Chez Renée

 Bonjour! Here is a fun, concrete activity to help students practice description and the use of adjectives.  First, gather random objects from around your classroom. They don't necessarily need to be items that your students can name. Use anything interesting or unusual! This gets them interested before your lesson even begins. Line the objects up on a table and use labels with letters on them to identify each object. I chose to use: A) a pumpkin decoration, B) a metal box with a block of post-it notes inside, C) a small container of yellow play dough, D) an empty Perrier bottle, E) a giant paper weight in the shape of a diamond, and F) a green feather. We were working on describing objects with a specific list of adjectives which describe the shape & texture, size, weight, consistency, general state of the object and the material the object is made of.    Next, ask students to number from 1-6 (adjust the number according to the number of objects you've chos...

Last year I added a new routine to my French III class which I've named Guess what's in Jacques' head?. It was inspired by a wonderful game I purchased on Teachers Pay Teachers called  La Boîte Mystère   from The French Nook (un grand merci, Jennifer, for this great idea!!). The basic idea is that you hide a random object in a mystery box, and students have to guess what's in it. As I pondered using this idea, I remembered that Jacques' head is hollow! I decided that my students might like this activity even more if I hid the mystery object inside his head. So now I do this every Friday and my students practice asking yes/no questions about the shape, size, texture, color and the general use for the item until they guess it. Once they do, I make a big production of tipping Jacques forward so we can all look inside his head.  The activity takes about 5-10 minutes of my lesson. It has been a real hit in my classroom. Everyone loves it! And it has helped them to ...

Bonjour fellow teachers!  I'm excited to share a new idea with you that I tried for the first time last month.  I was inspired by a presentation I attended at a world language conference on creating a "break-out" lesson.  Have you heard of these?  I decided to try one as part of my semester exam review in my French III class. It was a lot of work to create this lesson, and at one point I did wonder if it was going to be worth it.  My students adored it though, and I thought it was fun, creative and a great way to review major concepts from the semester. If you aren't familiar with the concept of a break-out lesson, the basic idea is that groups of students are racing each other to unlock boxes containing clues which lead them to unlock the next box.  Each group is racing to be the first to make it to the final box.  So, one needs to create some sort of story which gives the students a reason for wanting to race to that final box.  That wa...

Attention fellow teachers!  If you're a teacher of French & you've not yet investigated  adopt an escargot , I urge you to do so tout de suite!  Adopt an escargot is a brilliant idea invented by a retired teacher.  It involves students adopting a baby escargot (a shell!) & inventing the life of their child.  To have your students participate, you need to email Nancy (the creator of this wonderful program).  On the site, click on the image Pour le prof de français  and then you will see a link to contact Le Grand Escargot.  You can purchase everything necessary from her for about $25 per kit (which is enough for a whole class).  Each kit includes beautiful escargot shells (unique colors & shapes) and each shell comes with a unique profile.  The kit also includes other activities such as a game, a template for a baby book, official adoption certificates and the right for your students to email Le Grand Escargot (the big s...

Bonjour, everyone.  I hope you are all well, and surviving the current weather conditions.  Things have been wild here in Michigan.  We've had a record amount of snow this month, record low temps and a record number of snow days at my school (6 so far!).  Vive la neige!! I have a great speaking activity to share with you.  It seems to work best with my French III class, but it might also work in French II, and it's too easy for French IV.  It's a good game to use if students need to practice speaking more, if they need to review numbers, or if they just need a break from the usual.  This game was shared with me by two wonderful French teachers from Michigan, Marge Mandl and Suzie Martin, in a presentation they gave at our  MiWLA Conference. Everyone is a vache  (cow) in this game.  All vaches  sit in a circle in chairs or at a desk.  One vache  (usually the teacher) stands in the center and is called la vache qui...

Today I played a conversation game in my French III class that was a big hit, and more importantly, got everyone speaking French and having a good time while doing it.  This game is good for upper-level students.  The directions take a while to explain, but it's worth it!  I wish I could remember where I got this idea...it was passed on to me by another teacher somewhere along the way :).   Students are to imagine that they are strangers stranded at an airport due to a snowstorm, and are to have a conversation based on this premise.  Only one person is allowed to speak at a time.  Students take turns asking each other where they are from, what they do for a living, and so on.  Each student is allowed to invent his own identity.  The more creative they get with this, the more fun everyone has!  Before the conversation begins, each student is given a secret index card which tells them their role in the game.  There are 2 spies, ...

I imagine that many of you out there in the blogosphere enjoy reading Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry with your upper level French students like I do.  I've collected many ideas over the years for activities to use while teaching this wonderful book.  I think these ideas  were passed on to me by my friend Mary, and I believe she found them on the FL Teach ListServ .  I use these at the end of our study of the book after students understand the book well.  I usually give students the choice of one of the following:  Write, create and illustrate 4 postcards written by the Little Prince to his flower from some of the planets he visited in the book. Create a board game or a card game that uses questions based on Le Petit Prince.   Illustrate the game and write original questions and answers to be used in the game. Design and create a planet that the Little Prince might have visited, maintaini...

Yesterday was the last day of class for the seniors at my high school.  That meant I had to say goodbye to students that I've taught every day for the past 3 or 4 years.   I've developed a few ideas for how to do this in a meaningful way and have found that they work well.  I've become convinced that starting well and ending well are crucial for success in the classroom.  And ending well helps you to leave a legacy that your students will remember.  Here's what has worked for me: Communicate your love.  This is the time to speak from the heart.  If you've built a good rapport with your students, they will listen.  You've earned the right to speak truth and love into their lives, so don't miss the opportunity to do so.  I tell my students how much they've meant to me and how much I love them and what my wishes are for their futures.  I remind them of how much they matter.  This is diff...

My third year students recently finished studying how to describe objects in detail.  They learned how to describe the shape, texture, surface, weight, size, capacity, temperature and general condition of an object, including how to name what the object is made of.  In order to help them practice what they'd learned, I gave them a homework assignment to bring an interesting object from home for "Show & Tell" in French.  I asked them to be prepared to describe their objects in detail to the class.  They had to speak for a minimum of 30 seconds at a normal speed.  Here are some photos: Students were allowed to look at a written description of their object as they spoke, but in my opinion, this activity was less like a memorized presentation and more like informal conversation.  Informal speaking is one of those areas that is difficult to assess, and I think this activity was ...

If you've been reading this blog you know that every student and teacher in my high school has the iPad2 this fall!  I've been using an app called Doodle Buddy quite frequently in many of my classes.  It works well to review any concept quickly.  This app is essentially a whiteboard that students can use to draw on in different colors and styles.  They can vary the thickness and style of their line (brush, chalk, etc.) and they can add effects such as glitter or they can smudge a line they've drawn.    Today I was reviewing for a unit test that students will take tomorrow in French III.  One of the things they learned in this unit was to describe a person physically.  To review this vocabulary with them, I asked them to open their iPads to Doodle Buddy and draw a face that matched the description they heard me give in French.  Here's what they drew (this is a screenshot of a drawing in Doodle Buddy): ...

I mentioned in an earlier post how excited I am about finding ways to use my new iPad2 in the classroom!  I also mentioned my favorite app so far, called Face Jack.  Here's an example of how students could use the Face Jack app on their iPads in conjunction with the adopt an escargot  project which I currently use in my third year French class. If you're unfamiliar with adopt an escargot, it involves students "adopting" a snail shell and inventing the life of the snail.  My students love it!  I used one of the shells that came in my adopt an escargot kit in this video.  I also used one of the profiles that came in the kit to describe this particular snail.  I plan on asking my students to make a video about their adopted snails next year, and to use Face Jack in the video.  Obviously, students would be speaking French in their videos.  What do you think? 

Third year French students are currently learning how to describe a person's hair in detail.  Our textbook presents vocabulary on specific hairstyles as well as what to say at a hair salon if you want to get your hair cut.  I used a collection of wigs and masks (many of them purchased at Halloween stores) and my friend Jacques to introduce these words in class. Jacques has short, black hair.  And he's saying, "Merci.  Merci beaucoup". Jacques has braids. Jacques has short brown hair. Jacques has a punk hairstyle! Jacques has hair that's short on the top and sides, but long in the back. Jacques has curly hair. Jacques has long, black hair with highlights. Students also practiced suggesting how Jacques should cut his hair for the various hairstyles shown.  I got my students to laugh with the Elvis mask, and I was proud that they understood the joke in French, however simple it was :).    ...

A week or so after starting the fabulous adopt an escargot  project, I asked my students to write the names of their baby snails on a slip of paper and fold it up.  They dropped these papers into a hat, and then I passed the hat around the room for each student to draw a name.  I told them to keep it a secret.  Their homework assignment was to find out what that particular baby snail liked in a non-chalant way, and then think of a gift to bring to that baby on Friday.  Friday we had an Adoption Day Party for all the baby escargots.  Students had to present their gifts to the class in French (for a grade), explaining what the gift was and why they were giving it to that particular baby.  This one was my favorite.  An escargot jacuzzi!! (a jar filled with water) This young man is giving a map of Michigan to Jen, who LOST her poor baby (see previous post!), so that her baby will never get lost again! No party is complete without...