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 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.
This is a PowerPoint 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.
I created this PowerPoint to share photos I had taken on a trip to Cuba and to revise the Preterite Tense.
Phrases used:
Fui de vacaciones a Cuba. Cuba es la isla más grande del Caribe.
Pasé unos días en La Habana, la capital. Hay edificios antiguos, parques y monumentos.
Lo qué más me gusté fueron los coches americanos de los años cincuenta.
Hay música en todos partes. Músicos tocan salsa y están en todos los bares y restaurantes.
Pasé un día en la playa. Hizo mucho calor, tomé el sol y descansé.
También pasé unos días en el campo donde observé la naturaleza tropical.
¡Me encantó!
I ran through the presentation giving time for the students to discuss the meaning and pronunciation in pairs before pouncing on them for their answers and drilling the class. Stronger students were also asked to discuss the formation of the preterite verb, including the infinitive it came from.
The presentation could then be used a a template for the students to produce their own presentations about a Spanish-speaking country.
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.
I use the second slide to drill the new vocabulary, for graded questioning or for the students to question each other: Spanish to English, English to Spanish and finally challenge the students to say all of the days of the week with their eyes closed.
Worksheet:
There are 3 sections: an English - Spanish match up, then a wordsearch and finally an unjmbling exercise (tell the students to do this from memory to stretch them!).
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.
This worksheet is accompanied by a PowerPoint so students can speedily mark their work!
All: The first sections asks students to write in the English for the following colours:
Jaune
Bleu/ bleue
Blanc/ Blanche
Gris/ Grise
Marron/ brun/ brune
Noir/ noire
Rouge
Vert/ verte
Orange
Violet/ violette
Rose
They then complete the little colour-by-numbers activity.
The students answer the following questions in their own words:
Colours are adjectives (describing words).
Why there are sometimes 2 ways to say a colour e.g. noir, noire?
________________________________________________________________
Why is there sometimes only 1 way e.g. rouge?
________________________________________________________________
Which colours are irregular and do not follow either pattern?
________________________________________________________________
Most: There is a divide the words activity – drawing lines between the individual colours.
Rougevertjaunebleuroseorangenoirblancbrunmarronviolet
Then there are 4 unjumbling questions e.g.
1. terv = _________ 2. lebu = _________
Then there are 4 colour combining questions e.g.
1. rouge + blanc = _________ 2. bleu + jaune = __________
Some: Combines colours and classroom objects with a gap-fill of 8 questions e.g.
Une trousse bl_________
Un crayon ro_________
U___ li_______ bl_________
U____ cahier ma_________
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 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!
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!
I use this differentiated worksheet to revise classroom vocabulary. it is divided into 2 sections and uses the first 12 minutes of the film.
Être et avoir.
Worksheet EXTRACT:
Start : – 06.31
Cochez les choses que vous voyez :
la neige des vaches des arbres un fermier une fenêtre
une gomme un taille-crayon des chaises des tables
un tableau une calculatrice un stylo des livres/ des cahiers
Extra extract :
1. On voit quels animaux dans la salle de classe ?
2. Les chaises sont de quelle couleur ?
06.31 – 12.43 Extract:
Choisissez la bonne réponse.
1. Ils apprennent comment … a. lire b. parler anglais. c. écrire
2. Ils utilisent des feutres de quelles couleurs ?
a. rouge b. rose c. orange d. vert e. bleu f. violet
3. Marie dit qu’elle a fait mieux que…
a. Jojo b. Johann c. Létitia
Extra extract:
1. Comment dit-on « je n’ai pas bien regardé » en anglais?
2. Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans le coin ?
3. Comment dit-on « pas bien » en anglais?
4. Sur le tableau il y a…
a. des calculs b. des mots en anglais c. des dessins.
Astérix et la surprise de César.
This differentiated worksheet has a range of activities. Run through the questions, play the clip and check the answers. Timings are on the sheet. Each section has an Extra set of questions to stretch stronger students. I play the film with the French subtitles for the hard of hearing.
Extract:
0 – 3.30 minutes.
Cochez les choses que vous voyez !
une colline un feutre une araignée un soldat
un village une limonade une maison une mouche
Extra extract:
1. Comment dit-on «Astérix is here» ?
2. Comment dit-on «these romans» ?
3.30 – 11.35 extract:
Vrai ou faux ?
1. Un cerf mange des fleurs.
2. Astérix et Obélix chassent des sangliers.
3. Les éléphants apportent des cadeaux pour César.
4. César est sympa.
Extra extract :
1. Comment dit-on «your glory»?
2. Comment dit-on «the richest man in Rome »? L’homme le plus riche de Rome.
11.35 – 23.08 extract:
Mettez les phrases dans le bon ordre.
Le druide fait une potion magique.
Les Gaulois et les Romains se battent.
Idéfix regarde une grenouille.
I hope your students enjoy this colourful Halloween PowerPoint which I have created using some eye-catching animations!
Expressions:
Un fantôme.
Une citrouille.
Une chauve-souris.
Un monstre.
Un vampire.
Un squelette.
Un extra-terrestre.
Une sorcière.
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!
These resources are aimed at students who have previously studied some of the present tense (Year 9 or 10 UK).
On slide 1 there is a tonguetwister warmer and slide 2 states the differentiated Lesson Objective. The next slides revise the concepts of the infinitive, subject pronouns and conjugation. Slide 9 then instructs the students to peer teach these concepts.
The students then follow the instructions on slide 10 and use the cards to conjugate jouer, finir and attendre. Slides 11, 12 and 13 have the conjugations and slide 14 has the je form of some key irregular verbs: J’ai, je suis, je fais, je vais, je veux, je peux, je dois. The students could then play slap the card (you say the English, they slap the correct card before their partner in order to win it).
Slide 15 is to be used in conjunction with the worksheet. This is differentiated into all, most and some and includes translations, and sentence writing (the first sheet reviews all the information taught). Slides 16, 17 and 18 have the answers and suggestions for peer assessment of the sentences. Slide 19 shows the original Learning Objective and can be used for a plenary/ reflection.
Enjoy!
Phrases:
Excusez-moi je suis en retard.
Je n’ai pas de stylo.
J’ai oublié mon livre.
Je ne comprends pas.
Je ne sais pas.
Je n’ai pas de partenaire.
Ça s’écrit comment?
J’ai fini.
Je peux aller aux toilettes?
Je peux changer de partenaire?
There are some French – English matching cards and a 5 slide PowerPoint. Slide 1 gives the instructions:
All: Match up the cards.
Most: Perfect Pronunciation Challenge!
Some: Quick Fire Questions! (Here the students quiz each other on the new phrases: French to English, English to French, spellings etc.
I then let the students pay pelmenism/ slap the card.
Slide 2 lists all the words in French so you can elicit the English and drill. Slides 3 and 4 cover the new expressions in stars and you can challenge the students to say the phrases. Slide 5 then uncovers all the phrases again.