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French-Speaking Countries

Seventh graders explore the French-speaking world — France, Canada, Belgium, Senegal, and beyond — learning capitals and cultures and discovering that French connects about 300 million people across five continents.

Grade 7Pays Francophones40 minutes1 class periodACTFL / CommunicativeExplicit teaching4 StandardsACTFL
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Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name French-speaking countries.
  • ✓Name their capitals.
  • ✓Connect language to culture.
  • ✓Value the francophone world.
Essential Question

French isn’t just spoken in France — it’s spoken on five continents by about 300 million people! Which countries speak French, and what are they like?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive

The Pays Explorer

Project this and tap each country. Have students explore the French-speaking world and its capitals.

🌍 Explore French-speaking countries — tap eachTry it

The Lesson · Communicative Flow (Warm-Up · Present · Practice · Speak · Reflect)

40 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — Un Monde Francophone

5 min

French is spoken by 300 million people — in which countries?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show a world map.
  • Ask where French is spoken.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Present — Pays Francophones

9 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Pays Explorer.
  • Note each country.
  • Note its capital.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each.
  • Note them.
  • Note capitals.
3

Practice — Practice

11 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Match countries to capitals.
  • Find them on a map.
  • Note a culture fact.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Match.
  • Find.
  • Note it.
4

Speak — Speak

10 min

Students speak.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Say a country and capital.
  • Say “Je viens de…” for a country.
  • Ask a partner.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Say it.
  • Say from.
  • Ask.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Name a country.
  • Name its capital.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name one.
  • Name it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Novice).

ACTFL
Cultures 2.1

Recognize the French-speaking world.

ACTFL
Connections 3.2

Connect to geography and culture.

ACTFL
Communities 5.1

Understand the reach of French.

ACTFL
Comparisons 4.2

Compare cultures across countries.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Country + capital cards.
  • Sentence frame: “La capitale de ___ est ___.”
  • Use a world map.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with France and Canada.
  • Use a map.
  • Name one country.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add more countries.
  • Research a country.
  • Explain cultural differences.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🌍A world map
  • 💻The Pays Explorer
  • 🚩Country flags
  • ✏️Pencils
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

le payscountryfrancophoneFrench-speakingla capitalecapitalla FranceFrancele CanadaCanadala BelgiqueBelgiumle SénégalSenegalle mondeworld
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
Name a French-speaking country and its capital.
Sample: France (Paris), Canada (Ottawa), Belgium (Brussels), or Senegal (Dakar).
QUESTION 2
Where in Canada is French especially spoken?
Quebec.
QUESTION 3
About how many people speak French worldwide?
About 300 million, on five continents.

Reflect: le monde francophone.

Have students pick one French-speaking country and find one interesting fact about it. A printable pays sheet is in the World Languages library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 French-Speaking Countries (Pays Francophones)Flip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 French-Speaking Countries (Pays Francophones)Quiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ French-Speaking Countries (Pays Francophones)Print
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: francophone, la Belgique, la capitale, la France, le Canada, le monde, le pays, le Sénégal
  1. Belgium
  2. Canada
  3. world
  4. capital
  5. French-speaking
  6. France
  7. country
  8. Senegal

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. Name a French-speaking country and its capital.
  2. Where in Canada is French especially spoken?
  3. About how many people speak French worldwide?
Answer key — Part A: 1) la Belgique · 2) le Canada · 3) le monde · 4) la capitale · 5) francophone · 6) la France · 7) le pays · 8) le Sénégal
Part B: 1) Sample: France (Paris), Canada (Ottawa), Belgium (Brussels), or Senegal (Dakar). 2) Quebec. 3) About 300 million, on five continents.