I've been building up the number of parallel reading texts at intermediate level on my Y10-11 page of frenchteacher.net. Topics covered so far are: zombies (added today), online media habits, superheroes, weird hotel complaints, phobias, Islamic State (ISIL), Maglev trains, dogs who can detect cancer, the amazing story of the rescued Mexican fishermen and "a heroic deed".
As with the parallel reading texts in the Y7 section of the site, you could put these together into the form of a stapled booklet for students to do as independent reading or an an extension task for more able students. Answers to the exercises are given.I am am always on the look-out for interesting topics for students to read about, so if you have any bright ideas do let me know. My friend Gianfranco Conti recently blogged about how uninteresting much text book material is and I have to agree. I sympathise to some extent with text book writers who are slaves (in the UK) to the demands of public examinations. It's a real creative challenge to come up with material which will stimulate a wide range of pupils and which lends itself to thorough exploitation.
Parallel texts are one way into providing interesting material at the right maturity level but do not always lend themselves to further exploitation and rarely match with the content of exam specifications. just as a reminder, I have lots of parallel texts on my Y7 and Y8 pages. Topics include: robots, my dog, my family, Minecraft, the Tour de France, Cinderella, spiders, sharks, dolphins, meerkats, the blue whale, Brazil, vampires, becoming a vet, the channel Tunnel, the eiffel Tower and ladybirds.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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