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!

These resources are designed to be a fun end of term lesson! The students learn vocabulary and facts associated to the Tomatina as well as revising food, clothing and colours. There are colourful slides with pictures and animations, differentiated activities, links to short YouTube extracts, a worksheet and a creative task to finish. The first slide says: In celebration of the humble tomato! (at this point the students do not know that they are learning about La Tomatina!) Slide 2 is the warmer: All: Match the words and pictures. Most: AND identify the food that involves tomatoes! Some: AND name other tomato-based food/ dishes! Vocabulary includes: una pizza una paella un bocadillo el gazpacho * Having checked these recipes, ALL can contain tomatoes! Slide 3 says: Of course, there are other things you can do with tomatoes….. Click on the YouTube link which takes you to a brilliant RayBans Tomatina advert (2 mins 47 secs). Slide 5 then states the lesson objective: Objetivo: To learn facts and vocabulary related to the La Tomatina. All: Will learn 7 new facts and Spanish words. Most: Will learn 9 ... Some: Will learn 10+ ... Slide 6 should be used in conjunction with the YouTube link and worksheet: All: Watch the Tomatina advert and choose the correct answer! Most: Tick the things you see and the words you hear. Some: Write down other objects and words in Spanish that you see and hear. The YouTube link (1 min 21 secs) advertises the Tomatina and is a short cartoon narrated in Spanish. You may wish to show this a couple of times. Example question: 1. The Tomatina takes place in… A. Valencia, España. B. Sevilla, España. C. Buñol, España. Examples of vocabulary to tick: el mundo el sol la luna una palmera un estadio una iglesia un piano Slide 7 states: You are now going to design your own Tomatina outfit! All: Match the Spanish and the picture! Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge! What other items of clothing and accessories can you name? Some: Quick Fire Questions! * Here the students quiz each other English – Spanish, Spanish – English, spellings….. Vocabulary includes: Una camiseta Unos pantalones Unos zapatos Slide 8 : All: Will draw your Tomatina outfit and label the clothing and accessories in Spanish. Most: AND will write the colour: REMEMBER word order and adjective endings. Some: AND include the material. Use your imagination…. You could be a Tomatina superhero, a Tomatina ninja… You decide! The students then grab dictionaries and design, label and finally present/ share their work. The final slide is for reflection. Enjoy!

This 8 slide PowerPoint introduces the Past Historic. Use it to elicit translations and to present information about it's formation and irregular verbs. I use this PowerPoint slide to revise the Past Historic. I give students mini-whiteboards and they choose the odd-one-out. Examples: je parlai je finis je répondis je vais j’aurai j’allai nous finîmes il but j’eus ils eurent j’ai eu vous eûtes * watch out for the made-up verb at the end!

This 37 slide French Christmas Quiz PowerPoint is fun and informative! I have used lots of colourful animations to really bring the quiz to life. The second slide presents the differentiated objectives: Objectif: To complete a Christmas Quiz and learn about how Christmas is celebrated in France. ALL will learn 5 words and facts. MOST will learn 6 words and facts. SOME will learn 7+ words and facts. Put the students into teams and tell them to choose their team name! There are 12 multiple choice quiz questions each on a separate slide e.g. 1. Comment dit-on «Merry Christmas» en français? A. Bon anniversaire! B. Joyeux Noël! C. Joyeuses Pâques! 2. Le Père Noël arrive le…. A. 6 décembre. B. 12 décembre. C. 24 décembre. 5. Comment dit-on «nativity scene» en français? A. Un sapin de Noël. B. Une crèche. C. Un cadeau. 9. In Provence how many desserts are traditionally served at Le Réveillon? A. quatre. B. neuf. C. treize. The following slides reveal the answers and include slides to further explain some of the answers. E.g. following a question about Une bûche de Noël a slides explains: Une bûche de Noël is a Yule Log. It is a sponge cake which is rolled and shaped like a log. Inside there is a cream filling and the cake is covered in chocolate or chocolate flavoured butter cream – miam miam! Slide 36 provides an opportunity for reflection and asks How many facts and French words can you remember? Joyeux Noël! Enjoy! Rachel

This series of worksheets accompany the fabulous and quirky French film Belleville Rendez-Vous, which links nicely to Le Tour de France. There are warmer activities and differentiated questions such as tick what you see and putting statements into the correct order for the students to complete. This should take about 3 lessons, great towards the end of term!! Example questions: Exercice B: Vrai ou faux? 1. Quand Champion était jeune il jouait du piano. 2. Quand Champion était jeune il aimait les trains. 3. Bruno aimait les trains. 4. Le film a lieu après 1937. 5. Champion n’aimait pas faire du vélo. 6. Plus tard Madame Souza est devenue entraîneuse. Exercice C : Mettez les phrases dans le bon ordre (1 – 11): Champion se couche : Madame Souza passe l’aspirateur : Bruno rêve (X2) : __ & __ Le Président parle du Tour de France : Des gangsters chassent Champion : Champion mange son dîner : On est au Tour de France : Le camion est en panne : Il s’entraîne en écoutant un disque : Champion monte la montagne : Extra : 1. Comment dit-on « Long live the Republic ? » 2. Comment dit-on « long live France ? » 3. Combien de fois est-ce qu’on voit la Tour Eiffel ? 4. Champion se couche à quelle heure ? 5. Quelle est la date de la photo de Bruno et Champion à la Boule ? 6. Le 17ième étape de la tour de France, où a-t-elle lieu ? 7. Comment dit-on « broom wagon ? » Enjoy!

I designed these activities to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. These resources could also be used each year to commemorate the Armistice. I really wanted the students to experience and express an emotional connection with the topic and can honestly say that they produced some extremely moving written work in response to the material. They were also studying themed lessons in History, English and Drama lessons on the topic of World War 1. I spent 2 lessons on these activities and used them with my Year 9 students (aged 13-14). I feel it would also work well with Year 10 students (aged 14-15) and younger Gifted students. The PowerPoint guides you through the material. It starts with a YouTube link to play as the students enter the classroom. This shows footage of trench warfare and I felt this powerfully set the scene for the lesson to come. Slide 3 presents the objective: To learn about La Première Guerre Mondale and to respond creatively to your learning. This is then differentiated into All, Most and Some. I then give out the cards to unjumble the following text: Les 3 et 4 août 1914, l’Allemagne, la France et l’Angleterre se déclaraient la guerre. C’était le début de la première guerre mondiale. Elle allait durer quatre ans. Pendant la guerre, environ 19 millions de personnes sont mortes (9,7 millions de militaires). En 1918 on comptait 1 325 000 soldats français morts. Beaucoup étaient très jeunes. Les conditions de vie dans les tranchées étaient très difficiles. Il faisait froid. Il y avait de la boue et les soldats étaient souvent sales. Il n’y avait pas d’électricité et pas de chauffage. Les hommes dormaient dehors. They found the text unjumbling activity pretty challenging so I circulated and game plenty of support. It is definitely worthwhile printing out slide 4 which gives useful vocabulary translations to support the students. The students then watch a 4 minute extract from the film Joyeux Noel (make sure you have the English subtitles) and complete the worksheet. If you do not have the DVD you may be able to find the correct extract on YouTube. The students then have time to produce their creative response. Weaker student can produce and acrostic or a calligramme using their support sheet. Stronger students may adapt the Nelson Mandela Poem to write about La Guerre. More gifted students can read through the letter from the frontline in the book Lulu Et La Grande Guerre (scan attached) and write their own letter. I asked the students to read out/ present their work to the class and we created a stunning display of the student’s work. Finally there is a slide to reflect on What Went Well (WWW) and Even Better If (EBI).

These resources are designed to give the students a taste of the thrilling Le Mans ambience and an appreciation of the prestige, dangers and challenges of the event! It uses exciting YouTube clips, colourful slides, matching cards, a video worksheet and a poem/writing template to imagine being a driver in Le Mans. A great end of term lesson! Slide 2 states the objective: Objectif: To learn facts and vocabulary related to Les 24 heures du Mans. All: Will learn 7 new facts and French words. Most: Will learn 9 new facts and French words/ phrases. Some: Will learn 10+ new facts and French words/ phrases. Slide 3 is the warmer and lesson hook. It asks : Qu’est-ce que c’est Les 24 Heures du Mans? There is then a link to the fantastic 1 mins 25 sec trailer for The Journey to Le Mans. The students can then share facts and French vocabulary which they already know. The students then match 9 x English- French cards with facts about Le Mans e.g. Les 24 Heures du Mans sont une course automobile d'une durée de 24 heures. Le Mans est dans le département de la Sarthe en France. La première course s’est déroulée en 1923. Elle est une des courses les plus prestigieuses au monde. Slides 5-11 allow you to run through the information on the cards and elicit the English. Slide 12 links to the worksheet in the resources. The students match French-English vocabulary: 1. Un mécanicien 2. Le podium 3. Un accident 4. Un casque 5. Le coucher du soleil 6. Le lever du soleil 7. Le drapeau à damier 8. Une voiture hybride 9. Un pneu 10. La nuit They then watch the Michelin 2015 Le Mans Highlights (3 minutes 14 secs), ticking the vocabulary they see (I’ve added a couple of additional words to the worksheet). The extension task is to list other things they see. Slide 14 is to be used with the (more detailed) support sheet. It sets out the final creative task: All: You are a Le Mans racing driver! Write a poem/ account of your 24 hours at Le Mans! You may wish to use the suggested template below: Il est 14h59. J’attends. Je suis prêt/ prête. Je suis calme. (time + verb + adjective) Il est 15h00. Le Tricolore! On commence! Je suis confiant/ confiante. Je suis fier/ fière. Il est 22h00. Le coucher du soleil….. Most: Build in negatives e.g. je ne dors pas. Some: Build in: adverbs e.g. parfois and toujours… connectives e.g. et, mais, cependant… other tenses e.g. je voudrais + infinitive. The final slide then gives the opportunity for reflection. I hope you enjoy using these resources!

Expressions: Je porte…un tee-shirt un sweat un polo Je vais porter…un pull une chemise un blouson/ une veste J’ai porté…un pantalon un jean un short Il faut porter…une jupe une robe une cravate Je voudrais porter…des chaussettes des baskets des chaussures J’adore porter…des sandales des bottes une casquette The first slides have the phrase and a picture for the first 9 items of clothing. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. The next section of slides have multiple choice questions. Then there is a "qu'est-ce que c'est?" slide. The next slides present the remaining vocabulary followed by a Beat The Teacher game slide: 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! Finally there are "what's missing?" slides. Slide 20 can be used to re-elicit all the clothing items. Battleships Expressions: Je porte J’adore porter J’aime porter Je n’aime pas porter Je déteste porter un jean bleu. un pantalon noir. une jupe verte. un pull rouge. une robe bleue. des chaussettes jaunes. 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. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes. Enjoy!

The first PowerPoint slide has all the phrases to be taught on it: 1. Hola. 2. Buenos días. 3. Buenas tardes. 4. Buenas noches. 5. ¿Qué tal? 6. ¡Fenomenal! 7. Muy bien, gracias. 8. Bien, gracias. 9. Bien. 10. Fatal. It 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. I always elicit a gesture to represent each greeting which can then be used for a fun game of Simon Says! The next section of slides have multiple choice questions. Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide 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! This worksheet has 3 sections, the first is a word match for English and Spanish greetings. Vocabulary: 1. Hola. 2. Buenos días. 3. Buenas tardes. 4. Buenas noches. 5. ¿Qué tal? 6. ¡Fenomenal! 7. Muy bien, gracias. 8. Bien, gracias. 9. Bien. 10. Fatal. The next section is a complete the sentence challenge where certain letters have been removed. Make this more difficult by telling the students to cover up the Spanish words listed above. The next (extra) section involves unjumbling a group of words to find the correct greetings. Again, make this more difficult by telling the students to cover up the Spanish words listed above. Then there is an extension task to create their own crossword. The battleships can be used to reinforce the new expressions. Please see another battleships product description for instructions on how to play - I have reached my word limit for this resource description!!

This step-by-step French PowerPoint gradually elicits the formation of negatives with the present tense: ne + pas. The first slide encourages the students to actively engage with the new structure: working in teams, using their prior knowledge, knowledge of other languages and using a process of elimination to figure out the meanings and rules. They then discuss the pronunciation and question each other before the teacher checks with the whole class: All: Translate the phrases below. Most: AND decide which two words we add to make a sentence negative. Where are they positioned? Some: AND: decide why we say n’ai pas rather than ne ai pas. Perfect Pronunciation Challenge! Je suis généreux. Je ne suis pas généreux. J’ai un frère. Je n’ai pas de frères. J’ai une souris. Je n’ai pas d’animal. The following slides gradually check the students' answers. Slide 8 recaps the new expressions and can be used for a game. Slide 9 recaps the questions (can be used for revision next lesson) and slide 10 is the same a slide 8. Worksheet: This sheet starts with a re-cap of the rules: To make this sentence negative we add ne and pas. These go around the verb e.g. Je ne joue pas au tennis = I don’t play tennis. Then there is a French - English translation section, followed by English - French translation. The next section reminds us that du changes to de after a negative. This is followed by English - French translation. The final section is to build in previous knowledge to write a short paragraph. The following phrases are offered for support: Tous les jours = everyday car = because mais = but donc = therefore et = and une fois par semaine = once a week deux fois par semaine = twice a week c’est = it is intéressant = interesting génial = great ennuyeux = boring. Battleships: This battleships can be used to revise a variety of expressions with ne + pas. I have also included one near future and one perfect tense example to add challenge/ expose students to these new tenses. Expressions: Je n’ai pas de frères et sœurs et Je ne suis pas travailleur et Tu n’as pas d’animal et Il n’habite pas en France et Elle n’est pas généreuse et Nous ne sommes pas sympas et je ne joue pas au foot. tu ne joues pas au basket. il ne fait pas de cyclisme. je ne vais pas faire de ski. je n’ai pas joué au tennis. Please see instructions for playing battleships on one of my other product descriptions - I can't fit it in here!

This colourful and fun PowerPoint presentation presents various daily routine activities including many reflexive verbs. You may wish to show my reflexives PowerPoint having presented this and then play my reflexives battleships game! Vocabulary: Me despierto Me levanto Me ducho Me visto Desayuno. Me lavo los dientes. Me peino. Me acuesto. 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. Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide 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! Battleships Instructions Phrases: Me despierto Me levanto Me ducho Me visto Me lavo los dientes Me acuesto a las seis y cuarto. a las cuatro y cuarto. a las siete y media. a las ocho menos cuarto. a las nueve menos diez. a las siete y veinte. 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. I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes. Enjoy!

This PowerPoint Presentation shows pictures illustrating Parisian vocabulary and tourist attractions. When I teach this I first ask the students to come up with as many tourist attractions as possible. As I show the PowerPoint I share additional facts about the attractions and/or I allocate each student an attraction to further research and feedback to the class. Vocabulary/ Attractions: Les arrondissements La Tour Eiffel La Seine Un Bateau-mouche L’opéra Garnier Les Champs-Elysées La Cathédrale Notre-Dame Le Louvre Le musée d’Orsay L’Arc de Triomphe Le Sacré Coeur La Grande Arche de la Défense Paris Plage La Cité des Sciences de La Vilette Le Centre Pompidou / Beaubourg Le métro Le Stade de France There is a picture of each piece if vocabulary/attraction and I elicit the pronunciation. There are then Vrai ou faux? slides and finally a slide with all of the 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 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!

Expressions: Je fais les courses. Je lave des voitures. Je promène des chiens. Je fais du baby-sitting. J’aide à la maison. J’aide à la maison. 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. 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! You may wish to reinforce/ revise these expressions using my matching cards: Expressions: Tu as un petit boulot/ un job? Je fais les courses. Je lave des voitures. Je promène des chiens. Je fais du baby-sitting. J’aide à la maison. Je travaille dans un magasin. C’est sympa/intéressant ! It’s nice/interesting! C’est bien-payé. C’est mal-payé. C’est dur. It’s tough/difficult/hard. C’est fatigant. 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!

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.

Spanish PowerPoint introducing vocabulary: Juego al fútbol. Juego al tenis. Juego al rugby. Juego al baloncesto. Juego al cricket. Juego al squash. Juego al voleibol. Juego al bádminton. 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. Then there are "what's missing?" slides. The final slide 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! Battleships: Juego Juegas Juega Jugamos Jugáis Juegan al baloncesto. al voleibol. al fútbol. al tenis. al bádminton. al cricket/ críquet. 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!

This two slide PowerPoint can be used to practise the following vocabulary which has caught out some of my GCSE students in their Listening and Reading papers: Ne...pas Ne...rien Ne...jamais Ne...que Maintenant De nos jours D’habitude De temps en temps Tous les jours Avant L’année dernière Dans l’avenir L’année prochaine Trop Un peu Seulement Souvent Toujours Quelquefois Surtout La plupart Certain Tellement Rarement Assez Beaucoup Par contre Même si Si Sans Le matin Le soir Parfois It can be used at the beginning of term and throughout the school year. I give the students time in team to translate the expressions and to discuss the pronunciation. I then use the vocabulary either for a game of lotto/ bingo or for a game of "slap the board" whereby I divide the students into 2 teams and line them up in front of the interactive whiteboard. One student from each team steps up and I say the English expression. The students race to slap the correct phrase to win a point for their team. The second slide has a link to the fabulous free classroomtool.net website where I have added the vocabulary to a fruit machine. The students compete against each other in pairs to shout out the correct translation. Fun and loud! Enjoy!

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!

Metacognition/ Learning To Learn PowerPoint Description I led a School Improvement Group looking at Metacognition, or put more simply Learning To learn. I was concerned that my language classes were not developing efficient and effective ways to memorise new vocabulary and grammatical structures. As a consequence I created this PowerPoint presentation, which I have used with all my classes from years 7- 13 (UK)/ grades 6 to 12. I find it particularly powerful to show before assessments and show it regularly throughout the academic year! It starts with the powerful statement: Intelligence is not fixed or unchanging. We can build intelligence. I then ask the students to discuss how they learn vocabulary and grammatical structures. Then there are some examples of mnemonics in Lingala, Chinese and French, followed by a French grammar analogy. Finally there are 2 slides of ideas for the students to try (which you may wish to print out) such as: Practice testing * You MUST DO THIS! Test and be tested by a friend/family member/ yourself. Write a challenging quiz e.g Millionaire, zondle, Kahoot, Tiny Taps… Teach someone or something (teddy bear will do!). We remember 90% of what we teach others. You may wish to print out some slides for display or perhaps share ideas with parents. Enjoy!

Battleships Expressions: Pour aller aux magasins ? Pour aller au musée? Pour aller à la poste ? Pour aller au syndicat d’initiative ? Pour aller à la librairie ? Pour aller à l’hôtel de ville ? Vous allez tout droit. Vous tournez à gauche. Vous tournez à droite. Prenez le bus numéro 15. Traversez les feux et le pont. Prenez la première rue à droite. Prenez la deuxième rue à gauche. Battleships Game 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. This really helps the students to memorise the vocabulary/structures! During the game I circulate the classroom checking pronunciation. Enjoy! French - English Cards: Prepositions, Directions & Places. Expressions: Continuez jusqu’au carrefour. C’est tout près d’ici. L’arrêt de bus se trouve en face de la gare routière. La patinoire est devant le commissariat. Le syndicat d’initiative est à coté de la pharmacie. L’hôtel de ville est devant la boulangerie. Le stade est entre l’église et la piscine. La bibliothèque est au bout de la rue. Le café est à gauche de la librairie. Au coin de la rue il y a une charcuterie. 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. Level 3 = As Level 2 but questions from English to French. Then play pelmenism/ slap the card.

As there are many cognates I have included different countries, cities and tenses to increase the level of challenge for stronger students. This PowerPoint presents the following expressions. Je vais à Bruxelles à vélo. Je vais au Portugal en voiture. Nous allons au Danemark en taxi. Je suis allé(e) à Londres à pied. Je ne suis jamais allé(e) en Allemagne à moto. Je suis allé(e) à Athènes en avion. Je vais aller aux Etats Unis en aéroglisseur. Nous sommes allé(e)s aux Pays-Bas en bateau. J’aimerais bien aller en Suisse en car. Nous sommes allés à Lisbonne à mobylette. Je vais à Paris en Eurostar. The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. All: translate the transport. Most: Also translate the country/city. Some: Also translaate and identify the verb/tense. The next 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! Finally there are "what's missing?" slides. English - French Dominoes Expressions: Je ne vais pas voyager à mobylette. Je prends le bus car c’est pratique. J’aime prendre la voiture car c’est vraiment bien. J’adore prendre le métro car c’est rapide. J’ai voyagé en bateau car ce n’est pas cher. J’aimerais prendre l’avion car c’est rapide. Je vais voyager à moto. Je voudrais prendre le train. Nous sommes allés à Bruxelles en car. Nous allons à pied car c’est bon pour la santé. Je n’ai pas voyagé en taxi. Je ne voyage pas en Eurostar. These matching cards can be used either to elicit the modes of transportation or to revise previous learning. You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example, Level 1 = line up the dominoes 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 the students can play a 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!