Grade 6 Core French : Parent Information Handout
Britt Innovations Inc. · Monsieur Britt · 2025-2026 / 2026-2027
Welcome to Grade 6 French!
This year your child will move from beginner French (A1) to upper-beginner (A1+ moving toward A2). They'll keep using simple present-tense French for everyday communication, but they'll also learn to talk about the past (using the passé composé) and the future (using futur proche). By June, they should be able to write short paragraphs and have simple conversations on familiar topics.
The 10 units of Grade 6
| Month | Unit | Theme | What they'll learn |
|---|
| Sept | 1 | La Rentrée + Lapin Lecteur (Franco-Ontarian) | present tense + impératif, intro to futur proche |
| Oct | 2 | Le Carnaval de Québec | futur proche (going to do) |
| Nov | 3 | La Cabane à Sucre | passé composé with avoir (-er verbs only) |
| Dec | 4 | Le Chandail de Hockey (Roch Carrier) | passé composé extended to -ir, -re, irregulars |
| Jan | 5 | Les Voyageurs (Minecraft adventure) | passé composé with être, motion verbs (VANDERTRAMP) |
| Feb | 6 | Louis Riel et les MĂ©tis | full VANDERTRAMP + reflexive verb preview |
| Mar | 7 | La Chasse-galerie (legend) | passé composé consolidation |
| Apr | 8 | L'Acadie et le Tintamarre | passé composé + imparfait (description in past) |
| May | 9 | Roblox daily life | reflexive verbs (se lever, se coucher) |
| June | 10 | Minecraft synthesis (Bilan) | year-end review, cumulative |
Cultural figures your child will meet
- Lapin Lecteur (bookish reader, introduced in Unit 1)
- Bonhomme Carnaval (the real Quebec Winter Carnival mascot, U2)
- Monsieur Tremblay (cabane Ă sucre owner, U3)
- Roch Carrier (real Quebec author of Le Chandail / The Hockey Sweater, U4)
- Maurice Richard (real Montreal Canadiens hockey legend, U4)
- Étienne Brûlé and Pierre-Esprit Radisson (real fur-trade voyageurs, U5)
- Voyageur Pierre (mentor figure, U5 and returning in U7)
- Louis Riel (real MĂ©tis leader, considered a Father of Confederation, U6)
- Honoré Beaugrand (real author of La Chasse-galerie, U7)
- Tante Évangéline (Acadian elder, U8)
The Grade 5 cast also returns: Corbeau (crow), Renard (fox), Madame Chouette (owl teacher), Hérisson (hedgehog), Écureuil (squirrel), Lapin (Métis character).
Assessment
Each unit ends with:
- A test (40 marks plus 2 bonus) covering Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing
- A cheat sheet (6 panels) given to students BEFORE the test as a study aid
The Unit 10 BILAN doubles to 80 marks and reviews the whole year.
Daily activities are also tracked: every lesson exercises all four strands so I can report on each one.
How you can support at home
You don't need to speak French. Here's what helps:
- Quiz the cheat sheet before each test. Even just reading the headings together helps.
- Watch a francophone Canadian film or show together. Try the National Film Board of Canada's free shorts (nfb.ca), Le Chandail (animated short based on Unit 4!), or Tou.tv (Radio-Canada's free streaming, Canadian users).
- Listen to French music. CĹ“ur de pirate, Charlotte Cardin, Damien Robitaille (Franco-Ontarian) are great starter artists. La Bottine Souriante and Mes AĂŻeux for the voyageur and folk-tradition feel during U5 and U7.
- Encourage them to write in French casually. A sentence in their journal, a text to a French-speaking friend, a Duolingo streak. Quantity beats perfection at this stage.
- Visit a cabane Ă sucre in March or April if you can. It pairs perfectly with Unit 3.
- Celebrate small wins. "I'm proud of you for trying" carries in any language.
What if my child is struggling?
- The cheat sheet is the single best study tool. It's deliberately compact (one page, six panels) so students can review the whole unit in under 10 minutes.
- The interactive activities online include immediate-feedback exercises that reinforce grammar without the pressure of a graded quiz.
- The time-tracking system built into the platform discourages rushing; students must spend a minimum amount of time on each activity before it counts.
- The French-only mode (for advanced students) can be turned off so the English mirror text is always visible. Most kids prefer the bilingual default.
- Reach out to me directly at any point if your child is feeling overwhelmed or losing confidence. Early conversations are easier than late ones.
What if my child is excelling?
- The extension panel in each cheat sheet has authentic French content links (TFO for Franco-Ontarian, Radio-Canada, French books, francophone films).
- Encourage applying for French Immersion at the Grade 9 level if your school board offers it.
- Concours d'art oratoire (regional French speech contest) is open to Core French students; they routinely place well.
- Summer French immersion programs (Explore, Destination Clic) are federally subsidized for some students.
- The vocabulary review tool (Anki-style spaced repetition) lets motivated kids build their vocabulary far beyond what's on the unit tests.
Looking ahead to Grade 7
Next year your child will:
- Learn the futur simple, conditional, and start recognizing the subjunctive
- Read longer authentic texts: Le Petit Prince excerpts, Canadian newspaper articles
- Discuss Canadian history (Patriotes 1837, Confederation 1867)
- Meet AĂŻsha (a Senegalese pen-pal) and explore the African francophonie
- Write structured paragraphs with multiple verb tenses
- Reach CEFR level A2 (basic communication)
Contact
If you have any questions, please reach out via the school messaging system or email.
Bonne année!
Monsieur Britt Grade 6 Core French Teacher Britt Innovations Inc.
*© 2026 Britt Innovations Inc.*