Trichez!

Students compete against each other in small groups. Each student starts with 5 counters and try to win as many as possible from the other members of their group. Each student picks up a card from the pile with a phrase on. I got students to make their own to save me some time. The group then has to translate the sentence. If they get it right, they keep their counters but if they get it wrong, they each have to give one of their counters to the student that read it out. Amongst the deck will be some cards with 'trichez!' on. If they pick one of these, they have to make up a phrase without the rest of the group realising what they are doing. If they can bluff their way though until after the group has translated, the rest of the group will have to give them a counter each even if they translated the phrase correctly. 

I did this with the topic of daily routine and time but it could also be used as a revision activity for an assessment. If you have time, you could prepare the sentences but I allowed students to make up 4 of their own with the help of their books. I also got students to think about a reserve phrase in case they picked up a trichez card. 

Thanks to someone on twitter for the original idea. Sorry but I can't remember who! 

Passing notes!

I've been thinking about revision activities for assessments and remembered something I hadn't used for a while - only because I caught a student passing a note! Each student writes a note - it could be a phrase, question or item of vocabulary. They pass their notes while music is playing which adds an element of excitement and buzz in the room! When the music stops, they open the note and have to answer the question or translate the word or phrase. You could check students' understanding by using a random name generator. This could also be done using paper aeroplanes or snowball fight depending on your class. 

MFL department INSET on differentiation

We had the time today to sit and discuss teaching and learning for about 45 minutes! Lovely! Here are a few ideas that came about. 

•  Learning buddies and experts
• Seating plans (e.g. B grade girl with C grade boy)
• Group/ Peer work
• Create own activities or teach somebody something
• Reading games - race reading, shout out next word where teacher stops, cloud text, running dictation, paragraphs around room with question sheets for students, group work with different paragraphs - students make another group to answer questions, groups have same text but 4 sets of questions
• Coloured slides not black text on white background
• Structured questions
• Vocab sheets with key words for new topics
• Think of 3 adjectives, 3 verbs, 3 nouns for topic so far, if partner can guess meaning, they get a point but if not, I get one. Move to next partner. 
• Translate sentences but mix the order so doesn’t go from easy to hard
• Put cards in correct order to build sentences. Instead of giving to students ask them to come and pick to build up their own - throw them on the floor!!
• Listening activities - peer support in answering questions together on MWB, bang the table when you hear the keyword, predict the answer, multiple choice. 
• Homework - think of an interesting sentence, create a starter for partner based on...
• Varied use of target language
• Carousel activities
• Use of MFL assistants or TA in lessons

Teach meet in Taunton

Here are my notes from the teach meet last week at Bishop Fox's school in Taunton. What a lovely evening - especially the food made by the Year 11 catering team. There were ideas for all subjects. 

Search for soul pancake on YouTube.

Table Safari - places information or texts on tables for students to move around and collect information.

Extended writing - keep asking why for students to extend their answers and give reasons in their writing.

Use haiku deck as an alternative to PowerPoint.

Give students hexagons for them to put keywords from the lesson. Ask them to make links between hexagons. Can they join theirs up with their partners?

The scary scale 0-10 - learning check on MWB.

Flipped learning - homework is to find out about and then use next lesson to complete a task.

Look for stanchester school's lesson planning app and question generator app using Bloom's.

Pointless gameshow - items you would find in a pencil case. Students to come up with as many answers in 100 seconds as possible. The most obscure the better. If other teams have your answer you get a point. Team with the least points wins. 

bit.ly/tmtaunton for tutor time activities

Add apps to your wish list in App Store and it will notify you when it's free.

¡looɔ sı uʍop ǝpısdn ƃuıʇıɹʍ

I discovered a website that flips your text upside down - fliptext.net. It also allows you to write in other languages. 

 ˙puıs ƃıʇsnl ǝıs lıǝʍ 'ǝɯlıɟ ǝqǝıl ɥɔı

sɯlıɟ sǝl ɹǝpɹɐƃǝɹ ǝɹopɐ,ɾ

You type the text you want flipped in and then copy and paste it into a document, text, tweet. Very cool! 

There is also an app that I've downloaded!

Teachmeet - Exeter Oct 2013

There were some lovely ideas at the teachmeet last Thursday. Here are just a few:
1. Active phonics - chant phonics to a tune with different parts of the class chanting different ones.
2. Cross-curricular project with drama based on the play, the pearl necklace. Played cluedo as part of the preparation (je pense que c'est...)
3. Tarsia - google and choose hermitech labs, formulator tarsia. Can also produce follow me cards.
4. Creative talk - what's in the news in France/Germany? Look at government websites.
Dual language texts add cultural context - find the French or translate sentences.
Design own shelter box and justify.
Students produce their own vocab lists with at least 5 verbs, 3 adjectives etc. I have 9 words if you can match 5 or more of mine = reward (2 stamps). Next, use vocab to form sentences. Use sentences to have a debate (opinions), be in role, record on voice thread.
5. Differentiated mind mapping, triangle progress for unit - colour in when done.

1,2,3 Reading challenge

Students read a text aloud in pairs or small groups. They choose to read either one, two or three words. The student who reads out the final word loses. They could also lose if they read out the last word on each line or their partner gets a point. The student with the most points wins.