In autumn 2026, a student protest about overcrowded, understaffed schools near Paris grew into a nationwide movement. Students, trade unions, farmers, pensioners and the returning “Yellow Vests” took to the streets over the cost of living and public spending cuts. This A2 lesson uses the story to teach simple vocabulary for talking about protests, prices and the news.
Level: A2 · Time: 45 to 90 minutes. Pick the activities that suit your class. They work in almost any order.
Lesson Activities
- Warmer: Picture Reveal – Reveal the picture tile by tile. What is it? Which country? What do students know about France and the news there?
- Vocabulary: Pre-teach the Key Words – Match 10 words from the article to their meanings before reading (enough, march, retired, prices, peaceful, owe…).
- Reading: Students Protest in France – A short graded news story with 10 gaps and a word bank.
- Vocabulary: Sort the Words – Sort 15 words and phrases into People, Actions and Problems. Pre-teach any new items first.
- Discussion: Protests and Prices – 10 conversation questions about school, prices, protest and politicians.
- Speaking: Ranking – What should the French government do? Students rank eight possible responses, then compare and justify their order in pairs.
Teacher Tips
- For a shorter lesson, use the warmer, the cloze and the discussion cards.
- Politics can be sensitive. The ranking task lets students give opinions without having to share their own political views.
- Follow-up: ask students to find one news headline about protests or prices in their own country and explain it to the class.
Teaching a stronger group? Try the B2 version of this lesson.
Eiffel Tower photo: Benh LIEU SONG, via Wikimedia Commons.