French the Natural Way

My students in grade 10 have a speaking examination in 5 weeks time and I believe this is the most stressful part of their IGCSEs. In order to prepare them well for the general conversation (which consists of asking a series of linked questions on two or three topics which students have covered in grade 9 and 10) I asked my students to get in pairs, to prepare a couple of questions on a specific topic and to record themselves. My students used their own mobile phones (or my phone which has the Audioboo app) to record themselves. I then uploaded their audio files on Audioboo which is an online platform which allows to record, upload and share audio. That way when reviewing before their examinations, they can listen to good answers in the comfort of their own home. Moreover, Audioboo allows to create boards to sort out your audio files. I created a new board entittled “IGCSE – preguntas sobre la familia y las relaciones sociales”. This board thus covers the topic of “personal and social life“. When preparing their answers to the questions, my students were engaged as they wanted to have good answers and I think some of them even had fun during the recording process. I also hope it will be helpful to them when revisions are coming!

This weekend I am going to present at the Association of German International Schools (AGIS) in Hannover about web 2.0 tools and how I use them to help my students develop their language skills. A lot of my presentation is inspired by the wonderful Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano who emphasizes in her blog that it’s not about the tools, it’s about the skills. I would like my participants to leave my session feeling motivated to try out a new tool keeping in mind they want to teach new skills and/or improve them…

Here is another story script which follows the last story about Elena trying to apologize to Pedro. This time Elena offers a present to Pedro and he has to open different packages. The focus is on the difference between “¿Por qué?” and “porque“. After listening to the story and reading it, I asked my students to re-write the story and change the different presents. They actually like to re-write stories because they have a template to help them so they do not feel lost not knowing where and how to start. They also have fun imagining something else and I have noticed that they become more accurate and that their writing skills are improving!

5. ¿Por qué?

Estructuras claves:

• ¿Qué es? – What is it?

• ¿Por qué? – Why?

• Porque – because
  

Palabras claves:

• Ahora – now

• Hay – there is/are

• útil – useful

Pedro está muy triste. Pedro llora mucho. Elena sabe qué hacer. Elena tiene una idea. Elena regala algo a Pedro. Elena regala una caja a Pedro. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”.

Pedro abre la caja. En la caja, hay cinco paquetes. Pedro saca un paquete pequeño de la caja. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”. Pedro abre el pequeño paquete. Es una goma. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Una goma. Por qué?”. Elena dice “porque es muy útil.”

Ahora en la caja hay cuatro paquetes. Pedro saca un paquete medianode la caja. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”. Pedro abre el paquete mediano. Es un lápiz. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Un lápiz. Por qué?”. Elena dice “porque es importante para escribir.”

Ahora en la caja hay tres paquetes. Pedro saca otro paquete pequeño de la caja. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”. Pedro abre el paquete pequeño . Es un sacapuntas. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Un sacapuntas. Por qué?”. Elena dice “porque es importante para el lápiz.”

Ahora en la caja hay dos paquetes. Pedro saca un paquete largo de la caja. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”. Pedro abre el paquete largo. Hay una regla. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Unaregla. Por qué?”. Elena dice “porque es muy útil.”

Ahora en la caja hay un paquete. Pedro saca un paquete grande de la caja. Pedro pregunta a Elena “¿Qué es?”. Elena dice a Pedro “Es una sorpresa”. Pedro abre el paquete grande. Hay un cuaderno. Pedro dice a Elena “¡Un cuaderno nuevo para mí!”. Elena dice “¡Porque es muy importante para ti!”. Pedro dice a Elena “Gracias Elena.”

Ahora Pedro está muy contento. No llora. Tiene un cuaderno nuevo y también una goma, un lápiz, un sacapuntas y una regla.

 

I think I have already mentioned a few times that I really dislike going trough the boring topics of the IGCSE examinations! I am therefore trying to find new ways of reviewing some of the topics students have already learned such as describing people, and particularly describing family members. The wonderful Clare Seccombe has a whole section on her blog about mini-books. I showed my grade 9 students the page on how to create pocket books and I told them to write about their family. They had much fun making them and it became a creative writing activity as well as a speaking one because they then had to present their pocket books to the rest of the class. We had a discussion about families and this topic was then done and dusted! I am also pretty sure my students will remember how to present their family when it comes to the oral examination next school year!

Here are some pictures of their pocket books:

I usually set myself a few goals at the start of a new year but this time I have decided to restrain myself!

My main goal is really to keep updating this blog on a regular basis. I would like to post something that went well during a lesson (or something that went wrong) once a week. I think what is refraining me from posting regularly is that it is going to take me a lot of time when I could only post a small activity or even just a picture which was inspiring… So let’s try it this year!
Today, on our first day back to school, we talked about our goals in the 12th grade class. I showed my students this picture from my Pinterest board:

Needless to say my students’ main goal is to pass their IB exams at the end of the year! Well… My goal, of course is to make them pass their Spanish exams and they are going to have to work hard 😉