Chez Renée

Popplet Lite is a FREE app for iPad which allows the user to diagram or map ideas with ease.  I've been meaning to try this app with my students all year, and finally did so in my French IV class.  We had just finished reading Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) as a class.  This was a lot of work and took us a lot of time.  After finishing our study of the book, we watched the film in French.  As is often the case, the film is quite different from the book.  I wanted my students to compare the book with the film in French, and using Popplet to do this worked really well. I asked students to map out the differences and the similarities between the book and the film, and then to share the popple with me.  Here's an example of a student mapping the differences: And here's a popple showing the similarities: I found this app very easy to use and very intuitive.  It is also possible to insert photos into ...

This week was an exciting one in 3rd year French!  Students heard the story of how Jacques recently proposed to Suzette.  Jacques and Suzette are classroom mannequins and students have been hearing stories about their lives since they began studying French.  This particular story is used to help students learn how to describe a past event using appropriate verb tenses (le passé composé vs. l'imparfait).  After hearing this story, students were given invitations to Jacques & Suzette's wedding!  Here's a photo of the invitations. And here's a video of the story of their engagement! Notice the students' responses as they realize what's going on.  It sure makes learning how to use various verb tenses more exciting...for my students and for me, too. :)