‘Find Someone Who’ speaking activity sheet (survey: find someone who… wants to go to university, etc) Small worksheet (two copies per page, to save on photocopying!) to introduce/practise phrases like: Tengo la intención de ser profesor. Quiero tener una familia. Espero encontrar trabajo. Me gustaría vivir en el extranjero. Pienso tomarme un año sabático. Quiero trabajar como voluntario. Espero ir a la universidad. Tengo la intención de seguir estudiand

Worksheet to prepare pupils to talk about their ideal school uniform (using the Conditional Tense). They read 6 speech boxes about six people's ideas about what their ideal school uniform would be like, underlining all the uses of the Conditional. Then they Find the Spanish for various useful phrases

Worksheet containing an account of somebody's holiday in France (perfect tense). The text contains a number of connectives. Pupils have to find them and write them next to the English at the bottom of the sheet. The text also contains a number of time phrases like 'Après', ' le lendemain', which pupils can highlight. The text could also be used for reading comprehension. Good for developing writing skills, practising understanding of the perfect tense and for reinforcing the Holidays topic. (There are two copies of the exercise per A4 page; the sheet must be cut in half. Good for saving on photocopying, and makes it easy for students to stick into exercise books.)

Double-sided worksheet to help pupils to talk about what they will do in future to lead a more healthy lifestyle. Pupils fill in gaps in sentences with appropriate future tense verbs from the box. Other side of the sheet contains a re-cap of how to form the future tense (first person) and some sentences to translate, based on the vocabulary on the other side of the sheet. Could be suitable for KS3 too. (Images public domain from https://openclipart.org )

Two-sided worksheet, to be used after RE and IR verb endings have been presented. Side 1: Grid with common RE verbs. Pupils, following the example, must fill in the ‘je’ and ‘nous’ forms. Common irregular re verbs provided at the bottom of the sheet for reference. Side 2: Same but for IR verbs. Useful for verb practice and later reference. Ideal for pupils’ GCSE (or A-Level) files.

Worksheet to practise regular ER verbs. Includes a section on negative sections using ne...pas.

This worksheet has two sides: one with a 150-word environment question, with a model answer to highlight, dissect and analyse (to give students ideas for their own writing) second side gives a 90-word environment question, with an inadequate sample answer for them to analyse, annotate and improve in pairs Students found this useful to prepare to write their own answer to an GCSE question on the environment. Took up a good chunk of the lesson.

Basic worksheet on the imperfect tense. Pupils fill in the verb endings then do the gap-fill exercise.

Presentation of question words and accompanying worksheet. Uses vocabulary from early chapters of Mira 1.

Worksheet to help pupils to talk about whether their diet is healthy enough. Contains a text where someone gives their opinion on their own diet. Pupils then find and highlight/write down certain useful vocabulary from the text. Text could also be used for reading comprehension. Vocabulary list could be removed to make more difficult. (Images public domain from https://openclipart.org/ )

Double-sided worksheet to prepare GCSE students to build up vocabulary to write about the kind of holiday they usually go on and why (=giving and justifying opinions). Side 1: They complete some model sentences, then fill in some opinions with Me gusta/Me interesa (to practise gusta/gustan) Side 2: They read three model paragraphs about preferred holidays and then Find the Spanish for a number of useful phrases in the texts. They then use all of the worksheet to help them translate 6 sentences into Spanish, e.g. I love beach holidays because I think that they are relaxing and I like watersports. This worksheet would also be suitable for some KS3 classes. (All images public domain from https://openclipart.org or Wikimedia Commons)

Double-sided worksheet providing vocabulary to help students describe different part time jobs. Pupils simply write the number of the corresponding English sentence (from side 2 of the sheet) next to the sentences on side 1. Could do this against the clock to add challenge/fun? ( All images are public domain from https://openclipart.org )

A Powerpoint practising key verbs to do with technology & mobile phones, with tasks to get pupils to put them into the Present Tense. Also a ‘mosaic translation’ worksheet activity where pupils translate sentences about the pros and cons of technology using the words provided in the grid (Google Translate-proof!)

Introducing the Present Subjunctive in an environment context for GCSE students, once pupils have already learnt some environment vocabulary. Doesn’t include the endings in the Presentation (you’ll need to write them on the board or add a slide) but focusses on how to USE the subjunctive after certain phrases, mainly: “es necesario que”, “es importante que”, “es esencial que” (so it’s not a comprehensive guide to the use of the subjunctive - just a way in.) Lots of examples given (from Global Issues/Environment context) contrasting the subjunctive with the indicative. Includes irregulars haber, ser and ir. Example sentences where students put the verb into the subjunctive on their mini-whiteboards. Plus some sentences for them to translate.

Lesson on saying what you’ve done recently to be healthy. I did this toward the end of the Healthy Living topic, once key vocab on exercise and healthy eating had been covered, and once we had re-capped the Perfect Tense (with avoir) Starter : match the French time phrases to the English **Gap-fill activity: ** for mini-whiteboards and/or books: fill in the correct verb form or past participle Trapdoor game: Students love this. Pupils take turns to read through the passage with a partner, choosing options each time from the list. Their partner must read it back from memory; if they go wrong they have to go back to the start. Then swap roles. I model this first so pupils have to listen then I choose one to read back what I said. Then, to make it harder, there is a version with some words and letters taken away, so pupils are not just reading from the screen but have to remember the phrases.

Presentation and worksheet to introduce and practise demonstrative adjectives and pronouns (lequel, celui-ci, etc). Uses clothes vocabulary/shopping context generally (a bit of food vocab too, to remind students that grammar is applicable in multiple contexts) Probably best after some work/revision on clothes has been done first. Also suitable for revision of this grammar point at A-Level. (All images are public domain from https://openclipart.org/ )

There are a few 'useful essay phrases' resources out there online but I put together this one because: 1) I was mainly looking for useful phrases pupils could make use of in the (new AQA) speaking exam when talking about the various topics 2) Existing resources seemed more geared towards structuring an essay 3) ...and many contained many pages of often quite convoluted essay phrases students were fairly unlikely to remember or find an opportunity to use. Yes, virtually all of these phrases would be perfectly suitable in written work too but I have tried to compile a relatively brief (just over 2.5 pages) list of what seem to me the most handy expressions that could be plausibly used when speaking. I have gathered the ones which take the subjunctive in a separate box at the beginning of the document. Easily editable. And there is a box at the end for students to add further phrases.

Double-sided sheet with an overview of all the main Spanish verb tenses. Ideal ‘quick reference’ sheet for Key Stage 4 and 5. Pupils can stick it in front of their books/files. Sections are numbered so you can quickly refer them to the right section. Includes stem-changing and key irregular/semi-irregular verbs. PDF and editable Powerpoint* version included. *Note that if you don’t have the latest (2016) version of Office, the formatting of the PPT version will appear wrongly. But the PDF will be fine. FRENCH VERSION ALSO AVAILABLE IN MY SHOP :)

Ma ville et ma maison - French GCSE A Knowledge Organiser (KO) in the form of a parallel text about someone’s city and home. Designed to expose students’ to many of the key vocabulary items from the AQA GCSE Specification (Home, Town, Neighbourhood and Region section - e.g. verbs like déménager) and to provide useful recyclable structures and phrases. Google ‘Michaela French Knowledge Organisers’ for some ideas about what to do with this kind of parallel text. Had a productive couple of lessons with my GCSE class exploiting this text, all with minimum teacher preparation (apart from writing the text!) e.g. You can use it for pronunciation practice/awareness: I got pupils focussing on the recurring [ɛ] and [ɑ̃] in the first few paragraphs. They had to listen and highlight the text, then I re-read the text with pupils putting hands up when they heard the sound. Then they had a go in pairs. Then we did some work on the vocabulary. Listening activities too where I changed parts of the text and pupils had to identify what had changed. Then they had a go at adapting parts of the text and combining words and phrases from it to make their own paragraphs. Includes editable PPT version and a PDF version.

Double-sided sheet with an overview of all the main French verb tenses. Ideal ‘quick reference’ sheet for Key Stage 4 and 5. Pupils can stick it in front of their books/files. Sections are numbered so you can quickly refer them to the right section. Includes key irregular/semi-irregular verbs. PDF and editable Powerpoint* version included. *Note that if you don’t have the latest (2016) version of Office, the formatting of the PPT version will appear wrongly. But the PDF will be fine. SPANISH VERSION ALSO AVAILABLE IN MY SHOP :)