FTA Carrick-on-Shannon : Séminaire en ligne : Des astuces pour bien démarrer son année scolaire dans la classe de FLE, jeudi 16 septembre 2021
Un grand merci à Eimear Holly d’avoir accepté de partager le résumé de sa présentation (ci-après).
Merci aussi aux collègues de la FTA Carrick-on-Shannon – Anne Gill, Emma Shanley, Pauline Daly, Ann Brudell, et de la FTA Dublin – Darragh Burke, qui ont partagé ci-dessous quelques astuces pour la rentrée
- Get 1st years involved in the class from day 1, get them to introduce themselves and then each other, using je m’appelle and Il s’appelle elle s’appelle etc
- Allow 1st years to call roll, introduce them to useful classroom vocab Il est absent, Il est malade, elle est au bureau etc
- Introduce them to the idea of having a carnet de vocab, organise it into sections, give prizes for best cover picture which should be French-related
- European Day of Languages ideas- TY and 1st year Posters: students choose a European country, research fun facts, flag- display in classroom/school noticeboards.
- EDL :Spotify: students put together a playlist of European music to be played during the week of the 26th.
- EDL:Kahoot quiz: TYs put together the quiz, send it as a link to a variety of teachers who will then do the quiz with 1st yr students on a MS Teams call as a competition.
- EDL : A 1st yr poster competition – prizes are given for the best posters which are then displayed on school Twitter account.
- EDL :A non uniform day, where all students can dress in the colours of a particular European country.
- As part of the school teaching and learning strategy, one key action is to focus on key words. Pick out 10 key words or expressions each week, the most commonly used words in that particular topic. Put the 10 words up in a Quizlet link on the students’ Showbie accounts. The students then transcribe these 10 words into the keyword section in their notes cahier. Use roll call to practice these words and each student answers me with a different keyword from this week or from previous weeks. Assign a quick three minute piece of homework using the quizlet app each night also. At the end of the week, use quizlet live to have a quick fun test of the vocabulary. This app can also be used by students of all years at home if the link is shared with them.
- Recreate your classroom and outside your classroom as an espace francophone immediately on your rentrée to school. Get 2nd years to design posters for classroom language which when displayed can be used by students of all years. This will psychologically make students think French as they enter the room.
- Display a different key classroom language phrase in a display case, on a noticeboard or a wall and stress this with all students. If your classroom has an outside window also use this to have French phrases visible from outside, during lunch or class changes. Use a light box for these on darker autumn and winter evenings.
- Make French fun from the start. Introduce numbers and colours to first years by bringing them outside to play boules/ pétanque with coloured boules de plage. Each équipe has a different French number and they then choose des boules vertes ou bleues etc. The 2 arbitres have to shout out the team numbers and the colour of the nearest boule. Prizes should be francophone, a croissant/ pain au chocolat/ articles de classes avec des mots français, pin’s, autocollants.
- Feedback Grids
I normally get my students to put feedback grids in the back of their vocab. hardbacks. For each task that I correct and give feedback on, the students need to make a note of one piece of feedback and then, using the feedback, set a goal for their next task. For example, if they do a writing task and they omit accents or use them incorrectly, that would be their focus for improvement in the next task and so on. If it’s an oral/reading/pronunciation task, I would normally get them to make a note of any oral feedback. I then use the feedback grids to create meaningful and individualised comments in formal reporting and it’s a useful tool for parent teacher meetings too. The feedback grid would have the following titles and columns: Date + Task Title, Feedback, Goal/Target. I normally use Word to make the grids and ask students to glue them into the back of their hardback. Alternatively, students could draw the grid in their hardbacks.
- Vocabulary Tests
To settle the class and establish a routine, I would normally begin each class with a very short vocab test. Students would know in advance that they will have a short 10-word vocab test at the beginning of each class. Normally, I use the vocab section / vocab lists from the back of the textbook. I assign 10 words from the list each night, starting with the first 10 and they would know that the next 10 would be for the next test and so on. This is part of the homework each night. Students use the back of their French copy to do the test and then once time is up, they can use the book to correct their answers. Pre Covid I used to ask students to peer assess the test. I would normally ask students to translate the first 5 from French to English and then the second 5 from English to French. I call out the words or write the words on the board. To change things up, I sometimes put the words on the board with spelling mistakes and ask the students to correct the mistakes and then check their work using the textbook. This opening exercise gives me time to log onto the computer, do a quick homework check, collect penalty work etc. When having to move rooms, sanitise etc., it’s a quick activity that’s easily set up and completed.
- Stickers/Certificat de Mérite
In order to encourage students to use French in the classroom and improve students’ spontaneous speech in French, I use stickers. I use the French themed stickers with ‘Fantastique’, ‘Bravo’ etc. to acknowledge and reward students for using French to ask a question etc. I put the stickers in the front cover of their vocab hardback. Before each mid-term break, I take a quick look to see who has the most stickers. Students with the most stickers receive a little ‘Certificat de Mérite’ and a chocolate bar/jellies. I find this works well with junior students as it’s great to get 1st years into a routine of using French in the classroom. It also works well with the senior classes; I didn’t do it with my senior classes until a couple of years ago when a 6th year I had at junior cycle asked me why I didn’t do it with them anymore.