AimLanguageLearning.com

[eirual]

Without knowing which grade I'm teaching next year yet, I'm trying to put together some standard resources and 'extras' that I can use throughout the year.

I'm planning on doing:
-Bingo cards: numbers (with number symbols and words), verb vocab, and infinitifs (where the stem would be called or vise versa)
-Memory games

then I'm not sure what more I can do from there. What are your supplimental/fun activities that can be prepared ahead of time? I was wanting to more with reading and books as well, stuff to keep the kids who excell engaged and challenged.
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*.*.* You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note*.*.*

[BL]

You should see if you have flashcards for common themes ex: food, clothing, body parts, buildings, holidays, etc.

With large flashcards (letter size or close to), then you can use them to play games. Depending on the age group, you can modify what they say, but essentially, it's like the game 7-up. Choose 3-7 kids (depends on class size) and give each a flashcard. They say, "Baisse la tête et lève le pouce" to the rest of the class. The others do so (with eyes closed) and the chosen ones walk around and touch 1 thumb each. So if you have 3 chosen ones, 3 different thumbs should be touched. Once they are back at the front of the group, have them say, "Lève la tête et lève-toi." The thumbs-touched people stand up and try to guess who touched them. One guess only and if they are correct, they go out to the front and the other person sits down. Now... for the part that utilises the flashcards, instead of saying "Sally me touche," the child says, "La chemise me touche" because Sally is holding the "la chemise" card.

Of course, you can modify the sentences depending on the age level... probably better to say "La chemise m'a touché."

Flashcards can also be used to play whole class memory where 4-8 cards are shown for a few seconds, heads down, and you remove 1 or more cards & shuffle the rest, class looks again and identifies which card(s) you have removed.

They are also good for simple drill of introduction and pronunciation (parrot the teacher). Okay, this isn't the most communicative activity, but it gets the job done as an introduction when you need to present thematic vocab.

You can also play Around the world with flashcards (great with numbers and alphabet but doable with other vocab where you've lots of words to practice).

Worksheets... make word scrambles or crosswords or wordshapes or wordsearches in different themes, slightly different lists, different complexity levels.

Smaller flashcards (approx index card size) -- small group matching/memory games (so you'll need 2 of each image/word). You can also use them to play vocab drill -- one is teacher and the group has to say the word together. I do this in small groups with 8-10 cards so that it keeps moving. Different kids become teacher, and the different decks are exchanged amongst the groups so they're practicing different words. The kids have to take responsibility for taking turns, knowing the vocab, interacting with each other, etc.

You can also make "Qui a...?" versions for some themes.

Some stuff can be purchased (especially bingo games) so you might want to decide what your budget is and how much your time is worth. Some of these ideas don't require much more than a printer and cardstock to get decent flashcards. Others require more planning and prep to get the final product.

[eirual]

I had forgotten about j'ai qui a, merci!

I have a ping pong template all ready to go too, once I know which play I'll be doing. I'm going to put together a key ring of games and quick activities to do (we had them when I was working at a summer camp, and it was a great resource) I'll share that document once I get it done.
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*.*.* You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note*.*.*

[kareno]

Here's something else to think about. When you have no idea which grade levels or which plays will be studied, one thing that is always a good way to spend your time is to review (and learn new) gestures. You can also work on learning some of the grammar raps and practice gesturing grammar reviews. I have always found it challenging to get excited about preparing resources for classes I don't know about.

[Marie Hoogkamp]

Bonjour, Laurie! Here are some links to games I have created and posted before, but this may be easier than doing a search for them in previous posts:

Bingo cards
http://www.mediafire.com/?zymzh4mmuxd

Clue board
http://www.mediafire.com/?tgaadaazmaz

Clue vetements
http://www.mediafire.com/?agdjd3rmmxw

Corps card game
http://www.mediafire.com/?5nmyvwdywxm

Maison card game
http://www.mediafire.com/?eclgl3ebymn

Qui est-ce? card game
http://www.mediafire.com/?fdtw2n9g55d

Qui est-ce? card game (colour)
http://www.mediafire.com/?llle9jhpzix

Qui est-ce board (colour)
http://www.mediafire.com/?gqmdxzjadiw

Transportation card game
http://www.mediafire.com/?vzidmzwmgdm

Vêtements card game
http://www.mediafire.com/?uogozxztccw

For the card games, my students use them to play "Pige" (go fish), or memory (either alone or with others). I print the pictures on labels (size 5164, 6 per page), cut the label in half and stick to a regular playing card. The ones in black and white I don't laminate, but the colour ones I have done so.

I have not used the Bingo boards yet, even though I created them last year! There are many "games" you can purchase with a spinner to have the balls fall down so you can "call" the numbers, but I found that younger students need easier numbers (the purchased games go from 1-75, but mine goes to 35).

The Clue board is for a regular Clue game. If you don't have boards, just make up a set of cards to go with them. I have tried this as a whole class, group activity, but found that a lot of students don't know how to play Clue! The Clue vetements board is for a game that does not involve a murder, if you think there may be some opposition to that. You can also change the characters to ones from a play you are doing and change the places, etc.

The "Qui est-ce?" is based on the game "Guess Who". I have a few boards and the students love to play this game! Some prefer my "homemade" version! I originally thought that students could play it as a card game, but there are too many cards! They could use the cards to play "pige" or memory, though. I printed the boards in colour and copied a class set. I glued to a file folder and laminated them. The students use dry erase markers to play this version.

I have also purchased flashcards from Poster Pals. I have the ones for food, clothing, body parts and verbs. I love the verb ones! They lend themselves well to AIM. I show the card and try to make the gesture at the same time (the ones that need two hands are challenging!) The back of the cards have the verb in the infinitive and the conjugated version (il or elle, depending on the person on the front). So you can use them to drill the "er"/"ir"/"re" endings. There are some irregular ones. I often group them into endings, irregular ones, etc.

I hope to create more "games" like these. When I do, I will post them!

Hope these files and ideas help!
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Marie

[koyen]

When my students were working on learning les contraires, they loved playing around the world. I would say a word from the list and the students had to come up with the correct contraire. No flashcards needed!

A lot of my classes also really enjoy playing 20 Questions. I write down a word but keep it hidden from the class. They try to guess what it is in 20 questions or less. The first time I explained how to play I just gestured the questions for them to ask me and they understood quickly. Before I start the game I usually ask the class to brainstorm good questions to ask, which I write on the board so that the weaker students can then participate too. Questions include things like "est-ce que c'est grand ou petit? dans la classe ou dehors, une chose ou un animal, etc. This also gives you a good window into some of your students' comprehension. If you have just answered that the hidden word is something big and the next student asks if it's a pencil, you know they haven't understood. For younger students (Grades 1 & 2) I modified this game by photocopying and cutting out images from the back of the teacher's guides for les tous petits: a chair, a dog, the park, a coat, a house, etc. Then I coloured them and stuck them on the on the inside of a file folder so they would be easily portable. The first round we play, my puppet "Souris" picks one of the objects, and I help the class ask the questions (this also models sample questions for them). I usually get the child who guesses the object to come up and pick the next one. They love being the one who gets to choose the picture and who gets to ask them questions. Many students' questions don't move beyond "est-ce que c'est le chat?" but at least they are learning how to use est-ce que to ask a question, and some of the more advanced students can ask if it's red, or big, etc.

Zut Za Zou is my lifesaver game. I learned about it on the forum but I couldn't find it when I searched just now. I play it with Grades 3-7 and they all LOVE this game and often beg me to let them play. I love it because we can practice so many questions totales and questions partielles and it keeps their interest. You need three envelopes or pockets of some kind labeled ZUT, ZA and ZOU. Each one is filled with pieces of paper with numbers on them for points (I go by 10s up to 100 to keep the addition easy) and also papers that say Zut, Za, or Zou in each envelope. Divide the class into 2 or 3 groups and gesture a question to one of the groups. I always give any necessary support to help them answer in a correct complete sentence. Then I pick one student to choose the envelope for me to pick from and a second student to choose whether I pick the paper from the front or the back of the envelope - avant or arriere. For example "Za avant". Then I pull that piece of paper out of the envelope and that's the number of points they get. Replace the paper in the middle of the envelope. The kids love this because they could get 10 points or 100 points for the same question, it's always a surprise. If a card labeled ZUT is chosen, the team loses half their points. If they get ZA they double their points, and if they get a ZOU card they swap points with another team. Swapping is not optional, so if a team is ahead and gets ZOU, they still have to swap points with a team of their choice. This gets very exciting for the class. When we have to stop the game, I usually write the current scores down in a permanent place so that we can continue next time instead of starting all over again.

I found the rules for Ping Pong on the forum just before the end of third term, and tried it with two classes. They loved it, but it does require a bit more preparation in advance. Type out a set of questions for yourself (I would use questions partielles) and a corresponding set of answers. Photocopy the answers out on two different colours of paper and cut the answers into strips. Divide the class into two teams "Ping" and "Pong". The two teams line up facing each other. Distribute the answer strips - one paper colour to each team - giving stronger students a second strip if there are extra. Ask the questions in random order. If a student thinks they are holding the correct answer to the question, they take a step forward and say either Ping or Pong, depending on what team they are on. When you choose the student you heard first, they get to read out their answer. If correct they score a point for their team. I liked this game because it's quiet - you get a maximum of two voices at any time. I also like that no one knows who is holding which answers, so if a weaker student doesn't step forward because they don't understand the question they have the answer to, nobody knows.

[eirual]

These are all fantastic! Thanks for such fabulous suggestions....we could almost have a term of JUST games!
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*.*.* You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note*.*.*

[koyen]

That's true! You almost could do games all the time, except I think the novelty would quickly wear off for the kids. It would be like having Christmas every day.

That said, I do play games very often, almost every lesson. Part of the reason for this is that my lessons are long, so games are an essential part of creating variety for me. Also the ones I mentioned are very instructional. If one of my objectives for the lesson is to do oral practice of questions partielles, why not play zut za zou or ping pong sometimes? It makes it more fun and interesting for the kids so it holds their attention longer and I get better participation. It's win-win.

By the way, other concepts that could be practiced by playing around the world (autour du monde) would be masculine to feminine, present to passe compose, and present to infinitif.

And I just remembered one more game! I got this idea on the forum too. It's called Vrai ou Faux? I gesture a sentence and teams of 2 or 3 students all have to tell me whether the sentence is true or false. The sentence could be about the story, or it could be about anything going on in the classroom, ie: "La chaise est sur le plancher"; "Bob porte une chemise rouge aujourd'hui" etc. This doesn't require a lot of verbal output from the kids, so it's an easy game to introduce at the beginning of the year, or with very young children. To get them speaking more, you can easily go over each answer and gesture for everyone to say "C' est faux; Bob ne porte pas une chemise rouge aujourd'hui, il porte une chemise blanche." etc

There are all sorts of ways that you can have the students indicate their answers for questions by holding up fingers or colour coded cards, etc. One thing I find is extremely popular with my students is mini whiteboards. I got a set of 10 of them (I can't remember what they cost but it wasn't that much). I use them for playing Vrai/Faux, practicing Choisis le Bon Mot, practicing grammar rules, les contraires, and all kinds of things. For some reason, students of all ages seem to LOVE writing on these whiteboards, and it can turn lots of reviews into a game. Again I get maximum participation because every pair of students has to hold up their answer. To help prevent teams from copying off each other's boards I give everyone a short time to think and write their answers then I give a cue for everyone to hold up their board at the same time, and all correct answers get a point. I also find this a useful formative assessment because I get instant feedback about which kids understand the concept or the vocabulary and which ones don't.

[Ainslee Malenfant]

90% of my games are 'home made', could you please give me more details on how your Clue Vetements works? (I know nothing about the regular Clue game either)

[Ainslee Malenfant]

Oh, and the 'Guess Who' on boards made from file folders, could you tell me more about that, and how you play? I would like to create these as well, merci!

[Marie Hoogkamp]

Ainslee: To play any version of Clue, you need cards for each "choice". You separate them into 3 piles (Characters, weapons/clothing, rooms) and shuffle them. Remove one from each pile as your "answer" and place them aside so no one can see them (usually placed in a small envelope). Then shuffle all the cards together and deal out to the players. Each player marks the cards they have on their score sheet. The object is to try to figure out the cards that have been set aside. In a regular game of Clue, there is a game board and you have to roll the dice to get to a room in order to make your assumption. You can play without the board, just have players take turns. I have tried to play this with a whole class in groups, but not all students know how to play Clue either! I assumed that most did (with this age of digital games, no one plays board games anymore, it seems! My cousins and my brother and I played board games all the time!)

To make suggestion, you say "Je pense que c'était M. Plum avec le couteau dans la cuisine". If someone has one of the cards, he/she would show you only one card. People employ different strategies. Some would ask for one thing they did not have (for example, I might have M. Plum and le couteau and I am trying to figure out the correct room). If someone shows me the room, then I can mark it on my score sheet and ask for a different room on my next turn. Some people ask for 2 or all 3 things. (Not the way I play, so I can't comment on the strategic reasons for doing it that way).

Once the turns have gone around a few times, someone may be confident enough to make an accusation. The person can check the cards that have been set aside to see if he/she is correct. If he/she is, the cards can be shown to the rest of the players. If not, the cards are returned to the envelope and the rest of the players can continue.

I do have some Clue games that I have purchased second-hand, so students can use those, but the board is not really necessary for a quick game.

Full rules can be found if you google "rules for Clue".

For Guess Who, the object is to determine the other person's "character". Using the board game version, there is a set of cards with each character. Each player chooses a card, which is their character for the game. They start asking questions, like "Est-ce que ta personne est un homme?" The other person either answers "oui" ou "non". The board game version has tabs that flip down, so the person would flip down all the men or women depending on the answer given. In my version, the person would cross out rather than flip down. The questions continue to try to narrow down the character (hats, glasses, etc). In my version, rather than cards, the students circle their character on their own board. Having the boards glued to file folders helps, as they can hide their character with the top flap of the file folder. If you wish, you can print out the Qui est-ce cards in colour and have the students use those to choose their character (I have them, but the students prefer to circle their character). I also have a few board games of Guess Who, but some students prefer to use my version!

Another game that the boys especially like to play is Battleship! I have a few sets of that game, too. I have not made my own version, as it is too difficult! I printed out a card that has the questions/names of ships on it. They must call coordinates in French (B2), etc. Here is a link to the card:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mqw1zzimnoz

Hope this helps!
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Marie

[Ainslee Malenfant]

Thanks so much Marie, I'm going to make the Guess Who game. I did make 15 games of Battleship on file folers for each play LTPC, CYA, LLG and BV (I think), the kids love it. They have to create a sentence using a character (listed along axis y) and a verb (along axis y, but at the top of board) to make a hit or a miss, they use eraseable markers and say touche ou manque etc. (You probably already know it.) Thanks again.