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!
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!
I use these French - English dominoes to revise the present tense with my older students.
Examples of expressions:
They finish their homework.
Ils finissent leurs devoirs.
He is passing out/losing consciousness.
Il perd_ connaissance.
We have studied French for 5 years.
Nous étudions le francais depuis cinq ans.
I’m on my way/coming!
J’arrive!
You (plural) dream......
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = line up the cards and discuss the pronunciation.
Level 2 = as level 1 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 is a fun game I learnt in Japan called Karuta. In Karuta the students spread out the dominoes 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 is a PowerPoint presentation describing after school activities.
It includes a beat the teacher game.
Phrases taught:
Hago los deberes. Como en casa. Meriendo a las seis. Me divierto con mis amigos. Ceno a las nueve. Veo la televisión.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture, use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill.
Then there is a Beat The Teacher slide: How to play Beat The Teacher: 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!
Finally their are What's missing? slides.
Expressions:
Des problèmes de l’environnement.
Des papiers/ des ordures.
Des mégots par terre.
Trop d’emballage.
La pollution.
La destruction des forêts.
La destruction des espèces rares.
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.
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!
The PowerPoint is used with the Vouloir, Pouvoir & Devoir Matching Cards which have the full conjugation of these verbs. The first slide says:
All: Match the cards, line up in this order: je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles. 90 % correct.
Most: Match the cards as above. 100% correct. Perfect pronunciation challenge!
Some: AND: create 5 complex sentences with infinitives and a range of tenses.
Once you check the conjugations (using slides 2, 3 and 4) you can play pelmensim and slap the card.
Battleships Expressions:
Je veux aller en ville mais
Tu veux aller au bowling mais
Il veut aller à la piscine mais
Nous voulons retrouver nos amis mais
Je ne peux pas sortir car
Nous ne pouvons pas aller au spectacle parce que
je dois aller voir ma grand-mère.
tu dois garder ton petit frère.
il doit promener le chien des voisins.
nous devons faire les devoirs.
vous devez sortir avec vos parents.
ils doivent rentrer avant 22h30.
Role Play:
A simple role play to help students practise the modal verbs vouloir, pouvoir and devoir.
Expressions:
Modal Verbs Role-Play.
Tu veux…
aller en ville ce matin?
aller au cinéma samedi soir?
aller au bowling demain matin?
aller à la piscine aujourd’hui?
Désolé(e), mais je ne peux pas parce que je dois…
garder ma petite sœur.
sortir avec mes parents.
promener le chien (des voisins).
aller voir ma grand-mère.
Tu veux y aller…
cet après-midi?
demain soir?
demain matin?
demain?
Excuse-moi, mais je dois…
laver la voiture (de ma mère).
rentrer avant 22h30.
ranger ma chambre.
faire mes devoirs.
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!
I have designed these resources to celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics. They build student’s knowledge of sports vocabulary and adjectives using YouTube extracts, fun 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 pictures of Olympian heroes. Slide 4 is the warmer task: name as many Olympic/Paralympic sports as possible from student’s previous knowledge and includes links to the Juntos | Campaña oficial del COI in both Spanish 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:
El atletismo
El remo
El piragüismo
La equitación
La esgrima
El levantamiento de pesas
La lucha
El buceo
El nado sincronizado
El tiro
El tiro con arco
La vela
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 Spanish to English, English to Spanish, 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 with the English-Spanish adjectives matching cards.
Adjectives:
trabajador/a
entusiasmado/a
perezoso/a
nervioso/a
concentrado/a
seguro/a
relajado/a
encantado/a
orgulloso/a
egoísta
terco/a
lento/a
rápido/a
hablador(a)
habilidoso/a
Once matched you may like to play pelmenism/slap the card.
Then complete the second half of the worksheet: 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 for stronger students.
Then the students have a choice of three creative tasks: to design and decorate in Spanish an Olympic torch, an Olympic flag or to write a poem about their Olympic/Paralympic hero. The last slide is for reflection.
I found a great short film (2 mins 20 secs) on YouTube about the history of the Olympic Games, I love the stylised presentation and have created a series of exercises which I hope will make the French commentary accessible to the students. There is a step-by-step PowerPoint to accompany the worksheet (the answers are both on the PowerPoint and on the worksheet).
Slide 2: states the lesson objectives:
Objectif: To develop your listening skills and to learn facts and vocabulary related to the history of the Olympic Games. This is differentiated into all, most and some.
The first worksheet has 3 goals:
All: Match the names and the pictures.
Most: AND Put the countries in the order that they appear/ are mentioned.
Some: AND Match the date to the correct person.
To prepare for these tasks the students are told to:
All: Discuss how you would pronounce the names with a French accent!
Most: AND be able to translate all the countries.
Some: AND be able to say all the years in French.
Names include:
Pierre de Coubertin, Jesse Owens, le dieu grec Zeus, Tommie Smith
Countries include:
Le Brésil (Rio de Janeiro), La France (Paris), La Grèce (le temple de Zeus),
Dates include :
1894, 8ième siècle avant Jésus Christ, 1968
Slide 4 says:
Now you will listen to and watch the short film. Remember, you are only picking out key information. Don’t worry if you don’t understand all the French you hear! Also use the images you see, your logic and previous knowledge to help.
You will listen and watch twice, maybe more if your teacher agrees!
Slides 5, 6 and 7 have the answers.
Slide 8 gives instructions to prepare the students for the next listening task. First is to complete Exercise B which is an English to French match up of vocabulary and phrases that the students will need to in order to understand and answer the multiple choice questions.
French vocabulary/ phrases include:
1. Les Jeux olympiques antiques.
2. Le pancrace, la course, le tir.
3. Les tremblements de terre et les inondations.
4. Les femmes.
Slide 9 repeats the advice on Slide 4.
There are 11 multiple choice questions.
Examples of questions:
1. Les Jeux olympiques antiques ont été organisés en l’honneur…
A. de Pierre de Coubertin.
B. du dieu grec Zeus.
C. de l’Empereur Théodose 1er.
2. Parmi les sports aux Jeux olympiques antiques ont été….
A. Le pancrace, la course et la boxe.
B. Le pancrace, le tennis et la natation.
C. Le pancrace, l’équitation et le tir.
Slides 10, 11 and 12 have the answers and finally slide 13 provides the opportunity for reflection.
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.
Expressions:
Le mercredi, à dix heures
Le lundi à onze heures
Le mardi à huit heures moins le quart
Le jeudi à une heure moins vingt
Le dimanche à deux heures moins vingt-cinq
on a musique.
on a dessin, c’est génial !
nous avons allemand, c’est intéressant.
j’ai histoire, c’est nul.
il a EPS, c’est très fatigant.
elle a l’art dramatique, ce n’est pas marrant.
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!
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!
This is a short 5 slide PowerPoint to teach students that nationalities can be masculine or feminine.
Battleships Expressions:
Soy argentino/ argentina y
Eres australiano/ australiana y
Es chileno/ chilena y
Soy cubano/ cubana y
Eres escocés/ escocesa y
Es español/ española y
soy estadounidense.
eres galés/ galesa.
es inglés/ inglesa.
soy irlandés/ irlandesa.
eres mexicano/ mexicana.
es paquistaní.
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 Spanish version and then try to play the game saying the Spanish phrases as far as possible from memory. I allow the really weak students to have the Spanish version next to the English version so they have lots of support, stronger students are allowed a few “sneaky peaks” at the Spanish version and the really strong students aim to refer back to the Spanish 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!