulary for fruits and vegetables and simple sentence structures like “J’aime les…” and “Je mange des…”

I’ve included different versions of each mini-book. Essentially, there is one mini-book for fruits and another one for vegetables.

The main goal is to introduce, practice, or review names of fruits and vegetables in French.

There are two versions for the text. You can have students working with “j’aime les (fruits and vegetables)” or “je mange des (fruits and vegetables)”.

For each sentence, there are three task options:

– read the text and color the images

– fill in the blanks in the sentence with the target vocabulary and color the images

– read the text and draw the fruits and vegetables according to the text

I’ve included instructions on how to fold the mini-books in the file, but if you need a video tutorial, click here.

INTERACTIVE MATCHING ACTIVITY: farm animals

Farm animals in French - interactive matching activity — Farm animals in French – interactive matching activity

Take the old matching game, i.e. matching words to images, and add interactivity to it. How?

By creating a pocket to hold the cards that students will be creating.

There are two versions of the cards.

In the first one, the names of the farm animals will be at the top. Once the card is inserted into the pocket, students can only see the words. They have to read the word aloud and visualize the animal it refers to. Then, they slowly remove the card and check to see if the animal is the one they had in mind.

In the second version, the names of the animals will be at the bottom of the card. When slowly removing the cards from the pocket, students will first see the animal and they have to say its name before revealing the word.

Read: Farm Animals in French and Prepositions QUIZ

WRITING PROMPTS: “What does the farmer say?” and “Le jardin au printemps”

French spring lapbook - writing prompt - what does the farmer say? — Students fill in the speech bubble with something a farmer would say

To complete the right side of the lapbook while still keeping the farm theme, I’ve added this simple, yet fun writing prompt. After introducing or reviewing key farm vocabulary and discussing with students the things a farmer would say, kids complete the speech bubble. This is a task that will be great for all level students because they can write as much as they are capable of. If they’re struggling students, they can write just a couple of words or a very simple sentence. If they’re gifted, they can complete more than one bubble. Just remember to make extra copies if necessary.

French Spring Sequencing Writing Prompt Flip Books — Students can either use the version with the pre-selected images (right) or they can create their own stories by choosing three images (left)

There are two versions for this flip book. Students can use the version with the pre-selected images and write their story according to the pictures. The images have been selected to incentive the practice of sequencing. The second version gives students more freedom to create. They have nine images to choose from in order to create their own garden/spring story. I’ve included other suggestions of use in the file.

FOLDABLE FLAPS OR PETALS: life cycles (butterfly and frog)

French Spring Lapbook - Foldable Petals for Life Cycles of Butterflies and Frogs — Foldable Petals – great to use if you’re focusing on the names of the life cycle stages

I’ve included two options of foldable flaps in the lapbook du printemps: a “liftable” flap and a “petal” flap.

They’re both fun and effective. The difference might be in how much you expect your students to write about life cycles.

But before I explain the different uses, I would like to point out that I have not added any words to the flaps. There are only images. That has been the best way I have found to allow for more flexible use by the teacher.

If you’re introducing life cycles to younger students or to students who are new to the language, you might just want to focus on the names of the stages which a butterfly and a frog go through.

Butterly: l’oeuf, la chenille, la chrysalide, le papillon

Frog: l’oeuf, le têtard, le têtard avec pattes, la jeune grenouille, la grenouille adulte

Under each of the “petals”, students should write the name of the stage the image illustrates. They can write on the petal itself or on the notebook/lapbook under the petal.

The petal flap might also be easier for younger students to cut and paste.

French Spring Lapbook - Foldable Life Cycle Flaps (grenouille / papillon) — These foldable flaps might be better for students to write sentences about the stages of the life cycle

This type of foldable allows more “room” for students to take notes. They can write sentences under the flaps describing the stages in the life cycle.

Choose the foldable that best meets the needs and skills of your students.

And if you’d like to complement your lesson with videos, here’s a list of spring-themed videos in French:

– Henri Dès chante “C’est le Printemps”

– Chanson: Le Printemps

– Le Printemps par Matt Maxwell

And farm-themed videos in French:

– Apprendre les animaux de la ferme en français

– La ferme de Papy Henri

– Dans la ferme de Mathurin