“Can we have a food day?”
“Can we eat French food?”
“We never eat in here!”
As a French teacher, I’m sure you’ve never heard those words from your students before… (Or, more likely, you hear them weekly!) On the one hand, we know food completely rules French life, so we feel like it’s our job to teach that most basic of French obsessions. But on the other hand….a food day? Oh, god… Do we have the energy?
Sometimes, the answer is a resounding “No!” but with a Fête du Pain, we can easily fulfill the constant student quest for food, as well as maintain our own sanity.
Set-Up: a week before and one day before
A week before the scheduled Fête du Pain, you’ll explain the food day, and you’ll need the sign-up sheet.
Explain to the kids: For the Fête du Pain, we’ll be sampling baguettes from around town. Each of you will rate each baguette on five different categories, and together we’ll determine where to find the best–and the worst–baguettes in town! We need people to sign up for bringing baguettes, salted butter, and large bowls for cut up pieces of bread.
Next, you need the sign-up sheet. Adjust it as necessary to fit the stores available in your area. If your class is 20 students or smaller, I recommend 6-8 baguettes total. If your class is 30 students or more, I recommend 12-16 total baguettes. That might be one or two per store, depending on how many stores in your area carry baguettes. These estimates are based on my high schoolers’ appetites, so adjust as necessary for your population.
After students sign up, have them put reminders in their phones and/or planners for the DAY BEFORE and the DAY OF to bring their items. I also like to email all the parents in the class and give them a heads-up of who signed up for what as well.
The day before the Fête du Pain, remind students and parents again.
Set-Up: day of bread party
Before students arrive, set up stations around the room where the different breads will go. Each station should have a card by it that says “Pain numéro ___”. When students arrive, place one baguette, out of its bag, at each station, and take note where each one is from (for yourself only–don’t let the kids see).
Pass out a napkin and a rating sheet to each student. Explain that in Paris there is a “Meilleure Baguette” competition every year, and the baker who bakes the best baguette gets to supply the Élysée Palace (where their president lives) with baguettes for the next year! The baguettes are judged on five categories: smell, taste, appearance, “doneness”, and texture. The kids first go wash their hands, and when they get back, they do their first round of judging. In Round 1, they will observe the color, shape, smell, and texture, as well as pick up the baguettes to see if they hold their shape or flop. They should take notes as they go.
After completing Round 1, students watch this 9-minute video. While they watch the video, the teacher (and maybe an assistant, depending on how many baguettes you have!), will slice the baguettes into smaller pieces and put them into the bowls. Put the butter on plates in the center of the room, and put a couple knives on each plate.
Let’s start the party!
When the video is done, it’s time to eat! Kids go from station to station, sampling the baguettes with or without butter. They rate each baguette on the five categories, and man, do they ever get into it:
“Number 3 is the best!”
“Are you kidding me? Number 3 is disgusting!”
“You guys! You have to smell number 6! It smells soooo good!”
“If I could marry number 4, I would!”
When all the students have gone through one round of taste-testing I tell them they can go back for Round 2. I stress that the bread needs to be gone by the end of the period! NO LEFTOVERS ALLOWED!
Eventually, they slow down. (I know that’s hard to believe with teenagers.) Students finish by writing their names on their score sheets, as well as a giant BEST across the rating box with the best baguette and WORST across the box with their lowest scoring baguette. I collect them, tally the responses, and then I announce the winner and loser. Students are always so curious to know where the best and worst are from, and every year they’re shocked when I reveal which baguette was from where!
There you have it! A simple food day! It’s easy to set up and easy to clean up, and the students absolutely love it.
Amusez-vous bien, et bon appétit!
Hello! I’m doing this party for the first time this week. Thank you for the idea and materials.
That’s awesome! My students REALLY get into it…while I quietly put my head down and giggle because it’s pretty hilarious to hear teenagers arguing passionately over the nuances of BREAD! Enjoy!