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thefrenchwhisperer

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A few years ago, I retired from my position as head of Modern Languages, a bit fearful of the "R" word. But to date, it has been nothing but fun! Canadian law requires school-aged actors to study with a qualified teacher when they’re off-camera. Many of our young actors are in immersion French so I've found a happy little niche, teaching a few days a week as an on-set tutor and moving in inspiring and creative circles! Furthermore, I get to share resources here! Vive la retraite!

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A few years ago, I retired from my position as head of Modern Languages, a bit fearful of the "R" word. But to date, it has been nothing but fun! Canadian law requires school-aged actors to study with a qualified teacher when they’re off-camera. Many of our young actors are in immersion French so I've found a happy little niche, teaching a few days a week as an on-set tutor and moving in inspiring and creative circles! Furthermore, I get to share resources here! Vive la retraite!
Easter Trivia (A triangle puzzle)
CarlavCarlav

Easter Trivia (A triangle puzzle)

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When students match the sentence fragments printed on the edges of the triangles, they will reconstitute the 25 Easter facts and “sculpt” the Easter Bunny’s head. Although designed as a co-operative activity, the EASTER TRIANGLE puzzle also works well as an enrichment task for individual students. Here are 7 of the 25 Easter facts embedded in this puzzle: • Monks made the first pretzels for Lent. They shaped them like arms crossed in prayer! • A baby rabbit is a “kitten” or a “kit”. • This is a moai: (image) a giant Easter Island sculpture. • The Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are imaginary characters. • In the movie, HOP, the Easter Bunny’s son wants to leave the family business to drum in a rock band. • North Americans eat 90 million chocolate bunnies every year! • A Ukrainian Easter egg decorated with intricate traditional folk designs is called a “pysanka”.
Avez-vous bien compris LUPIN1?
CarlavCarlav

Avez-vous bien compris LUPIN1?

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LUPIN 1 is based on the hit series whose modern hero is obsessed with Marcel Leblanc’s gentleman-cambioleur. Students will match the sentence fragments printed on the edges of the triangles to reconstitute the 18 statements about episode 1 and to “build” their pyramid. A cooperative activity suitable for francophone, immersion students and advanced students in core French. To be sure that this activity is right for your students by, try the free "futur simple” triangle puzzle at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/le-futur-simple-a-triangle-puzzle-6450469
Le jour du souvenir (Imagique)
CarlavCarlav

Le jour du souvenir (Imagique)

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Pour déchiffrer les mots cachés dans ce mots croisés visuel, écris la première lettre de la première image dans sa case dans la petite grille. (Attention! Dans un mots croisés les accents sont ignorés.) Continue de cette façon pour toutes les images et tu découvriras un nouveau mot.
Les mots coupés (Jour du Souvenir)
CarlavCarlav

Les mots coupés (Jour du Souvenir)

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In this virtual race, players have to reconstitute words that have been broken into pieces and scattered over the game grid in order to find “l’intrus”. Si vous voulez prolonger la leçon, demandez à vos élèves d’écrire un paragraphe au sujet du Jour du Souvenir qui comprend tous les mots coupés et l’intrus. Les mots coupés sont: 1 honneur (m.) 2 clairon (m.) 3 soldat (m.) 4 fusil (m.) 5 silence (m.) 6 combat (m.) 7 devoir (m.) 8 prière (f.) 9 héros (m.) 10 tranchée (f.) 11 obus (m.) 12 courage (m.) L’intrus: PAIX (f.)
Two Remembrance Day Activities
CarlavCarlav

Two Remembrance Day Activities

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Imagic After your students have solved the Imagic (visual crossword) puzzle, challeng them to make a little Imagic of their own. Broken Words In this virtual race, players have to reconstitute and recopy words that have been broken into pieces and scattered over the game grid. Students may play individually or in pairs. The words in this puzzle are: 1 hero 2 honour 3 prayer 4 silence 5 bugle 6 poppies 7 service 8 weapon 9 courage 10 parade 11 battle 12 defend I’ve included a suggestion for extending the lesson for this activity.
Using TV transcripts in the TL
CarlavCarlav

Using TV transcripts in the TL

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Many students are reluctant to speak in the target language. Using the transcripts of popular commercials and children’s television shows, this activity builds their confidence and enthusiasm for speaking in French. • First, have the class view the whole video. • Then, assign short segments of the (tran)script to small groups of students. • Each group will listen and rehearse their lines carefully because on the second screening of the full video, the sound will be muted and they will be providing the soundtrack. (I usually schedule the second viewing a week after the first screening.) • Especially creative and motivated classes should be encouraged to include sound effects and/or background music. This file includes transcripts for videos about Halloween, l’Action de Grâce, Noël and le patin à glace. I’ve included suggestions for extending the lesson for both Immersion and Core French programmes.te
A tiny Hallowe'en rebus
CarlavCarlav

A tiny Hallowe'en rebus

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Thanks to their texting skills, today’s students intuit the principle behind rebus puzzles but I’ve included a “how to” guide nonetheless. To extend the lesson, ask your students to create a rebus of their own. If you’d like me to make a rebus on a specific theme, please let me know.
Un rébus pour Halloween
CarlavCarlav

Un rébus pour Halloween

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A five-minute filler. Thanks to their texting skills, today’s students intuit the principle behind rebus puzzles but I’ve included a “comment déchiffrer un rébus” guide nonetheless. This rebus is intended for native speakers, Immersion, Extended & advanced Core French classes.
Tâches ménagères (2 cocottes en papier)
CarlavCarlav

Tâches ménagères (2 cocottes en papier)

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To generate “rien que du blabla” in the target language, try using chatterboxes. These two cocottes en papier offer your students relaxed starting points for discussing their “tâches ménagères”. The “all text” cocotte gives students the security of choosing from a number of pre-fabricated answers. The less prescriptive, illustrated cocotte uses visual prompts to guide their answers. An “ALL TEXT” cocotte sample: Question: Quelle tâche ménagère dois-tu faire tous les jours? Choix de réponses • Je dois faire mon lit. • Je dois nourrir le chien et le chat. • Je dois vider le lave-vaisselle. An ILLUSTRATED cocotte sample: Question: “Quelle tâche ménagère fais-tu chaque matin?” The picture of a bed will prompt answers like, “Je fais mon lit chaque matin.” A short “tâches ménagères” exercise is also included.
Break the ice on Day One
CarlavCarlav

Break the ice on Day One

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Looking for a relaxed way to get your students to learn a bit about each other? Here’s an alternative to the traditional “What I did on my summer vacation?” assignment. This chatterbox (fortune teller) prompts your students to talk about their summer experiences with some serious and some not-so-serious questions. (I’ve included two versions, one using British spellings and one using American spellings.) Enjoy your new school year, everyone!
A word game for tired teachers
CarlavCarlav

A word game for tired teachers

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Scribblescrabbles are a portable hybrid of Scrabble and crossword puzzles. I’ve made this one for teachers of English, French and Spanish who are desperate for meaningful but fun work at the end of the school year. You’ll discover that it is flexible enough to work well for all levels of ability. Happy holidays to all!
FRENCH: Futur simple flip cards
CarlavCarlav

FRENCH: Futur simple flip cards

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FLIPPING GRAMMAR flash cards Online flash cards are a great tool but my students prefer the social interaction of playing / learning with actual cards! This file includes a set of mini-cards to help students master regular verbs and irregular verbs in the future simple, a second set in business card format, a “how to play” guide and a little bonus. Individuals can work through these Flipping Grammar cards in class at their own pace as remedial or enrichment work. Or they can take home a deck until they’ve mastered the futur simple tense. However, Flipping Grammar sparks a lot of joy as a game for two. And you can extend the lesson by using the answers as mini-dictées. Just print, cut and go. QUESTIONS TYPES Tu _______ la pizza dans le four pour 30 minutes. mettre Ton robot _____ uniquement à ta voix. obéir Youpi! Nous ______ enfin à Disneyland! aller Selon Amazon vous _______ votre commande demain. recevoir Le jeu de cartes éclair FLIPPING GRAMMAR Sur un côté de chaque carte, on trouve la question [imprimée en noir] et l’infinitif à conjuguer au futur simple. La réponse [imprimée en rouge] se trouve de l’autre côté de la carte. Bien sûr que les cartes éclair virtuelles aident à mémoriser le vocabulaire et les conjugaisons difficiles. Mais mes étudiants préfèrent de loin de jouer avec de vraies cartes et de vrais camarades de classe! Avec les cartes éclair FLIPPING GRAMMAR, ils peuvent toujours réviser individuellement dans la salle de classe ou chez eux mais ils peuvent aussi jouer avec un partenaire et apprendre sous forme de jeu. Vous trouverez ici des cartes pour travailler le futur simple des verbes irréguliers, des cartes pour travailler le futur simple des verbes irréguliers et un petit guide de jeu.
FRENCH GAME: Joyeuses Pâques!
CarlavCarlav

FRENCH GAME: Joyeuses Pâques!

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C’est touchant ressemble un peu à Boggle™.) This C’est Touchant! puzzle for Easter is a Boggle™ with a twist. Embedded in the game grid are 8 French words on the Pâques theme and 70 more general vocabulary words. The file includes • a “how to play” guide • a full colour puzzle • 4 small B&W copies of the grid for teachers who are trying to cut back on photocopying costs • a thematic vocabulary  • the answer key Because the English version of the game, Hippity, Hoppity, Easter’s on its Way, has been warmly received, this French version has been on my “to do” list forever. Thank you for your patience. La fiche, Comment jouer, explique les règles du jeu en français.
FRENCH MOTDOKU6: St-Valentin
CarlavCarlav

FRENCH MOTDOKU6: St-Valentin

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This revised Motdoku6 features the following thematic vocabulary. 1 les chocolats 2 Cupidon 3 le bouquet 4 l’amitié 5 février 6 mon petit coeur
LANGUAGE ARTS: Santa's Resolutions 2020
CarlavCarlav

LANGUAGE ARTS: Santa's Resolutions 2020

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Santa’s Resolutions for 2020 is an exemplar of a New Year’s activity. I couldn’t resist making a list of resolutions on Santa’s behalf. It will give your students some ideas, a laugh and an opportunity to try their hand by filling in resolutions 9, 10, 11 and 12. Note: This is not a new resource but an update of the resolutions that I’ve been posting since 2012.
Some more little Christmas rebus puzzles.
CarlavCarlav

Some more little Christmas rebus puzzles.

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As you count down to the holidays, you might like these four little Christmas-themed rebus puzzles as icebreakers or fillers. Thanks to their mad texting skills, today’s kids get the principle behind rebus puzzles intuitively but I’ve included a “how-to” page nonetheless. Heads up! Biblical though one of the terms in puzzle # 4 may be, I would reserve it for older students. The solution is, “Let us go for a sleigh ride” and, as you can see in the preview, the picture clues include a (jack)ass.
Holy Homonyms, Batman!
CarlavCarlav

Holy Homonyms, Batman!

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The difference between homophones and homographs is (literally) illustrated in this homonym lesson camouflaged as a game. Students are asked to identify and write out the eighteen pairs of homonyms pictured in the puzzle: ad add ball bawl bare bear bat bat bowl bowl cents scents dough doe eight ate eye I flour flower knight night lynx links moose mousse pair pear piece peace pitcher pitcher sow sew waste waist Black and white and half-sized versions of the game board are included.
Wordoku6 (Thanksgiving)
CarlavCarlav

Wordoku6 (Thanksgiving)

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WORDOKU6 is a simplified version of my 9 x 9 word sudokus.  The challenge is to slot the following expressions into the 6 x 6 grid. 1 pumpkin pie 2 share 3 turkey 4 family 5 cornucopia 6 autumn Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Motdoku6 (L'action de Grâce)
CarlavCarlav

Motdoku6 (L'action de Grâce)

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Ce MOTDOKU simplifié met en valeur le vocabulaire ci-dessous. This MOTDOKU6 is a simplified version of my 9 x9 word sudokus. Students are challenged to slot the expressions below into the grid. 1 la tarte à la citrouille 2 partager 3 la dinde 4 la famille 5 la corne d’abondance 6 l’automne Joyeuse Action de grâce à tout le monde!
English Hallowe'en vocabulary: FOUND IT!
CarlavCarlav

English Hallowe'en vocabulary: FOUND IT!

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FOUND IT! is a game inspired by Spot it™ or Dobble™. There is always one matching expression on any two cards. FOUND IT! encourages students to concentrate, to read attentively and to pronounce the thematic vocabulary carefully. This deck comprises 31 cards with 6 expressions or pictures per card. Here is the vocabulary featured in FOUND IT! (The Hallowe’en deck): autumn leaves bat black cat broom cauldron cemetery coffin danger devil disguise frightened ghost goosebumps hat haunted house horror film jack o’lantern makeup mask owl party scar scarecrow scream shiver spider sweets toilet paper trick or treat vampire witch