Lynn Johnston

It’s all about the Les Goodies

July 11, 2019 Published by: Lynn

Le tour de France is not just the most famous bike race in the world. It is also the world’s largest annual spectator event with millions of people lining the route to see le peloton and la caravane publicitaire pass by, but more importantly, to get les goodies. The Tour, aka La Grande Boucle or the big loop, is a sporting and cultural event extraordinaire. People gather around la course and it allows them to celebrate France and all things French.

Le peloton means pack or group, and it’s used to describe the main bunch of cyclists. There are 22 équipes, or teams, participating in this race. These teams have a main sponsor and there are 8 riders on each team. The riders are called les coureurs. Les domestiques are the riders who work for the benefit of their leader, rather than trying to win the race.

The route changes every year, alternating between clockwise and counterclockwise circuits through different towns of France. However if you are in France in July, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to catch une étape. Une étape, is a stage, or a part of the race. The Tour is broken down into 21 étapes; one stage per day across 3500 km of France with two days of rest for a total of 23 days. That is about 167 km per day, with an average speed of 40 km per hour. The Tour always ends in a sprint down the Champs-Élysées in Paris, but the Grand Départ, or start, changes every year.

There are a few different categories and the leader of each wears a different colored jersey.

The overall leader wears le maillot jaune or the famous yellow jersey, which means he’s taken the least time so far over all of the stages combined. Le maillot vert or the green jersey is for best sprinter. Le maillot à pois or the polka dot jersey is white with red dots, and it’s worn by the best climber, or best in mountain terrain. Le maillot blanc or the white jersey is for the best young rider. Only those 25 years or younger in the year of the race are eligible.
And finally, there is also la lanterne rouge or the red lantern, which is not a jersey but a nickname given to the rider who is last in the standings.

Le Tour de France is a three week competition that is totally free. Spectators do not need to buy tickets, just stand on the side of la route and watch les coureurs go by.

In addition to the race, fans line the streets to see the spectacle of La Caravane Publicitaire or the publicity caravan. The caravan is a 45-minute string of vehicles, each modified and decorated by advertisers, that rolls ahead of the peloton. This parade of advertising cars throws out “les goodies” or freebies and get the crowd in a festive mood. Spectators like the advertising caravan as much if not more than the actual race. Some popular items are: les porte-cléfs (key rings), les casquettes (hats), les T-shirts, les bonbons (candy) and other products.

Based on the Tour’s fan figures, somewhere between 10 and 15 million people line France’s roadways for the parade and peloton. For the fans who sit for hours under the hot sun, the caravan is as much a part of the experience as the race itself. The caravan definitely lasts longer and sends fans home with something from the Tour, a free souvenir for which crowds jostle and elbow for a piece of the Tour of France spectacle.

La caravane publicitaire is a great opportunity to observe products and practices while reflecting on perspectives with your students. Have students watch this video, list the companies in the caravan and see if they can guess the products each one sells from the decorations of the vehicules.

For those of us that can’t make it to France in July, la Grande Boucle is an opportunity to travel with out leaving the sofa. On TV, there are beautiful shots of the countryside and the commentators often explain a little about each region, including the local specialties. Here is a presentation in French that I use with my students. Check out my pinterest pages for infographs and other French resources for teaching about Le Tour de France.

Celebrations culture

Las Tradiciones del Año Nuevo

January 20, 2019 Published by: Lynn

The bell rings and la cuenta reversa is playing as I run around the room with a suitcase (full of props) saying “Feliz Año Nuevo”. As the clock strikes twelve times, I eat 12 grapes and say doce deseos para el Año Nuevo. I open my suitcase, have the special student pass out a graphic organizer, and use the items in the suitcase, this presentation, and my whiteboard to teach traditions of the new year in Spanish speaking countries.

On the graphic organizer, students add a symbol or drawing and a sentence in the target language for each of the traditions presented. I write the sentence for them on the white board and they can copy it onto their graphic organizer.

I use infographs, Youtube videos, authentic commercials, and powerpoint presentations to build background knowledge. You can find them on my Pinterest page.

Here is a list of propósitos for students to write their own in Spanish. I have students put their propósitos on a flipgrid. We can tally our top resolutions and compare them to the top resolutions in Spanish speaking countries.

Comprehensible Input

Le Nouvel An: Bonne année et bonne santé

January 3, 2019 Published by: Lynn

We go back to school on Monday, January 7th, 2019 and although we are well into the new year I am still going to start with New year’s traditions and resolutions. As a school we are planning to re-establish routines, rules, and relationships after the two week break. My goal is to do this in the target language while making cultural comparisons.

I start out with this song as they enter the classroom. The lyrics are just “Bonne année et bonne santé, tous nos voeux de bonheur” which is basically Happy New Year and good health, all our wishes for happiness. I write the lyrics and translation on the board as well as the question… How is the new year celebrated in France?

First they watch a couple Youtube videos and discuss a few of these infographics on my Pinterest page to build background on products, practices, and perspectives.

I use a presentation from Teachers Pay Teachers by Frenchified to introduce the traditions in France. After learning about traditions in France we can look at common resolutions in French.

Top 10 most popular New year’s Resolutions in French

Passer plus de temps avec ma famille.
Spend more time with my family.
Perdre du poids.
Lose weight.
Économiser de l’argent.
Save money.
Arrêter de fumer.
Quit smoking.
Moins boire.
To drink less.
Faire du sport régulièrement.
Exercise regularly.
Manger sainement.
To eat healthy.
Faire un voyage.
To take a trip.
Étudier quelque chose de nouveau.
To study something new.
Faire plus attention à sa santé.
To be more careful about one’s health.

Next, we talk about what we want for the new year in our lives. We go over common resolutions, including those that will improve learning and the classroom atmosphere. Here are some ideas for resolutions for kids in French. Pick out a template and have them chose some resolutions to write on the templates and display in the room or in the hallway.

After making our resolutions in French, I have everyone pick one resolution from their list to read aloud and quickly whip around the room and list them on the board. We compile our top ten resolutions and then compare them to the top ten in France.

Students can create their own graphics and cards to share on social media with family, friends, and teachers. There are so many free cards and images to create with if you give students some phrases to work with and have them go to spark.adobe.com. They could also be posted to a padlet.com

Then there are the cartoons…Bonne année et bonne santé!

Art in World Language classroom sub plans

Curating Cognates

September 30, 2018 Published by: Lynn

Increase their vocabulary and ability to stay in the target language by using cognates. One of my first lessons is a presentation that starts out with the challenge that they will learn 100 words in one day.

A cognate is a word that is practically the same in two languages and has the same meaning. I hand out this piece of paper numbered from 1 to 100 with spaces for them to write cognates in the target language. I then present this slide show in French or Spanish while I call on students randomly with my index cards to translate the sentences into English. After the presentation students go the the class library to look through the books and magazines for more cognates to add to their lists. This allows them to select cognates that they want to learn.

As a follow up activity, students pick one word to write on a card and illustrate the meaning. I cut up old manila folders and have them each make one for homework. We then group the words and come up with category titles like animals, professions, hobbies, food and display them in the hallway for parent night and then later in the room to enhance our vocabulary. Here are a few my French and Spanish students made.

Students can use the lists of words to create original sentences with the cognates. Have students go to sparkadobe.com to create for free.

and a few in French…

Have students post their sentence creations to a Padlet for everyone to enjoy. This also makes a great substitute plan. Post the letters of the alphabet around the room and have students curate cognates under each letter of the alphabet. How do you teach students to look for cognates? Share your ideas here.

Using Children's Literature in the World Language Classroom

Why I like…Québec, Martinique, Seattle… School?

August 30, 2018 Published by: Lynn

While in the Montréal airport on the way home from Martinique, I found this awesome little children’s book titled Pourquoi J’aime le Québec. This gave me the idea of making my own book called Pourquoi J’aime la Martinique. Then I started thinking… why not have the kids make books about Pourquoi J’aime Seattle or Pourquoi J’aime Alderwood Middle School or basically pourquoi j’aime anything. If you can come up with a list of about 10 reasons why you like something, you can turn it into a book.

I recorded myself reading the book and uploaded it to Youtube.com as an example.

So I made a slide show to tell my students about my summer trip to Martinique. I’m going to turn it into a book and add it to my class library.

Here is my slide show Pourquoi J’aime la Martinique.

Art in World Language classroom Using Children's Literature in the World Language Classroom

ABC Books

March 10, 2018 Published by: Lynn

Every year I attend conferences where I need a good sub plan. One I use at the beginning of the year when I attend the WAFLT conference is alphabet books. I start by showing the students some authentic alphabet books that I pick up as I travel and how much I pay for each one. I added this one from an “aire” off an autoroute of France in April last year for 3€50.

The students are always amazed that people will actually pay for books, and I tell them that we can make our own and sell them or give them away. I start out by teaching alphabet songs with these videos on Youtube. The videos give them ideas for words they can use in their books.

Students watch this video and write the English for the words that are not cognates. Video Notes-El alfabeto

Students watch this video and write the English for the words that are not cognates. Video Notes-l’alphabet

It helps to post an alphabet in the room with examples of words that begin with each letter. Here is a free pre-made alphabet in French. Here is a free cool one in Spanish. Or you can make your own or have the students make them. You could break it up and give each one a different letter.

Here is a link to the directions for the Alphabet-Books and examples in French and Spanish.

Here are some of my student’s books. Some students chose to make books from paper and draw or cut and glue objects. This was one of my favorites it was almost 3-D, you wanted to touch and feel it.

Since all students have chromebooks in my school, many chose to do it on their computers. It helps to make things look more professional. However, copyright can be a problem and then there is the temptation to use google translate for that pesky sentence that is required.

I am going to publish a few of the books on one of the book making sites and add them to my class library or give them as gifts to kids who would give them a good home.

Building Community

Spread the Love

February 12, 2018 Published by: Lynn

Looking for a tried and true Valentine’s Day activity? Each year Valentine’s Day arrives about the time we are learning to describe people. It’s the perfect time for students to write kind sentences to each other. When I give this assignment they groan at first and say “you mean we have to make one for everybody?” And I say… “yep, that’s right, one compliment to everyone in the class, including me.”

I google Cartes de San Valentin and Tarjetas de San Valentin and show them all the images and cards they can print off the internet. They can also buy the ready made ones in English and write the sentences in the target language on the back. Or they can make their own and I provide them with construction paper and markers. They are given a list of the names of everyone in the class and a list of things they can say to each other. My Valentine’s Day gift to you is a free download of this activity in French and Spanish.

They work on the valentines at home and bring them ready to go on February 14th. When they come in on Valentine’s Day they put the cards on their desks so I can check off who did them, and I spot check one or two for a boy and girl from each student to make sure they have the adjective agreement correct. While I am doing this, the students are making the mailboxes and decorating them with Valentine vocabulary and taping them to the sides of their desks. The mailbox is a piece of construction paper folded in half, sides taped or stapled, with their names on them.

After I make it around, I tell them to get up and start delivering the valentines. It is totally cute watching teenagers delivering valentines to each other. After all of the valentines are delivered, we sit down and open them up and read them. Students share some of the things people said the most about them. We discuss if they agree or disagree with the statements. Some students include candy or other little goodies with their valentines which are a big hit with their classmates. Tip: Students must sign their names to the valentines they pass out as to avoid any negative comments and so people know who to thank!

Even though they groan when they first hear about the assignment, they are always happy on Valentine’s Day to have something fun to do and enjoy reading what other students have to say about them. Every once and awhile a student shows up without valentines. Here is what I do. If students show up with valentines ready to go they get full credit, if they do not have valentines ready to go they can sit down and work on them for half credit and get them passed out as soon as possible.

And to spread a little more love, follow my Teacher’s Pay Teachers page for a chance to win a$10.00 gift card to TPT and save up to %25.

Advocacy

February 2018 Lead with Languages

February 4, 2018 Published by: Lynn

February 2018 is Lead with Languages Advocacy Month. A national campaign powered by ACTFL, Lead with Languages is a movement:

To make languages a national priority
To create a new generation of Americans competent in other languages and cultures
To better equip the next generation to compete and succeed in the 21st Century

Throughout the month of February, Lead With Languages will be celebrating stories from students, parents, teachers, and other community members who advocate for language education across the United States. Check out the Lead with Languages website for lots of great resources and ideas and be sure to download the social media kit.

February is also the time when students start thinking about their future classes and registering for next year. In addition, March 4-10 2018 is National Foreign Language Week, so it’s a great time to advocate for languages, download the poster here.

Here are some ways you can raise your voice and involve your students in support of language learning. Organize students to work in pairs or groups to discover all the resources the Lead With Languages website has to offer through a virtual scavenger hunt. Encourage students to read the Top Ten Reasons to Learn Languages and these pages Middle & High School or College & University to launch a class discussion. Then have students make infographics or posters to advocate for world languages and display them around the school or in the community.

Consider organizing an advocacy poster contest for your school. My students make “Did You Know…posters” with facts about world languages and display them around the school. Now is a great time to have students enter the WAFLT poster and video contests. Posters and videos should encourage the study of world languages and are due April 15th, 2018. There are cash prizes for different age groups. Check out the WAFLT website for more information. Also, many language associations offer poster and video contests. The deadline for the AATSP National Poster Contest is April 1st, 2018.

Ask students to write a brief, blog-style essay about what inspires them to learn a language, an immersion experience they’ve had, or following an interview with a native speaker and submit their post for possible publication on the Lead with Languages blog or publication in the WAFLT Forum.

Encourage students to follow and engage in social media and share how they recently used their language skills by tagging #LeadWithLanguages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Download this sign and submit a selfie at #LeadwithLanguages. supporter1

Spread the word in your community. Change your profile picture on social media platforms to include the Lead with Languages logo. Share all of the Lead With Languages resources with others in your network. Put “February is Lead with Languages Month” or “March 4-10, 2018 is National Foreign Language Week” on your school marquee or on signs in your community.

How do you Lead With Languages? Join the conversation and share your advocacy activities here.

Core Practices for World Language

More Core Practice Number Six

October 29, 2017 Published by: Lynn

Core practice number six is provide appropriate feedback in speech and writing on various learning tasks. The ACTFL Core Practices webinar with Dr. Eileen Glisan focuses on providing corrective feedback in oral interactions. Corrective feedback, or reponses to student utterances containing an error, is a tool to scaffold learning for students. What types of feedback do you use?

There are six types of corrective feedback discussed in the webinar.

Explicit correction is where you simply provide the correct answer. You should say…
Recasting is where you repeat the learner’s output minus the error.
Clarification requests are where you indicate to the learner that there is a problem with the language output. The answer was not understood at all. Pardon me, huh?
Metalinguistic feedback involves explicitly stating that there is a mistake in the output and asking the student to find and correct the mistake. For example, it’s an English cognate, or you need to use the past tense.
Elicitation is where after hearing the learner’s output, you repeat the sentence, pausing at the place where a mistake was made, giving the learner an opportunity to correct his or her own mistake by concentrating only on that word, or grammatical construction.
Repetition is where you repeat exactly what the learner has uttered, signaling the error with your voice, giving the learner a chance to focus on that particular part of the utterance and fix it.

According to the ACTFL webinar on Core Practices most teachers use recast for corrective feedback, however it is the least effective for uptake by students. The webinar states that elicitation, or repeating the utterance up until the error and then pausing for the student to self correct, is the most effective.

The implications from a study by Shrum and Glisan in 2016 are the type, quantity, and frequency of corrective feedback depends on the objectives, the proficiency level, anxiety issues, and personal characteristics of the learner. Shrum and Glisan state that students benefit most when the feedback they receive focuses on comprehensibility of the message not just on accuracy of form.

Teachers report using the recast method of providing corrective feedback about 55% of the time. Do learners recognize the error when the teacher uses recast? When my youngest son was about four, I told him to clean his room. He told me “I doded it already.” I said you did it already? and he replied “yes, I doded it already.” So, once more I said “you did it already?” At this point he got frustrated and said “I already tolded you, I doded it already!” Current update, he is now 24 years old and no longer says I doded it already but he still doesn’t clean his room.

I put in this graphic to illustrate my story and then thought you could have kids list all the things they see in this picture and then compare their list with a partner. Or you could play Veo,Veo. Have a student secretly pick an item in the picture and have the other students start guessing, by asking questions to be the first to find out what the item is. They become the next leader. Students could practice providing corrective feedback to each other while they compare their room to this one.

Ideally we are not the only ones providing corrective feedback. The goal is for learners to be resources for one another. I encourage students to help their counterparts in interpersonal activities. If they ask a question and their partner doesn’t respond they can give an example answer and ask the question again. Another strategy is to provide a few possible answers to your partner. If we model feedback cues and methods of clarifying meaning for the students, they will use them as they engage in pair or group work and be able to help their fellow learners, thus increasing the role of students in their own language learning.

Core Practices for World Language

More Core Practice Number Five

October 21, 2017 Published by: Lynn

Core Practice #5: Design and carry out interactive reading and listening comprehension tasks using authentic cultural texts of various kinds with appropriate scaffolding and follow-up tasks that promote interpretation.

Interpretive communication is receptive communication where clarification of meaning is not possible. The creator of the communication is absent. It is reading, listening, and viewing. It includes literal and inferential comprehension. Inferencing is a thinking process that involves reasoning beyond the text using generalization, synthethis, and/or explanation. Readers interact with text and their background knowledge. Ask questions like what do you think will happen next? What kind of person do you think character X is?

Why authentic texts? Authentic texts present real language. They integrate authentic culture. Authentic texts stimulate interest in language learning. I agree with Dr. Eileen Glisan in the ACTFL Core Practices webinar, that students are motivated to interpret texts their counterparts are reading, viewing, or listening to in the target culture. Interpretive tasks should be motivated by a reason to use the language in the real world. Provide students with a scenario. For example, you are vacationing with your family in Paris. What is the best way to go sight seeing? Search the internet for transportation options and decide how you will get around Paris and what landmarks you will see. Use information from the text to respond.

Commercials from the target culture are authentic resources and a great way to practice inferencing and predicting. I saw this in a workshop with Donna Tatum-Johns this summer in Denver at iFLT and loved it!

Do you think that Emma likes her husband’s reminders to use the iPad? What makes you think that? Here is a Movie Talk script and cultural comparison activity to go with this commercial in French, Spanish, and English. The only word in this commercial is “Emma” so it can be used with any language. Stop the video along the way and point out the wife’s facial expressions and have students make inferences about how she is feeling. Have them support their answers with evidence from the video. Use props and speech/thought bubbles and have students act out the commercial.

Have the students watch the commercial again and notice the things they are doing and the things in the background. What do you notice that is similar to our culture. Do you notice any differences from our culture?

A few last tips. Let students collaborate to interpret a text or video. At the novice level some collaborating will be in English and sometimes comprehension questions can be in English. Teach students to activate their background knowledge, skim the text for the main idea, and then re-read and scan the text for important details. Edit the task not the text for novices.

Here is a link to a former post on Core practice Number Five and some reading activities and resources. There are inferencing resources like task cards and graphic organizers at Teacherspayteachers in French and Spanish for additional practice.