Today’s blog is all about French 3 songs that I use in my classroom to engage students, improve their listening skills, and maybe turn their Spotify French Music list towards new artists and music genres. Why am I stuck on fill-in-the-blank French 3 songs as the answer to how to do this? I’ve been using these types of French songs for over 20 years from Exploratory French to French 5, and I can say hands down it is the most effective French bellringer routine.
The French 3 songs, and all of my fill-in-the-blank songs at each level, are win-win:
- When I click “play” on the song, students are engaged as they fill in song blanks with French vocabulary words.
- While students fill in the blanks, I take attendance, collect a tardy slip here and there, and walk around the room to glance over their shoulders to see how they’re doing.
But beyond what I do or my students do in the first 5 minutes, the benefit of these fill-in-the-blank French 3 songs is awesome:
- a bellringer routine that students count on to ease into class daily all year long
- increased student engagement in listening
- improved listening skills at all levels of French
- instant entry point for all students – regardless of their listening skill level
- increased student interest in French musical artists
This blog is strictly about some of the French 3 songs used in my class and a continuation of two previous blogs:
- “4 Perfect French 1 Songs as Bellringers for Beginning French Students”
- “6 Effective French 2 Songs to Engage Students and Improve Listening Skills”
However, this list of French 3 songs below works for my instructional style, my students, and their personalities. As always, you know your students so take these suggestions and adapt them or change the level to fit your teaching style, your students, and their personalities.
French 3 Songs – The Why?
Listening skills improve listening comprehension. I use French 3 songs to improve listening skills by having discrete and narrow listening fill-in-the-blank activities. In my first 5-10 years of teaching, I used the thematic vocabulary from each unit to create these types of activities. Unfortunately, I hit roadblocks within each unit:
- It was time-consuming to create the listening activities for each unit.
- Students were absent for part of the week and missed the specific vocabulary needed for the narrow listening activity on the day they returned.
- I needed to teach the exact same vocabulary from that unit year after year in order to use the exact same French listening activity. If I changed vocabulary or missed some vocabulary, then the listening activity was dead in the water.
- I found that even my upper-level French 3, 4, and 5 students were stressed at the idea of listening to a French newscast or French movie for specific details and ideas without subtitles.
In short, my students were used to me speaking 90%+ in French but LOOK OUT if a native French speaker was introduced. I had to make a change.
I implemented fill-in-the-blank French 3 songs over 20 years ago AND continued to present newscasts or French movies in each thematic unit to improve listening comprehension. My French lesson planning was not one activity or the other but understanding that I must create regular opportunities for students to practice both listening skills and listening comprehension.
I quickly realized that using French music to achieve this goal was needed from Exploratory French to French 5. And I got to work. What you see in my TPT store, L’Essentiel French Resources, is a partial grouping of songs that I use with students at different levels of French.
French 3 Songs – Suggestions for Teachers
These are student tips that I explicitly and directly give my students when I begin any of the French 3 songs:
- Improve your French listening skills for the sake of improving your French listening skills. If a student completes a song with 80% of the vocabulary filled in and mostly in the correct section, that student receives 100% of the points. There is no negative consequence to a student whose listening skills are lagging behind the others.
- I play each song only once per day. I tell students: we could play the song 10 times per day but that doesn’t mean your listening skills will increase by 10 each day. Listening skills, like speaking skills, are developed and refined over time. Slow and steady wins the race.
- For all of my French 3 songs, I expect that students take 2-3 minutes before I click “play” to do one of the following:
- choose the words they will listen for today and write them off to the side
- do not wait for the word to arrive in your ear
- choose the words and actively listen for them
- look for verbs in the vocabulary list or subjects in the song (usually done with a partner on day 1 of new French 3 songs)
- group words that rhyme or have multiple syllables (usually done with a partner on days 2 and 3 of new French 3 songs)
- notice grammatical patterns: if “allé” is a vocabulary word, then it needs to be near “je suis” or “je ne suis pas” (usually done with a partner on days 4 and 5)
When I expect students to actively make a plan before they start listening to the French song, they are more likely to engage and be self-motivated because they are choosing their own listening goal(s) for the day. If it’s French 1 or 2, I sometimes direct the goal for the day as they start to learn and internalize the above suggestions.
French 3 Songs – How to know when to end the song?
Knowing when to end a song is student-driven. I expect students to achieve 80% of vocabulary filled into the French 3 songs. As students are choosing their daily goal (from the bullet points above), I take attendance. Then, when I click “play”, I have a full 3-4 minutes to walk around and look over their shoulders to see how they are progressing through the song.
I know my students well enough that when my strong students appear frustrated or only fill in 1-2 blanks in a day, then we are in our final 2-3 days of the song. For the final 2-3 days of all French 3 songs, I choose one or more of the following strategies:
- I collect the alphabetized vocabulary list and hand out the categorized-by-section vocabulary list
- If I don’t hand out the categorized-by-section vocabulary list, then I will let them ask me where vocabulary words are:
- “Madame, où est le mot ___?”
- “Le mot ___ est dans strophe 3.” and I verify that my struggling students have written this word next to strophe 3 on the song sheet.
- I ask students which section of the song to repeat and I click “rewind” 5-6 times on the audio
- I ask students which section of the song to repeat and I sing that section 3-4 times more slowly
- sometimes I sing in tune and …..
- sometimes I sing like a dog howling at the moon
The ultimate goal as students approach the end of all French 3 songs is to not let them become frustrated. When students are frustrated, it doesn’t matter if they receive 100% of the points or not. Frustration leads students to give up or cut corners on learning and they might look up the words on the internet to copy.
French 3 Songs – The list of 8
In a particular order that works for my students, here is a partial list of French 3 songs that I use throughout the year and a quick reason why or how I use it. I only play the song once per day and this is how the song lasts for about 8-12 school days.
#1 – Papaoutai (Stromae)
I play my strongest card on the first day of school for French 3. No rules talk. No syllabus. They want to know which song we start with and I do not let them down. This video is captivating. The tempo is captivating. Stromae is stellar. The song is always a hit at the start of French 3. They might have seen or heard this song in French 1 or 2 but they’ve never “worked” on the song.
#2 – Ensemble (Coeur de Pirate)
Again, this is one of a few French 3 songs by the Canadian artist, Béatrice Martin, that I use. She also shows up in my list of French 2 songs.
#3 – Je Vole (du film)
The film “La Famille Bélier” is an awesome movie in French and Louane’s voice is clear, slow, and very emotional. I explain the movie briefly before we watch the video clip on YouTube for the first time.
#4 – For Me, Formidable (Charles Aznavour)
A throwback to the 1960’s and the sounds of Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra. There is a play-on-words that my French 3 students discover on their own while listening. I love it when they realize how the French and English vocabulary are intertwined. Surprisingly, this is one of their favorite French 3 songs year after year.
#5 – En Feu (Soprano)
This is one of the faster French 3 songs they listen to. The fast tempo surprises them a bit because they think they are used to listening to French music in class after all these years. And then they hear this song. I watch closely for when to give them the extra support suggestions listed above in the bullet points.
#6 – Le Plus Fort du Monde (Black M)
What is there to say? Video + song style = a sure hit every year with my French 3 students. After 8-12 days of this song, my French 3 students watch the video clip again and are able (with language supports) to have a discussion about the video clip, the meaning, and why they do or do not like the song.
#7 – On n’est pas à une Bêtise Près (Renan Luce)
On n’est pas à une Bêtise Près is an older movie song that I sometimes use in French 3, sometimes in French 4. I try to use it in French 3 if students are strong or at least I wait until quarter 4 when their listening skills are stronger. For sure, they love it when we read stories from Le Petit Nicolas in French 4 and we watch the movie at the end of the unit. They love singing along with the song!
#8 – On a Mangé le Soleil (Céphaz)
This song pairs well before or after my unit on L’Environnement. I will bring up the song later as we discuss “la consommation et le gaspillage dans le monde” because I interpret the song to be about consumption and waste.
French 3 Songs – Final Thoughts
Where are these fill-in-the-blank French 3 songs?
The eight songs mentioned above are in the “French Song activities” category of my TPT store: L’Essentiel French Resources. Consider purchasing one or two or purchase the entire growing bundle of 25+ French songs for all levels. Each song has 2 versions and each version has 2 differentiated vocabulary lists.
If you are interested in more detailed blogs about incorporating French songs into your classroom, consider these blogs on my website:
- “3 Tips for French Bellringer Activities”
- “4 Perfect French 1 Songs as Bellringers for Beginning French Students”
- “6 Effective French 2 Songs to Engage Students and Improve Listening Skills”
Video versions of all my blogs are on my YouTube Channel: L’Essentiel French Resources or follow me on Instagram: @essentielfrenchresources and X: @EssFrResources. Please consider liking this video or following me on those social media platforms.
My name is Lisa and I love being your new French colleague. How can I help you tomorrow?
