I’m Rachel and I've been teaching for 18 years! I first taught English (TEFL) in Japan and Madrid and then taught French and Spanish in Surrey. I subsequently worked in a UK curriculum school in sunny Dubai. I have now relocated to the UK and have a gorgeous baby daughter!
I have a learning-centred approach and encourage my students to be active and reflective learners. I really enjoy the creative process of making PowerPoints and worksheets and hope you enjoy using them!
I’m Rachel and I've been teaching for 18 years! I first taught English (TEFL) in Japan and Madrid and then taught French and Spanish in Surrey. I subsequently worked in a UK curriculum school in sunny Dubai. I have now relocated to the UK and have a gorgeous baby daughter!
I have a learning-centred approach and encourage my students to be active and reflective learners. I really enjoy the creative process of making PowerPoints and worksheets and hope you enjoy using them!
This colourful and fun PowerPoint presentation presents various countries.
Vocabulary presented:
Soy de Australia.
Soy de España.
Soy de Estados Unidos.
Soy de Inglaterra.
Soy de Escocia.
Soy de Gales.
Soy de Irlanda.
Soy de Jamaica.
Soy de México.
Soy de Nigeria.
Soy de Paquistán.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill.
The next slide can be used for a Beat the Teacher game, which the students love!
Instructions:
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!
Then there are "what's missing?" slides.
The final slide has pictures of all the new vocabulary for a re-cap.
This word document is a Spanish Pet Survey activity to practise talking about pets.
Students ask the question:
¿Tienes animales en casa?
To which their classmates reply:
Sí, tengo ___________________________
No, no tengo un animal.
There is a box to remind students how to use plurals:
Plurals!
Normally we add an s e.g. un perro, dos perros.
If the noun ends in a consonant we add es e.g. un ratón, dos ratones.
Remember:
Un pez, but dos peces.
There is also a suggested extension box:
Extension:
Include names:
Se llama = he/she/it is called.
Se llaman = they are called.
To ensure that the students are using the target language I sometimes secretly choose my "secret policemen" who report students heard speaking in English. At the end of the game they have to perform a forfeit e.g. to sing the names of the animals in the style of an opera singer!
Battleships Game/ Lotto Grid: Revision of a range of tenses:.Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Future, Near Future, Conditional, Subjunctive. It could be used as a revision activity at the beginning of of throughout the school year.
Expressions included:
Je suis sorti(e) et
Nous nous sommes amusés et
J’irai au syndicat d’initiative et
Nous irions à la patinoire et
Ils étaient très contents et
il a fait de la voile.
nous avons loué des vélos.
je vais chercher quelques dépliants.
il faisait très chaud.
je travaillerai comme chirurgien.
il faut que je fasse mes devoirs.
Battleships Game
Instructions
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 and discuss 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. This is followed by whole class drilling of pronunciation mistakes.
Enjoy!
This warmer activity can be used to revise the Present, Perfect, Imperfect, Future and Conditional Tenses at the beginning of term or throughout the school year.
Each student has a mini-whiteboard to write their answer on; give them 20 seconds.
All: Find the odd-one-out.
Most: Identify the tenses.
Some: Change the odd-one-out to the same tense as the other two.
Example Expressions:
je joue au tennis B. je fais de la voile C. je jouerai de la guitare.
A. je bois un jus de pommes B. je mangerai C. j’irai au syndicat d’inititative
A. j’ai joué au foot B. je lis C. j’ai fait de la natation
I use this resource with similar ability teams of students to build sentences and increase the level of sophistication of written work. It could be used as a revision task and the beginning of term and throughout the school year. I use it with Years 8 and 9.
I print out the first sheet and the second template sheet and have the sheets colour photocopied and enlarged onto A3 size paper.
The teams start with the middle sentence and work their way through the different stages to develop the sentence and increase the level of sophistication. The starter sentence here is:
Starter sentence:
Le week-end je porte mon jean, mon tee-shirt, mes chaussettes et mes baskets.
Je joue au foot.
Je mange un sandwich.
Then the first development box invites them to:
1.Add opinions e.g. j’adore, j’aime, je n’aime pas, je déteste, je préfère.
2. Add adjectives e.g. colours, génial, intéressant, fatigant, amusant. * Check masc/fem/plural endings. Check word order. C’est = it is, ce n’est pas = it isn’t.
* You can also add a range of connectives e.g. et = and, mais = but, avec= with, donc = therefore, où = where, qui = who, parce que/car = because, tandis que = whereas, while, puis = then, ensuite = then, après = after, de plus = furthermore, par contre = on the other hand, en revanche = on the other hand.
Add in a range of adverbs: très = very, assez = quite, un peu = a little, plutôt = rather, extrêmement = extremely, incroyablement = unbelievably, souvent = often, rarement = rarely.
The following boxes add in the Perfect and near Future tenses plus a range of sophisticated structures for your higher ability students.
I would not expect all groups to work through all of the stages, perhaps the weakest group would aim to incorporate only the first suggestions and so on.
I have been really impressed by the work produced using this support. It can also be used by students individually.
I use this dominoes activity at the start of the year and throughout the year to revise a range of tenses.
Expressions and tenses:
Lorsque la guerre a commencé elle a travaillé dans les champs.
Le passé composé.
Je lus mon livre chez moi.
Passé simple.
Nous nous sommes amusés.
Un verbe pronominal au passé composé.
Quand nous sommes arrivés ils avaient déjà terminé.
Le plus-que-parfait.
Demain, à cette heure, mes parents auront atterri en Australie.
Le futur antérieur.
Les camions traversaient quand une mine a explosé.
L’imparfait.
Pourriez-vous me dire pourquoi vous faites ça ?
Le conditionnel.
Quand vous arriverez au bout de la rue, vous verrez le château.
Le futur.
M. et Mme Lechat sont en train de faire leurs courses.
Le présent.
Si j’avais su que vous veniez j’aurais fait un gâteau.
Le conditionnel passé.
On pourrait envoyer un e-mail au lieu d’y aller en personne.
L’infinitif.
I differentiate as follows:
All: Line up the dominoes and discuss the pronunciation.
Most: As above and discuss the translation.
Some: As above and question each other English to French and French to English.
Following checking there is a fun game to play, this is 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!
I use this French Christmas Mystery with my Year 10 and 11 students who have studied the perfect tense and perfect infinitive. It could also be used with younger Gifted and Talented students.
I show them the PowerPoint first, eliciting the information in English and then give them out a set of cards. There are a variety of clues, including some red herrings, so the students really have to use their thinking skills and teamwork. I allow them to use dictionaries.
* The ANSWERS to the mystery are at the top of the cards sheet. Be careful not to give this information out!! All students are aiming to figure out who. Most to find out what gift and some why.
The suspects are the Santa’s reindeer including; Tornade (Dasher), Danseur (Dancer) , Furie (Prancer), Fringant (Vixen) and Comète (Comet)!
Examples of clues:
Hier soir Tournade a porté des gants jaunes.
Danseur est allé à la discothèque à 18h00. Il est rentré à 22h00.
Danseur ne s’entend pas avec Tonerre.
Furie a perdu son portable.
Enjoy!
I use these English - French matching cards to build vocabulary for essay-writing: both literary terms and some expressions linked to the plot of Cyrano De Bergerac.
Examples of expressions:
La scène.
Le thème sous-jacent.
Le cadre.
La peinture des personnages.
L’action centrale.
Dépeindre.
Accroître la tension.
Soutenir l’intérêt.
Le contraste.
Etablir une comparaison entre.
Une tranche de vie.
S’inspirer de la réalité.
Forcé.
Tramer une intrigue.
Faire allusion à.
Incapable de s’exprimer.
Donner/lâcher son paquet à quelqu’un.
Débiter.
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!
These cards can be used to revise/ elicit different jobs/ professions. I have included a range of tenses to challenge stronger students.
Expressions:
Je veux devenir acteur/actrice
Je voudrais être avocat/avocate.
Je vais devenir chanteur/chanteuse.
Je voulais être coiffeur/coiffeuse.
Je suis commercial/commerciale.
J’ai l’intention de devenir éducateur/ éducatrice.
Je rêve d’être footballeur.
J’aimerais bien devenir informaticien/informaticienne.
Mon frère deviendra mécanicien.
Mon grand-père était pilote d’avion.
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 PowerPoint presentation explains the use of Spanish Reflexives and reflexive pronouns. I use this having already taught the following daily routine phrases:
Me despierto
Me levanto
Me ducho
Me visto
Me peino
Me lavo los dientes
Me acuesto
Use the first slide to elicit the English and pronunciation of the phrases above.
The next slide helps the student to spot that conjugated reflexive verbs have an extra word (the reflexive pronoun).
The next slide shows how you can spot a reflexive verb in the dictionary by it's infinitive ending.
The final slide introduce the first 3 reflexive pronouns using the following expressions:
Me despierto
Te despiertas
Se despierta
Me levanto
Te levantas
Se levanta
Me visto
Te vistes
Se viste
This slide can also be used for a couple of fun games to reinforce the vocabulary:
If you have a stamper facility on your interactive whiteboard, a fun game is to ask the students to recite the Spanish phrases over and over whilst you gradually cover the words in stampers e.g. smileys or apples making it more and more difficult – simple but fun!
Another easy game is to send one student out of the room. The remaining class chooses a student to give a top secret signal – this could be a sound e.g. a deliberate sneeze or cough, or something visual e.g. an obvious stretch, zipping/unzipping their pencil case etc. The students then repeat the first phrase again and again until they see or hear the signal. The students then repeat the second phrase again and again until they see or hear the signal and so on. The student who has been sent out must then try to figure out who the secret signal giver is!
As family members are pretty straight-forward I have added in a range of other structures to these matching cards in order to expose the students to some other new vocabulary.
Expressions:
Mon père s’appelle Guillaume.
Ma mère est allée en ville.
Ma sœur adore faire du cheval.
Je vais jouer au foot avec mon frère.
L’anniversaire de ma tante est le quinze janvier.
Mon oncle déteste le cyclisme.
Nous allons rendre visite à ma grand-mère.
Mon grand-père a visité la Tour Eiffel !
Mon cousin adore Paris !
Son fils s’appelle Florien et sa fille s’appelle Lucie.
These matching cards can be used either to elicit the family members or to revise previous learning.
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 PowerPoint (which I use following the Healthy Living advice PowerPoint) is a step-by-step introduction to The Imperative lasting about 20 minutes.
For example, the third slide asks: Look at these examples of the imperative. What form of the verb is used: je/ tu/ il/ nous/ vous/ ils? Répétez!
Mangez!
Écoutez!
I give the students time to reflect, discuss each question before eliciting the answer.
The next slide asks: What kind of people are we talking to if we give the vous command mangez?
Then: Do you think there is another form of the imperative? Who for? How is it formed?
And so on.
The final slide asks questions to summarise the learning with an Extra section for Gifted students to consider.
This is a template for a 20 minute introductory session for the first lesson in September.
It includes:
a slide to introduce yourself
a quick tonguetwister
a slide for you to fill in the lesson objectives
a slide for you to fill in why you love languages,
a slide with the Nelson Mandela quotation: ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.’
Then the students discuss the questions:
What percentage of the world’s population speak English as a first language?
What percentage of the world’s population do not speak any English? You talk through the answers and watch 2 short fun Youtube links.
Then there is a slide for you to add in your expectations (examples given).
Finally there are 2 motivational slides:
Intelligence is not fixed or unchanging. We can build intelligence.
You have power over your perception of the world.
Replace “it’s a problem” with “it’s an opportunity”.
When we believe in our abilities we can accomplish great things.
Take risks! Stay curious!
Inspire others.
I use this PowerPoint to introduce comparatives.
Please note these comparative sentences are not my opinion - they are merely examples!! The pictures are very genetic so you can easily substitute in different football player names and pop stars.
Phrases presented:
¡El fútbol es más interesante que el golf!
¡El baloncesto es más divertido que el tenis!
¡David Beckham es más famoso que Raoul!
¡Britney Spears es más famosa que Beyonce!
¡La pesca es menos emocionante que el fútbol!
¡La comida italiana es menos picante que la comida mexicana!
¡La música es menos divertida que el deporte!
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English, the formation and to drill. The adjectives are hi-lighted in red. Remember to check the students know to use the masculine or feminine forms of the adjective. Slide 9 is to ensure all students understand this.
The final slide summarises the rules and add mejor que and peor que. This slide could be printed out and then highlighted by the students. It also instructs the students to create their own sentences and provides a list of additional adjectives.
Use the PowerPoint, matching cards and sheet to elicit and explain Relative Pronouns!
Examples of expressions on matching cards:
La fille dont on a parlée.
The girl that we talked about/ of whom we talked.
L’homme dont on s’inquiétait.
The man that we were worrying about.
La voiture dont nous avons envie.
The car that we want.
I hope your students enjoy this colourful Halloween PowerPoint which I have created using some eye-catching animations!
Expressions:
Un fantasma.
Una bruja.
Un extraterrestre.
Un esqueleto.
Un vampiro.
Un monstruo.
Un murciélago.
Una calabaza.
The first slide 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 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!
I use these dominoes with my Year 11 and 12 students to revise the word order of adjectives and key irregular adjectives.
Expressions:
La vieille dame.
Une belle voiture verte.
Une grande chemise blanche.
Un petit chat gris.
Une courte jupe bleu-clair.
J’ai acheté un nouvel ordinateur.
Ma propre maison.
Ma maison propre.
Mon pauvre ami.
Mon ami pauvre.
Ces chers enfants.
Un article cher.
J’ai les yeux noisette.
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 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!
I use this with classes who have already learnt the basic rule regarding adjectives of adding an e to make an adjective feminine.
Here, I give out mini-whiteboards to each student. Each slide has a multiple choice question and an extension task to unjumble a phrase. I give the students 20 seconds to decide and write down their answers, then I reveal the correct answers and explain the rule.
Adjectives covered:
Il est bavard. Elle est ….
Il est sympathique. Elle est …
Il est extrêmement travailleur. Elle est extrêmement …
Mon frère est sportif. Ma tante est…
Ton mari est très gentil. Ta femme est très…
Il porte un pantalon marron. Elle porte une jupe …
Key Irregular Adjectives : Long, beau, nouveau, fou, vieux
Adjectives which precede the noun.
Slides 17 – 20 can be used for a plenary or to re-cap at the beginning of the next lesson. There is also an extension in this re-cap considering: Extension: translate: l’ancien président, ma maison ancienne, mon cher ami, un sac cher, ma propre maison, ma maison propre. What do you notice?
This simple sheet helps students to practise their pronunciation. Information included:
French pronunciation!
In French, many words are not pronounced as we would expect! Here are a few rules to help:
• The letters “t” and “s” are not pronounced (are silent) if they are at the end of the word.
e.g. français, chat.
• The letter “h” is also silent
e.g. hôtel, hôpital.
• The letters “th” are pronounced “t”
e.g. théâtre, thé.
• If the letter “c” has a cedilla attached it is pronounced like the letter “s”
e.g çava.
• The letters “se” at the end of a word are pronounced “z”
e.g. française.
• the letters “ent” at the end of a word are not pronounced
e.g. ils jouent.
I first write up the words on the board and ask the students to discuss the pronunciation. Then I talk the students through the sheet and drill them. Finally I test the student's knowledge with a game of noughts and crosses in teams. I draw the grid in the board and give each square a number. Then a student chooses a square for their team and I write one of the words in the square. To win the square they must pronounce the word correctly. If they get it wrong the other team can steal the square if they pronounce the word correctly. The students love this game!
Expressions taught:
Tu veux aller au café?
Tu veux aller à la patinoire?
Tu veux aller à la piscine?
Tu veux aller au cinéma?
Tu veux faire du vélo?
Tu veux aller à la plage?
Tu veux danser?
Tu veux faire de la voile?
The first slide 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. 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!