TAPIF Lesson Plans

New! I just published a new guide with tons of tips for making the most of your time abroad, including sample lesson plans! See below for more information:

 

Please feel free to let me know if you have any ideas/suggestions for what you’d like to see by commenting below or emailing blogbybhavya@gmail.com

Thanks!

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I’ll be posting the lesson plans that I’m making for my classes here in case anyone finds them helpful! I am currently working with 3emes and 4emes, and I tend to have around 10 students at a time for half an hour. Some lessons have a couple of alternative ideas included for the lesson itself and for any extra time, so I’ll include the original plan below, along with some notes on how things actually went in the classroom:

Lesson 1: Introductions

Objectives: 

– Allow students to practice asking and answering introductory questions (and reinforce the questions that they asked me during the observation period. Depending on students, practice follow up questions to mimic a natural conversation)

– Give students a chance to share their interests

The original lesson plan: Lesson 1

What I actually ended up doing: Each class ended up being pretty different in terms of what questions we got through. After doing this lesson a few times, I usually ended up with:

• Having students go in a circle, spelling their names. Usually, they wouldn’t understand the word “spell,” so I would use my name as a model and then a student would be like “Ohhh, epeler!” and everyone would understand. We would generally need to review “e” vs. “i,” “g” vs. “j,” and “y” (they would try to say “igreg”). I don’t think I did this the first few times, but it ended up being helpful to do even with the older students and helped me understand their names as well. For at least one class, I would write their names on the board as they spelled them, so they could see when they were mixing up tricky letters like “e” and “i”.
• Brainstorming introductory questions. I’d ask students to tell me some examples of introductory questions (ex: “Where do you live?”) and would write them on the board.
• Talking about their hobbies. We would usually brainstorm some hobbies. Sometimes, they would understand the word “hobbies,” but if not, I’d describe it as a “fun activity,” or something they’re “passionate” about, which would usually help them understand since those words are similar in French. Next, we would go in a circle and they’d tell me what their hobbies are (Playstation, football, and horseback riding are pretty popular among my students!).
• If time: Talking about their favorite subjects in school, what they want to be when they grow up, and/or about Halloween. Depending on how much time we had left, we sometimes talked about their favorite subjects or aspirations. I would spend the last few minutes trying to see what they knew about Halloween. They already seemed to know quite a bit of vocabulary related to Halloween, although there were others where they didn’t know the English translation (like “phantome” or “citrouille”). I would show them some Halloween photos on my laptop as well to trigger them to think of more vocab words. I would also try to get them to say the date (they often said “twenty-one” instead of “thirty-first”).

It was really interesting to hear about what the students’ favorite subjects and aspirations are; for instance, in some classes, the girls consistently did not like math or science, but several of them were interested in medical professions, architecture, etc. I tried to keep the class like an informal discussion, but I would definitely like to include some kind of game next time.

As far as discipline went, some of my classes had no issues at all, while others had students who were a little noisier. When there was one particularly disruptive student in my class, I asked him to move seats and he started acting up even more. I finally asked him to come up to the board and write for me. He ended up getting really into it and wanted to ask the students questions, so that actually worked out. Another student who fell out of his chair during class and had to move seats  stayed behind after the other students had left to talk to me about why my laptop case had a collage on it. So funnily enough, some of my most disruptive students actually ended up being really engaged in the end. I really enjoyed working with the students, but discipline is definitely the aspect that I’m still the most worried about!

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Lesson 2: Autumn Activities

The original lesson plan: 2 Autumn Activities

What I ended up doing: I had a mix of classes that were 30 minutes or 50 minutes long, so these lessons varied wildly throughout the week. Here’s an overview of what I usually ended up doing:

• Reviewing Halloween vocabulary. I would ask the students what they remembered about Halloween and would write the words down on the board. I had some photos in case they needed some help, but I would usually end up prompting them with drawings or by pointing out Halloween decorations around the room. We usually ended up with ghost, witch, vampire, skeleton, pumpkin, jack-o-lantern, candy, trick-or-treating, and costumes. This would generally take a couple of minutes.
• Imagining and drawing a Halloween costume. I would then ask them to imagine a Halloween costume and to draw it for me. It took a few tries to figure out a way to explain this so that the students would understand, but “imagine” definitely worked better than the alternatives. If anyone was stuck, they could use some of the words on the board. I did a couple of variations on this activity depending on the room setup and time available:
  • I had some scrap paper for the students to use, but a few classes didn’t have pens with them so I ended up having them draw the costumes on the blackboard. Each had pros/cons; when the students could draw on paper, they were all occupied at the same time, while when a few students were drawing on the board, the others might watch and comment on the drawings but were sometimes antsy.
    • For shorter classes, I would ask them to say what their costume was and then ask them follow-up questions about the costume.
    • For longer classes, I would ask them to describe the costume without saying what it was (what they were wearing, what they do, etc.) and then have everyone else guess what it was.
      • This was a good opportunity to review and practice the following phrases, which I’d write up on the board:
        • “S/he is wearing…”: I would give some examples of things that could be worn.
        • “S/he is holding…”: I would show what could be held and ask them to give me examples of things that might be worn vs. held.
      • After the students were finished describing the costume, I would ask everyone else to guess what the costume was, which gave us a chance to practice “Is it…?” vs. “It is…” since some of the students tend to mix them up.
      • For example:
        • If a student drew a witch, she might say, “I am wearing a hat and a dress, and I am holding a broom.”
        • Another student would guess by asking, “Is it a witch?”
        • She’d reply, “Yes, it is a witch.”

 

• Discussing autumn activities. I would ask what season we’re in now and would quickly review the names of the four seasons in English (some classes had an easier time with this than others). I showed a short slideshow with photos of apple/pumpkin picking and pumpkin boat racing.
• Brainstorming ways to reuse pumpkins. I then asked the students if they had any ideas about how to recycle pumpkins after Halloween (I tried using the word “reuse” at first, but they ended up understanding “recycle” much more easily).
  • They would often think of cooking them, so we’d come up with a few ideas (soup, bread (which they’d usually call cake), pie (which they’d usually call a tart)).
  • I then showed photos of pumpkins being used by zoo animals and asked what the tiger might do with it, which allowed us to review words like “to play” and “toy.”
  • We’d also talk about how pumpkins could be composted and would ask them to explain what composting is, so they’d usually talk about how you could put food in the garden and use it for flowers afterwards.

Extra time: I ended up having a couple of classes that were unexpectedly longer, so I had them go in a circle and tell me what they thought of when it came to the US and New York. I got a lot of cities and skyscrapers. I would also review the sounds for “e” vs. “i”, “g” vs. “j”, and “y”.

Thoughts: It was great to see when students did remember some of the Halloween vocabulary from last week. Many of them also got into the drawing part, which was great since I was a little worried that the activity might be better for younger students. Chucky, clowns, and vampires were pretty popular among the students, although I wish that I could have impressed on them more that they could really have picked pretty much anything. They tended to think that the pumpkin boat racing was amusing and were generally good at thinking of ways to reuse the pumpkins. One of the classes also surprised me with cake, which was really sweet of them.

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Lesson 3a

Sleepy Hollow and Favorite Places

What I ended up doing: This week, I ended up doing two different lessons. In the first lesson:

• Showing brochures of Sleepy Hollow: I took in some brochures from Sleepy Hollow and showed them a map of where I lived. I would break up the “presentation” part of the lesson by asking them follow-up questions like “What activities can you do in a forest?” that would allow us to go over words like “walking.”
• Review of introductory phrases: I would then talk about my favorite place and we would go over the difference between phrases like “I come from…,” “I live in…,” and “My favorite place is…” For example, I would say “I come from Sleepy Hollow but I live in Bethune.”
• Sharing where they come from and favorite place: We’d then go in a circle and students would say where they come from and what their favorite place is. I would then ask them follow up questions like “Who do you go there with?” which was helpful since sometimes they would have issues with understanding question words like “who.” If they couldn’t think of a favorite place, I would ask them “Where do you like to go with your friends?” or sometimes “Where do you like to go on vacation?” to help them think of something. They would sometimes start trying to repeat the same answer as the last person, so I’d tell them that they had to pick a different place. 

This maybe wasn’t the most exciting lesson, but they generally were interested in hearing about the fact that I had been a tour guide at a cemetery. In one class, a student who spoke English really well started talking to me about how little there was to do and told me about how she was often in trouble because she would talk too much. Another student who had misbehaved in an earlier class with me had rehearsed a heart-breaking apology and asked if he could be let back in the class again (of course I said yes!).

With the rest of the classes, I ended up doing an environmental survey, which was lots of fun and led to students shouting “greenhouse effect…OHHH!” and drawing farting cows and landfills on the board:

Lesson 3b

Environmental Problems and Survey

What I ended up doing:

• Brainstorming environmental problems: I’d tell the students that we were going to talk a little about the environment. Generally their faces would be totally blank so I’d write the word “environment” on the board and they’d say “ohhh environnement” and know exactly what I was talking about.
  • I’d then ask them if they could name some environmental problems, and their responses were often pretty consistently “pollution.” I’d ask what causes pollution and they’d say “cars” and we’d usually continue with some other sources of air pollution.
  • Some would mention something that sounded like “déchets,” a word that I didn’t know, so I’d ask students to explain to me. I eventually figured out that they were talking about litter, so I’d crumple up paper and throw it on the floor to confirm, which they found hilarious. I’d ask where they can find litter (in the streets, in the park, etc.).
  • We would then talk about where you can throw paper: to be recycled. We’d then talk about other things that can be recycled; they often wouldn’t know the word for “glass,” so sometimes I’d point to someone’s glasses and they would get it.
  • We’d also talk about what can be done with food. Last time, I’d talked to them about composting pumpkins, and I was happy to see that at least some of them remembered what we’d talked about! I’d then ask “where” you can compost and “what” can be composted.
  • Some classes would also mention “réchauffement climatique,” so we’d talk about climate change a little and review “hot,” “cold,” and “warm” as necessary. Some of them even brought up CO2, which was pretty cool.

• Environmental Survey: Next, I’d pass out a survey that I’d made: Environmental Survey. I ended up adding some questions last minute and I’ll probably revise it since it isn’t the most scientific, but I feel like it went much better than I expected and the results were pretty interesting. For most classes, I’d have a student read a question and we’d discuss it together, although there were a couple in which students were able to do the questions on their own, so I’d let the students who finished earlier help students who were having a bit more trouble.
  • Do you turn off the lights when you leave a room? I had this whole routine down for this question by the time the week was over: I would walk over to the light switch and show what “turn off” and “turn on” the lights means. I would then ask if they knew what “leaves” means and would then show them by walking out the door, which they also thought was hilarious.
    • I’d also make sure that they understood what “Always,” “Sometimes,” and “Never” mean. The older students were usually able to say that they meant “toujours” and “jamais.” I generally avoid using any French in class, so when students didn’t know, I’d try to explain “never” first with hand motions/facial expressions, and once they understood what it was, I’d say that “always” was the opposite. They’d usually be able to figure out “sometimes” from there. I’d then tell them to circle their answers.
  • Do you turn off your computer/TV when you’re done using it? I made sure that they understood “turn off” again. Not sure why I put in “computer/TV,” but it was a good opportunity to review what “computer” means (one of my rooms had a computer, so I’d ask them to point to the computer in the room to make sure they knew what it was). When explaining this question, I’d say “when you’re finished using it” since that was more similar to the French word “finir.”
  • Do you turn off the water while brushing your teeth? I’d make sure they knew what “water” was and would mime brushing my teeth if they didn’t already know what it was.
  • Do you hang clothes to dry after washing them? I would first make sure that they knew what “clothes” were and would point to my shirt if necessary. I would mime hanging clothes, and I would then usually end up drawing a picture of a clothesline with clothes on it. For the younger students, I’d sometimes write that “dry” means “secher” on the board since I was worried that they just thought that I was asking them if they hang their clothes at all. I would probably end up taking this question out, but I did think it was a good chance to review “clothes.”
  • Do you take a bag with you to the supermarket? I would check that they understood what “bag” means and they’d usually understand supermarket; if not, I’d mention Carrefour or Auchan.
  • Do you go to the farmers market? This is another question that I’d probably take out, especially for the younger students; I would first try to make sure that they understood “market.” I would explain that on Mondays there’s a market on the grand place where farmers sell vegetables and fruits.
    • Usually the 3emes would understand at this point and I’d ask them to explain what else you can find at a farmers market to make sure that they understood (which was a good opportunity to review “eggs,” “cheese,” etc.).
    • If they still didn’t get it, I’d try to get them to make the connection between “supermarket” –> “supermarche” –> “marche” and then between “farm” –> “ferme” –> “farmer” as a person who has a farm. I think that some of the students may have interpreted the question as asking whether they go to a farm to buy food, so I probably wouldn’t keep it in.
  • Do you recycle? This one was pretty easy, and if we hadn’t done so already, we’d review what can be recycled.
  • Do you compost? Again, if we hadn’t done so already, we’d review “where” they can compost (in the garden) and “what” can be composted.
  • Do you talk about the environment with your friends or family? I would use hand motions to make sure they understood what “talk” meant, and they were usually fine with the rest of the question. I would probably change the choices though from Always/Sometimes/Never.
  • Do you care about the environment? I think this was a last minute addition; they generally didn’t understand what “care” means so I’d usually ask them if they were “interested” in the environment and say that “care” is similar to “like.”

Extra time: I wanted to get a sense of what the students already knew about Thanksgiving, so when I had a few minutes left over for a couple of classes, I used it as a chance to find out. Some students thought it was in December; most would know that there was a “dinde,” although some said it was a chicken; and I think one student told me that it had to do with Native Americans when I asked about the history.

This lesson ended up being a lot of fun for me and it seemed as if the students enjoyed it too. It was made easier by the fact that there are a lot of words that are similar in English and French, but there was also a lot of room to review or learn other vocabulary. I tried to make sure that every student had a chance to read a question out loud, but I probably should have had the students practice forming more complete sentences through the lesson.

It was also really fascinating to see what their responses were. Here are the results from one of my classes, with the rest to come soon!

 

 

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Lesson 4

Thanksgiving

I’m still working on finalizing this lesson plan, but in the meantime, here are some links that I’ve been taking a look at: UPDATE: Thanksgiving lesson plan

American Indian Perspectives on Thanksgiving: A great resource for teachers from the National Museum of the American Indian; I think this one’s ended up being the most useful for me.

Exploring Native Americans Across the Curriculum

What Really Happened? Comparing Stories of the First Thanksgiving

National Geographic Kids: First Thanksgiving

Teach the Real Story of the «First Thanksgiving»

Mass Moments: First National Day of Mourning

Thanksgiving Mourning

The destructive legacy of the first Thanksgiving: How Europeans hurt the American diet

Do Native Americans Celebrate Thanksgiving?

Museum Serves Up Native American Inspired Feast

Americans love the Thanksgiving myth. But food folklore masks a painful reality

Drought Threatens Navajo’s Crops, Culture

I’m planning on doing the following:

• Have them share what they already know about Thanksgiving (review when it is, what “thanks” and “giving” mean, etc.)
• Talk about Thanksgiving food and history (focus on some environmental issues related to local food, etc.)
• Have them share what they’re thankful for

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Check out the blog posts below for more lesson plans and ideas:

First Week Interrogations! How to prepare for the first week of TAPIF!

Back-up ideas (for when even One Direction just isn’t enough)

Women on $20 bills

Endangered Animal Bingo, Little Presidents, and Pranks Part 1 | Part 2

St. Patrick’s Day and…Games on River Pollution?

Holiday Trees

Having no students and playing the 3 R’s game

Lessons I’ve learned Some thoughts on what I’ve learned about being a more effective assistant

MORE COMING SOON! In the meantime, please check out the main blog here for more experiences with TAPIF and travel!