AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF FRENCH

FLES Activities

Reprinted from the AATF National Bulletin, Vol. 26 No. 1 (September 2001)

Facts About France

This is a wonderful activity for beginning readers and an excellent National French Week activity! Students researched and collaborated for the creation of their own book, Facts About France, which they presented orally at the school-wide National French Week Assembly.

Lesson Objective: Students used a variety of resources to find one fact about France, and then they wrote and illustrated their fact.

Materials and Resources: Paper, crayons, pencils, books, magazines, flyers, Internet, newspapers, people.

Modeling: Teacher shared one fact about France related to the Tour de France, and the class discussed the difference between opinion and fact through a series of additional examples provided by the teacher.

Formative Assessment: Students brought their facts about France the following day and presented them to the class.
Follow Up: Teacher typed up each fact and assembled them into a book entitled Facts About France. Students rehearsed their fact daily in preparation for the school-wide National French Week assembly.

Reinforcement: Students did several choral readings of the book to reinforce their book knowledge, including name and letter recognition, page turning, etc.

Further reinforcement: Each student took a book home, illustrated it, and shared it with family members.

Here are some of the submissions from Mme Kuebler’s young students:

Karen Campbell Kuebler
Wellwood International School (MD)

La Salle de classe: Keep them moving!

A variety of learning differences and learning problems implies a variety of teaching styles in any class. Foreign language teachers for younger students have instinctively applied this pedagogical principle for years which specialists now present as an "innovative" idea! FLES teachers already knew the need to present material using as many of the senses as possible to reach each individual learning pattern, and many students with learning problems have been able to succeed in the FLES classroom, whereas they were frustrated in the traditional classroom.

Les objets de la salle de classe are often the point of departure for beginning classes to establish interaction with the environment where students will be working all year. As little as three or four objects can be introduced each lesson, and then reinforced over the year (or more) as skills progress—from listening (recognition) and repeating (choral and individual) to responding (recall activities) to reading, and only lastly to writing.

Recognition: After introducing the actual objects, relating the sound to the visual, have everyone show they know them with Touchez le tableau! All the students run to the blackboard together. This is great for the timid learner who is not willing to risk an error all by himself.

Recall: At the simplest level, ask the group Qu’est-ce que c’est? when they arrive. Reinforce by alternating choral and individual repetition.

Variation: One step further recall activity requires some teacher preparation before class. Place post-its on the objects in the classroom with numbers on them. Distribute numbers to students or pairs of students who must find the matching number on the object and identify it in French.

TPR Storytelling Variation: Create a simple story situation which could incorporate any of the classroom objects. Example: Le grand ours arrlve à la salle de classe. Il a faim. Il mange le tableau. II est très malade maintenant. Il pleure. Waaaaaaah! Replace the classroom object that he eats, and encourage the storyteller to show how sick the bear becomes!

Reading: For the more advanced students, write the names of the objects on post-its and distribute to students who place them on the objects themselves.. They have permission to help each other so long as they stay in French.
Variation: Prepare two sets of post-its of different colors and divide class into teams for a more competitive treasure hunt.

Writing: For even more advanced students, place blank post-its on the objects in the classroom and students race to write the vocabulary word on the appropriate object all at once, in pairs or as teams.

At every level students are moving around the room as they find the targeted objects, reinforcing each other or repeating chorally under the direction of the teacher or a classmate. Students will not be bored, but it will not be a quiet activity! Who ever said language learning should be quiet?

Elizabeth Miller
Crystal Springs Uplands School (CA)

Reprinted from the AATF National Bulletin, Vol. 26 No. 2 (November 2001)

LES CHAISES MUSICALES

Here is a noncompetitive game to reinforce those daily warm-up questions that we assume our students have absorbed, when sometimes (to our horror) we discover that these familiar interactions have atrophied. A new approach is a healthy vitamin attack to keep them alive. Make a list of 10 or 20 questions that you use in class frequently: Comment t’appelles-tu? Quel âge as-tu? Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? De quelle couleur est le drapeau français? Comment s’appelle ton professeur de français? Où habites-tu? Quel jour sommes-nous aujourd’hui? Quel temps it-il? Combien de filles y a-t-il dans la classe? Est-ce que tu préfères le brocoli ou le chocolat? Parles-tu français?

FOR YOUNG STUDENTS: Assign each of the questions a number on your master list. Write the numbers on a post-it or index card to stick on the back of chairs you have placed in a circle. Set up a circle of chairs, having one fewer than the number of students. Play music (like the traditional children’s game) or recite a poem or have the class sing a song as students circulate around the circle of chairs. When the music stops, students race to a chair. Those seated must answer the question corresponding to the number on the back the chair. Extra students can stand inside the circle of chairs and call out the numbers so the teacher can pose the appropriate lestion. Repeat several times, each time removing one chair. There does not have to be a different question for each chair; repeating smaller number of questions works just as well. Please note that teachers should feel free to change the rules of the game as it suits their situations.

FOR OLDER STUDENTS: Set up the classroom with the circle of chairs in the same fashion, but instead of numbers, write out the question to stick to the back of the chairs. Have a group of students inside the circle to read the questions to the ones on the outside. If they are "too grown-up" to follow the Musical Chairs format, they can simply proceed around the circle chair by chair, or the teacher can announce how many chairs to move down each time. The questions should be so familiar that the students on the inside are not really reading but rather are using the questions as cues to remind them of the question. This has been successful from first grade into high school. Add your own rules!

Elizabeth Miller
Crystal Springs Uplands School (CA)

Reprinted from the AATF National Bulletin, Volume 25, No. 4 (April 2000)

Le Chronomètre

Purchase an inexpensive stopwatch—un chronomètre—for your classes (available for two or three dollars.) Choose a different student to be in charge each day. Set the goals with your students in advance, and keep a chart of your progress. The idea is to see how many minutes per class you can keep in your target language. For my fifth, sixth, and eighth graders our goal was 35 minutes out of a 45 minute class. Three days in a row of solid French earned ice cream for the class! I left 5 or 10 minutes in each class for clarification in English. It is painful at first, but soon the students fall into the rhythm and are quick to shout "Honte! Honte!" for a slip into English! The class will need a cheat-sheet (see below) to be successful.

L’Antisèche ("cheat-sheet")

Have your students tape this to the front of their cahiers as a resource to keep the flow in French. You may simplify or add as needed for the level of your students.

Le Professeur:

Les devoirs pour demain...
Où sont tes devoirs?
En retard!
Levez le doigt.
Passez-les-moi.
Toute la classe.
Répétez, répondez; demandez; écoutez; écrivez; montrez; soulignez

L’Élève:

Je ne sais pas; Je ne comprends pas.
Je n’ai pas fait mes devoirs.
Mes devoirs sont à la maison; dans mon sac-à-dos.
Un monstre terrible a mangé mes devoirs.
Comment dit-on ("help!") en français?
Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire?
Puis-je aller aux toilettes? Au petit coin? (J’ai envie de faire pipi.)
Je suis malade.
Puis-je tailler mon crayon?

Francofun

It’s Francofun! A great idea for a unit of study. Have your students begin with the idea: Qui sommes-nous? Create a small book including: Je m’appelle _____. J’ai _____ ans. Je parle français et _____. J’habite à _____.
Then continue with: Où sont les francophones aux États-Unis? Be sure to include your state along with Louisiana and Maine. Discuss Acadiens and Cajuns. Then, expand your study with: D’où viennent les francophones aux États-Unis? Ils viennent du Canada. Discuss the story of Jacques Cartier. Then, complete your study with: D’où viennent les francophones au Canada? Obviously, you are now in France! Add other Francophone countries throughout the world. This is a fantastic unit to show how the U.S. is connected to France and has been throughout history! Amusez-vous!

Karen Campbell Kuebler
Wellwood International School (MD)

Reprinted from AATF National Bulletin, Vol. 26, No. 3 (January 2001)

Pamplemousse

Every teacher has a repertoire of number games, but no matter how much we think we overdo number drills, the inability to achieve instantaneous formation of numbers in French even as adults gives away the nonnative speaker. This is a game that can fill up an extra five minutes at the end of a class, provide a quick transition from English outside the classroom to the focus on French at the beginning of class, or rejuvenate a class that seems to be drifting into daydreams. We were playing this in English with exchange students from France, and they were the ones who provided me with the proper name. "Ah, vous voulez dire Pamplemousse," they cried when they finally understood what we were doing!

This is an old-fashioned game of "Buzz." You count around the room, and whenever the student whose turn it is has a predetermined number, instead of saying the number, he would say "Buzz." The French elementary school children are used to saying "pamplemousse." What a wonderful way to learn the vocabulary word "grapefruit" that is normally rather difficult to remember! (Actually, any difficult vocabulary word could be substituted for additional reinforcement.) The class decides in advance what number will be chosen. If 3 is decided, the students will count: "Un, deux, pamplemousse, quatre, cinq, etc." 13 is pamplemousse, 23 is pamplemousse, 30 -39 are all pamplemousse, with 33 becoming pamplemousse-pamplemousse. More advanced math students also apply the concept of multiples, but we found that too difficult at the elementary level.

Once the students are comfortable with the concept, tell them "C’est maintenant sérieux" and an error in counting or missing a pamplemousse opportunity will result in elimination. All students stand and an error brings on a chorus of "Assieds-toi" from the rest of the class. The last student still standing is the winner. For the more lazy types (usually sixth graders!) try the counting seated, and the errors elicit "Lève-toi!" from the class. The students will work harder to remain in the comfort of their chairs!

Elizabeth Miller
Crystal Springs Uplands School Hillsborough (CA)

Need a fun, kinesthetic approach to vocabulary review? This works for any level. Put vocabulary words on pieces of 12x18" paper and then also write each letter of the vocabulary word on individual index cards. Students need to match the index card letters to the word on the large paper.

R O U G E

Put one large sheet of paper with its index cards on each desk, or depending on the age level and space, put word papers with letters on floor. Students move from card to card spelling word after word and thoroughly enjoying vocabulary acquisition, review, and retention! You can also add music as the children move to each new word to really tap a variety of learning styles!

Karen Campbell Kuebler
Wellwood International School (MD)

LA CORDE À SAUTER

This is an activity which has many possibilities for a class that needs both to repeat for retention as well as move around to maintain focus! My class used this to learn professions. I remember doing this as a child in my own language, and it is a lovely way to move outside the confines of the classroom to drill painlessly. Distribute the question mark list (enlarged to 8½" x 11") to each member of the class. The whole class recites the professions in rhythm as one child jumps. When the child trips the rope, the profession being recited is what he or she will become. The students readily learn the pattern "Je suis avocat" without the article which interferes when trying to translate because they are repeating it with each member of the class. This list was for sixth graders, but a shortened list for younger students works just as well. Follow-up activities can be developed according to the language level of the students. Ask them to draw or cut out) pictures from magazines of the profession they "chose" through the wisdom of the jump rope. Then they can show their classmates what their profession is and transfer to a pattern with il and elle to apply to their classmates. Happy jumping!

Elizabeth Miller
Crystal Springs Uplands School Hillsborough, CA

Created: October 16, 2001
Last update: September 18, 2005