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Teaching Assistant in France Lesson Plans
Welcome to your year as an English Assistant in France!

This page is meant to give you practical teaching tips, ideas, and lesson plans you can use in the classroom with your students. Current and former assistants are encouraged to update this page with successes they have had in the classroom.

LESSON PLAN IDEAS:

High School:

(1) Get me off this Island You tell the students that you are going to play a role playing game. They are all on a deserted Island and there is a rescue boat coming but they can only save one of them. Each student has a card saying how old they are, their profession, family status etc. (For example: 10 yr old genius; 75 yr old Catholic Priest; 35 yr old, physicist and Mother of 2) Then as that person they have to get up in front of the class and convince the class why they should be the person saved. At the end there is a vote and one student wins. It can actually be a quite funny lesson. For example, in one class the Priest gave a lecture on how he could save everyone's souls and that he could put in a good word with the man upstairs and ensure that everyone went to heaven.

Elementary School:

(1) Feeling Words and Illnesses It was difficult to know what the students knew and didn’t know, so I would often use my first activity as a gauge for how well they knew the subject matter at hand. I wrote “I am” on the blackboard, and explained that it meant, “Je suis.” I then put a poster with faces to represent “feeling words” (happy, sad, tired, bored, hungry, thirsty, okay etc) on the blackboard. The faces were in one column with a blank space to the right of each face. I also had a little bag with the corresponding words on index cards in English. I pulled out a word from the bag, would say, “I am [feeling word], asked the students, “What does this mean?” in English. The students would raise their hands and guess the French equivalent. I would make them say, “Je suis/J’ai [feeling word],” explaining that in English, we always use the verb “etre.” The student who got the word right would then come up to the board and place the English word next to the corresponding face. The students loved going up to the blackboard, so it kept them engaged and interested. After the student put the word up, I would have the whole class repeat the sentence, “I am [feeling word]” three times all together. Then sometimes I would point to a succession of two or three students individually to practice pronunciation of the word. I then put students in groups of three and gave each group a paper with one vocabulary word for a feeling (happy, sad, tired, etc) that they kept secret. Each group acted out their word and the other students guessed. I did the same lesson for illnesses. To review the words and help the students remember them, you can also tell the class that you will say the words, and the students will act them out. A good way to push the students to remember them is to say that for the first “round,” you will keep the poster up, but for the second round, you will take the poster down, and the students will do it by memory. Do the first round, then give the students three to four minutes to study the words for the second round. Once that time has passed, take down the poster. If the students don’t seem to have remembered the words, you can tell them that we need more practice, so we’ll do one or two more rounds with the poster and then they’ll get another three minutes to study the words before taking the poster away.

(2) Places I put names of places (the library, the post office, school, house, etc) around the room with a picture of the place and the name written in English underneath it. I then walked around the room, pointed to each word, said it out loud, and had the students repeat the word. I did this three times. I then wrote the following on the blackboard: I am going to the… Je m’en vais a l’… a le… a la… a les… When I asked if my French was correct, the students inevitably corrected “a le” and “a les,” I explained that in English, we don’t have feminine and masculine nouns, so we just say, “the.” I then had the student repeat, “I am going to” a few times, then added, “I am going to the post office” while pointing to the post office, “I am going to the library” while pointing to the library, etc. After a few rounds of this, I told the students they would try on their own. I explained each student would say a full sentence, then get up and walk to the place he or she said. To ensure classroom management, I asked the students if they would begin to talk with other students during the exercise, and if they would be patient until everyone finishes. Once they responded, I asked for a volunteer to go first, and the exercise began. Once everyone was at a place around the room, I told them to go back to their seats. If there was time, I would write the following on the blackboard: I am coming from the… Je viens de l’… du… de la… des… I would have the students repeat, “I am coming from the” a few times. I would then ask the students how they would say, “Je viens de l’ecole.” I would have the students repeat, “I am going to the police station” while pointing to the police station, “I am going to the park” while pointing to the park, etc. After a few rounds of this, I told the students they would try on their own. To ensure classroom management, I again asked the students if they would begin to talk with other students during the exercise, and if they would be patient until everyone finishes. I told the students to return to the places they chose before. I asked for a volunteer to go first, saying the sentence, “I am coming from the [place],” and one-by-one, the students returned to their seats.

(3) Vocabulary words I had pictures of different vocabulary words the students needed to know (car, flower, woman, etc.). I put them in a bag, would pull them out of the bag, and say in English, “What is this?” The student would then answer, “a car,” for example. An important addition to this, especially for CM1 and CM2, is matching the words with the image, as this was part of the 2008 national English exam. I put the ten images on a poster. I would then have a card that had the vocabulary word, hold up the word for the class to see, and repeat it. I would then ask the class in English, “What is this?” For the student who guessed right, he or she could place the card next to the corresponding image. Another way to review vocabulary words is bingo. The students each have a bingo card with the image of a different vocabulary word in each square. You say the English word or hold up a card with the word written on it, and the students have to identify the word on the bingo card and put a marker on that square. Google “ESL bingo” or “EFL bingo” to get samples and ideas for the cards. *To get a list of needed vocabulary words, be sure to get a copy of the end-of-the-year national English exam that every CM2 student takes.

(4) Months of the Year This is more of a lesson for CE1/CE2, because it’s pretty basic. Have cards with each month written on them and put them in one column on the blackboard, but not in the correct order. One student comes to the blackboard and moves one month where it should be, then chooses another student to come up and do the same. The students do this until the months are in the right order. To avoid friends choosing friends, you can say a boy must choose a girl and vice versa.

(5) Introductory Questions I asked students "Where do you live?" and "Where do you come from?" Students made up their answers, which they had a fun time doing. Then I made a chart on the blackboard, with cultural icons' names as the category headings. I had pictures of the icons students matched with the name; students guessed and put the pictures above the appropriate name. Then I made two rows across on the chart: the first, "Where does he live?" and the second, "Where does he come from?" students filled in the chart. Then I asked, "Who is English?" and "Who is American?"

(6) Where is…? / This and that I wrote “Where is…?” on the blackboard, and asked, “What does this mean?” in English. Using the classroom vocabulary I had already taught the students (Classroom Vocabulary), I helped them discover the meaning by asking, “Where is the bookshelf?” I then said, “There it is!” in English while pointing to it. I repeated this for several classroom objects until a student guessed that “Where is” is “Ou est.” I then wrote “Ou est…?” next to “Where is…?” on the blackboard. I reminded the students from a previous lesson that in English, we use “the” for “l’/le/la/les.” So I wrote on the backboard, “Where is the bookshelf?” and asked in English, “What does that mean?”  I then wrote “Where is the book?” and asked in English, “What does that mean?” It is a good classroom management tool to have the students do individual work, even for five minutes. It helps break up the attention they need to give to a whole group exercise. So I asked the students to write down three questions they could ask using, “Where is…?” I then asked them to say what they wrote down. There are two options for teaching “This is… and “That is…” depending on the level of the students. As a first time teacher, I didn’t know how much the students could get quickly, or how much I really had to explain. The risk with explaining too much and not giving challenges is that the students lose interest. So here are two options that are different speeds: Option 1:  I wrote “This is…” on the blackboard. I explained that while in French, we say “Voici le livre.” for something that is close, in English, we say “This is…” for something that is close. I had the students repeat, “This is…” three times to practice pronunciation. Then I asked the students, “Comment est-ce que je dis, ‘Voici la table.’ en anglais?” I might write “Voici la table.” on the blackboard as a visual aid. When a student said, “This is the table.” I asked the students the same question for different objects around the room, being sure to touch each object as I asked, “Comment est-ce que je dis, ‘Voici l’objet.’ en anglais?”  Then I wrote “That’s…” on the blackboard. I asked the students to guess what “that” might mean by my examples. I would say, “This is the book.” and hold up a book, then I would say “That is the desk.” and point to a desk. I would emphasize the words “this” and “that” when saying the sentences. I would also emphasize through my gestures that I was touching the object when saying “this,” and pointing to the object when saying, “that.” Eventually, one of the students would come up with the answer, and I wrote “Voila…” next to “That’s…” on the blackboard. Option 2:  I wrote, “This is…” and “That is…” on the blackboard. I asked the students to guess what the words mean by my examples. I would say, “This is the book.” and hold up a book, then I would say “That is the desk.” and point to a desk. I would emphasize the words “this” and “that” when saying the sentences. I would also emphasize through my gestures that I was touching the object when saying “this,” and pointing to the object when saying, “that.” Eventually, one of the students would make the distinction that “this” was for an object you can touch and “that” is for an object that is farther away. After either option, I had the students repeat sentences like, “This is [classroom object].” and “That is [classroom object.]” to practice pronunciation. Each time I chose an object, I would be sure to emphasize the words “this” and “that” when saying the sentences. I would also emphasize through my gestures that I was touching the object when saying “this,” and pointing to the object when saying, “that.” Then I would ask the students to try. I asked them to make sentences using “this” or “that.” Each time the student gave a sentence, I would ask him or her why they used “this” or “that.”  Their explanation reinforced the lesson for themselves and their classmates. (7) Locations I reviewed the "Where is...?" question by asking the students, "Where is the book?" "Where is the blackboard?" I then asked the students what "Where is" means, and I wrote "Where is...? = Ou est...?" on the blackboard. I told the students we were going to have some fun with a friend of mine. I brought in a "paper person" named Flat Stanley that my little cousin had drawn for me. Any drawing/stuffed animal/doll will do that’s large enough for the whole class to at least see. Once I said his name and “introduced” him to the class, I asked the students in French, “Comment est-ce que je peux dire, ‘Ou est Flat Stanley?” A student would say, “Where is Flat Stanley?”  I wrote “Where is Flat Stanley?” on the board, explaining that because “Flat Stanley” is a name, we don’t have to use “the.” Then I would tell the class we are going to play a game called "Where is Flat Stanley?". I asked the students how to say, “Flat Stanley est…” by using the question they just learned. I wrote “Flat Stanley est…” to assist with visual cues. A student would answer, "Flat Stanley is..." I wrote erase "est" and wrote "is" in its place, so the blackboard read "Flat Stanley is..." I then presented a poster with one column of words and phrases for locations (next to, to the right of, to the left of, above, under, etc) written in English, with their French equivalents written in a second column. I had the students repeat each phrase to practice pronunciation. I wrote on the blackboard, "Flat Stanley is next to the chair." I said the sentence out loud, and asked the students what it meant. One of the students would usually say, "Flat Stanley est sous la chaise."

(8) Clothing and/or Parts of the Body Make a poster of a boy and a girl with lines on the poster from a body part to a blank space. Make cards that have the word of a part of the body written on it in English. Hold up the word, say it out loud, have the students repeat it two times, and ask, “What is this?” in English. Have the students guess the word. The student who guesses it correctly can put the word on the poster (using velcro or adhesive putty). You may want to start with the words head, shoulders, knees, and toes. Then tell the students you want to teach them a song to help them remember the words. Tell them to “repeat,” and start singing the song while pointing your own head, shoulders, knees, and toes. The students like it when you challenge them to sing it faster and faster – but be sure to lead them singing, so they can get some semblance of the words! Then you can add eyes, ears, mouth and nose to the poster, and then teach the students this part of the song. When the students have had a lesson on the words, it’s also fun for them to use a real person to review the words, either a student or even the classroom teacher, if he/she is comfortable (some teachers are more engaged and some teachers are less engaged in English). Tell the students you will walk around the classroom, point to part of the body of a student, and his or her fellow students will raise their hand and guess the part of the body. As a classroom management technique, tell the students you are counting on them to raise their hands. Using the students is cute and funny to the other students, which will keep them more engaged. “Simon says” is also a helpful, engaging way for the students to learn body parts while adding in other vocabulary.

(9) Classroom Vocabulary Simply having the names of room and classroom vocabulary (desk, bookshelf, book, window, blackboard, table etc) written on cards and posting the cards to the appropriate piece of furniture is really helpful. Be sure to check with the classroom teacher before hand to make sure this is okay. *Again, it would be a good idea to get a copy of the end-of-the-year national English exam that every CM2 student takes to get an idea of what vocabulary words to use. This is also a good opportunity to introduce the students to the words “touch” and “point.” The teacher writes “touch” and “point” on the blackboard one right under the other. He/She asks, “What does this mean?” pointing to the word “touch.” The students will quickly guess the French equivalent. The teacher will then point to the word “point” and ask, “What does this mean?” The students may know from a previous year or they may not. If they don’t know, use the word by saying “I’m pointing to the bookshelf.” while pointing to the bookshelf. Be sure to emphasize the words “point” and “bookshelf” in the sentence. Continue by saying, “I’m pointing to the desk,” again while pointing to a desk and emphasizing “point” and “desk.” Continue to do this until the students guess correctly. Once the meaning of “point” is established, the teacher can play a game with the students. The teacher will say “Point to the blackboard.” or “Touch a book.” Once the students are more comfortable with this, the teacher could make it an elimination game, wherein if you do the wrong thing, like “Simon Says,” you’re out.

(10) The words “his” and “her” I would describe someone in the class with a simple sentence, saying for example, "He has got brown hair. He has got a black T-shirt. He has got jeans.”  The students would guess who it was.  After doing it myself a few times, I would ask the students to do it.  One student would describe someone, making the sentences themselves.  It was a great way to get the students interested, active learners, and engaged. (11)  Numbers Game     One student would whisper a number in English in the teacher’s ear.   That student would stand in front of the classroom, and call on other students who would guess the number.  The student at the front of the classroom would say “more” or “less” in English, until a student guessed the right number.  The student that guessed the right number would then be the student in front of the classroom.