All the students show each other their favorite building
Activity 2:
The students get a lot of famous buildings around the world and they have to say if they know the building, if they know where it is, if they have been there and if they would like to go.
Activity 3:
The students have to match the building pictures with their name and a short explanation about them.
Resources used:
Powerpoint, building pictures, names and explanations on paper.
What worked well? What did not work?
The class was fantastic. My students favorite buildings were beautiful and we all had a great time.
Discuss the differences of celebrations among cultures in latin america and the US.
Describe a celebration that is relevant for them using frequency adverbs such as: generalmente, a menudo, la mayoría de las veces, casi nunca, siempre.
Class structure:
Warm up:
Students are asked to think about a good/funny/interesting/bad memory they had related to a holiday and share it to the class.
Activity:
The instructor shows some images/videos related to holidays that are celebrated in Chile (fiestas patrias, La tirana, Semana santa, minga etc) and then other celebrations of Latin America (Inti raymi, fiesta de las flores, carnaval de barranquilla, etc). Students see images of celebrations of other countries in Latin America and ask questions about what happens in each celebration.
Students are asked to talk about the most common holidays in their country, the differences between those and the ones that were shown to them and their favorite celebrities. They will do that in pairs or groups of three, and then share to the rest of the class.
¿Qué celebración es?: Each students is given 3 pieces of paper: an image, the description of a celebration and the name of one. Those pieces don’t match, so they have to go around walking in the room and they talk to their classmates to negotiate and exchange them, so as to match each image with the right name of celebration and its description. The only rule is that they can’t show the images or the descriptions, but they have to describe them with their own words.
Wrap up:
Students discuss whether holidays are important and whether there is something that they would change to any of the ones that they have talked about.
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
Conversations about this topic with this class were very reflexive and there was a lot to talk about. Since they come from different cultural backgrounds, there were many things that they did, others that they did differently and students were interested to know more about their classmates’ celebrations.
The matching images to celebration was a bit challenging but it helped students use their own words to describe celebration. They ended up learning a lot about traditions without being explicitly taught about them.
At the end of the class, there was a little bit of a not-planned debate on whether holidays were important, since one of the participants raised the point that even though it was nice to have them, we could still live without them. At first it was going great, but then the conversation got a little bit intense among them. It was time to go anyway, so I basically thanked them for their great opinions and finished the class.
Goal of the class: The students learn the basic vocabulary to survive in a Spanish-speaking country in case they get sick and have to go to the doctor.
Class structure:
Warm-up: Brainstorm: parts of the body and diseases
The students have 3 minutes to brainstorm about this topic.
Activity 1: Useful vocabulary
Hola, quiero pedir hora para una cita.
Doler: me duele el estómago/me duelen las rodillas
Estar: estar resfriado/a, mareado/a, enfermo/a, herido/a
Tener: tener fiebre, covid, tos.
Dermatólogo, oculista, cardiólogo
Tarjeta sanitaria, radiografía, ecografía, análisis de sangre, análisis de orina, una receta, una receta, farmacia, pastillas, jarabe, la crema
Ir en ayunas, la baja/el alta
Una operación de corazón/apendicitis
Activity 2: Situation
Juan tiene dolores abdominales desde hace unos días y tiene que ir al médico de cabecera para la revisión. Naima, su cuidadora, pide una cita y lo acompaña a la consulta.
The students have to come up with a theatrical situation with the following characters: Juan, Naima, the doctor.
The students show their theatrical piece to the rest of the students and, after that, I show the students one video with the actual situation and they ask question related to vocabulary.
Resources used:
What worked well? What did not work well?
This class went very well. The students had a lot of questions, so three activities were enough. They were very interested when I explained them cultural things as the ”tarjeta sanitaria europea” concept.
Identify and categorize vocabulary related to animals and pets.
Discuss the benefits and risks of having a pet.
Compare, contrast and rate animals using a given criterion (danger to humans)
Class structure:
Warm up:
Juego de la Canasta: In a circle, one of the students chooses a subcategory of the main theme (example: animals of the sea, animals that have tales, activities people do with their pets, etc.) and each one will say a work without repeating what someone else said. When someone repeats a word or says something that does not belong to that category, that person loses and start another subcategory.
Students are encouraged to speak up when they think someone has said something that is not necessarily part of that category and explain the reasons for that. Whoever is alluded can either refute the other’s claim or lose and start a new subcategory
Activity:
Students talk about their current pet, a pet they had in the past or a pet that they might like to have in the future. They are encouraged to show a picture of it to the class in order to illustrate it.
In couples or groups, they discuss the benefits and risks of having a pet. They can use the chipboard to remember main points and then share with the rest of the class.
“¿Cuál te asusta más?”: Students see pictures of 6 animals that might dangerous to humans. In groups, they compare them and rate them in terms of which one would be more dangerous and which one would not be as much; creating a list. They later share it with the rest of the class and compare their rating with the other group. If their results are different from the others, they will make a little debate in order to show the others why they think it is how they are determined.
Wrap up:
Each student briefly describes an animal of their preference without saying what it is. The rest of the class asks questions to find out what that animal is.
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
Animals seem to be a relatively popular topic and so students will engage with it. Activities went well with no major difficulties. They went through a lot of vocabulary at the beginning of the class so that they could use it later on in the activities. Maybe one of the challenges is that students get very excited and conversations might go off topic a little bit, which i don’t think is necessarily bad. Students seemed to have fun
Goal of the Class: Students discuss on stereotypes they have on French people; they also learn about the various stereotypes existing in different regions of France and also different kind of expressions used in daily speech and referring to these stereotypes. Students practice their listening and speaking skills by watching videos in French on the topic, and then discuss about it both in groups and then with the whole class
Warm-up : 10/15 minutes
Intermediate and advanced : Par groupes trouvez 5 clichés que vous avez sur les Français (in groups find 5 clichés/stereotypes that you have about French people). I gave students 10 minutes to talk about it in groups and then I asked each group to share what discussed. Then I showed them a picture of different typical stereotypes existing about French people around the world with vocabulary included and further explanation of them if needed.
Input:
As a transition towards the first activity, I gave them three commonly used expressions in French that are related to stereotypical traits generally assigned to French people: Grande gueule (talk too much, is too direct), dragueur (flirty), nul en langues (bad at languages)
Advanced: for advanced I added more specific cultural input on various stereotypes depending on the regions in France:
En France, selon les régions il y a aussi des clichés différents: Par exemple, on dit qu’en Bretagne il pleut tout le temps, à Paris les gens sont hautains et arrogants (haughty and snobbish), en Alsace ils mangent que de la choucroute (plat traditionnel avec du chou), la Normandie est principalement peuplée de vaches.
Ce ne sont que des stéréotypes et donc pas totalement vrai! par exemple, en Bretagne il ne pleut pas tout le temps (mais souvent) et beaucoup de Parisiens sont très gentils (pas tous)
Activity 1: In groups still I then asked them to discuss the following questions revolving around stereotypes on Americans:
Quels sont d’après vous les stéréotypes que les personnes étrangères ont sur les Américains ? (What do you think are the stereotypes that foreign people have about Americans?)
Est-ce qu’il y a des stéréotypes spécifiques pour chaque états des Etats Unis? Donnez des exemples (Are there specific stereotypes for each state in the United States? Give examples)
Est-ce que vous connaissez des clichés sur d’autres pays Européens comme l’Italie, l’Angleterre, l’Espagne, etc.? (Do you know any clichés about other European countries like Italy, England, Spain, etc.?)
After they discussed for about 10-13 minutes, we exchange as a class and then I gave them some stereotypes we have in France about Americans:
Les Américains mangent mal et il y a des fast foods partout
Les Américains sont très patriotes
Il y a plus d’armes (guns) que d’Américains
Les Américains n’ont pas d’assurance santé
Les gobelets rouges (red cups) dans les fêtes étudiantes
Les ‘Hugs’ pour dire Bonjour
Activity 2: this second activity is centered on a video I showed them. One is on how Europeans living in France and speaking French fluently view French people, and the other one is similar but is an interview of non-European people living in France.
Intermediate:
En regardant la vidéo, notez les mots que vous ne connaissez pas sur une feuille de papier ou votre téléphone portable (While watching the video, write down the words you don’t know on a piece of paper or your cell phone)
Les Français vus par des Européens (how Europeans see French people) :
Quels sont les clichés/stéréotypes mentionnés dans la vidéo? (What clichés/stereotypes are mentioned in the video?)
Then I showed them some slides I created with photos on new vocabulary mentioned in the video, here is an example:
Advanced:
Quels sont les clichés que certaines personnes hors d’Europes ont sur les français?
Quelles sont les habitudes / les comportements typiquement français ?
Last activity : Les gestes et expressions typiquement francais – French also speak using gestures. This video is very funny and explains some of these common gestures used in the common speech in France:
1- j’ai les chocotes/ça fait peur/c’est flippant/j’ai peur
2- I’m drunk
3- j’en ai par-dessus la tête/j’en ai marre
4- ça m’énerve!
5- et toc! / dans ta face
6- les doigts dans le nez (it was easy)
laquelle intégreriez-vous dans votre vie de tous les jours ? (Which one-s would you incorporate in your everyday life?)
Est-ce que vous utilisez des gestes quand vous parlez? (do you use gestures when you speak?
Feedback/end of the class: give one or two words that you learnt today, how many times do you think people do ‘la bise’ in France to introduce themselves?
Reflection: This class went so well both in the advanced and intermediate classes. The students were participating a lot and we ended up having very interesting points and elements of discussions raised all throughout the class. These classes definitely showed that conversation classes are much more than just practicing the target language, they can also be an opportunity to learn and enlarge point of views, knowledge on various topics/issues, etc. This class led to deep and meaningful exchanges as a whole class.
Warm-up. I hang a picture of a person on the board, then I ask students to write the body parts they know. All together they come to the board and brainstorm the vocabulary.
Activity 1. Word Pairs I print out words on pieces of paper (long, short, light, dark, curly, straight, etc.) and pictures. Students find pairs in pairs, so the pictures are paired with the words.
Activity 2. Vocab Presentation Show pictures of celebrities and ask what kind of hair they have – short or long, curly or straight, etc. Then make it harder and ask students to describe the celebrity’s picture on their own.
4. Activity 3. Connect the description with a picture.
5. Activity 4. Roll a face 3 teams. One person draws on the board. Team members roll dice to each category: face, nose, etc. and describe it to the artist. F.e. short curly hair. At the end, students have a face and must describe it. Then they exchange pictures with each other and guess what the elements are.
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
The students knew many words related to appearance and body parts. It was more difficult for them to work with description words such as long/short hair, curly/straight hair. However, I tested their knowledge after a couple of days, and they did well. They found the last task a little difficult because they could not find the vocabulary to describe certain elements in the pictures. I encouraged them to use gestures.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would change the last assignment a bit, so that it would be easier for the students to describe the pictures using vocabulary they know. Despite that, the lesson went well.
Language Resident Name: Cozy Enrique NAKADA (Koji NAKADA)
Day and Date: 14th week (28th and 30th November 2022)
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Intermediate
Class theme/topics discussed: Conversation project
Goal of the class: To be able to talk about holiday, resolutions
How did you structure the class?
28th November
16:15
Talking about how to spend your holidays (This time focused on
Thanksgiving, winter break)
Introducing new words to students
Changing pairs to talk about the topic
Expanding this to their cultural customs, rituals
17:15 End
30th November
16:15
Reviewing this year (Sharing the highlight of this year),
talking about ambition (resolution for next year)
16:55
Evaluation start!
17:15 End
What technology, media or props did you use?
n/a
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Overall, looking back for this course, I should have made them hurry to finish the conversation class project at the end of October already. During the evaluation, I felt we did not go through enough classes to “evaluate”. Next semester, there are going to be only 4 students for intermediate (thank god), so I will try not spending too much time on CC project next semester. 👈という懺悔を残したりしてｗ
Class theme/topic discussed: Work and future plans.
Goal of the class:
Students will be able to:
Describe job positions, tasks, different work settings and eventual future plans.
Talk about hypothetical situations and things that they would like using the conditional form (for example, trabajaría, ganaría, me gustaría, etc.)
Simulate job interviews
Class structure:
Warm up:
Word Box: students come up with vocabulary words related to the topic and the facilitator writes them on the board. There will be a chart on the board to organize them, in terms of objects, actions and characteristics.
Students discuss the following question in a small group, then share it to the class: have you ever had a job? What was it? What kind of job would you like to have in the future?
Activity:
Students watch a video of a woman talking about her job routine and tasks. They talk in a group and then share the following:
¿A qué se dedica?
¿Cuáles son sus funciones?
¿Cuál crees que son las ventajas y desventajas de su trabajo?
¿Trabajarías en algo similar?
Choose the right person for the job: Each student chooses one occupation for which they will be looking for a candidate. In two rotating circles (one inside of the other) students will interview each other simulating short job interviews. First, half the class will interview and the other will be interview. Those who interview have to describe the job position and ask questions to the other. After a couple of minutes, the circle rotates and they interview the next one. After the circle does a whole round, they switch and those who were being interviewed, take the other role.
At the end of the activity, everyone shares who they would hire for that position. The person who gets more job offers wins.
Wrap up:
Students talk about what their ideal job would be, describing hypothetical work settings, talks, routines and so on.
Resources used: Powerpoint, projector, youtube video https://youtu.be/3AgAj069znc
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
Students seemed excited to go back to class after finishing the project. They seemed to have fun with job interviews and choosing the right candidate, since they ended up acting as real hr agents and being critical about the candidate’s background. It might have been a bit repetitive but it seems that it helped them by being exposed to certain questions that they could be potentially ask one day if they ever have a job interview in Spanish
Goal of the class: learn about a phenomenon/trend in France related to the increase production of eco-friendly clothes and the increase launching of eco-friendly brands. Learn vocabulary on ecology, fashion, and the environment.
Warm-up: Do you like fashion? Do you buy a lot of clothes in a year? Do you like buying specific brands of clothes?
Activity 1 : La mode eco-responsable
Students are shown 2 short videos, one providing facts and numbers about the textile/clothes industry in France, and how it came to become the second most polluting industry in the world. The second video is about the upsurge of eco-friendly clothes/fashion in France
After watching the videos, students are asked to state one or two elements they learnt in the videos and talk about it with the whole class. For instance:
Chaque année 100 milliards de vêtements sont produits dans le monde
Après l’industrie du pétrole, celle de la mode est la plus polluante au monde
700 000 tonnes de vêtements chaque années en France
La mode éco-responsable
Les créateurs de marques étiques et écologiques
70% des Français disent ne pas être intéressés par la mode
Some vocabulary was provided on colloquial words/expressions used in the videos
Quantité astronomique – quantité énorme
La fast fashion – la mode jetable
Se zapper – s’habiller
Activity 2: Débat – Quelles solutions pour créer une mode plus écologique ?
Students were asked in groups of 3/4 to draw a mental map with at its center : “la mode eco-responsable”. They have to find solutions to create more eco-friendly approaches to fashion and shopping. Then they make a presentation about it in front of the class, helped by the mental map they filled out with ideas and solutions:
dessinez et remplissez une carte mentale. Incluez plusieurs solutions pour créer une mode eco-responsable et durable (sustainable) – vous pouvez vous inspirer de ce site internet: https://www.wedressfair.fr/
chaque groupe fait une presentation de leur projet lorsqu’il est terminé
Reflection : This class went very well, the topic interested the students, the presentations were very resourceful and students came up with deep and smart solutions. We ended up the class prolonging the debate and extrapolating to other areas of societies and consumerism that could be improved in a more eco-friendly way. We also ended up changing topics towards the last 10 minutes of the class and talked about Cartoons, and I showed them the opening themes of one of my childhood French cartoons and we talked about it.
Food and Grocery + Vocabulary for Cooking and Baking
Goals of the Class
Identify food in a recipe and know how to cook/bake it
Warm Up
Who enjoys cooking? Who does it regularly? Has it changed with the pandemic? What’s your favorite food?
Activity 1
Quick food quiz about fruit & vegetables I showed them typical German fruits and vegetables (pictures) and they had to guess the name and translation. I showed just pictures and they had to guess the name of the fruit or the vegetable. What ingredients are used for this dish?
Activity 2
Everyone was given 3 vocabulary words (verbs for cooking) and had to explain them without using the word. Think of a dish that consists of the ingredients mentioned and then present it to the others. Not all ingredients have to be included and other ingredients can be used.
Activity 3
How to use the ingredients to cook? potatoes, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber, carrots Apple, peach, strawberry, kiwi, banana What are the ingredients of your favorite foodShow us a picture
What worked well in this class? What did not work (and how could it be improved)?
Especially the explanation of the cooking vocabulary worked very well, and the students were able to memorize the vocabulary and use it later. Also, the presentation of the favorite dish with ingredients and cooking instructions was well received. The fruit and vegetable quiz were a bit too easy, here one could choose more difficult products.
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class):Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:Self-introduction
Goal of the class:
1.Let the students and I get to know each other
2.Set the goals for the semester
3.Create a good atmosphere among the students
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up
Greetings and some chitchats with students;
2. Mini presentation about myself (7 min):
开学第一天，今天你做了多少次自我介绍呢？How many self-introductions have you done during the first day of class?
About me:
① Basics ② Some fun fact about me ③ My summer vacation in Britain
Activities
1.Ice-breaker (13 min)
1) Brainstorm different aspects about themselves, i.e. hometown, major/minor and hobbies etc.
2) Draw a picture briefly about yourself & introduce yourself to your partner.
My demo:
Group work: Listen & Draw (25 min)
Think about your summer break: Where did you go? What did you do? Etc.
Tell them to your partner;
Your partner draws them down on the worksheet;
Introduce your partner & his/her summer break to the whole class.
Regulations & Conversation Class Agreement (8 min)
Conversation Class requirements & regulations;
Sign Conversation Class Agreement.
A survey (7 min)
Write down your expectations and goals for this semester: what would you like to gain from the class? What topic are you interest in?
1)Brief introduction of the class and my requirements (and why) about the lesson(Daily proformance & LT requirements); (3 min) I used some English here in this section.
2)Agreement form signing and returning. (3 min)
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Powerpoint presentation
Class Agreements
Attendance sheets
Handouts
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
I had 4 students in the class yet ALL of them are very introvert kind of person. So I had to work very hard on encouraging them to speak and letting them feel safe and confident talking to each other. However, when it came to discussion, their voices volume would ALWAYS get lower and lower and ended up with whispering to each other. I told them it’s okay to express themselves out loud, and I joined for several conversations as well. But probably since it’s the first class, everyone was a bit shy. I hope it will get better in the future.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
More team work and let students to get to know each other better. But I understand that it will take time.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.
Speculate on the content of a literature piece adaptation
Check your knowledge on famous Russian books
Practice creative writing
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up: 6 classic books (10 min) I show students the book covers of 6 Russian literature classics. After randomly reading the books back cover, students should match them to the book cover (the idea is taken from Spanish LR Natalia Cano).
Activity 1. Watch a video with “literature questions for Russian high-school students” (10 min) Can you answer those questions?
3. Activity 2. Watch a moment from the adaptation of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” (20 min) I show students a videoclip from anadaptation of Bulgakov’s “Master and Margarita” without sound. I ask them to figure out what is going on and what is the conflict of the situation. Мастер и Маргарита Then we watch it again with sound.
4. Wrap-up(20 min) In pairs, create a story with this text as inspirations. Then, each pair will share their story with the rest of the class. Если моя память меня не обманывает, и я всё еще могу считать себя здравомыслящим человеком, с нормальной способностью интерпретировать знаки календаря и часов, я укажу, что я ошибся ровно десять дней и девять часов назад.
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students enjoyed reading summaries of works of Russian classics. I made sure to include key words in these descriptions and encouraged them to search. In addition, I made the annotations as close to real Russian as possible, so they had difficult vocabulary, but the students did a great job determining the general idea. I was worried that my students would not be able to answer the questions of the second assignment, but to my surprise, they knew almost all the answers. As for The Master and Margarita, students came up with creative interpretations. Although one of my students knew the plot, he participated in creating a new story. The last assignment also went well; it was a good way to end the lesson, although I expected it to be more massive.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would leave it as it is. It was a great class and I really enjoyed it!
The students revise animals vocabulary, travel and present and future tense
Class structure:
Activity 1:
We go on a safari. The students have to decide in pairs a safari trip for the Language residents. They have to decide where to go, who many days, find the flights, accommodation and things to do.
Once they found all the information, they have to present it to the class.
Activity 2:
What animals would we see on a safari?
The students brainstorm about all the animals they know and I give them the vocabulary they do not know.
Activity 3:
What is your animal spirit?
The students take a test in Spanish to discover their animal spirit. Then, they share it with the rest of the class. The LR also takes the test, so their information can also be shared.
Activity 4:
Animal stories.
I give each student cards with 4 random animals. They have to come up with a story for kids where those three animals are characters.
Backup activity: animals taboo
The students play taboo with the cards previously used in the activity 4.
I would add a warm up as: what is your favorite way of traveling. However, I did not do it because the previous class to this one was about traveling. The class went very well and the students were very talkative. They made me play a Taylor Swift video about a safari. I was not very happy about showing a song in English in the class, but the video had a very interesting plot, so I made them explain what happened in the video in Spanish once the video was done. We did not have enough time to do the backup activity.
Express interests using expressions such as “me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”.
Describe movies considering elements such as plot, characters, genre and setting.
Use the present subjunctive in adjective clauses using expressions such as “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…”
Class structure:
Warm up:
Juego de la Canasta: In a circle, one of the students chooses a subcategory of the main theme (example: horror movies that start with A, comedy movies of the 80’s, etc.) and each one says a movie or series without repeating what someone else said. When someone repeats a word or says something that does not belong to that category, that person loses and starts another subcategory. They have to use titles in Spanish only.
Activity:
Students talk about their interests in movies using expressions such as: me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”, etc. The following prompts will be displayed on the screen as well as examples of how to respond. After that, they share it with the whole class.
Películas/series que encuentras interesantes
Películas/series que consideras raras
Tus placeres culpables
Películas animadas que te gustan
Películas /series que te decepcionaron
Películas/series que son aburridas
Películas/ series que nunca verías
Movie producers: In groups, students are the producers of a new movie that’s going to be released. They discuss what kind of movie they want to make, how they want it to go, what kind of director they need; using expressions such as: “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…” . They will focus on the following aspects:
Genre
Plot
Setting
Director
Actors
Budget
They will present their idea to the rest of the class
Wrap up:
Adivina la película: They play in groups. In turns, each student gets a random movie genre and picks a card, where there will be the name of a movie. That student describes the movie and his group has to say the name of the movie in order to get a point. The group that has more points wins.
Each card will not only have the name of a movie, but also 3 words that are related to that movie. Students are supposed to describe it without saying any of those words. If they do, they lose their point.
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation. Printed out pieces of paper.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
The topic seemed to be engaging to students. First activities were easy to follow, and for the “movie producers” it was a bit more challenging. They had been practicing the uses of the subjunctive in previous classes so I went around giving them some extra support and asking questions. They ended up doing a great job and they laughed a lot. The activity that probably worked the most was the Adivina la película. The restriction of words that they could use made them have to find other ways to use the language to explain something, and they managed to do it eventually.
Class theme/topics discussed:Introduction – Origin and Hometown
Goal of the class:
Get to know each other
Learn about each other’s origin and hometown
Introduce new vocabulary (Cities, Transportation)
Create arguments and debate on a given topic
How did you structure the class?
Warm-up. CATEGORIES. (5 mins) Teacher writes categories on the board. Students brainstorm in groups and write vocabulary on the board. Write vocabulary connected to cities. Everything that you can think of in the board. 3 Categories: Тип поселения, Виды транспорта, Места досуга в городе, Государственные учреждения
Activity 1. My hometown: Speaking cards. (10 min) Work in pairs. Ask questions to fill information about a home city of your partner. Name, Type, Population, Transportation, Center, Likes, Dislikes.
Activity 2. Present information about your partner’s city to others (10 min) Students show their partner’s city in the google maps and say what their partner like/dislike about their city.
Activity 3. Debate— FOR/AGAINST (15 min) Controversial Russian saying: Где родился, там и пригодился. Where you were born, there you come in handy. Students are divided in three teams: “for”, “against” and judges. They have time to discuss their arguments and then they start the debate. Judges evaluate the quality of the arguments and determine a winner.
Wrap-up. A typical citizen of your city. Типичный житель вашего города (20 min) Students are divided in pairs. They choose one of their home cities. Together they draw a picture of that citizen and then present it to others, describing a picture.
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
It was one of my favorite classes so far. I divided them in pairs for the first activity to brainstorm on vocabulary. They took time to prepare a list of words. I also appreciated their energy when they were working in pairs, discussing their hometowns, and presenting them to others. The discussion on controversial topic was successful, students came up with a list of arguments trying to persuade each other. I was afraid that they might argue in a negative way, but since they were not defending their own opinion, it went well. The only difficult part was to involve not active speakers in this activity. That’s how last minute I came up with an idea of the judges. I figured not participating speakers and allowed them to be listeners who later decided on a winner. Last activity, where students had to draw a picture, was very funny and it’s a nice way to wrap up and go over descriptions.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
In a debate activity, I might have tried switching active speakers and not active, so that active speakers could be listeners (judges), and quiet students could have a space to talk more. It could have been interesting.
Goal of the class: learning about important figures and periods of French history
Warm-up: in pairs or groups of 3 they start discussing the following questions related to French history and historical figures
Est-ce que vous aimez l’histoire?
Quelle est la période de l’histoire de votre pays, et/ou d’un autre pays, que vous préférez?
Si vous pouviez remonter le temps, dans quelle période de l’histoire iriez-vous et pourquoi?
Y a-t-il un/des personnage-s historique-s que vous admirez?
Connaissez-vous les noms de personnages historiques connus dans l’histoire de France?
Y a-t-il une période de l’histoire de France que vous connaissez mieux que d’autres?
Activity 1: Les personnages clés de l’histoire de France
The main activity was a game I created for the students to learn about important figures of French history. I created 4 groups of students who had to work together and match different pictures/paintings of popular French historical figures with their main role in French history, their profession/main activity (what they are basically well-known for) and the century they lived in. (Associez les images des figures historiques françaises à leur nom, le siècle dans lequel ils ont existé et leur rôle/activité principale pour laquelle ils sont célèbres)
Activity 2: l’histoire coloniale de la France
This second activity was designed to conclude the class talking about a significant aspect/part of French history that is colonialism. I started by giving the students information and dates related to French colonies, etc. Then students watched the first 10 minutes of a documentary in French showing archive videos and images on this period of French history.
les Colonies Françaises:
La France des colonies (1830-1939): « À partir de 1830, la France se lance à la conquête du monde et au début du siècle suivant (20eme siècle) elle contrôle 1/10ème de la surface de la terre. Son empire, le deuxième après celui de la Grande-Bretagne, comprend le Moyen-Congo, la Côte d’Ivoire, le Dahomey, la Haute-Volta, le Soudan français, la Centrafrique, la Guinée, le Niger, le Tchad, la Mauritanie, Madagascar, l’Indochine, le Maghreb et des terres en Océanie” – (Source: caminteresse.fr)
Ressources : Powerpoint, Youtube, a game that I created (matching photos of great figures from French history with their role in history/profession/main activity, and the century they lived in)
Reflection: This class was extremely interesting both for me and the students. It was challenging to match all the pictures/figures with who they were and when they existed, but it was fun, interactive, and instructive. This class opened further discussion on French history, history in general, and colonialism
Learn vocabulary about diseases, health concerns, and treatment
Get acquainted with Russian medication and traditional medicine
Describe symptoms in Russian
How did you structure the class?
Warm up (10 min): Discussion 1) How often do you get sick? 2) Do you prefer to take medicine or wait for symptoms to go away? 3) Do you believe in traditional medicine? What methods do you know? 4) Do you know how to provide first aid?
I ask students to discuss those questions in pairs.
2. Activity 1. Vocabulary (10 min) I show students pictures of people having common symptoms and ask them to try naming what they see. It helps me to learn how much they know. I also provide them with the printed handout with vocabulary, so they can use it for future activities.
3. Activity 2. What kind of medication is appropriate? (10 min) I show my students pictures of people with different symptoms and popular medication that you can find in a pharmacy. They have to describe a picture using vocabulary from the past activity and find the most appropriate medicine reading its package.
4. Activity 3. Situation: Your friend is sick (10 mins). We look at the pictures of people being sick. Students have to “go to a pharmacy” and describe a pharmacist their friend’s symptoms. A pharmacist has to recommend a customer medicine from the past activity that they think suits their need the best.
5. Activity 4: Traditional Medicine (7 min) I show my students pictures of common traditional ways to treat some symptoms. Then, I ask for students’ opinion on what the purpose of the products they see is.
6. Activity 5: Help them with traditional medicine (10 min) I show students situations of people being hurt or having symptoms. What kinds of Russian traditional medicine they would use?
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Students loved the topic. We had many real-life situations and role plays that students seemed to enjoy. I believe that gradual development of vocabulary and descriptions work well in the class. The only thing is we did not have enough time to finish all the activities that I have prepared.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would dedicate two classes to this topic. There are more activities that could be added, and it would not be as rushed.
