ICT in MFL

I've made an ICT in MFL display which I hope to put up for next year. All of these are on TES if you'd like to use them in your own departments. Can you think of any important ones I've missed?

Spellings

Here's a great idea that one of my lovely Y7 set 4 boys came up with in order to help him remember tricky spellings while preparing for his writing assessment.

I know this method has been around for years - even at the age of 25 I still find myself saying "dashing in a rush, running hard or else accident" (not that this is a word I have to spell often!) - but for some reason I'd never thought about using it in MFL.

After I found the technique worked for one student I asked him to share this with the class and encouraged them to use it as well. They came up with some ridiculously silly sentences but it really did help them to remember the spellings.

Have you done anything like this with your students? Do you have any better techniques for learning spellings? I'm open to new ideas!

GCSE Spanish: Vocabulary Cards

To go alongside the Spanish vocabulary games on Memrise, I've also typed up sets of vocabulary cards which I'll print out onto different coloured card (that way the sets don't get mixed up) and give to students to match up. All of this vocabulary was taken from the AQA GCSE Spanish Revision Guide.

MFL Teaching Ideas

GCSE Resources

 

Spanish Tenses Booklet



With my Year 10 and Year 11 students this year I have found that I've become so consumed with preparing them for their controlled assessments that there just hasn't been enough time to thoroughly go over the tenses. So, in order to prepare my current Year 9 Spanish classes for Year 10 I'm going to spend the last few lessons of the year revising tenses with them. I think I'll group them by ability for these lessons.

 

I've made a tenses booklet of questions which covers the present, the immediate future, the future, the conditional, the preterite and the imperfect, as well as some of the irregulars.

 

 

I plan to give these to my students to complete and will also encourage them to use the Independent Learning Folders. Here's an example of one of the sheets in there.

 

 

These sheets explain what the different tenses are and how to form them. The QR codes lead them to websites and games which can help them even more if they still don't understand it, so I need to remember to book the iPads for these lessons. All of these sheets are on TES if you'd like to use them with your own classes.

 

Once they've finished, I'll then give them the answer sheets so they can check their own work.

Carousel Lesson

For my observation yesterday I decided to do a carousel lesson. I normally play it safe for these lessons but for once I thought I’d take a bit of a risk. Having done a few of these before, although not with this class, I knew they involved a lot of planning and that it would need to be well structured for it to work.

Overall I was pleased with how the lesson went but felt it lacked a bit of pace at the start. The students all worked really well and I received some really positive feedback from the colleague who was observing me. He’s asked me to share what I did with the department so I might as well share it with you as well.

The class was a Year 7 Spanish set 2 - nice group, very well behaved but quite quiet so I wanted to make sure they were doing something active. The lesson was Wednesday period 1 which was nice as it meant I could set up the night before and not have to worry about it too much the next morning.

I’m lucky enough to have a nice spacious classroom so I decided to have 4 areas: reading table, speaking area, writing table and listening table. I split the class into 4 ability groups with about 7 or 8 pupils in each: One group who were working at Level 3-4, two groups who were working at Level 4 and another who were working at Level 5. I had planned to give them 12 minutes per activity and thanks to Megan Mog’s response to my plea on the #mfltwitterati for a countdown timer that I could put onto a PowerPoint slide, this worked quite well. Unfortunately quite a few students (for the first time ever with this class) were late at the start, so we only managed to complete 3 of the activities but it didn’t matter too much.

Students entered to the sound of Kevin y Karla’s Spanish rendition of a lively One Direction song. On the board I had the names of the students in each group and, in each one, a student’s name in bold. These would be the group leaders who would be in charge of reading out the laminated instructions which were stuck to each desk. I told them they had until the end of the song to find their table. This didn’t quite work on this occasion due to students being let out of tutor time late. These things happen.

Once they had all found their tables and I’d done the register, I went through the lesson objectives and asked them to choose which of the differentiated outcomes they would be capable of. Some of them needed a bit of guidance with this. I then explained in the TL what we would be doing today and had some instructions in English up on the PowerPoint.

On each table I had put one of these signs (but obviously in Spanish) so it was clear which skills they were developing on each. I made the inserts myself and bought the frames in Ikea for £1 each…yes another fantastic idea I stole from Pinterest. As I said before, each table had a laminated sheet of instructions, as well as the sheets needed for that activity.

Reading table:

Students were given 3 worksheets to choose from, depending on the level they chose at the start: green (Level 3+), yellow (Level 4+) and pink (Level 5C+). Here’s an example of one:

I also put a couple of iPads on this table. The aim was for students to scan the QR code once they had finished, find the answers and then mark their own work. Unfortunately the QR codes on these sheets didn’t work for some reason but I’d printed off a back up answer sheet just in case.

Speaking area:

In our department we have pronunciation posters up on the walls in each classroom, so I decided to put the speaking area next to these. Again, students were given 3 coloured tasks to choose from, depending on their ability. Here is an example of one:

This was the activity I was least happy with and I know quite a few students struggled with it. Perhaps my instructions could have been a bit clearer. My observer suggested incorporating some sort of peer assessment, just to get them motivated to talk. He also said 12 minutes is a long time for a Year 7 student to talk about their hobbies, even if they are in pairs/groups. Good, constructive criticism I felt. 

Writing table:

Students were given the choice of 3 coloured sheets with translations on. Here are the sheets I gave them:

I was quite happy with these and think I differentiated them well, with each sheet providing less support as you move up to Level 5, and with extension tasks for in case they found the translations too easy. If I were to do this again, I’d definitely make these sheets smaller, as they didn’t get time to finish them. Luckily the QR codes worked on these ones though!

Listening table:

Jigsaw Reading: Students were given 2 versions of the same text which had different words missing and were asked to read this out to their partner while they filled in the gaps. I also gave them a sheet with the missing words all jumbled up for those who felt they needed it. Most of the students I spoke to said it was easy so I'd need to have a think about that for next time.

At the end of the lesson I put the objectives back up on the board and asked them to translate the sentence underneath the target they chose at the start. Then I asked 3 of them to share their answers. The level 3 and 4 students got it but the level 5 struggled with the future tense part so I need to go over that a bit more with them.

Kahoot

Kahoot is one of my all-time favourite teaching websites and is a great plenary activity.

Kahoot is a free website which allows you to make your own quiz which the students can play using their own devices (smartphones, laptops, iPads can all be used).

 

 Once you have created and launched your quiz, some instructions will appear on the screen. Students are invited to visit kahoot.it where they are asked to input the pin number and their nickname. Be careful with this one as the student names appear on the main screen, and I’ve had a couple of inappropriate ones in the past! This shouldn’t be a problem though as I received this email from Kahoot not so long ago…

‘Following on from last week's rich text editor release, we have a new update for you - you can now instantly "kick" inappropriate nicknames from the 'lobby' screen.’

As soon as all of the students have joined the game (their names will have appeared on the screen) you can click Play. It will then display the questions on the screen, as well as 4 possible answers which are colour-coded and have a symbol. The students will be able to see the colours and symbols on their device and are asked to select the correct one. Kahoot allows you to set time limits for each question and students can get more points the quicker they answer. After each question, the number of students who have chosen each option is displayed on the teacher's screen, along with the correct answer and a leader board of scores so far. 

 

 

Here are a couple of tutorials which might explain it a bit better:

Kahoot

YouTube Tutorial

And another blog by Miss McLachlan which you may find useful:

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Dannielle

Snowballs

Snowballs is another one to try when they’re lacking motivation and is a great plenary activity. Be careful with this one though as it can be absolute chaos if not structured properly.

1. Each student has a piece of scrap paper.

     2. Ask them to write a time phrase….Chaque jour

     3. Get them to roll their paper up into a ball.

     4. When you say so, the students then throw the paper across the room.

     5. Students then go and pick up a snowball from the floor.

     6. Now they write a verb phrase….je joue au foot

     7. Repeat actions 3-5.

     8. They add extra details such as…avec mes copains/dans le jardin

     9. Repeat actions 3-5.

    10. Now they could add a justified opinion.

    11. Repeat actions 3-5.

    12. Now ask them to translate the sentence on their paper into English.

At the end I normally stand by the door with the bin and ask them to bring their piece of paper to me to check. That way you don’t end up with paper all over the floor at the end and you can make sure that they have all understood the task.

Tips

• You may need to give them the vocabulary for each section otherwise you could end up with sentences that don’t make sense!

• A variation on this could be to make paper airplanes out of them instead of snowballs.

• Make sure you give clear instructions at the start (Don’t throw the snowballs at each other / Don’t throw them until I say so - it’s important that they all do each section at the same time, otherwise the activity won’t work) otherwise it’s just mayhem, trust me.

GCSE Spanish Revision Resources

Whilst planning my last few Y11 Spanish lessons before their final exams, I stumbled across some incredible resources on TES. 

This one from Gianfranco Conti is a superb set of vocabulary revision worksheets (recommended by TES too!) which students could use either in class or at home. I haven't used this yet but plan to in the future.

I also found this Last Minute Revision PowerPoint, uploaded by bagglebird, really useful. 

These inspired me to make some of my own revision resources which could be used over the 2-3 years with my GCSE classes. I've made 5 PowerPoints - each go alongside the chapters in the AQA GCSE Revision Guide (General Vocabulary, Lifestyle, Leisure, Home and Environment, Work and Education). I plan to use these as starter activities with my classes. Here are a couple of examples:

 

I've uploaded all of these to TES so feel free to use them with your own classes.

I have also given my students these sheets which have links to vocabulary revision games on Memrise. They can also access these on their smart phones by scanning the QR Codes. All the vocabulary on there has been taken from the AQA Revision Guide as well.

Let me know if you use any of my resources and how you've found them. And a big thank you to Gianfranco Conti and bagglebird for sharing those fantastic resources and saving me a lot of time! 

Enjoy the rest of half term!

Memrise

I haven’t written a blogpost in a while now so I felt it was about time I got back to it! I’ve been very busy uploading vocabulary to Memrise to try and make revision as fun as possible for my Year 11s. I also got engaged a few weeks ago! I'm very excited but does this mean morganmfl will have to change to warrenmfl?

ANYWAY...

If you’re a fan of Quizlet, I can guarantee you’ll love Memrise...

Why?

• The leaderboards mean there is an element of competition as students can track each other’s progress.
• You too can monitor your students’ progress – I asked my students to use the same username and password as their school login, to make things easier. Sometimes I’ll give prizes (sweets or house points) to the top students that week to motivate them even more.
• It’s flexible as it allows you to input your own vocabulary or use others which have already been added by other people.
• It tests you on the same vocabulary repeatedly so that it stays in your long term memory.
• It looks attractive and is simple to navigate.
• It’s free!

How does it work?

Each vocabulary item is a seed which needs to be planted (learnt), then watered regularly (revised) in order for it to grow into a flower (stay in the long term memory).
It introduces 2 vocabulary items at a time then tests you on them by allowing you to choose the translation from one of the 4, 6 or 8 options. Some exercises also require you to type in the spelling of the translated word.
By prompting you to water your plants repeatedly, it means that the vocabulary is more likely to stay in your long term memory.

What do I have to do?

First create your account

I have made 3 accounts for KS3 Spanish, KS4 Spanish and KS3 French so that my students can just find me and any courses on my page will be relevant to them.

Then input your vocabulary

Adding vocabulary is also very simple. Just click Create (top of the homepage), then choose a name and the correct language. Then you can type the vocabulary in the boxes and even add sound files if you like. Or if you click Advanced at the top right, then Bulk add items, it allows you to input all the vocabulary at once – just make sure you select the correct options for Word Delimiter and Line Delimiter. You will also need to go to Details, click Status and select Public before it can be used by your students. You can also have different sections by selecting Add Level (bottom right)

Now share it with your students

You could just tell them your username – they just need to type in: www.memrise.com/user/ followed by your username

Or you could convert the URLs into QR codes which the students can access by scanning them with their smart phones.

Here is an example of one I made for my Year 11 Spanish group. All of the vocabulary here has been taken from the AQA Revision Guide. And I've done different sections for foundation and higher.

If you'd like to share this with your students feel free - just click here. 

Maths Karate

Last week I went on an MFL NQT course (although technically I’m not an NQT anymore – received my certificate on Friday, yay!) in Winchester run by Liz Lord. We learnt a lot about the transition between KS2 and KS3 and we were given some great new ideas for MFL activities. I love days like this as I find that, occasionally, I get stuck in a bit of a teaching rut where I seem to do the same sorts of activities over and over. So it’s nice to come away with some fresh ideas and inspiration.

One of the best ideas I took away from the day was Maths Karate. I tried it with my low set Y7s on Tuesday as a starter activity and they loved it. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them that enthusiastic about anything…

You say a number in the target language and hold up the right amount of fingers.  Then say either:

-‘plus’ (and make arms into a plus sign)

-‘moins’ or ‘menos’ (and hold your forearm in front of you horizontally)

-‘fois’ or ‘veces’ (and make an x shape with your arms)

-‘divisé par’ or ‘dividido por’ (and hold your arm in front of you horizontally and punch above and below).

Then say another number and say egal (and put both forearms in front of you on top of each other).

When we did this activity on the NQT day Liz got us to repeat the word and the action after each one, before saying the answer and holding up the correct number of fingers. She then asked us to do this in pairs.

4 Pictures 1 Word

Ever used the 4 Pictures 1 Word app? The aim of the game is to guess the word from the scrambled letters by looking at the picture clues.

I made a French and Spanish version of this a while ago (although it is just a PowerPoint, not an app) and had completely forgotten about it until I used it with my Y9s today.

I've uploaded these PowerPoints to my TES account if you'd like to give them a try! Let me know how you find them.

Heads and Tails

This is a game called Heads and Tails. I can't remember who I got it from but thank you whoever you are! It’s a nice kinaesthetic activity and is a good one for KS3 (or below). You give them sentences and they have to decide whether they are true or false. If they think the sentence is true they put their hands on their heads. If they think the sentence is false they put their hands on their bums (or hips if you prefer).

You could also show them a word and an image. If they think the word and image match, they put their hands on their heads, and if not, they put their hands on their bums.

Let me know if you can think of any other variations of this or any similar activities.

Jigsaw Reading

I think this one is called Jigsaw Reading.

 

In pairs students are given the same text but with different words missing from each. Person A reads their text out loud to Person B while they fill in the blanks on their sheet. Then Person B does the same while Person A fills in the blanks on their sheet. So they get to practise their reading, listening, speaking and writing skills! 

It can even be differentiated as the lower ability students could be provided with the missing words and would just have to put them in the correct gaps. Students could also try to guess the missing words before their partner has read out the text.