MEGE+Journal+3

Journal 3 French 1 (Hours 2 and 4) Thursday November 3

I taught both sections of her French 1 class. Most students are freshman and can be very energetic. In this lesson plan, I incorporated a lot of partner work. Students were asked to turn to a partner and conjugate verbs. They were asked to do this with multiple partners so that they had the chance to interact with different classmates. When going over the homework, students voluntarily would write their answers on the board and read it to the class. Since they receive points for participation, they often volunteer.
 * Student Learning and Development**

To review the ER verbs, I led a TPR activity in which the verbs were acted out. I had students stand up and come to the center of the room and form a circle. I would say a verb (écouter) and act it out (to hear, hand over the ear). I would ask students to act it out with me. The first time we went through the verbs I led in deciding how to act out the word. The second time through, students did it on their own. Most students actively participated. There was one or two that would opt out of certain verbs (to sing, to dance) but would participate with the rest of the vocabulary. I could tell that everyone was following along and that acting it out was helping them remember the verb. The current topic is “Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire?” or “What do you like to do?” Students are often asked and answer about what they personally like or do not like to do. Many of them are expanding their vocabulary lists and ask how to say other things such as “play videogames”. Since it is related to them, they are more interested in the vocabulary and it sticks better in their minds.

I used TPR to help them review their vocabulary. It was the first time that they were ever exposed to this teaching strategy and it proved to be effective. TPR allows students to be actively involved in their learning and if done enough and done correctly, can create muscle memory and will help this vocabulary be retrieved more efficiently.
 * Teaching Strategies**

I also used some comparing with the students when we were reviewing “when two verbs go walking the first one does the talking”. We looked at examples in French (J’aime danser) and compared it to English (I like to dance). They then had a better understanding of what an infinitive is and how it is used the same in English. This rule is similar when negating sentences as well (Je n’aime pas danser/ I do not like to danse).

The video “Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire?” really stuck in their heads. A lot of them came into class the next day still singing it. It was beneficial to them that we watched the video three times. Their comprehension improved each time we watched it and that phrase is drilled into their minds. There were a couple students that were frustrated because they couldn’t understand every word (which I stressed to them is not necessary, just listen for the vocabulary) and other students loved the video because, as I overheard, “that was the first time we actually had to listen to French”. They all understood more than they thought they would and were able to find a lot of vocabulary words. They did best with verbs that were presented in the infinitive. Not too many conjugated verbs were found.

If I were to redo this lesson, I would spend more time with TPR. There are many ways that it can be applied and it keeps the students engaged. In her second hour class, I had students play charades with a partner in which they had to act out a verb and their partner had to guess. All students were participating, even the quiet ones that usually don’t partake in classroom activities. If I was around when the theme started, TPR would have been used since day one. It is a very effective method. TPR could have been applied to the video, too. During the third time through, students could have acted out the verb they just heard.

I used formative assessments when I observed students TPR during the second time through when they had to produce the action on their own and not follow me. Most of the students were following along really well and others would look to their classmates for the answer and then exclaim “oh yeah!” This was the first time in Mrs. Palmer’s class that I really got a grasp on the students’ progress. They were all asked to do something at the same time which gave me a chance to see each and every one of them participate and display their knowledge.
 * Assessment**

It was my first time up in front of the students so generally they were very well behaved. I had to say “taisez-vous” (be quiet) a couple times and they would get back on task.
 * Classroom Management**

There was one student who needed one on one help with his homework (the 20 questions). I noticed that some answers were left blank so I helped him understand the question they were being asked. It was the long questions that he seemed to give up on. For example: Qu’est-ce que tu préfères: nager, lire, danser ou chanter?” Asking: What do you prefer: swimming, reading, dancing or singing? He understood all of the vocabulary and was able to translate it for me when I broke it up into smaller parts (What do you prefer? Swimming? Reading?...) it was just that he froze on questions that contained a lot of words. I helped him while other students worked individually. Mrs. Palmer does not do bell work for her French 1 class. She usually starts the class asking the students what the weather is like and asked me to start that day the same way. Working with Mrs. Brindley last year, I fell in love with bell work. It is very effective and gets the students on task straight away. From now on, any lesson I teach in Mrs. Palmer’s classroom will start with bell work. There will be a question on the board when students come in and they will be expected to write down their answer, ask a partner and then share it with the class. This will get them in the French mindset and should prevent them from discussing in English once the bell rings.