Canadian Thanksgiving—also known as L’Action de grâce—is the perfect opportunity to bring both cultural learning and gratitude into your French classroom. Beyond teaching seasonal vocabulary, this holiday allows students to reflect on thankfulness, community, and traditions en français.
Whether you teach Core French, Immersion, or FLES, incorporating French Thanksgiving activities can build language skills, encourage social-emotional learning, and brighten your classroom with festive fall displays. Below, you’ll find four ready-to-use resources to help your students express gratitude in meaningful and creative ways.
1. French Thanksgiving Bulletin Board Idea: Gratitude Sweaters for L’Action de grâce
During the Thanksgiving / L’Action de grâce season, transform your classroom into a cozy space filled with thankfulness. These gratitude sweaters give students the chance to decorate with French words and sentences while creating a vibrant bulletin board display for fall.
Students choose from 10 sweater templates and personalize them with patches where they write what they’re grateful for—en français! With included vocabulary support, you can easily adapt this project for different proficiency levels.
French Thanksgiving Bulletin Board Idea: Gratitude Sweaters for L’Action de grâce
✨ The result? A colorful, gratitude-filled classroom wall that doubles as both a language-learning tool and seasonal décor.
2. Free French Gratitude Prompts for Canadian Thanksgiving / L’Action de grâce Activities
Looking for a quick, no-prep way to bring gratitude in French into your classroom? These FREE French Gratitude Prompts are the perfect starting point.
Students can use the prompts for:
✅ Class discussions
✅ Journal writing, bell ringers, or exit tickets
✅ Bulletin board reflections
✅ Collaborative posters or gratitude walls
Because the prompts are flexible, they work for beginners and advanced learners alike. Best of all—they’re free! This resource is an easy way to start meaningful conversations about thankfulness while practicing French vocabulary, writing, and speaking.
3. L’Action de grâce French Classroom Quilt: A Collaborative Thanksgiving Gratitude Project
Take gratitude a step further with this collaborative classroom quilt project. Students create quilt squares that express thankfulness, kindness, and seasonal traditions—all in French.
Here’s how it works:
Each student completes a quilt square (pre-made with prompts, blank for writing, or illustrated for coloring).
Students reflect, write, and decorate their squares in French.
The class assembles the pieces into one large gratitude quilt for display.
This hands-on project is ideal for both Core French and Immersion classrooms, making it a versatile way to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving while practicing French writing and cultural reflection.
L’Action de grâce French Classroom Quilt: A Collaborative Thanksgiving Gratitude Project
4. French Thanksgiving Speaking Activity: L’Action de grâce Chat Mat for Student Discussions
If you want to boost student speaking confidence, the Thanksgiving Chat Mat is a must-have. It provides vocabulary, high-frequency verbs, and sentence starters that help students talk about gratitude, family, traditions, and Thanksgiving celebrations in French.
Because it’s visual and student-friendly, the chat mat works perfectly for pair work, group discussions, bell ringers, or fast finisher activities. It encourages authentic speaking practice and gives students the structure they need to participate actively—no prep required.
French Thanksgiving Speaking Activity: L’Action de grâce Chat Mat for Student Discussions
Bringing Gratitude en Français into Your Classroom
Canadian Thanksgiving / L’Action de grâce is more than a holiday—it’s a chance to connect language learning with reflection, community, and joy. Whether you choose a simple gratitude prompt, a chat mat for speaking, or a collaborative project like sweaters or a quilt, your students will practice French while engaging in meaningful seasonal traditions.
✨ Explore these resources and bring the spirit of gratitude into your classroom this fall:
Gratitude Sweater Bulletin Board
Together, these activities make it easy to celebrate L’Action de grâce in French class with creativity, reflection, and student voice.