My new years resolution of at least one post a month has not been kept. Sorry if you stopped by in April looking for some MFL inspiration. However, here are 5 activities you can try with your classes tomorrow…or after the weekend!
4 in a row translation practice
This was inspired by a game on my old Nokia (the only one they made that didn’t have Snake on it). Pupils draw a 5×5 grid on miniwhiteboards. You project a 5×5 table of phrases they must translate. The winner is the first to score 4 in a row. It’s like connect 4 but you can start anywhere. The translations could be into English, or into the target language. My preference is for the latter. This works well when when you want to do some structured production before moving on to something more creative afterwards. The example below shows a close battle between two students.
Considerably richer than you…
This was inspired by a Harry Enfield sketch in which a character often pointed out to others that he was considerably richer than them. Having recently taught house and home this works rather well. Jed makes a basic statement such as “in my house I have …”. His partner Leo then has to better the statement in some way. This could be as simple as turning it plural or extending it.
Jed: “In my house I have a garage.”
Leo: “In my house I have 2 garages with a ferrari.”
Jed: “In my house I have a bathroom.”
Leo: “In my house I have 4 bathrooms and a swimming pool..”
This is a good revision activity if you need a quick activity for year 11. 10 categories on a slide and then give them a letter to begin with. Pupils have 1 minute come up with ideas. If someone else in the class has the word then they get no points. If no-one has it then they get a point. This can be done in teams or alone. An example list is below.
- animals you wouldn’t have as pets
- School subjects
Slowing listening on Windows Media Player or VLC
Students often find listening texts tough. Some of the textbooks I have used over the past few years are exposing Year 7 to near-native speaker speeds and then give them a tricky activity to do! A decent textbook that we often use had a good listening activity for practising directions but with a low ability year 8 group. Groups like these often see listening as a test. I slowed the track down to 0.7-0.8 of the speed. It seemed to work, they found it slightly easier to pick out the language they were hearing and complete the activity.
In Windows Media Player, open any track. At the top there is are: file | view | play | Under “view” you should see “enhancements” and then “play speed settings”.
If using VLC, then it is even easier. Under playback look for “speed” and it has “slow” and “slower” options.
You will need to use your judgement for when this is appropriate.
With exams approaching, I gave my foundation year 11 group a series of vocabulary tests consisting of common words from the exam board’s minimum vocabulary list. We mark them, write in any that they didn’t know, glue them in books for revision later and then I collect in the scores. There are prizes awarded as follows:
- Top score in a single lesson
- Top 3 at the end of the week
- Top 3 scores of fortnight (this may not be the same three as end of first week)
The scores then reset from zero for the following week. Each lesson, I would hint at the themes/topics for the next test. Some students really will surprise you with their efforts.