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 short presentation introduces the formation of the Near Future Tense.
The first slide encourages the students to actively engage with the new vocabulary and grammar: 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 (PPC = Perfect Pronunciation Challenge) and question each other (QFQ = Quick Fire Questions) before the teacher checks with the whole class.
The next slides have the phrases and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, English, the formation and to drill.
The next slide looks in detail at the formation and the final slide at the conjugation of aller.
You could then use one of my Near Future Tense battleships games/ lotto grids to reinforce the new structure.
Expressions:
Je vais
Tu vas
Il va Elle va
On va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils vont
Elles vont
voir un film de science-fiction.
aller au cinéma.
regarder la météo.
faire du cheval.
jouer avec des copains.
jouer à l’ordinateur.
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 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!
French - English Matching Cards: Rendez-vous!
Expressions:
Oui d’accord.
Je veux bien.
Ça dépend.
Je ne peux pas.
Je suis désolé(e) mais je sors avec ** samedi.
Je regrette mais je dois rester à la maison.
J’aimerais mieux aller à la patinoire.
OK ! On se retrouve où ?
Je ne suis pas libre.
Ça ne me dit rien
Yes, okay.
I’d really like to.
It depends.
I can’t.
Sorry, but I’m going out with *** on Saturday.
Sorry, but I have to stay at home.
I’d rather go to the ice rink.
Okay! Where shall we meet?
I’m not free.
I’m not interested.
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 slap the card.
Battleships Expressions:
Tu veux aller..
Ça te dirait d’ aller..
Tu as envie d’ aller..
On pourrait aller..
Si on allait..
au théâtre
demain soir?
au cinéma le week-end?
en boîte la semaine prochaine?
à la plage samedi?
aller au concert cet après-midi?
en ville le week-end prochain ?
Instructions
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.
Expressions:
A. Je peux vous aider?
B. Je cherche une jupe en laine.
A. En quelle taille?
B. En taille grande/ moyenne/ petite.
A. Quelle couleur voulez-vous?
B. Du bleu. Je peux essayer ça?
A. Oui, il y a une cabine là-bas.
B. Ça fait combien?
A. Ça fait 20 Euros.
The first slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. The final slide puts the whole role-play together. Print this off and ask the students to perform it!
Expressions:
Sous
Sur
Entre
À côté de
À gauche de
À droite de
Devant
Derrière
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 is a asking students to translate the new expressions: English to French and French to English.
This differentiated role play can be used to practise phrases about school.
Examples of questions and answers:
Au collège.
A. Quelles matières études-tu?
B. Je fais ____ matières, y compris les maths, l’anglais, les sciences, l’informatique, l’histoire, la géographie, le dessin, le français, l’allemand, l’EPS, le théâtre, la musique, la technologie, l’économie, les études de commerce, les études médiatiques.
A. Quelle est ta matière préférée?
B. Ma matière préférée est ________________________ car j’en suis fort(e)/ je pense que c’est facile/ c’est très intéressant/le prof est très sympa/ c’est amusant/ je veux devenir ***.
A. Es-tu fort(e) en maths ?
B. Oui, j’en suis fort(e)/ non, je n’en suis pas très fort(e).
Other questions:
A. Quelles autres matières aimes-tu ?
A. Quel est ton jour préféré ?
A. Aimes-tu le sport ?
A. Quelle est la matière que tu détestes le plus ?
Extra questions and answers for stronger students :
A. Qu’est-ce que tu as eu comme cours hier ?
B. Hier j’ai eu _________________, c’était ______________________
A. Qu’est-ce que tu auras comme cours demain ?
B. Demain j’aurai __________________ ce sera __________________
A. Qu’est-ce que tu faisais à l’école primaire ?
B. Je jouais au cache-cache, je dessinais, je lisais…c’était __________________
Battleships Expressions:
Mon école est bien équipée et
Mon école est moderne et
Il y a 950 élèves en tout et
L’année scolaire commence début septembre et
Les cours commencent à sept heures et demie et
l’année scolaire finit fin juin.
les cours finissent à deux heures et demie.
un cours dure une heure.
la récréation dure quarante minutes.
j’ai une heure et demie de devoirs chaque soir.
je prépare un examen qui s’appelle le GCSE.
Battleships Game
Instructions
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.
This 7 slide PowerPoint can be edited to describe your school. The slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English and to drill. It presents the following phrases:
Mon école/ collège/ lycée!
Mon école s’appelle ***
C’est une école….
…mixte.
…moderne.
…bien équipée.
C’est une vieille école.
I l y a 14 élèves dans ma classe.
Il y a 900 élèves en tout.
L’année scolaire commence début septembre et finit fin juin.
Les cours commencent à 9 heures et finissent à 15 heures 40.
Il y a sept cours par jour.
Un cours dure une heure.
La récréation dure vingt minutes.
Le déjeuner dure quarante minutes.
J’ai une heure et demie de devoirs tous les soirs.
Je prépare un examen qui s’appelle le GCSE.
This game practises daily routine phrases using reflexives and the Present Tense.
Expressions:
Je me réveille
Tu te lèves
Il se rase
Elle s’habille
On se promène
Nous nous amusons
Vous vous brossez les dents.
Ils se couchent
Elles se coiffent
tôt.
tard.
vers sept heures.
à minuit
après avoir fait les devoirs.
avant de faire du VTT.
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 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!
Song (One PowerPoint Slide):
This fun song can be used to practise the Daily Routine and Reflexives. It is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells! The student love the "pipi" bit!!
Lyrics:
Je me lève, je me lave,
je me brosse les dents.
Je m’habille, je fais pipi
et je quitte la maison.
OH !
A huit heures je prends le bus
et je vois mes amis.
Puis j’arrive au collège
à huit heures et demie !
Expressions:
Pour améliorer l’environnemt je vais…
Recycler les bouteilles/ le verre.
Recycler les papiers, les journaux et les magazines.
Acheter du papier recyclé.
Prendre une douche, pas un bain.
Baisser le chauffage et mettre un pull.
Éteindre la lumière quand je quitte une pièce.
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 "Qu’est-ce que c’est?" 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 these new expressions using my battleships/ lotto game:
Expressions:
Je vais
On peut
Il faut
Je voudrais
Je dois
recycler les bouteilles.
recycler les journaux.
acheter du papier recyclé.
prendre une douche, pas un bain.
baisser le chauffage et mettre un pull.
éteindre la lumière quand je quitte une pièce.
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!
Expressions:
Je peux, je ne peux pas...
regarder la télé quand je veux.
téléphoner aux copains.
sortir le soir avec des copains.
m’habiller comme je veux.
dépenser mon argent de poche comme je veux.
surfer sur Internet.
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 and extend this material by playing my je peux/ je ne peux pas battleships game/ lotto grid.
Expressions:
Je peux
Je ne peux pas
Je vais
Je voudrais
Quand j’aurai 16ans je pourrai
regarder la télé quand je veux.
téléphoner aux copains.
sortir le soir avec des copains.
m’habiller comme je veux.
dépenser mon argent de poche comme je veux.
surfer sur Internet.
Battleships Game
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!
This PowerPoint presents the following exchange expressions:
Tu peux me prêter..?
un baladeur/ un iPod?
un dictionnaire?
un parapluie?
un réveil?
du dentifrice?
une brosse à cheveux?
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.
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!
Then use the slide to ask Qu’est-ce que c’est?
You may wish to reinforce this with my battleships/ lotto game:
Expressions:
Tu peux me prêter un/une
J’ai oublié mon/ ma
J’ai acheté un/ une
Je vais acheter un/ une
J’ai besoin d’un/ une
iPod.
dictionnaire.
parapluie.
réveil.
dentifrice.
brosse à cheveux.
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.
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!
These cards revise key negative expressions. I have also included a range of tenses to stretch stronger students.
Expressions:
Je ne joue jamais au rugby.
Je ne fais pas de musculation.
Je ne suis pas sorti(e) avec mes amis.
Je n’ai jamais vu ce film.
Je ne vais plus faire de yoga.
Je ne vais pas manger de chocolat.
Je ne mangeais que du pain.
Je ne faisais jamais mes devoirs.
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!
I have used this one slide warmer many times and found it works really well both as a 15 minute starter and as a plenary activity.
Give each student a mini whiteboard.Click on the PowerPoint and the students will see a sentence to unjumble and an extension task to change the phrase to a different tense. E.g.
au pas je tennis joue ne. Extra: perfect tense.
Give the students 20 seconds to figure out and write down the answer, then click on the PowerPoint to reveal the answer:
Je ne joue pas au tennis.
Je n’ai pas joué au tennis.
Other phrases on the slide are:
fais ne je voile pas de. Extra: perfect tense.
Je ne fais pas de voile.
Je n’ai pas fait de voile.
ville jamais ne il va en. Extra: future tense.
Il ne va jamais en ville.
Il ne va jamais aller en ville.
d’équitation plus ne je fais. Extra: would no longer like…(conditional).
Je ne fais plus d’équitation.
Je ne voudrais plus faire d’équitation.
This single PowerPoint slide Warmer/ Starter Activity helps students focus on the pronunciation of the ch, th and r sounds in French.
I use this as a quick warmer and ask the students to discuss the pronunciation and meaning in pairs/ groups before eliciting and checking both. After drilling I challenge the students to say each sentence 3 times as fast as possible and then pounce on some "volunteers"!
Phrases:
Charles a un chien, un cheval et des cochons.
Thomas aime le thon, le thé, le théâtre et l’athlétisme.
Rebecca mange du riz au restaurant romantique
Amélie.
This differentiated worksheet can be used with the first 50 minutes of the film, after which I let the students watch the remainder of the film without any worksheets to complete. There are Extra tasks in all sections to stretch stronger students.
The timings are shown in brackets, therefore (0 - 3.11) means from the beginning until 3 minutes and 11 seconds at which point you pause the film and check the answers.
I have included various extracts below to give you a taste of the worksheets.
It starts with an introductory task. Extract:
Divisez le mot énorme !
LefilmAmélieestunehistoired’amourquialieuàParisOnvoitl’enfanced’AmélieenbanlieueetplustardsavieàParis.....
Extra extract:
Lavied’AméliechangelesoirdelamortdeLadyDiquand...
A. Recherche de vocabulaire (0 – 3.11).
Cochez les mots que vous voyez :
Extract:
un journal une voiture une barbe une plage la Seine
une rue la Tour Eiffel un lit des verres un avion du savon
le Sacré-Cœur une tasse du dentifrice un spermatozoïde
Extra extract :
1. L’histoire commence le _______________________
2. Comment s’appelle le film en français ? ___________________
B. Vrai ou faux ? (3.11 – 9.12) Corrigez les erreurs.
Extract:
1. Le père d’Amélie est coiffeur.
2. Raphaël Poulain n’aime pas son maillot de bain.
3. Il aime ranger sa boîte à outils.
4. Amandine Poulain aime ranger son sac à main.
5. Amélie ne va pas à l’école.
Extra extract:
1. Comment dit-on « hard heart » en français ? ______________
2. Comment dit-on « a heart defect » en français ? ___________
C. Mettez les phrases dans le bon ordre. (9.12 – 15.12)
Extract:
Amélie prend le train de la Gare du Nord :
Ils mangent leur dîner :
On voit les collègues et les clients d’Amélie au café :
Amélie trouve une petite boîte à souvenirs :
Extra extract:
1. Où se trouve le café ?
2. Comment s’appelle le chat de Philomène ?
D. Choisissez la bonne réponse. (15.12 – 24.34).
Extract:
1. Amélie habite au…
a. rez-de-chaussée b. au sous-sol
c. au troisième étage d. au cinquième étage.
2. La voisine d’Amélie y habite depuis…
a. 1990 b.1945 c. 1964 d.1952
3. Collignon est…
a. épicier b. chauffeur c. docteur d. mannequin
Extra extract :
1. Comment dit-on « snowballs and chestnuts » en français ?
These French cards present weather conditions in the present, imperfect and future tenses.
Expressions:
Il faisait beau.
Il pleuvait.
Il neigeait.
Il y avait des nuages.
Il y avait des orages.
Il faisait du brouillard.
Il faisait du vent.
Il fait beau.
Il pleut.
Il neige
Il y a des nuages.
Il y a des orages.
Il fait du brouillard.
Il fait du vent.
Il fera beau.
Il pleuvra.
Il neigera.
Il y aura des nuages.
Il fera du brouillard.
Il fera du vent.
Il y aura des orages.
You may choose to have different levels of challenge. For example,
Level 1 = put the cards into 3 columns: imperfect, present and future 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 are 2 fun games to play, either pelmenism or slap the card.
Battleships:
Expressions:
Dans le nord il sera ensoleillé
Dans le sud il sera nuageux
Dans l’est il y a un fort risque de pluie
Dans l’ouest il y aura des averses
Dans le centre il y aura des orages
et en Bretagne il y aura des éclaircies.
et en Normandie il y aura du brouillard.
et sur l’île de France il y aura du vent.
et à Paris il neigera.
et à Nice il fera beau.
et à Bordeaux les températures seront en baisse.
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 use this short extract from the Wallace and Gromit film The Curse of The Were Rabbit as a fun activity to revise fruit and vegetable vocabulary. I show the English language version of the film, but a French version with English subtitles would be better! The activity has an Extra extension task for stronger students.
The extract starts with the vicar in the church looking at all his produce for the harvest festival and ends with Gromit waking up in bed.
Worksheet extract:
Wallace & Gromit! Les légumes!
Cochez les choses que vous voyez:
des choux une courgette une orange une église
des tomates des raisins des pêches des aubergines
un chou-fleur un melon une citrouille de l’ail des oignons une bougie du jambon un concombre des pommes de terre......
Extra : Complétez les phrases :
1. Le pasteur a… a) les cheveux gris. b) les cheveux blancs. c) les cheveux bruns.
2. Le pasteur est… a) à la maison. b) dans l’église. c) dans la serre.
I use this worksheet with my Year 12 students with extracts from the French films: a 5 minute extract from Être et avoir (timings on sheet) and 4 minute extract from La chorale. The students attempt to answer as many questions as possible. They won't necessarily all find answers to all of the questions but I have enjoyed listening to the students' interpretations of the extracts they have watched. A great way to introduce a debate about education!
Instructions:
Réponds oui, non, je ne sais pas.
Extra : Justifie tes réponses.
Example questions:
1. Est-ce qu’il donne du plaisir à apprendre ?
2. Est-ce qu’il rend les gens heureux ?
3. Est-ce qu’il développe l’esprit critique des élèves ?
4. Est-ce qu’il aime les élèves ?
5. Est-ce qu’il a de l’autorité ?
6. Est-ce qu’il respecte ses élèves ?
7. Est-ce qu’il suscite l’intérêt de ceux qui l’écoutent ?
I use this 15 minute warmer activity either with mini-whiteboards or putting the students in teams. I use it with my Year 12 and 13 students.
The first slide has 6 groups of 4 adjectives. The students have to choose the odd one out. Whilst I have specific odd adjectives out in mind (see slide 2 for the answers), I encourage the students to be creative and think outside the box!
This tests students knowledge of regular rules, irregular adjectives and word order.
Examples:
beau mauvais gentil intéressant
intéressant follows the noun!
jeune allemand vieux nouveau
allemand follows the noun!
grande petite rouge importante
rouge, because the others are made feminine by adding an “e”, rouge already has one!
Enjoy!
I give this double-sided sheet to my students to encourage them to add sophistication to their written work by adding a range of grammatical structures and tenses and have found it to be very effective.
Worksheet extract:
Des expressions et du vocabulaire.
Complex sentences
et = and, mais = but, parce que/ car = because, donc = therefore, cependant = however, malheureusement = unfortunately, qui = who, où = where/which.
Adjectives
amusant = fun, passionnant = exciting, ennuyeux/ barbant = boring, nul(le) = rubbish, pénible = awful, génial/ formidable/ chouette = great, ridicule = ridiculous, paresseux/euse = lazy, marrant(e) = fun (person), bavard(e) = chatty, casse-pieds = annoying, propre = clean, sale = dirty, effrayant(e) = frightening, utile = useful, facile = easy, difficile = difficult, chic = stylish.
Adverbs
très = very, assez = quite, un peu = a little, vraiment = really /truly, plutôt = rather. extrêmement = extremely, gentiment = kindly, heureusement = happily, generalement = generally.
Useful expressions
C’est = it is, c’était = it was, ça sera = it will be, ça serait = it would be
Ce n’est pas = it isn’t, ce n’était pas = it wasn’t, ça ne sera pas = it won’t be, ça ne serait pas= it wouldn’t be
Il y a = there is/ are, il y avait = there was/ were, il y aura = there will be, il y aurait = there would be
Il n’y a pas de = there isn’t, il n’y avait pas de = there weren’t any, il n’y aura pas de = there won’t be, il n’y aurait pas de = there wouldn’t be.
Je l’aime bien = I really like it, je l’adore = I love it, je ne l’aime pas = I don’t like it, je le/la/ les déteste = I hate it.
Je l’ai aimé(e) = I liked it, je ne l’ai pas aimé(e) = I didn’t like it, je l’ai déteste = I hated it.
Je le/la/les trouve= I think it’s, je pense que c’est = I think that it’s, à mon avis c’est = in my opinion it’s…
Other strucutres and tenses included:
Comparatives
Superlatives
Negatives
Present
Present with depuis
Future
Near future
Perfect tense (completed actions in the past)
Pluperfect tense
Imperfect tense (used to)
Imperfect tense and perfect tense together ( I was ***ing when something else happened)
Conditional tense
Subjunctive
Present participle
Expression with the infinitive
Useful words linked to tenses
I use these cards to play a game 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 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!
Adjectives on cards:
Beau/ belle
Bon/bonne
Court/ courte
Excellent/ excellente
Grand/grande
Gros/ grosse
Haut/ haute
jeune
Joli/ jolie
Long/ longue
Mauvais/ mauvaise
Méchant/ méchante
Meilleur/ meilleure
Nouveau/ nouvelle
Petit/ petite
Vieux/ vieille
Vilain/ vilaine