Back to School in French Class: Easy No-Prep Activities to Start La Rentrée Right
- Karen Olson
- Jul 27, 2025
- 2 min read
La rentrée—the French term for back to school—is not just a time to return to class, but a cultural event in France. As French teachers, this is the perfect opportunity to welcome students with engaging activities that introduce both language and culture while setting the tone for the year. Best of all? You don't need to spend hours prepping! Here are some easy, no-prep activities to kick off your French classes this fall.
1. Explore the French Tradition of La Rentrée
Start with a cultural mini-lesson on how "la rentrée" is celebrated in France. Discuss traditions such as buying new school supplies, the importance of the first day of school, and the French approach to education. Pair it with a short reading passage or video (many are available on YouTube) and guide students through comprehension questions.
Bonus Tip: Get your French IPA – Les fournitures scolaires IPA– French School Supplies IPA here!
2. No-Prep IPA Mini Activities
Introduce students to the IPA (Integrated Performance Assessment) format right from the start. For example:
Interpretive: Have students listen to a short audio or watch a video about back-to-school in France.
Interpersonal: Pair students to discuss their own back-to-school experiences using sentence starters in French.
Presentational: Ask students to write a short paragraph or create a digital slide introducing themselves and what they did over the summer, in French.
These activities require minimal setup and help students practice all three communication modes while easing back into French.
3. Classroom Icebreakers in French
Find Someone Who: Create a simple "trouve quelqu'un qui..." bingo card with prompts like "aime les croissants" or "a voyagé cet été."
Speed Chatting: Set up quick pair rotations where students answer questions in French about their summer, hobbies, or school subjects.
These activities get students talking from day one while building classroom community.
Tip: Click here for a free Find Someone Template
4. Use My Ready-to-Go French IPA Lessons
If you want to dive deeper without spending hours planning, check out my
French Cultural IPA lessons
They come with:
Audio for listening comprehension
Student and teacher guides
Interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational tasks
Answer keys and rubrics
These are perfect not just for La Rentrée but throughout the year—and they work great for live classes, LMS uploads, or sub plans!
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