First Y7 lesson

This resource is used by every teacher in my department and it's all about getting over that motivation barrier in the very first lesson. There's a settling activity which requires them to consider where French is spoken (thereby giving them a reason to learn the language), then a few of slides about the expectations we have of them (these can be taken out if preferred, or amended to suit your needs).
The first 'real' task required students to identify the same word in four languages and to group them accordingly. This shows students how similar many languages are and that once they have begun to learn one foreign language, learning another one is easy! It also introduces them to the concept on cognates.
Following this there are three pictures with a short phrase in French. Where necessary there are a few items of vocabulary. Students are to translate the meaning of the phrases, using cognates, the vocab given and the context of the picture to help them. I emphasise to them that in their first lesson they are already showing that they can understand whole phrases and practising important reading skills.
The next slide shows a sign in Norwegian and asks students to apply the skills they've just learned to translate it, thereby showing students that although they are learning French, the skills they are learning can be applied to any language.
The final section of the powerpoint shows a number of amazing places around the world (an attempt to broaden students' horizons beyond the region they live in), interspersed with reasons to learn a foreign language. I ask students to make brief notes of these reasons and then at the end of the ppt to select the 5 reasons which are most important to them. We discuss these reasons briefly at the end of the lesson.