While I’ve always loved introducing a few choice poems to my 101 and 102 students, I’ve been relying more and more heavily on video content. Sara Kippur’s recent article in the PMLA journal provided an excellent reminder to incorporate French literature in language classes, even at the beginner level. Kippur’s […]
Rebecca Raitses
10 posts
For many of us, our kitchen tables have become our offices. A variation on the typical “classroom objects” lesson, this activity takes advantage of the work-from-home situation to encourage students to identify objects found around them. The task combines article practice, object vocabulary and the phrase “il y a” with […]
This activity is specifically designed for a Novice Low to Novice Mid French class. Imagine students’ hands shooting up to be chosen to present on Nelson Mandela. That’s just what happened when I did this activity in my French 1 class. I screened the music video for Rachid Taha’s song […]
This activity is ready to implement in any language and best for novice mid to novice high. In this activity, students view photographer Peter Menzel’s photo series “Hungry Planet,” which documents what families around the world eat in a week. Students then describe what they see in the photos, namely […]
In this activity students break into groups to diagram a famous, fictional family tree. Students then present the family to the class. This activity is ready to implement in any language and best for novice mid or whenever the family unit is covered. Implementation: Students choose which group they’d like […]
Around NYC: Clue into the target language by keeping a journal The following activity is specifically designed to bring our city into your classroom and is great for all language levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. One way to get students to start thinking about the resources around them is to ask them […]
It may seem to your students that their language class has no connection to their other classes. Unless they’re studying linguistics or world literature, they may approach language class as if it takes place in a vacuum. The following activity will encourage your students to make connections between the language […]
In this activity, students are introduced to image poems called calligrams. They are then asked to create a self-portrait calligram with a short description of themselves. This activity is perfect for beginners who have just learned how to talk about themselves. Descriptions may include: Name; Age; Origin; Languages […]
This activity can be modified to suit all language levels. Beginners will read an English translation, advanced students will read the original. Provide a selection of short stories, excerpts or book titles for the students to choose from Write a short review of one of these to serve as an […]
The following activity is great for all language levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. Choose a song in the target language Create a handout with lyrics (leaving easily identifiable blanks to be filled in by the student) and a glossary of new vocab Begin the lesson with pronunciation instruction for […]
