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 presentation gives examples of direct object pronouns using items of clothing.
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 using the individual slides followed by drilling.
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!
Expressions:
Tu veux venir chez moi?
Tu veux aller au cinéma?
Je ne peux pas.
Je dois faire mes devoirs.
Je dois aller voir ma grand-mère.
Je dois garder ma sœur.
Je dois promener le chien.
Je dois ranger ma chambre.
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 (PPC = Prefect Pronunciation Challenge!) and question each other (QFQ = Quick Fire Questions) 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!
Noughts and crosses/ tic-tac-toe.
I use this game to revise a range of tenses both at the beginning of the school year and throughout the year.
I put the students into 2 teams. One will be noughts the other crosses. They then discuss the translation, tense and pronunciation of the following expressions:
Je fais de la planche à voile depuis l’âge de quinze ans.
Je me suis couchée de bonne heure.
Nous avions un professeur très stricte.
Je suis surpris qu'elle ne t'ait rien dit.
Si mon lycée était fermé aujourd'hui je ferais la grasse matinée jusqu'à neuf heures et demie.
Tu pourras venir samedi après-midi, si tu veux.
Ils s’étaient habillés rapidement
Je ne suis pas arrivé à l’heure hier.
Je le lui ai donné
Then I draw a noughts and crosses/ tic-tac-toe grid on the board, giving each square a number.
The teams choose a number and I choose a phrase that they must translate, be able to pronounce and be able to identify the tense in order to win the square.
If they make a mistake the other team can steal the square by answering correctly! If that team makes a mistake the original team can have another go and so on. The aim is to get 3 in a row.
This is a challenging game!
Expressions: Les métiers!
acteur/ actrice
chanteur/ chanteuse
serveur/ serveuse
vendeur/ vendeuse
coiffeur/ coiffeuse
infirmier/ infirmière
médecin
musicien/ musicienne
footballeur
programmeur/ programmeuse
mécanicien/ mécanicienne
pilote d’avion, professeur,
secrétaire, au chômage.
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 teach this after teaching the Future Tense.
Expressions:
Si j’étais riche j’achèterais une grande maison à la campagne.
Si j’étais riche je conduirais une ferrari!
Si j’étais riche je boirais du champagne tous les jours!
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. It is differentiated as follows:
All: translate the sentences below. What is the stem? What does this remind you of? What is the ending?
Most: Match the subject pronouns: je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles and the endings: aient, ais, ait, ions, ais, iez.
Some: Which tense has the same endings? QFQs!
* QFQs = Quick Fire Questions: here the students quiz each other.
The next slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English, the rules and to drill.
Slides 6 and 7 consider the stem and endings.
Battleships Expressions:
Si j’étais riche
Si je gagnais à la loterie
Si j’étais célèbre
Si je n’avais pas tant de devoirs
Si j’avais plus de temps libre
j’irais aux Etats-Unis.
je ferais de la planche à voile.
je viendrais chez toi.
je serais très content(e).
je sortirais tous les soirs.
je pourrais faire les magasins.
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 before playing.
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.
Lesson Starter Expressions Include:
Si j’étais riche j’habiterais une grande maison à la campagne.
J’achèterais un avion et un bateau.
Je boirais une bouteille de champagne par jour.
Extra: Unjumble.
Si j’étais riche je ferias de la planche à voile tous les jours.
Si je gagnais à la loterie j’achèterais beaucoup de vêtements très chers!
The first sheet has the answers. Cut the second sheet into 3. Give the students a sheet. They draw lines between the individual words and longer lines between the sentences.
There is an extension task to unjumble sentences for stronger students.
PowerPoint Slide Expressions:
au rez-de-chaussée
cadeaux
le rayon souvenirs
les jouets
parfumerie
bijouterie
électroménager
les meubles
rayon enfants
la mode
le sous-sol
au premier étage
librairie
au deuxième étage
à droite de
alimentation
à côté de
entre
en face de
la papeterie
informatique
audi-visuel
rayons femme
rayon hommes
A simple fun warmer game/ starter activity. Students line up in front of the interactive whiteboard in 2 teams. The teacher says the English word and the students race to slap the correct word first to win a point for their team. Then they move to the back of the line and the next 2 students step up.
This could also be used for a game of bingo/ lotto.
Battleships Expressions:
Le rayon souvenirs est Les jouets sont
Les imperméables sont
Les parfums et la bijouterie sont
Les meubles sont
La mode jeune est
au sous-sol.
au rez-de-chaussée.
au premier étage.
au deuxième étage.
à droite de la restauration rapide.
à côté de la papeterie.
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!
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.
This role-play includes a range of meals, tenses and food vocabulary. It includes an extension task for strongers students. Example extract:
Les repas.
A. Qu’est-ce que tu prends normalement comme petit déjeuner?
B. D’habitude je mange des céréales/ des tartines/ un yaourt/ des fruits/ un croissant/ un pain au chocolat/ du pain grillé avec du beurre et de la confiture et je bois un jus d’orange/ un thé/ un café. C’est délicieux/ dégoutant.
A. Qu’est-ce que tu prends normalement comme déjeuner?
B. Souvent je prends un sandwich au fromage/ un paquet de chips/ une pomme/ un fruit et une bouteille d’eau/ un jus de fruits/ une limonade/ un coca.
French - English Matching Cards: Food, Meals, Restaurant.
Expressions:
J’ai pris mon petit déjeuner à six heures et quart.
I had my breakfast at 6.15.
On mange des tartines et on boit du chocolat chaud.
We eat bread and butter and drink hot chocolate.
Demain pour mon dîner je mangerai des spaghettis.
For my dinner tomorrow I will eat spaghetti.
Quand j’étais jeune je ne mangeais jamais de poisson.
When I was young I never used to eat fish.
Normalement je prends une salade pendant la pause-déjeuner.
Normally I have a salad during the lunch break.
J’ai mangé mon repas du soir à dix-huit heures quarante-cinq.
I ate my evening meal at 18.45.
Comme plat principal je voudrais prendre du poulet avec des légumes.
For my main meal I would like to have chicken with vegetables.
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, identify the tenses 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 gradually introduces the Future Tense.
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 and rules. It is differentiated into all, most and some.
* QFQ = Quick Fire Questions (students quiz each other).
Regular Verb Expressions:
Je jouerai au foot.
Je regarderai la télé.
J’écouterai de la musique.
Je mangerai un gâteau.
Je finirai mes devoirs.
Je vendrai ma voiture.
The next slides have the phrase and a picture. Use this to elicit the pronunciation, the English, the rule 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!
Slides 22 and 23 revise the rule and check the endings for all sbject pronouns.
Slide 24 introduces irregular verbs.
Expressions:
Je serai acteur.
Tu auras beaucoup d’argent.
Il fera de la planche à voile.
J’irai en vacances à Londres.
Je verrai un film.
Nous pourrons aller à la plage.
Je viendrai chez toi.
Je devrai ranger ma chambre.
Then there is another Beat The teacher slide (see above) followed by What's missing? slides. The last slide revises the information covered and can be used at the beginning of the next lesson.
You may then wish to use one of my Battleships Games or my lotto game to revise/ reinforce this grammar.
Lotto. Expressions include:
je jouerai
je regarderai
je mangerai
j’irai
je me réveillerai
je ferai
Battleships Expressions:
Je quitterai le collège et
J’irai au lycée et
Je continuerai mes études et
Je ferai une licence de commerce et
Je ferai un apprentissage et Je travaillerai à l’étranger et
je ferai du bénévolat en Afrique.
j’aurai ma propre entreprise.
je rencontrerai l’homme/ la femme de mes rêves.
j’aurai deux ou trois enfants.
je serai très riche.
j’habiterai au bord de la mer.
Battleships Game
Please see instructions in one of my other product descriptions - I've reached my word count here!
Presentation Expressions:
Faire mon/son lit.
Faire le ménage.
Faire la cuisine.
Faire les courses.
Faire la vaisselle.
Ranger ma/sa chambre.
Mettre le couvert
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 (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 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!
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.
Expressions:
On peut
Je dois
J’aime
Je vais
Je voudrais
faire mon lit.
faire le ménage.
faire la cuisine.
faire les courses.
faire la vaisselle.
ranger ma chambre.
mettre le couvert.
Presentation: As the musical instruments are very straight forward and include many cognates, I have built in a range of tenses too.
Expressions:
Je joue de la guitarre.
Je vais jouer de la flûte.
J’ai joué de la batterie.
Il joue du piano.
Je voudrais jouer du clavier.
Nous jouons du violon.
Je ne joue pas d’instrument.
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 (QFQs = Quick Fire Questions) 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 slide 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 is a Qu’est-ce que c’est? slide.
Battleships.
Expressions:
Je joue de la guitare
Il joue de la flûte
Je vais jouer de la batterie
J’ai joué du piano
Nous avons joué du clavier
de temps en temps.
souvent.
tous les jours.
une fois par semaine.
deux fois par jour.
trois fois par mois.
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. 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:
Chez nous le problème c’est....
qu’il y a trop de pollution et
qu’il y a trop de circulation et
la pollution à cause des gaz d’échappement des voitures et
qu’il y a une nouvelle autoroute près de chez nous et
Qu’on construit des maisons tout près et
quand il pleut la rivière déborde.
il y a souvent des inondations.
il y a des papiers/ des ordures partout.
le bruit est affreux.
il n’y a pas beaucoup des transports en commun.
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!
This PowerPoint consists of two slides to elicit the formation of the Imperfect Tense used to express what you used to do. The first PowerPoint slides instructs the students as follows:
All: match cards. On these cards what do we use the imperfect tense to express?
Most: What are the endings (you have to figure out some!): je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles.
Some: Can you figure out how to form the stem? (no chance!). Perfect Pronunciation Challenge and QFQs!
* QFQs = Quick Fire Questions where one student closes their eyes and the other quizes them in what is on the cards: English to French translations, French to English, formation etc. Tell them to come up with really challenging questions!
The second slide has the answers!
Matching Cards Expressions:
Expressions:
Quand j’étais jeune…
Je jouais au cache-cache dans le jardin.
Tu faisais du vélo sur le trottoir
Il ne faisait pas de devoirs.
Nous buvions de la limonade.
Je voulais être pilote.
Ils croyaient au Père Noël.
Je regardais des dessins animés et je lisais des BD.
They used to believe in Father Christmas.
I used to watch cartoons and read comics.
You used to cycle on the pavement.
He didn’t use to do any homework.
When I was young…
We used to drink lemonade.
I used to play hide-and-seek in the garden
I used to want to be a pilot.
You can also play pelmensim and slap the card.
Group Talk encourages the spontaneous use of the target language. Here the students use the phrases on the sheet to voice their opinions of the different professions as you show them on the PowerPoint.
Expressions on sheet include:
Je veux être = I want to be
Je ne veux pas être = I don’t want to be
Car/ parce que = because
Et = and
Mais = but
Je dois admettre que = I must admit that
On peut = You can
On ne peut pas = You can’t
Je veux = I want
Je ne veux pas = I don’t want to
voyager = to travel
parler une langue étrangère = to speak a foreign language
gagner beaucoup d’argent = to earn lots of money
J’adore = I love
J’aime = I like
les maths = maths
les langues = languages
le contact avec le public = having contact with the public
C’est = it is
Ce n’est pas = it isn’t
assez = quite
très = very
dure = difficult
facile = easy
Je suis = I am
Je ne suis pas = I am not
patient(e) = patient
gentil(le) = kind
To really enter into the spirit of a lively debate you may choose to also use my Group Talk Discussion Mat with expressions such as :
Attend! = Wait!
C’est ridicule! = That’s ridiculous!
Tu es fou/folle?! = Are you crazy?!
Ce n’est pas juste = It’s not fair!
Tu plaisantes? = You must be joking/ are you joking?
Group Talk foster the spontaneous use of the target Language in the classroom. This sheet can be used in conjunction with my Group Talk Discussion Mat. This can also be used as a role play template.
Examples of questions/ sentences on the sheet:
Tu veux
voir un film?
jouer au foot?
visiter Futuroscope?
aller au café?
faire du vélo?
faire du skate?
Ce sera
très
assez
extrêmement
incroyablement
cool
intéressant
génial
chouette
Lundi/mardi/mercredi/jeud/ vendredi/samedi/dimanche
Matin/ après-midi/soir = morning/afternoon/evening
Je pense que = I think that
À mon avis = in my opinion
De plus = Furthermore
B
Bonne idée!
Chouette!
Je veux bien.
D’accord.
Bof.
Ça m’est égal.
Tu plaisantes!
Ça ne me dit rien.
Je n’ai pas envie.
The students pair up and one student asks a question. There are then 3 levels of challenge:
1. The student can answer using the expressions in the box (which you have translated and elicited the pronunciation of beforehand).
2. In addition the students use some of the words listed below the box to extend their answers.
3. In addition the students should try to come up with other spontaneous phrases.
Using the discussion mat with this allows them to build in additional responses e.g.
Attend! = Wait!
C’est ridicule! = That’s ridiculous!
Tu es fou/folle?! = Are you crazy?!
Ce n’est pas juste = It’s not fair!
Tu plaisantes? = You must be joking/ are you joking?
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!
I use this odd one out activity with my Year 12 and 13 students to check their knowledge of whether nouns are masculine or feminine based on their endings. This includes both regular nouns which follow patterns such as feminine nouns usually ending -tion and irregular nouns.
The first slide has 7 groups of 4 nouns from which the students have to identify the odd one out. Beyond the grammatical rules I also invite the students to think outside the box and come up with alternative answers!
Examples:
obstacle chômage combinaison fardeau
combinaison = fem
tension fonction philosophie collège
collège = masc
problème réflexion mystère rejet
réflexion = fem
This 9 slide PowerPoint elicits the use and formation of the Imperative and covers all the information required up to A level:
Formation.
Let's ***
Irregular Verbs.
Reflexives (including negatives).
Imperatives with object pronouns.
Use of the infinitive on instructions.
Expressions:
Finis ta boisson et
N’oublie pas de te laver les mains et
Allez tout droit et
Allons acheter des glaces et
Sois gentil(le) et
ne les touche pas !
ne te lève pas.
lève-toi.
apporte-le-moi.
réveille-toi.
*ouvrir ici.
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!
These matching cards can be used to practise groupings of masculine and feminine nous.
For example:
FEM
Continents, countries & rivers.
matches with:
L’Asie, la Suisse, la Thamise (but not Le Mexique, Le Rhone).
FEM
Fruits & vegetables.
Matches with :
Une carotte, une betterave, une poire.
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 whereby 1 student closes their eyes and their partner reads out the example cards and their partner must say the category from memory.
Level 3 = As Level 2 but the quick fire questions are more challenging with one student saying the category and their partner saying the examples.
Following checking you can play pelmenism.
This battleships game can also be used as a lotto grid.
Expressions:
Céline? Je l’ai vue et
Béatrice ? Je l’ai rencontrée et
Nabila ? Je l’ai invitée et
Mathilde? Je l’ai perdue et
Les devoirs de Lara ? Je les ai finis et
Le dîner d’Alice ? Je l’ai cuisiné et
je lui ai offert un cadeau.
je lui ai parlé.
je lui ai envoyé un texto.
je lui ai prêté de l’argent.
je lui ai écrit une lettre.
je lui ai conseillé de ne pas sortir.
je lui ai promis de l’aider.
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!