Let the students create the topics!

While working on authentic conversation scenarios I decided to have my students role play from a picture of a man talking on the phone. Let the authentic conversations begin!  Within two minutes of asking them to do so, out came all of the cell phones in my class and all the students began talking!  It was such a funny sight! They were really getting into the "scenario"!   As I circulated around the room to listen,  the conversations were truly varied.  Some spoke of what they did the day before, some of money owed to someone else, while others spoke of pets and even food.  The topics of the conversations were not assigned by me, just the picture prompt.  I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to challenge the students to stretch their vocabulary; and so I decided to put a bit of a twist on the activity.  I wrote all of the topics on the board and  asked the students to find their original topic and then to look at the topic listed below theirs.  That one would be their next conversation starter!!  I then set my timer for a quick two minutes, and off they went again!  I want my students to push the envelope, so to speak, in order to be better risk takers in terms of their language skills and their attempts at becoming better conversationalists. I know that with practise, even their conversations will improve!  Give it a try! 

Wow!

Wow! It's been crazy busy these past couple of weeks!   I can hardly believe where the time has gone!  Had some fun with my senior class this week when I put up a picture of a man proposing to a woman in a restaurant.  It didn't really look like a very fancy restaurant but he was down on one knee with ring in hand.   We did a role play where they took turns playing both people in the photo while I circulated around the room to listen to the conversations.  When you first think about it you might think that this would be an easy task for seniors to do, but really, it posed some challenges for them.  How do you express the feelings that you can see in the photo?  There was a wide variety of conversation but many had the one thing in common that I was surprised to hear; and that was the use of "vous" in the conversations.  It was a true testament to the fact that we always tell our students to be "polite" when speaking in French and that the French people truly cherish this part of their culture.  On the flipside, it was also the perfect time to remind students that you must take each scenario into account in order to determine whether "tu" or "vous" should be used.  We chuckled about it when debriefing about the topic knowing that we certainly should be "familiar" with our future spouses should that be the end result of the "conversation".  :)  It was also a great opportunity to talk about what possible conversations could be occuring.  Perhaps the answer was not "yes"; perhaps it was "no".  What could the followup response be?  How would the conversation continue should the answer be no. Are there terms of endearment that might be used during the conversation?  Would you tell the other person that you love them?  Do you have a "loving name" that you might use with your future spouse?  A great conversation to have.  Once we had discussed these kinds of things and also brainstormed some more vocabulary and ideas on the board; my students redid the role play.  What an improvement!!  Truly getting into character is most important!!  :) 

I'm having a sale!

I'm having a sale at my store Nov. 8-11.  Come by for a visit!  :)  Click on the link "teacherspayteachers" on the right hand side. :)

Parlons!

Well, it's been a few days since I've blogged.  It's been crazy busy at my school and with parent/teacher/student interviews and fighting a nasty cold, I've wanted to just curl up with a blanket in the evening!  Now that I'm feeling much better I thought I'd share a "parlons" activity that we did today in my class.  I introduced "inversion" questions today and so I thought it crucial that the students practise making these questions before getting into anything in the written form!  We began by having each student write down 'ONE' Est-ce que question.  I had each student say theirs aloud giving me the opportunity to make any corrections for them before doing the next step of changing them into "inversion type questions". 

My students sit at round tables which allows them easy access to each other when doing speaking activities.  The perfect number at a table for this activity is an "odd" number of students!  The first student asked their "est-ce que" question aloud to the person beside them. That student changed the question to an "inversion style" question.  And finally, the third student would have to answer the inversion question, preferably with a full sentence answer in French!  The next student (fourth student) would then begin again with HIS "est-ce que" question.  Then, the student next around the table would change the question into inversion, and the following student would once again answer the question.  With an odd number of students, each student will eventually get to ask their question, have the opportunity to change a question into inversion, and finally answer an inverted question!  I wandered from table to table while the students carried out this activity.  They did a very fine job!!  :) Give it a try in your class!   Next day?  We'll do a little writing with these questions.

Parlons français!

My students have been learning how to make simple one and two verb sentences in the present tense all revolving around the vocabulary topics of food, drinks, sports, activities, and school subjects.  After working on this for about a month and a half they are now putting their expertise to work!  Each student has a "sondage" in their hands and they are circulating around the room to complete the survey.  In French of course! :)  Before beginning the survey they needed to complete some of the questions on the "sondage" as some were "fill in the blanks" so that they students could personalize the survey to their preferences. The sondage is a full page in length and so this activity took at least 15 minutes of "speech" time to go through the list of questions.  It could certainly be divided in half in order to do 2 mini surveys.  If you are interested in this "sondage" it can be found in my teacher store at Teachers pay Teachers.  Here's the link:  http://bit.ly/P1yKPv 

:)  Lorraine  

Belgium learning stations!

Belgium - Site matching activity - pictures are stapled into a file folder for easier use

Here are two of four Belgium stations used in my classroom last week to reinforce our Belgium Unit. This product is available at TpT:  http://bit.ly/UtWBJN

Inside/Outside Circle

Inside/outside circle is the perfect way to have all of your students speak to each other at the same time while practising their French!! Today, after teaching how to make inversion questions I had the students create 2 questions revolving around the topic of Belgium which we have been studying over the past few weeks.  Next, I numbered each student either "one" or "two" and had all of the 'ones' sit in a circle facing outwards.  The 'twos' then chose a partner and sat their chairs facing a number one partner.  With all of the chatter in the room I use a "bell" to initiate a change in partner while the students are participating in the oral activity.  The 'inside' circle students asked their 'outside' circle partner a question in the inversion form about the country of Belgium.  The outside circle students then answered the questions to the best of their abilities.  After each student asked their questions I rang the bell and the outside circle students moved 'one space' to the left.  Their new partner once again asked their 2 questions and the outside circle students answered once again.  Since each student is speaking at the same time, they are getting MUCH practice and with a variety of students.  The inside circle students do not move.  This allows for different partners each time the outside circle students move to the left.  To add variety, after a few 'moves to the left' I have the outside circle students then be the ones to ask the questions and the inside circle students answer the questions. This activity can EASILY go on for 15 minutes!  Great speech practice for everyone! 

On parle comme un robot!

That's what we did today in class! :)  We've been working on "l'impératif" for a bit now  but I wanted to further reinforce the concept.  After reviewing the "hows and whys" of using imperative I asked the students to pretend that they were robots.  They were to write about 5 imperatives as if they were going to give directions to another robot.  I told them to have fun with it and to think about fun things they could ask their classmates to do.  - en français, bien sûr! After spending some time creating imperatives I wandered around and helped make any corrections or clarified the directions where necessary.  They were definitely getting CREATIVE!  When ready, we all wandered around the room and gave "commands, orders, or advice" to do things within the classroom.  Students were touching their noses, ears, eyes, jumping on one foot, "running" around the room, singing "O Canada" and turning around in circles.  It was so much fun!  Lots of laughter and lots of learning!  :)  I'm confident that when they submit their worksheets next week that they will be done very well!   Need a worksheet on "impératif" to reinforce your lessons? If so, check out my store! (French - Impératif - worksheet and answer key) http://bit.ly/QUSsea 

Interesting article

I thought this was an interesting article regarding French spoken around the world.  :)

http://bit.ly/StOkSW

Happy World Teacher Day!

Happy World Teacher Day everyone!   We were treated today to coffee, tea and treats by our administrative team at our school.  :)  It was very much appreciated!