My first year students were learning to name methods of transportation, which inspired me to write a story about Jacques, the classroom mannequin. In the story, Jacques is trying desperately to get to his girlfriend's house to pick her up for a date. He tries various methods of transportation, but each one fails for one reason or another. In the end, he has fallen off a bike and broken his leg, so he walks the rest of the way, dragging his broken leg behind him. When he arrives (late, obviously), his girlfriend's dad opens the door and says, "I'm sorry, but Suzette isn't here..."
Students were asked to write a 5 line ending to the story. They worked in groups of 2, and were instructed to write out their lines on paper. Then they had to act out their endings for the class. Here are some photos of their endings.
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| These students borrowed some crutches for Jacques (left). Suzette's father is on the right. |
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| Notice the smiles. These girls were having a great time with this! |
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| Another student playing the part of Jacques (the baseball cap he's wearing is always used for the part of Jacques). |
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This boy brought a wig to class so that he could play the part of Suzette.
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Poor Jacques is begging Suzette's father to tell him where she is.
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I had the undivided attention of my students the day that I taught this lesson. Really. You could have heard a pin drop. How did I accomplish this? I acted out the story (with costumes, sound effects and various props) as I told it. My students love it when I do this sort of thing. As you can see, they were inspired to write some really creative endings. We all enjoyed watching what each group came up with, and all of my students were engaged in trying to communicate their original ideas in French!
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