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!
Presentation: As the musical instruments are very straight forward and include many cognates, I have built in a range of tenses too.
Expressions:
Je joue de la guitarre.
Je vais jouer de la flûte.
J’ai joué de la batterie.
Il joue du piano.
Je voudrais jouer du clavier.
Nous jouons du violon.
Je ne joue pas d’instrument.
The first slide 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 then discuss the pronunciation and question each other (QFQs = Quick Fire Questions) before the teacher checks with the whole class.
The next slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. The next slide 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!
Finally there is a Qu’est-ce que c’est? slide.
Battleships.
Expressions:
Je joue de la guitare
Il joue de la flûte
Je vais jouer de la batterie
J’ai joué du piano
Nous avons joué du clavier
de temps en temps.
souvent.
tous les jours.
une fois par semaine.
deux fois par jour.
trois fois par mois.
Battleships Game
Instructions
Firstly I ask the students to work independently in pairs to translate the expressions and discuss pronunciation.
I then check the translations and drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game. The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a phrase from the horizontal line and complete the sentence with a phrase from the vertical line. Where the 2 phrases meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the English language sheet to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the French version and then try to play the game saying the French phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the French version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the French version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the French version as little as possible. This really helps the students to memorise the vocabulary/structures!
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation.
Expressions:
Sous
Sur
Entre
À côté de
À gauche de
À droite de
Devant
Derrière
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 is a asking students to translate the new expressions: English to French and French to English.
I use this differentiated worksheet to revise and build upon key school vocabulary. It features a 16 minute extract from the gorgeous French film Être et avoir, which we watch with subtitles.
Être et avoir.
1.04.30 – 1.07.24 : Ami/ amie : Chapitre 12.
The first section tells students to:
Cochez les choses que vous voyez :
Le coucher du soleil l’aube une vache un cheval un fleuve
un champs un livre un tableau un élève une règle
une trousse un professeur/ un instituteur une photocopieuse
un stylo un crayon un cahier une chaise une poubelle
une gomme un taille-crayon
There are 5 Extra questions for stronger students such as:
1. Comment dit-on « un volet » en anglais ?
2. Comment dit-on « grince » en anglais ?
4. Marie et Jojo font…
a. du café b. de l’équitation c. des photocopies
The next extract: 1.07.24 – 1.16 minutes has 16 Vrai ou faux ? questions such as:
1. Ils apprennent comment dire « friend. »
2. Jojo dit « maman et son ami Jojo. »
3. Létitia fait une erreur.
4. Johann parle de son ami.
5. La photocopieuse est en panne.
6. Le collège est plus grand que l’école primaire.
There are 7 Extra questions for stronger students such as :
1. Quel animal est sur le sweat de Laetitia ?
2. Comment s’appelle le collège ?
3. Ils parlent de deux types de vaches. Lesquels ?
4. Comment dit-on « Year 7 » en français ?
The answers are on the first 2 sheets. The student question sheet is the third sheet.
These resources celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games. They build student’s knowledge of sports vocabulary and adjectives using YouTube extracts, colourful slides, animations, matching cards, a video extract worksheet and finally a creative task to help the students express their Olympic/Paralympic passions!
Slide 2 presents the differentiated lesson objectives. Slide 3 has the Olympic motto and some great black and white pictures of Olympian heroes. Slide 4 is the warmer task to name as many Olympic/Paralympic sports as possible from student’s previous knowledge and includes links to the Ensemble Campagne officielle du CIO in both French and English (1 min 30 secs each) to inspire the students. They may do this in teams, pairs or individually. The full list of Olympic and Paralympic events can be found on a PDF in these resources.
Slides 5 to 43 build new Olympic/Paralympic sports vocabulary. Expressions presented:
L’athlétisme
L’aviron
Le canoë-kayak
Les sports équestres
L’escrime
L’haltérophilie
La lutte
Le plongeon
La natation synchronisée
Le tir
Le tir à l'arc
La voile
Slide 5 invites the students to:
All: Match Up!
Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge!
Some: Quick Fire Questions! *Here the students quiz each other, e.g French to English, English to French, spellings etc. of the new vocabulary.
Slides 6 to 17 have 1 slide per expression and allow you to drill the new vocabulary. Then there is graded questioning.
Slides 19 to 30 show the images and give the students a choice of two possible sports to choose from. Then slides 31 to 43 are what’s missing? slides.
Slide 44 should be used in conjunction with the worksheet. Here the students tick the sports they see on the Paralympic trailer video (2 mins 48 secs) and includes an extension task for stronger students. The answers are on the first two pages of the worksheet PDF.
The next slide should be used in conjunction with the English-French adjectives matching cards. Adjectives: travailleur/ euse, enthousiaste, paresseux/euse, nerveux/euse, concentré(e), assuré(e), détendu, ravi(e), fier/ fière, égoïste, têtu(e), lent(e), rapide, bavard(e), habile.
Then complete the second half of the worksheet where students watch the official Rio 2016 trailer and tick the adjectives which reflect the emotions of the athletes and spectators as well as other adjectives to describe what they see. There is an extension task.
Then the students have a choice of three creative tasks: to design and decorate in French an Olympic torch, a flag or to write a poem about their Olympian/Paralympic hero. Both PowerPoint slides have an accompanying worksheet including a suggested poem template.
The final slide provides an opportunity for reflection.
Les métiers!
Give the students a mini-whiteboard each and show them the first slide which gives the following differentiated instructions:
All: Draw a picture to illustrate 1/3 jobs (masc/fem).
Most: Draw a picture to illustrate 2/3 jobs (masc/fem).
Some: Draw a picture to illustrate 3/3 jobs. (masc/fem) and identify the tense (present, perfect, imperfect, future, conditional).
Then show them slide 2 which has the following phrases and give them a minute to complete all, most or some for each phrase:
Je vais devenir…
coiffeur menuisier vendeuse
Je voudrais être…
mécanicienne institutrice infirmier
Je voulais être…
comptable médecin sapeur-pompier
Mon grand-père/ ma grand-mère était…
cuisinière kinésithérapeute ingénieur
Mon frère/ ma sœur deviendra…..
nourrice plombier informaticienne
This lesson teaches students about the French Revolution and how a Fête Nationale/ Bastille Day/ Le 14 juillet is celebrated. It uses colourful slides, images and animations, 3 YouTube links, matching cards and karaoke! A fun end of term lesson!
Slide 2 states the objective: To learn facts and vocabulary related to La Révolution Française and La Fête Nationale!
All: Will learn 7 new facts and French words.
Most: Will learn 9 .
Some: Will learn 10+ .
Slide 3 presents the following vocabulary:
Le clergé
La noblesse
Le Tiers-État
Le roi
La reine
La Bastille (une prison)
La guillotine
Le Tricolore
It is differentiated: All: Match the French and the picture (there are some English words to help!).
Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge!
Some: Share what you know about La Révolution Française.
Slides 4 – 11 show each word with images and animations so you can drill the new vocabulary.
Slide 12 has all the pictures for each new word.
Then there is graded questioning:
Slides 13 – 20 show an image and provide 2 possible answers.
Slides 21- 30 are “What’s missing?” slides.
Slide 30 is to be used in conjunction with the French worksheet and the YouTube video (in English) The French Revolution In a Nutshell (2 mins 50 secs) which is a cartoon-style clear and concise summary – really fun!
Then the students watch the video:
All: Complete Exercise A.
Most: AND Exercise B.
Some: AND note down any additional facts and French vocabulary.
* The answers are on the first 2 pages of the PDF.
Extract examples of questions:
A. Cochez les choses que vous voyez:
le Tricolore un canon le monde Le clergé la noblesse le Tiers-État
B. Choisissez la bonne réponse:
1. Avant la Révolution il y avait trois rangs :
A. La reine, le roi et le Tiers-État.
B. Le clergé, la noblesse et le Tiers-État.
C. Le roi, le clergé et la noblesse.
Slide 32 states: Pour fêter La Fête Nationale il y a des défilés militaires. Le défilé le plus célèbre a lieu sur l’Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Le soir il y a des feux d’artifice, des concerts et des bals.
And there is a link to an English language commentary of Bastille Day celebrations on YouTube (1 min 34 secs).
Slide 33 explains the Marseillaise and sets out the task (using English and French matching cards):
Slide 34 has the Marseillaise in English and French.
Slide 35 is a Marseillaise Karaoke slide and links to YouTube.
Finally Slide 36 provides time for reflection.
I hope you enjoy these resources!
Spanish PowerPoint introducing sports with practicar:
Practico la vela.
Practico la natación.
Practico el ciclismo.
Practico el patinaje.
Practico la equitación.
Practico el atletismo.
Practico el esquí.
Practico el hockey (sobre hielo).
Practico la gimnasia.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill.
Slide 11 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!
The next section of slides have multiple choice questions. Then there are "¿Qué es?" slides.
Enjoy!
I use this 20 minute activity to practise the 12 and 24 hour clock with my students.
Each student has a mini-whiteboard. The task is clearly differentiated into:
All: Draw the time in analogue and/or digital.
Most: Unjumble the Extra time.
Some: Change both times into the 24 hour clock
I give them 30 seconds to attempt to do as much as possible.
Click the PowerPoint to reveal the unjumbled and 24 hours clock answers below.
Expressions presented:
Je vais manger de la soupe.
Je vais boire un thé.
Je vais faire du foot.
Je vais aller à la piscine.
Je vais faire du sport.
Je vais regarder la télé.
Je vais surfer sur Internet.
Je vais aller au café.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English, the formation and to drill.
The next slide is a Beat The Teacher game slide; 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!
Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The next slide has pictures of all the phrases.
Use slide 22 to elicit how to form the near future tense.
Use slide 33 to elicit the different forms of aller.
You may wish to follow this with my French Battleships Game/ Lotto Grid: Near Future Tense.
Expressions:
Je vais
Tu vas
Il va
Elle va
On va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils vont
Elles vont
manger des tartines.
prendre du poulet.
boire un thé.
faire du sport.
surfer sur internet.
aller au café.
Battleships Game
Instructions
Firstly I ask the students to work independently in pairs to translate the expressions.
The students then focus on pronunciation and decide the two easiest and two most difficult words to pronounce.
I then check the translations and drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game.
The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a phrase from the horizontal line and complete the sentence with a phrase from the vertical line. Where the 2 phrases meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the English language sheet to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the French version and then try to play the game saying the French phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the French version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the French version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the French version as little as possible. This really helps the students to memorise the vocabulary/structures!
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation.
Enjoy!
Vocabulary presented:
le français.
L’anglais.
L’espagnol.
L’allemand.
L’arabe.
Les maths.
L’informatique.
La géographie.
L’histoire.
La religion.
La musique.
L’art dramatique.
Le dessin.
La technologie.
Le sport/ l’EPS.
Les sciences: la chimie.
Les sciences: la physique.
Les sciences: la biologie.
As there is a lot of vocabulary I have presented it in 2 groups, each followed by graded questioning.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture for each of the first 7 subjects. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. Then there are "what's missing?" slides.
Then the next 11 phrases are presented followed by multiple choice slides and a Qu’est-ce que c’est? slide.
The final slide 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!
Battleships: Expressions:
J’adore le/ la/ les
Je déteste le/ la/ les
Ma matière préférée, c’est
Je suis fort(e) en
Je suis faible en
Je suis nul(le) en
dessin (le)
français (le)
sport (le)
géographie (la)
histoire (l’)
musique (la)
maths (les)
Instructions
Firstly I ask the students to work independently in pairs to translate the expressions and discuss the pronunciation.
I then check the translations and drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game. The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a phrase from the horizontal line and complete the sentence with a phrase from the vertical line. Where the 2 phrases meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the English language sheet to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the French version and then try to play the game saying the French phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the French version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the French version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the French version as little as possible.
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation.
The presentation starts by revising what the infinitive is and what conjugation is.
Slide 4 can be used to elicit the conjugation of aimer, which you can then drill.
Use slide 5 to come up with the rules.
Slide 6 can be printed off and used to set the students a writing task.
French Battleships/ Lotto Grid: Present Tense of -er verbs (jouer) + hobbies.
Expressions:
Je joue
Tu joues
Il joue
Elle joue
On joue
Nous jouons
Vous jouez
Ils jouent
Elles jouent
au tennis.
au ping-pong.
aux cartes.
de la guitare.
au baby-foot.
de la batterie.
Battleships Game
Instructions
The students love this competitive and fun game!
I use this battleships game (which can also be used as a lotto grid) to help students to practise their pronunciation and to reinforce new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Firstly I ask the students to work independently in pairs to translate the expressions.
The students then focus on pronunciation and decide the two easiest and two most difficult words to pronounce.
I then check the translations and drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game. The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a phrase from the horizontal line and complete the sentence with a phrase from the vertical line. Where the 2 phrases meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the English language sheet to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the French version and then try to play the game saying the French phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the French version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the French version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the French version as little as possible. This really helps the students to memorise the vocabulary/structures!
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes.
Enjoy!
Vocabulary presented:
J’ai un stylo.
J’ai un crayon.
J’ai un cahier.
J’ai un livre.
J’ai un taille-crayon.
J’ai un classeur.
J’ai un sac.
J’ai un dictionnaire.
J’ai une règle.
J’ai une trousse.
J’ai une gomme.
J’ai une calculatrice.
J’ai des ciseaux.
J’ai des feutres.
J’ai des tennis.
The first slide 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 then discuss the pronunciation and question each other before the teacher checks with the whole class.
The next slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to check the pronunciation, the English, whether the noun is masculine or feminine and to drill. As there are quite a lot of items I have divided them into 2 groups, starting with the first 7 items.
The next section of slides have multiple choice questions. Then there are "Qu’est-ce que c’est?" slides.
Then I have added slides of the next 8 phrases and pictures, followed by multiple choice questions and "What's missing?" slides.
The final slide 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!
Battleships Expressions: I have added in a range of tenses and other expressions to challenge and stretch the students.
Je voudrais un crayon
Je n’aime pas mon taille-crayon
J’ai besoin d’une règle
J’achète des ciseaux
Je n’ai pas de classeur
j’ai quinze dictionnaires !
je vais acheter un bâton de colle.
je n’ai pas de feutres.
j’ai acheté une calculatrice.
j’ai oublié mes tennis.
J’ai perdu ma trousse.
As cities and countries are very straight-forward I have built in a range of verbs to increase the level of challenge.
Expressions:
Je vais à Londres en Angleterre.
Je suis allé(e) à Édimbourg en Écosse.
Je vais à Swansea au Pays de Galles.
Je voudrais aller à Dublin en Irlande.
Nous allons à Berlin en Allemagne.
Je vais visiter Athènes en Grèce.
Je suis allé(e) à Berne en Suisse.
The first slide 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 then discuss the pronunciation and question each other before the teacher checks with the whole class.
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.
Then there are "what's missing?" slides.
The final slide 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 27 can be used for revision in the following lesson.
The Millionaire game test whether the students remember to use à, en or aux + country/ city. I give the students mini-whiteboards to play this. As an extension ask the students to translate the initial phrase and identify the tense.
E.g Slide one question:
Je vais…
Options:
à Bruxelles.
en Bruxelles.
au Bruxelles.
aux Bruxelles.
Expressions:
Il fait beau.
Il fait chaud.
Il fait froid.
Il fait gris.
Il y a du soleil.
Il y a du vent.
Il pleut.
Il neige.
Il y a du brouillard.
Il gèle.
Il y a de l’orage.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. I also elicit a gesture for a game of Simon Says at the end!
The next section of slides have multiple choice questions.
Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide 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 36 can be used for a re-cap in the next lesson.
French - English Matching Cards Expressions:
Au printemps il y a du vent et il fait gris, mais parfois il fait beau.
En été il fait chaud.
En automne il pleut.
En hiver il neige et il gèle.
Au printemps au nord de la France il fait froid.
À Paris, en été il y a du soleil.
Il y a du brouillard en automne.
Il y a des orages en hiver.
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!
This activity lasts around 15-25 minutes depending on how many games you play.
This is my go to warmer activity when I need something quick, fun and energising! For each slide I take about 5 minutes. There are 14 different slides of tongue twisters in this PowerPoint.
I show the slide and give the students 30 seconds to discuss the pronunciation and see what words they can translate.
I then pounce on students to elicit the pronunciation and translation.
Then I gradually drill the tonguetwister, bit-by-bit.
When the students can recite the whole tonguetwister I challenge them to say it 3 times as fast as possible and then either ask for volunteers or pounce on individual students.
Often the shortest tonguetwisters e.g. Seize chaises sèchent! are the most difficult.
Enjoy!
Spanish PowerPoint introducing school vocabulary:
classroom, library, cafeteria, dining hall, principle's office, gym, laboratory, playground, sports fields,toilets, assembly hall, staff room.
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 where I have removed some letters of each expression.
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!
Spanish PowerPoint introducing school bag vocabulary:
tengo/ me hace falta +
pen, pencil, exercise book, text book, pencil sharpener, folder, dictionary, ruler, pencil case, rubber, diary.
I have broken the vocabulary down into 2 sections. 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 "¿Qué es?" slides.
More vocabulary is presented, followed by multiple choice questions and "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!
This 1 slide PowerPoint can be used to teach the alphabet and to play Beat The Teacher! The teacher points to a letter and says a letter in French. If it is the correct letter the students all repeat it. If its the wrong letter the students must stay absolutely silent. If they do, they win 1 point. If not, the teacher gets 1 point. Most points wins! Brilliant for contrasting G & J and E & I!
Battleships Game: (this includes the french pronunciation of the letters)
Instructions
The students love this competitive and fun game!
I use this battleships game (which can also be used as a lotto grid) to help students to practise their pronunciation of the letters.
I drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game: The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a letter from the horizontal line and then a letter from the vertical line.
Where the 2 letters meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the second sheet (without pronunciation help) to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the first version and then try to play the game pronouncing the letters correctly as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the first sheet next to the second sheet so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the first sheet and the really strong students aim to refer back to the first sheet as little as possible. This really helps the students to memorise the vocabulary/structures!
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes.
The "I spy with my little eye...." one slide PowerPoint can be used as a simple 10 minute French warmer/ starter activity.
I get the students to play this in small groups practising not only classroom vocabulary, but also thinking more imaginatively e.g. clothing, colours and vocabulary such as "hair" and "eyes." Therefore this can be used with a variety of year groups. Then we play as a whole class.
Enjoy!
The 4 slide PowerPoint elicits and explains what the infinitive and conjugation are and then the conjugation of avoir.
Expressions:
J’ai une trousse et
Tu as un taille crayon et
Il a une règle et
Elle a des ciseaux et
On a des feutres et
Nous avons des bâtons de colle
Vous avez des classeurs et
Ils ont des calculatrices et
Elles ont des sacs et
j’ai les yeux bleus.
tu as les yeux noisette.
il a les yeux verts.
elle a les cheveux blonds.
nous avons les cheveux longs.
vous avez les cheveux frisés.
ils ont un chat.
elles ont un frère.
Battleships Game
Instructions
I use this battleships game (which can also be used as a lotto grid) to help students to practise their pronunciation and to reinforce new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Firstly I ask the students to work independently in pairs to translate the expressions.
I then check the translations and drill pronunciation with the whole class before they play the game. The students secretly choose 5 squares on the top grid and then try to guess which 5 squares their partner has chosen, filling in the bottom grid with “hit” and “miss.” To choose a square say a phrase from the horizontal line and complete the sentence with a phrase from the vertical line. Where the 2 phrases meet up is the square you have chosen.
I use the English language sheet to further challenge the students: they should place this on top of the French version and then try to play the game saying the French phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the French version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the French version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the French version as little as possible.
During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes.
Matching Cards:
Expressions:
J’ai deux sœurs.
Tu as les cheveux blonds.
Il a un grand chien.
Elle a une voiture.
On a un cheval.
Nous avons une belle maison.
Vous avez un poisson rouge.
Ils/Elles ont les cheveux marron.
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 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 = The quick fire questions are from English to Spanish.
Then play pelmenism.
PowerPoint vocabulary:
Un chien
Un chat
Un lapin
Une souris
Une perruche
Un serpent
Un cheval
Un hamser
Un cochon d'Inde
Une tortue
Un poisson rouge
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 mutiple choice questions. Then there are "what's missing?" slides.
The final slide 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!
Students ask and answer using the structures:
Tu as un animal chez toi?
Oui, J’ai _____________________________________
Non, je n’ai pas d’animal.
As many students are confident talking about pets I've added 2 extension phrases which the students can also use:
Quand j’étais petit(e) j’avais _______________________________
Je voudrais avoir _______________________________
I've also added a reminder about plurals:
Normally we add an s (silent) e.g. J’ai un chien, j’ai deux chiens.
If the noun ends in al we add replace al with aux e.g. un cheval, deux chevaux.
If the noun already ends in the letter s we do not need to change it to make in plural e.g. une souris, deux souris.
They task has been divided into 3 levels of challenge:
All: answer main question. Draw number of animals.
Most: Give an extra detail in your answer. Draw number of animals.
Some: Give 2 extra details in your answer. Spell the number and animal perfectly in French.
I play the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Game with the students using mini-whiteboards. The question asks how to say an animal in French and there are 4 possible French answers to chose from. Differentiate as follows:
All: Choose a letter.
Most: AND translate one remaining animal.
Some: AND translate all 3 remaining animals.