Every year on September 25, Francophones across Ontario celebrate Jour Franco-Ontarien. For FSL teachers, it's also a wonderful opportunity to help students discover the history, culture, and communities behind the French language they are learning.
What Is Jour Franco-Ontarien?
Jour Franco-Ontarien celebrates Ontario's Francophone community and its contributions to the province.
September 25 was chosen because the Franco-Ontarian flag was first raised on September 25, 1975, at Laurentian University in Sudbury.
The green and white flag has since become an important symbol of Franco-Ontarian identity. The fleur-de-lys represents the Francophone community, while the trillium represents Ontario.
For FSL students, learning about the flag is an easy starting point for exploring the connection between French language and culture in their own province.
French Is Spoken Across Ontario
One important message to share with students is that Francophone culture isn't limited to one part of Canada.
Ontario has Francophone communities throughout the province, including communities in and around Ottawa, Sudbury, Hearst, Timmins, Cornwall, and Windsor.
Looking at these communities on a map can help students see French as a living language that is spoken much closer to home than they may realize.
You could even ask students to find the Francophone community closest to where they live.
Discover Franco-Ontarian Symbols
September 25 is also a great time to explore some of the symbols associated with Franco-Ontarian culture.
Start with the Franco-Ontarian flag and ask students what they notice before explaining the meaning of its colours and symbols.
Students could then create their own poster, flag display, or billboard celebrating Jour Franco-Ontarien using some of the symbols they've discovered.
Listen to Notre Place
Music can be another accessible way to bring Francophone culture into the FSL classroom.
Notre Place, written by Paul Demers and composed by François Dubé, has become an important song within the Franco-Ontarian community.
Even beginner French students don't need to understand every word to participate in a listening activity. Ask them to listen for familiar words, think about the mood of the song, and discuss what they think its overall message might be.
It's a simple way to add authentic French listening to your celebration. Listen to the song HERE.
Make September 25 Meaningful
Jour Franco-Ontarien doesn't need to become a huge classroom event.
You might spend one class learning about the Franco-Ontarian flag, locate Francophone communities on a map, listen to French music, read a short text together, or simply have a discussion about why it's important for languages and cultures to be celebrated.
Even a small activity can help students understand that learning French is about much more than vocabulary lists and verb conjugations.
Need Something Ready for September 25?
If you'd like to celebrate Jour Franco-Ontarien but don't have time to put together your own activities, I've created a Jour Franco-Ontarien activity pack for Grades 4–8 FSL students.
It includes a French reading and comprehension activities, an Ontario map activity, mots cachés, a Notre Place listening activity, a 12-card Le savais-tu? Read Around the Room activity, and a creative billboard project.
You can use the entire resource for a larger celebration or simply choose one or two activities that work with the time and French level of your students.
My goal was to make it easy to fit a little Franco-Ontarian history and culture into an already busy September classroom.
Celebrating French Beyond September 25
Jour Franco-Ontarien is also a great reminder that cultural learning doesn't need to be separate from language learning.
Throughout the year, look for opportunities to introduce students to Francophone communities, music, celebrations, people, and traditions from Ontario, Canada, and around the world.
Those connections can help students begin to see French not simply as a school subject, but as a language connected to real people and communities.
Bonne Journée des Franco-Ontariens!