Podcasts

Hey all!  

For the last year or so, I have been seeking out various podcasts that I could use in my own classroom.  I have searched high and low for what is - for me - just the right podcast for beginning French students.  And there are a LOT of choices out there!  While almost all the ones I found were overall really well done (certainly more professional than mine!), I was struggling to find something that suited the needs of my students.  They were either too fast, too advanced, too off-topic for my students, or too expensive.  Many of them had some great additional materials, such as transcripts and even teacher resources - but if the content isn't accessible, then they just aren't right for me and my kids.  

DIY

The easiest thing to do was just to make one myself.  I am an absolute noob at creating videos.  I don't even have TikTok.  It took a while to figure out how to use movie-making software to get it all put together, but I am satisfied enough with the results to share this one out.  

Goal

My goal was to make a podcast that aligns to my curriculum, and then just hope that other French teachers find it useable as well.  My first-ever episode of Free State French Podcasts is about Sévérine - a high school student who simply introduces herself, including her name, age, birthday, and how she's feeling thanks to the lovely weather.  

Even though the content specifically aligns to what I am doing in my own classroom, I certainly hope that at least some of you French teachers out there will find this suitable to play in your own classrooms.  I am not trying to do anything fancy, and I don't have a ton of time to invest in my little project.  But I invite you to use this as a resource in your own classrooms if you think it will benefit your students.  

If this takes off - no promises - I hope I can publish a couple of times per month.

Ideas for classroom use

Ask students to jot down information such as her name, age, and birthday in English (or your students' first language).  Have them write a question that she asked of them.  Have them write their answers to those questions.  Can they identify Sévérine's gender (from the word 'contente')?  I often choose unfamiliar names so that they have to rely on gender markers in order to identify if the speaker is male or female.  (FWIW - I also include non-binary people in my daily activities and stories, but it doesn't come across easily in a first-person narrative.)

Thanks for giving my podcast a go!

Karen

Game idea - Moi Aussi

Hello friends and World Language teachers!

I haven't written a post in a loooong time but now that Grad school is done (woot WOOT!) I am going to try to pick it back up again.

I just wanted to share a quick game idea with you.  It can be a prep-in-advance situation, or completely zero prep (yay!).  It's up to you.

This activity can be less about language learning and more about relationship-building.  I played this the other day with my French 2 students and they really had a good time finding out what they had in common with their new classmates.  We played in English since it was literally the second day of school.

Since I have to have names for everything, I am calling this one "Moi Aussi" (Me too).  

Prep:

If you want to prep this in advance, you just need a Google Slideshow (Canva, whatever you prefer) with 1 picture per slide.  The pictures should be random things that kids their age may (or may not) enjoy.  I tried hard to think of things that teens may like but.... for some reason that task gets harder as I grow older!  You can always have kids write down some suggestions for you in advance.  I asked my own child for suggestions, leading me to include things they may have liked when they were younger.

I ended up with a slide show with pictures of Harry Potter, Stranger Things, Minecraft, Chappell Roan, Among Us...you get the idea.  

No Prep:

If you are aware of what the kids are into these days, you can just call things out loud during the game.  

Set-up

Students need to be partnered up.  You can do that however you wish.  You can do inside-outside circles, appointment partners (trendy in elementary school but it didn't work for me in high school) or just have them find a new partner each round.

I had planned for Wagon Wheels (also called inside-outside circles) but changed my mind last minute.  Instead, I played some French music on my phone, and they meandered around the room.  As soon as the music stopped, they paired up with someone near them.

Task:

After students are partnered up (a group of 3 is fine) you either show your Slideshow pic, or call out the thing (example: Harry Potter).  The students get a couple of seconds to decide how much they like the thing.  If they love it, it's a 5.  If they hate it, it's a 1.  If they are unfamiliar with the thing, it's a zero.  Then on the count of three, each partner holds up their fingers, to correspond to their love for the thing.  I am putting up all 5 fingers for Harry Potter.  Hunger Games is a 4 from me.  Chappell Roan is a zero (a closed fist...I don't know a single song of hers).  Justin Bieber is a 1...I know his stuff and it's not for me.  

Relationship-Building Goal:

The idea is that kids will either find out they both love the thing, and they can connect over it.  Or if my partner learns that I can't name a Chappell Roan song, they might share with me a couple of their favorites.  Or we can bond over both disliking Justin Bieber.  

Give them a minute or so with their partner to talk about their numbers.  No, not everyone will get super into the game, but I heard some heated conversations about MarioKart and Stranger Things yesterday!

When you're ready, have them find new partners to discuss the next thing.

Language component:

Depending on the level, you can definitely ask them to keep their conversations in the TL.  Have them give and defend an opinion, or explain their reasoning in TL.  Playing in English and focusing on the relationships is perfectly fine too!  

I hope this activity is something you can use as you head back to school. Here is the link to the slideshow I made.  Copy it and make it your own!  I included the Spanish directions, but no hablo español so blame ChatGPT for any errors.