Even some of my advanced learners still trip over the IR present tense endings. So, I've built a few little activities that look like puzzles but are really just sneaky ways to get students to write out the verbs in context. This is one of them. It incorporates forms of the following verbs: atterrir choisir démolir finir grandir maigrir obéir punir ralentir réfléchir remplir réussir rougir vieillir vomir If you like this activity, please let me know and I will post more like it.

Warning: This simplified word sudoku is for those who find the usual Valentine’s fare far too saccharine. It features 6 decidedly unsentimental Shakespearean insults: 1 Thou dost infect mine eyes! RICHARD III, ACT I, SCENE II 2 Light of brain! OTHELLO, ACT IV, SCENE I 3 Thou art a … plague sore! KING LEAR, ACT II, SCENE II 4 Foul fiend Flibbertigibbet KING LEAR, ACT III, SCENE IV 5 You bull’s pizzle. HENRY IV, Part I, ACT II, SCENE IV 6 Would thou wouldst burst! TIMON OF ATHENS, ACT IV, SCENE III If your students like this kind of activity, please let me know and I will make more like it.

Warning: This is an ironic "Valentine" puzzle in the spirit of Goscinny's classic "Djodjo" For those who find the usual Valentine’s fare too saccharine, this MOTDOKU6 features 6 decidedly unsentimental expressions. 1 Ta gueule! (Shut up!) 2 Tais-toi! (Shut up!) 3 J’en ai marre! (I’ve had enough!) 4 Je m’en fiche! (I don’t care!) 5 Va t’en! (Go away!) 6 Décampe! (Get out of here!)

Thanks to Diana Martínez, a brilliant young colleague from Mexico, here is the first Spanish game in the OSLTC series. In this ¡Busquemos el tesoro escondido! game the focus is on verbs with AR endings. It will work well both as a teacher-directed game and as a small group activity. Try it to see how keen even reluctant learners are to participate and to volunteer answers. After the fun of the oral treasure hunt, simply assign some coordinates to create an instant written assignment. We've only included answer keys for three tenses but the game works in virtually every verb tense. Please note that we have opted to use Mexican Spanish wherever possible. If you like this game, we would appreciate your feedback.

This translation game combines both serious learning AND a lot of fun. But, if all goes well, it will be a bit raucous. You might want to stipulate that your runners “speed walk” rather than actually run. If you like this resource, please let me know and I will make more like it.

À l'aide de quelques petits indices, vos étudiants sauteront d’une case à l’autre pour découvrir les sept phrases cachées dans la marelle. Using a few small clues, your students will discover the seven sentences hidden in this paper hopscotch. • Le trèfle est l’emblème national de l’Irlande. • Fait surprenant: la première parade de la Saint-Patrick s'est déroulée à Boston aux États-Unis. • J’ai apporté mon trèfle à quatre feuilles à l’examen de maths alors je suis certain que j’aurai une bonne note! • Le 17 mars, ma couleur préférée est le vert, bien sûr! • Selon le folklore, embrasser la pierre Blarney vous donnera le pouvoir de parler avec éloquence. • Au-dessus de l’arc-en-ciel, tu vas trouver un énorme pot d’or caché par un petit leprechaun. • Saint Patrick, le patron des Irlandais, a chassé tous les serpents de l’Île d’Émeraude. Je vous joins une version qui utilise le mot “leprechaun” et une version qui met en vedette le mot “farfadet". Il y a un troisième fichier pour ceux et celles qui cherchent une marelle pour les apprentis lecteurs. Any and all nauseatingly fawning feedback gleefully accepted!

In this virtual race, players have to reconstitute and recopy words that have been broken down into syllables and scattered over the game grid. Students may play individually or in pairs. The words embedded in the grid are: 1 spider 2 cauldron 3 costume 4 pumpkin 5 phantom 6 haunted 7 wizard 8 zombie 9 disguise 10 casket 11 cobweb 12 demon 13. howl Happy Hallowe'en!

WOORDOKU6 (Kerstmis) is a simplified version of my WORDOKUs (word sudokus). The challenge is to slot the following Dutch words about Christmas into the grid: 1 de kerstster 2 de kerstkrans 3 de speculaaspop 4 de Kerstman 5 het elfje 6 het speelgoed

In this small-group activity, Fate (the dice) will determine which garment your students must describe. Express yourself! is a relaxed way to reinforce lessons on adjectives and to encourage your students to participate in class. If you'd like to extend the lesson to written work, just assign some dice co-ordinates (ie: •• x •••• or •••• x •)

The objective of Language Lego™ is to accumulate as many points as possible building the longest sentences possible with “interlocking” phrases. This game helps students get over their fear of speaking French by guiding them each step of the way with a few giggles thrown in for good measure. Cards may be printed in colour or B&W on business card sheets or card stock. A handful of blank cards is included to allow you to personalise the deck. Headset icons help players with the pronunciation of “difficult” words. The nose icons indicate syllables that are to be nasalised. If you like this resource, please let me know and I will make more like it.

Embedded in the puzzle grid are 13 French words on the Saint-Valentin theme and more than 70 general vocabulary words. The file includes a thematic vocabulary, an answer key and a “how to play” guide. (I posted the English version of this Valentine's game five years ago and am truly tickled to see that it has been downloaded 3355 times! If your students enjoy the activity, please let me know and I will create more like it.)

Ah, les chants de Noël! En ce moment, on les entend partout - à la radio, au centre commercial, à la télé - et tout le temps! Et voici, pour vos étudiants, un petit casse-tête basé sur le chant de Noël populaire, Petit Papa Noël.

Another five minute filler for French teachers. Templates in colour and in black and white, a thematic vocabulary and an answer key are included.

With these 3 posters in the 'Keep Calm' style: 1 Reste calme et sers-toi du site BonPatron 2 Reste calme et sers-toi du site Wordreference 3 Reste calme et mange du chocolat

I fell in love with this trailer and had to transcribe the French! I hope you and your students enjoy it as much as I do!

The end of every word in this circular puzzle is also the beginning of the next word. This puzzle comprises the following words: 1 thanks 2 stuffing 3 gobble 4 blessing 5 gratitude 6 devout 7 turkey 8 yam 9 amen 10 enterntain 11 nap 12 apple 13 leaves 14 squash 15 share 16 reap 17 pies 18 serve 19 vegetable 20 leap 21 potluck 22 kitchen 23 nut Once your students have found all the overlapping words, assign a theme and invite them to work with a partner to build their own variation on the game. Happy holidays!

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.

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!

A tiny Christmas cracker of an activity for the weeks before the holidays. Challenge your students to decipher the lyric, “I played my drum for Him, parumpapapum”! Merry Christmas, everyone! If you’d like some more Christmas rebus puzzles, have a look at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/twelve-christmas-rebus-puzzles-11176843

These magic message riddles will serve as instant Christmas cards for your students if you print them on card stock. The riddles resemble QR codes until you raise them to eye level and read the “magical messages” from bottom - indicated by a red number - to top. There are four cards to the page. Decades ago, these things took me forever and a day to draw by hand. But then I could legitimately challenge my students to draw a message of their own. Nowadays, I use the computer so they just take forever. However, I’ve lost the moral authority to launch my drawing challenge. But the “wow” moment when a student actually sees the message still makes it worthwhile. If you’d like more resources on this theme, just type “Christmas” into the search window of my shop: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Carlav