I'm a German and French teacher in an independent secondary school in Edinburgh. I have taught the Scottish system but also IGCSEs, IB and A-Levels. I have used the Conti method in the past but have recently been exploring TPRS and CI methods, which I have found to be much more fun and stimulating for me and for the pupils.
I'm a German and French teacher in an independent secondary school in Edinburgh. I have taught the Scottish system but also IGCSEs, IB and A-Levels. I have used the Conti method in the past but have recently been exploring TPRS and CI methods, which I have found to be much more fun and stimulating for me and for the pupils.
High ability GCSE resource explaining direct object pronouns and agreement of past participle. Includes exercises, some of which are adapted from Steve Smith's Frenchteacher.net. Examples go with describing a house topic area from Encore Tricolore 4 and was part of a unit where students had to pretend to be estate agents.
This is a resource for S3/Y8/Y9 French to practise reading and writing about ‘La personne que j’admire’ (Studio AQA Textbook) and films and TV. It can of course be adapted to suit the phrases you want them to practise. I will use it with mini-whiteboards and as a basis for preparing for a writing test. Credit to Gianfranco Conti for the mosaic writing: his CPD and blog are where I got the idea.
Listening activity requiring use of iPads or smartphones.
Each of the QR codes in this document links to me talking about a TV programme. Stick the QR codes separately around the room. Students must scan the code using a QR code scanner app on their phone or on an iPad, which will then link to the website containing the audio file. Students must listen to each soundbite (encourage them to use headphones) and complete the gap-fill. This works excellently when students work in pairs. Collaborative, independent listening! A winner.
To practise au / a la / aux and du / de la / des - partitive. Eg. Au tabac j'achete des timbres. Goes with Encore Tricolore 2 Unit 1. Translation exercises.
This powerpoint introduces the perfect tense, based on Echo 2. It was made following a CPD course I attended by Gianfranco Conti, and is intended for use with his style of mini-whiteboard listening and reading comprehension exercises for phonics and vocab introduction. The following slides then draw pupils’ attention to the language patterns and can be completed orally or in writing.
Worksheet inspired by G Conti on reasons for travelling, and focusing on use of infinitive. I use it at the start of the Scottish Higher course, in the Culture context.
The first page is a transcript of a YouTube clip about the modern family as seen through the past two 'first families&' of France (Sarkozys and Hollandes). The SECOND AND THIRD PAGES are the student worksheets. Quite challenging for Year 12 but do-able and interesting!
YouTube video listening comprehension leading to a ranking activity for speaking. This worked very well with my Year 12 French class. It gave them lots of reasons to encourage people to do sport and it also led to some useful discussions about word families: la perte / perdre, for example.
Worksheet and link to YouTUbe clip of the song 'Je suis une pizza&'. Can be used to practise DU / DE LA / DES or food vocab. Maddeningly catchy! Kids love it.
This resource goes with Stimmt GCSE textbook chapter 3 on friendship, as well as the song lyrics to ‘Ein Freund, ein guter Freund’ by the Comedian Harmonists. We started by watching the YouTube video of the song and reading the lyrics, as well as introducing the topic through the textbook. This worksheet followed up that work and enabled pupils to expand their writing on friendship. It includes practice of work order and subordinate clauses with dass.
This is for use alongside the textbook expo 1 chapter 4 - ma ville.
Pupils read a short text and find the vocabulary. They then are given scaffolding to write their own short text about their ideal town using the present tense and practising il y a / il n’y a pas de etc.
This is a (slightly mad) story that I created together with my S2 French class (age 13), to go alongside the expo textbook chapter on hobbies and sports. In the story, the main character, called Buckette (silly pupil name choice) has to decide what activities to do during the week, initially to make friends, but then to appease her dad, who wants her to do something every day! It practises jouer a vs faire de as well as opinions and reasons. There are some comprehension questions included. It works well to act out in class. Pupils found it very engaging, which is why I am sharing it here. I used some elements of TPRS/CI methods in these lessons.
This is a story to go with the amateur video on YouTube that was made for the Pink Martini song ‘Ou est ma tete?’ which uses many perfect tense examples. I have used it to introduce this tense to KS3 / S2 but it could also be used with older pupils to revise the tense.
We watch the video first, and I stop it and ask TL comprehension questions, often giving a/b options to make it comprehensible.
Then we read the story together and look at the perfect tense verbs, spotting the pattern.
I made this story with my S2 / Year 9 German class during the academic year 2024-25. It supplemented the school chapter from Stimmt 1. It covers school subjects with opinions and reasons, teachers and opinions, times of lessons and timetable, and school rules with duerfen. We used some elements of the TPRS method (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling). Pupils found the story very motivating and engaging. We read a chapter a week, and used comprehension questions, acting it out, true/false, hotseat interviews, and other vocab games to foster understanding. Pupils also created comic strips and mind-maps or ‘smash doodles’ (https://blog.immediateimmersion.com/smash-doodles-a-creative-and-engaging-way-for-students-to-demonstrate-comprehension/) to demonstrate their comprehension before moving onto writing/talking about their own school.
