Hello all, I am teaching French to level low intermediate of 8th graders (30 students age 13-14) in a middle school in Colorado. Interested in exchanging emails with english learners from a French school lydia.[email removed]!
Does anyone have ideas for approaches in teaching a combination class for levels 3/4? I am employing some I have already, but would love to hear what others have done as well!
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I am looking for reading material for French 3 and 4. I am interested in short story anthologies, legends, tales from France and Francophone countries. Merci.
Most literature is still out of reach for year 4 French students. French III will definitely struggle to read to authentic stories which are so rich in vocabulary and syntax.
While children's literature is often recommended, such as the publication, "J'aime lire", students do not easily connect to the stories.
To satisfy the authentic reading component of my curriculum, I turned to non-fiction. The monthly magazine, "Science & Vie", although for adults, is very readable due to the high cognate count. An additional magazine is "Géo Ado", the adolescent version of the adult magazine. This magazine's articles are written by teenagers and really engages students. You will find many of its articles online, free to use.
12 Authentic short stories, with supporting vocabulary notes and questions, is found in Rebecca Valette's "Nouvelles lectures libres", by DC Heath.
A good internet search will turn up most of the genres you desire. Be sure to set you search engine to .fr as opposed to .com For example www. google. fr Try, contes et légendes francophones.
The short novel, L'étranger is a good book for level IV and For Level III, Ionesco's play, La Cantatrice chauve is recommended.
Bien à vous,
James
On 8/07/16, Margaret wrote: > I am looking for reading material for French 3 and 4. I > am interested in short story anthologies, legends, tales > from France and Francophone countries. > Merci.
mary boothOn 8/09/16, James in Belgium wrote: > > Bonjour, > > Most literature is still out of reach for year 4 French > students. French III will definitely struggle to read to > authentic stories which are so rich in vocabulary and syntax. > > While children's literature is often recommended, such as the > publication, "J'ai...See MoreOn 8/09/16, James in Belgium wrote: > > Bonjour, > > Most literature is still out of reach for year 4 French > students. French III will definitely struggle to read to > authentic stories which are so rich in vocabulary and syntax. > > While children's literature is often recommended, such as the > publication, "J'aime lire", students do not easily connect to > the stories. > > To satisfy the authentic reading component of my curriculum, I > turned to non-fiction. The monthly magazine, "Science & Vie", > although for adults, is very readable due to the high cognate > count. An additional magazine is "Géo Ado", the adolescent > version of the adult magazine. This magazine's articles are > written by teenagers and really engages students. > You will find many of its articles online, free to use. > > 12 Authentic short stories, with supporting vocabulary notes > and questions, is found in Rebecca Valette's "Nouvelles > lectures libres", by DC Heath. > > A good internet search will turn up most of the genres you > desire. Be sure to set you search engine to .fr as opposed to > .com For example www. google. fr Try, contes et légendes > francophones. > > The short novel, L'étranger is a good book for level IV and > For Level III, Ionesco's play, La Cantatrice chauve is > recommended. > > Bien à vous, > > James > > On 8/07/16, Margaret wrote: >> I am looking for reading material for French 3 and 4. I >> am interested in short story anthologies, legends, tales >> from France and Francophone countries. >> Merci.
> On 7/29/16, Jarod HM wrote: >> One of the major negatives of >> D'accord is that they did not really >> adapt it to the K-12 context. They >> essentially copied their existing >> college texts and gave it a new >> name. When the update, they should >> really reconsider what the needs of >> middle and high school students and >> teachers are. >> >> On 7/27/16, P Massey wrote: >>> We are starting to use D'Accord >> for high school and I agree >>> -- it is way too heavy vocab and >> grammar for first few years >>> of French.
On 7/20/16, Miriam wrote: > Bnjr. > > Has anybody use...See MoreI have not used it as a main text but did some limited piloting. If you have a lot of students who struggle, it may be a challenge to use. It is also way too colorful, which may be distracting for some students.
Overall, it is a good series with great cultural content.
On 7/20/16, Miriam wrote: > Bnjr. > > Has anybody used this series yet?? Do you like it? Not like it?? > > Any input would be appreciated. We are looking at new books > and would like to order one soon. > > Merci
We have used it for two years and have loved it thus far. Definitely a lot of content, but I like that is more advanced than our previous series, Discovering French. In my opinion, the colors and up to date imagery and cultural content are a welcome update compared to outdated textbooks or ones that do not update pictures when their new issues come out. I had several students flip through our sample books when we were doing our searches and it was everyone's favorite by far!
I am taking over a class that uses Discovering French Nouveau. They cover 6 units a year in French 1 and then in French 2 use the Blanc book, so they skip the last 2 units in the bleu book. For French 2, the first semester they have covered the first two units in the blanc book. I am thinking of putting them back in the bleu book and finishing it up. It is much of the same material as the white book, but at a slower pace. Do you usually move onto the next book without finishing it? What would you do?
The same thing has happened with French 3. I am thinking of putting them back in the blanc book. The students have had a lot of transition and I am worried are just rushing through the material. Merci:-)
On 12/28/13, Rosemarie wrote: > In response to your Discovering French question, I used to > finish the French I book in Level II, but then I ended up > having to pass out the Level II books at the end of the 2nd > year to finish up the year. Then a few years ago, I began > using the French II Blanc book for the entire year in French > II. I usually spend all of the first marking period on the > Reprise in the Level I book. For Level III, I do however > finish the Blanc book as I found the Rouge book to be better > for the Level IV class. Hope that this helps you out. If you > have any other questions, feel free to email me.
Regardless of the textbook, I have always taught through the French I chapter covering passé composé with être. That is a good goal.
I only spend one week on the review section in Fr. II or III. This is because, almost all the "review" content is actually re-taught in the subsequent lessons.
French II is my slow book. I am only able to teach through the unit on clothing. In Fr. III, I am able to teach through Unité 9-P1.
My students have homework every night on the block schedule. Otherwise, they have HW four nights a week on the traditional 5-day a week schedule.
The textbooks provide too few and under use quizzes. More small quizzes are better. Also, a real test is valid after each DF lesson, unless you combine the first two lessons of a unit, like I did. That provides three tests per unit and at least 3 to 4 quizzes per lesson.
For fifteen years, my classes were mixed MS and HS students.
The best advice I can give is to keep your classroom moving, use many short activities and keep your students busily engaged and the time will fly by for them and you.
Bien à vous, James
On 7/27/16, Ryan wrote: > What do you cover in a first year 9th grade class with zero > exposure? > > On 12/28/13, Rosemarie wrote: >> In response to your Discovering French question, I used to >> finish the French I book in Level II, but then I ended up >> having to pass out the Level II books at the end of the > 2nd >> year to finish up the year. Then a few years ago, I began >> using the French II Blanc book for the entire year in > French >> II. I usually spend all of the first marking period on the >> Reprise in the Level I book. For Level III, I do however >> finish the Blanc book as I found the Rouge book to be > better >> for the Level IV class. Hope that this helps you out. If > you >> have any other questions, feel free to email me.
I'm positive that with younger learners the structure will be very important. But what negotiation do you use? I had envisioned that the first week (or two) would be easing in through revision but do you find it more helpful to spend less time on content those first weeks?
I will explain my syllabus the first day, but after that, I just go.I do not ease into the school year. The culture of my school is speaking in the target language always. I teach AP French class and my Spanish 5 conversation class, so everything is in the target language. I also teach French 2 and will do the same. I like to give a quiz within the first few days to let them know I mean business. I think the beginning of the year sets the tone for the rest of the year.
As for planning...I don't want to even think about it. I will wait until September...which I hope never comes!!
On 7/27/16, Chris wrote: > Hello eveyone, I hope everyone's planning is going well. > I'm looking to draw on your expertise. I'm new to the > secondary Ed classroom and I'm wondering what your > method is. Most of my research says that the first week > should be heavily dedicated to setting up classroom > procedures and routines with little to no content. In > previous teaching (higher Ed) the philosophy was always > start teaching French (in French) on day one and leave > the logistics until right before the bell. > > I'm positive that with younger learners the structure will > be very important. But what negotiation do you use? I had > envisioned that the first week (or two) would be easing in > through revision but do you find it more helpful to spend > less time on content those first weeks?
Most literature is still out of reach for year 4 French students. French III will definitely struggle to read to authentic stories which are so rich in vocabulary and syntax.
While children's literature is often recommended, such as the publication, "J'aime lire", students do not easily connect to the stories....See More