I’m Rachel and I've been teaching for 18 years! I first taught English (TEFL) in Japan and Madrid and then taught French and Spanish in Surrey. I subsequently worked in a UK curriculum school in sunny Dubai. I have now relocated to the UK and have a gorgeous baby daughter!
I have a learning-centred approach and encourage my students to be active and reflective learners. I really enjoy the creative process of making PowerPoints and worksheets and hope you enjoy using them!
I’m Rachel and I've been teaching for 18 years! I first taught English (TEFL) in Japan and Madrid and then taught French and Spanish in Surrey. I subsequently worked in a UK curriculum school in sunny Dubai. I have now relocated to the UK and have a gorgeous baby daughter!
I have a learning-centred approach and encourage my students to be active and reflective learners. I really enjoy the creative process of making PowerPoints and worksheets and hope you enjoy using them!
This PowerPoint starts by revising regular past participles and the conjugation of avoir. It then introduces the key irregular past participles.
Expressions taught:
J’ai fait du ski. (faire)
J’ai bu un coca. (boire)
J’ai vu la Tour Eiffel. (voir)
J’ai lu un livre. (lire)
J’ai pris une photo. (prendre)
J’ai écrit une lettre. (écrire)
J’ai dit bonjour! (dire)
The first slide on irregular past participles encourages the students to actively engage with the new vocabulary: working in teams, using their prior knowledge, knowledge of other languages and using a process of elimination to figure out the meanings. They can then discuss the pronunciation and question each other before the teacher checks with the whole class using the next slides.
The next slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. The next section of slides have multiple choice questions. Slide 25 has pictures of all the phrases. This can be used for a Beat the Teacher game, which the students love! The teacher points to a picture and says a word. If it is the correct word the students all repeat it. If its the wrong word the students must stay absolutely silent. If they do, they win 1 point. If not, the teacher gets 1 point. Most points wins!
Slide 26 can be used for revision during the next lesson.
You may then wish to play one of my Perfect Tense battleships Games/ Lotto Grids to reinforce this content.
Battleships Expressions:
J’ai joué au foot et
Tu as fini les devoirs et
Il a vomi et
Elle a perdu ses devoirs et
On a regardé un film et
Nous avons écouté la radio et
Vous avez mangé des légumes et
Ils ont vendu la voiture et
Elles ont acheté des vêtements et
j’ai fait de la natation.
tu as fait de l’équitation.
il a lu un livre.
elle a bu une limonade.
nous avons pris des photos.
vous avez vu la Tour Eiffel.
ils ont voulu faire la vaisselle.
elles ont dit au revoir.
This PowerPoint slide bingo/ lotto game covers the perfect tense with avoir, être and reflexives.
I start by teaming up the students and asking them to translate the expressions, I differentiate as follows:
All: Translate the je forms,
Most: AND the second section of avoir and être verbs with a variety of subject pronouns
Some: AND the remaining reflexive verbs with a variety of subject pronouns.
Then I ask the students to choose 5 phrases and I randomly say phrases in English, eliciting the French and the students tick them off until someone wins!
contains the following phrases:
Lotto: Le passé compose!
Example phrases:
J’ai joué j’ai fini j’ai vendu
j’ai bu j’ai lu j’ai vu
je suis allé(e) je suis resté(e) je suis entré(e) j
je me suis réveillé(e) je me suis levé(e)
Il a regardé tu as vomi elle a perdu
nous avons fait vous avez pris ils ont compris
tu es allé(e) vous êtes partis ils sont descendus
Tu t’es reveillé(e) il s’est douche elle s’est reposée
nous nous sommes amusés vous vous êtes lavés
I use this role play to reinforce the perfect tense.
Jeu de rôles! Extract:
A. Tu t’es réveille(e) à quelle heure hier?
B. Je me suis réveillé(e) à __________ heures.
A. Tu t’es douché(e) ?
B. Oui, je me suis douché(e)/ Non, je ne me suis pas douché(e).
A. Qu’est-ce que tu as mangé et bu comme petit-déjeuner ?
B. J’ai mangé ____________ et j’ai bu ______________.
A. Tu es parti(e) à quelle heure ?
B. Je suis parti(e) à ________ heures.
I use this sheet to set a homework or classwork task practising body parts, plurals and adjectives. They must first draw the alien described on the sheet (see below) and then use this as a template to describe and draw their own alien. It includes suggested vocabulary to write more sophisticated French for stronger students. This could also be used as a Halloween task!
Extract from worksheet:
1. Read the alien description below and draw it!
Il / Elle s’appelle *@?!!; »=
Il/Elle a mille ans.
Il/Elle habite sur la lune.
Il/Elle a huit têtes vertes et dix grands yeux bleus.
Il/Elle a aussi un petit nez rouge et cinq oreilles jaunes.
Il/Elle a dix jambes blanches donc il a dix genoux aussi !
Cependant il/elle n’a pas de bras !
À mon avis il/ elle est très gentil(le) mais un peu paresseux/euse.
J’adore mon extra-terrestre !
I use these English - French matching cards to practise the word order of object pronouns in relation to the verb.
Examples of expressions:
Le secrétaire les leur a envoyés
The secretary sent them to them.
Ils m’y ont vu.
They saw me there.
Je vous en enverrai
I will send you some.
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = match the cards and discuss the pronunciation.
Level 2 = match the cards , discuss the pronunciation and then have quick fire questions from French to English, whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the French cards which the student must translate into English from memory.
Level 3 = As Level 2 but the quick fire questions are from English to French.
Following checking there are 2 fun games to play, either pelmenism or a game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students put the English language cards to one side and spread out the French cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
The 2 slide PowerPoint starts woth a slide inviting students to use their previous knowledge and deduction skills to:
All: In pairs/ groups translate the days of the week into English.
Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge!
Some: Quick Fire Questions in pairs! E.g. How do you say,spell….?
The second slide then shows the days of the week in order so you can drill and test the students.
Worksheet:
This worksheet has 3 sections: the first is a word match of English and Spanish days of the week. The next section is a wordsearch challenge. The final (extra) section for stronger students involves unjumbling a group of words to find the correct days of the week.
Expressions:
Me encantan los mariscos y el pescado.
Me gusta la ensalada.
Me gustan las verduras.
No me gusta el pollo.
Me gusta el carne.
Como el arroz.
Tomo salchichas.
De primer plato tomo sopa.
Desayuno huevos y fruta.
De postre hay una tarta y helado.
This presentation presents food items: seafood, fish, salad, vegetables, chicken, meat, rice etc and revises opinions in Spanish. The first slides have each item of food in Spanish plus and opnion with a picture. The teacher should use this to elicit the meaning in English and drill the pronunciation. There is then a "beat the teacher" to revise the learning at the end or during the following lesson.
Beat the teacher is played like this:
The teacher points to a picture and says a word. If it is the correct word the students all repeat it. If its the wrong word the students must stay absolutely silent. If they do, they win 1 point. If not, the teacher gets 1 point. Most points wins!
Finally, use the final slide to pounce on the students and ask ¿Qué es?
This information sheet presents the following information:
Example EXTRACT:
Plural of nouns.
Normally we add an “s”
e.g. un livre des livres.
Nouns which end in s, x, z add nothing.
e.g. un bois des bois.
une vis des vis.
Nouns ending –eau, -au and -eu add an "x"
e.g un cadeau des cadeaux.
un tuyau des tuyaux.
The following nouns ending in –ou add an “x”:
Un bijou des bijoux.
Un caillou des cailloux.
Un chou des choux.
Others form the plural with –s
e.g. un clou des clous.
Nouns ending in –al and -ail form their plural in –aux.
Un cheval des chevaux.
But not un bal, un carnaval, un festival, un detail, un éventail where you add an “s”
Watch out! Un œil deux yeux.
Compound Nouns.
Generally, verb + noun either add nothing (inv) or an “s” is added to the second part:
e.g. un porte-crayon des porte-crayons.
If the compound is of two nouns, both parts are made plural.
e.g. un chou-fleur des choux-fleurs.
I use this either as a fun short warmer activity or to revise some items of clothing and sports as well as other general vocabulary. It is based on the Soccamatic from Wallace and Gromit's Cracking Contraptions on the Extras DVD of The Curse of The Were Rabbit. My version is in English, but it would be great to show this in French perhaps with English subtitles.
We translate the questions, then watch the Soccamatic twice (it only lasts 1.5 minutes) and check the answers.
The worksheet is differentiated with Extra questions to stretch the stronger students.
Worksheet Extracts:
Wallace et Gromit!
Cracking Contraptions!
A. Vrai ou faux? Extract:
1. Gromit porte un pull vert.
2. Wallace et Gromit jouent au badminton.
3. Wallace porte un short violet.
Extra : Cochez les choses que vous voyez. Extract:
un ballon de foot une robe une jupe
un ballon de tennis une raquette une gomme
des chaussettes un lapin un banc une règle
une trousse une poubelle un lampadaire
I use this short 2 minute film The Snoozatron! from the Extras DVD of the Wallace and Gromit film The Curse Of The Were Rabbit as a fun activity to revise furniture and rooms in the house. The worksheet has an Extra section to challenge stronger students. My DVD is in English, but it would be great to show a French version with subtitles. In total the activity takes around 15-20 minutes. We translate the questions together, watch The Snoozatron twice and then check the answers.
Worksheet extracts:
Wallace et Gromit.
Cracking Contraptions! The Snoozatron.
A. Cochez les choses que vous voyez: extract:
une chambre une télévision un lit un réveil une étagère
une raquette une cuisine une table une salle de bains
une chaise les escaliers une cave une commode
Extra extract: Choisissez la bonne réponse.
1. Il est….
a) deux heures et demie. b) deux heures moins le quart. c) trois heures.
2. Wallace a mangé trop de …
a) bananes. b) fromage c) biscuits.
Use the following cards as a starter activity to revise a range of tenses: present, near future, future, perfect and imperfect. Simply say the sentence in English and the students race to put the correct sentence together. Simple and fun!
Expressions on cards:
je
vais aller
suis allé(e)
à Paris
aux Etats-Unis
avec
mes copains
mes copines
ma soeur
et
mais
c’était
ça sera
d’habitude
vais
c’est
très
assez
plutôt
intéressant(e)
génial(e)
barbant(e)
quand j’étais jeune
j’allais
j’irai
You could also play or a game with the individual cards which I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students spread out the cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
Expressions on cards:
Avoir ___ ans
Avoir besoin de ___
Avoir chaud/ froid
Avoir de la chance
Avoir envie de ___
Avoir faim/ soif
Avoir mal à la tête/ à la gorge.
Avoir tort/ avoir raison
Avoir sommeil
Avoir peur
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = match the cards and discuss the pronunciation.
Level 2 = match the cards , discuss the pronunciation and then have quick fire questions from French to English, whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the French cards which the student must translate into English from memory.
Level 3 = As Level 2 but the quick fire questions are from English to French.
Following checking there are 2 fun games to play, either pelmenism or a game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students put the English language cards to one side and spread out the French cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
The students must put the cards into the correct order.
Examples of expressions on cards:
Si je faisais un plus grand effort je réussirais
à mes examens. Si j’étais riche
j’achèterais une maison secondaire. Si j’avais
une sœur nous serions les meilleures
amis. Si je n’avais tant de
travail, je sortirais ce
soir. Nous voudrions passer....
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = line up the cards and discuss the pronunciation.
Level 2 = line up the cards , discuss the pronunciation and then have quick fire questions from French to English, whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the French cards which the student must translate into English from memory.
Level 3 = As Level 2 but the quick fire questions are from English to French.
Following checking you can play a game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students spread out the cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
Expressions:
As drinks are quite straight-forward I have built in some additional structures to up the level of challenge for stronger students.
Je voudrais un coca.
Je bois un jus d’orange.
Je vais boire une limonade.
J’ai bu un verre d’eau.
Je bois un diabolo-menthe.
Je voudrais un chocolat chaud.
Nous buvons un café.
Je vais boire un milk-shake.
J’ai bu un thé au lait.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill.
The next section of slides have multiple choice questions.
Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide has pictures of all the new vocabulary. This can be used for a Beat the Teacher game, which the students love! The teacher points to a picture and says a word. If it is the correct word the students all repeat it. If it’s the wrong word the students must stay absolutely silent. If they do, they win 1 point. If not, the teacher gets 1 point. Most points wins!
La Coupe du Monde 2018 Resources Product Description.
I have planned this lesson not only to teach vocabulary and facts about football and the World Cup 2018, but also to help the students to respond creatively to their learning and hopefully share their passion for football! The PowerPoint uses matching cards, colourful pictures and animations and YouTube extracts set to music to inspire the students. It is planned to use with students from Years 6-9 (the final task is very open-ended).
Slide 2 states the objective:
Objectif: To learn about Le Football & La Coupe du Monde 2018 and to respond creatively to your learning.
All: Will learn vocabulary and facts and use them to create an acrostic or a calligramme.
Most: Will learn and research vocabulary and facts and use them to create an acrostic or a calligramme.
Some: Will learn and research vocabulary and facts and use them to create a poem.
Slide 3 has a YouTube link to follow to use with the attached worksheet: https://youtu.be/uC14iKFNwIc . This uses the official FIFA promotional video and the students tick the countries they see. The worksheet is differentiated with an Extra! challenge. The answers are on the next PowerPoint slide.
Slide 5 introduces key vocabulary and can be used with the matching cards. The students should work in pairs/ groups to match the vocabulary and the picture using their previous knowledge, cognates and a process of elimination.
Vocabulary:
Le joueur de foot
Le gardien de but
L’arbitre
Le stade
Le ballon de foot
La coupe
Un drapeau
Une équipe
Un carton jaune
Le terrain de foot
Un maillot de foot
Des chaussures de foot
The activity is differentiated as follows:
All: Match Up!
Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge!
Some: Quick Fire Questions! (Here the students quiz each other: French to English, English to French, spellings, accents……).
Slides 6 to 17 show each word and the matching picture and colourful animations.
Slide 18 has all the pictures for a quick recap.
Then there is graded questioning:
Slides 19 to 30 have A, B, C multiple choice questions.
Slides 31 to 44 are “What’s missing?” slides.
Then slide 45 has a YouTube link to the France 2018 Promo video and students should note down new nouns and adjectives expressing the emotions they see and feel (if they don’t know the French they can grab a dictionary later!)
The creative challenges are presented on slides 45 and 46, this is to either create an acrostic, a calligramme or a poem (there is a poem template provided). This information is also on the accompanying worksheets.
Slide 47 provides the opportunity for reflection.
I really hope you and your students enjoy these resources!
This PowerPoint should be used in conjunction with the French - English matching cards (which can then be used for revision in the next lesson). The PowerPpoint elicits the formation of the Present, Perfect and Future Passive Voice.
Examples of phrases on cards:
Les émigrés sont souvent exclus.
Immigrants are often excluded.
Les papiers sont signés.
The documents are signed.
Following checking there are 2 fun games to play, either pelmenism or a game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students put the English language cards to one side and spread out the French cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
These matching cards can be used either to elicit numbers, fractions and statistics or to revise previous learning. It can be used at the beginning of the year or throughout the year as a warmer/ starter activity.
Expressions:
Une moitié.
Un tiers.
Un/une sur dix.
Virgule.
Un quart.
La majorité
Mille.
Un million.
Un milliard.
Quinze virgule six pourcent.
Une quinzaine de jours
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = match the cards and discuss the pronunciation.
Level 2 = match the cards , discuss the pronunciation and then have quick fire questions from French to English, whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the French cards which the student must translate into English from memory.
Level 3 = As Level 2 but the quick fire questions are from English to French.
Following checking there are 2 fun games to play, either pelmenism or a game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students put the English language cards to one side and spread out the French cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French card first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
Expressions taught:
Il faut arriver à l’heure.
Il ne faut pas laisser son portable allumé.
Il ne faut pas manger en classe.
On ne doit pas courir dans les couloirs.
On ne doit pas fumer à l’intérieur.
Il ne faut pas porter de bijoux.
Il faut respecter les profs et les autres élèves.
Il faut faire ses devoirs regulièrement.
Il faut apporter un mot d’absence signé par les parents.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill.
The next section of slides have multiple choice questions.
Then there are "Qu’est-ce que c’est?" slides.
I noticed that some of my GCSE students weren't spotting the synonyms that would help them to answer their Listening and Reading Exam questions and made these cards. The students have to group the cards together sometimes in pairs, others in groups of 3 or more.
Expressions:
Les voitures
Les véhicules
Les autos
Les déchets
Les papiers
Les ordures
Les détritus
La capitale française
Paris
Beaucoup de gens
Beaucoup de personnes
Beaucoup de monde
Travail
Emploi
Métier
Carrière (technically not a synonym of the previous 2, but links to the topic).
Je garde les enfants
Je fais du baby-sitting
Conduire
Rouler
Réduire
Diminuer
La flore
L’herbe
Des plantes
Les arbres et les fleurs
La faune
Les animaux
En fin de semaine
Le week-end
Se reposer
Se détendre
Se relaxer
Le transport en commun
Le réseau de bus urbain
Les jeunes
Les adolescents
Following checking there is afun games to play which I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students spread out the cards in front of them. I then say the English and the students compete to touch the correct French cards first. Whoever touches it first wins the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The students love this game!
Spanish PowerPoint introducing school subjects.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. To break up the presentation (there is a lot of vocab!) there is then a slide with pictures of the new vocabulary thus far. This can be used for a Beat the Teacher game, which the students love!
The teacher points to a picture and says a word. If it is the correct word the students all repeat it. If it’s the wrong word the students must stay absolutely silent. If they do, they win 1 point. If not, the teacher gets 1 point. Most points wins!
Then more vocabulary is introduced followed by graded questioning.
Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide could be used to play a revision Beat The Teacher game during the next lesson.