Skip to main content

Easy sentence builder frames

I've uploaded to frenchteacher.net a number of easy sentence builder frames for near-beginners. These are aimed at the full range of ability and could be exploited in a number of ways to maximise recycling of high frequency verbs and chunks. The example below is followed by a possible teaching sequence. You could probably find alternative ideas. See what you think. Other examples on frenchteacher so far are: last weekend, school, holidays and pastimes.


On fait des phrases – LE WEEKEND PROCHAIN

Je vais aller (I’m going to go)
au parc (to the park)
au cinéma (to the cinema)
aux magasins (to the shops)
à la piscine (to the swimming pool)
en ville (into town)
au restaurant
avec mes parents (with my parents)
avec mes amis (with my friends
avec mon ami(e) (with my friend)
Ce sera bien (it’ll be good)
Ce sera amusant (it’ll be fun)
Ce sera super (it’ll be great)
Ce sera cool
Je vais jouer (I’m going to play)
au tennis
au football
au rugby
aux jeux de société (board games)
au tennis de table
à l’ordinateur (on the computer)
à la console (on the games console)
Je vais regarder (I’m going to watch)
la télé
un film
un match de foot
Je vais écouter (I’m going to listen to)
ma musique
la radio
un podcast
Je vais manger (I’m going to eat)
de la pizza
des frites (chips)
du poisson (fish)
de la viande (meat)
des pâtes (pasta)
un grand repas (a large meal)
un hamburger
Je vais faire (I’m going to do)
une promenade (a walk, trip)
du vélo (cycling)
des courses (shopping)
mes devoirs (my homework)
Je vais acheter (I’m going to buy)
des vêtements (clothes)
des chaussures (shoes)
un livre (a book)
Je vais rester (I’m going to stay)
chez moi (at home)
dans ma chambre (in my room)



Mode d’emploi

Here is a possible teaching sequence. 

1.         Read aloud some examples. Start with just the first row.
2.         Do some choral repetition for pupils to get used to saying the sentences.
3.         Get pupils in pairs to make up sentences (or do this as a whole class task with   
            hands up or down.
4.         Then move to the next line and so on.
5.         In the end get pupils to make up full descriptions using all three lines.
6.         Then take away the displayed items and see what they can do from memory.
7.         If the above needs support use the “aural gap-fill technique”, i.e. give them parts of 
            each sentence orally, then they complete.
8.         With some classes you could invite them to make up their own additions in each slot.
9.         Do some call and response translation into French.
10.       You may like the idea of pupils recording their mini talks at the end or for homework 
            if you give them a copy of the sentence frame.

Comments

  1. Lisa's ESL Site12 November 2018 at 10:15

    What a great idea, thanks for sharing. Quick question, where would you take your question frame from here?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is skill acquisition theory?

For this post, I am drawing on a section from the excellent book by Rod Ellis and Natsuko Shintani called Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (Routledge, 2014). Skill acquisition is one of several competing theories of how we learn new languages. It’s a theory based on the idea that skilled behaviour in any area can become routinised and even automatic under certain conditions through repeated pairing of stimuli and responses. When put like that, it looks a bit like the behaviourist view of stimulus-response learning which went out of fashion from the late 1950s. Skill acquisition draws on John Anderson’s ACT theory, which he called a cognitivist stimulus-response theory. ACT stands for Adaptive Control of Thought.  ACT theory distinguishes declarative knowledge (knowledge of facts and concepts, such as the fact that adjectives agree) from procedural knowledge (knowing how to do things in certain situations, such as understand and speak a langua...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 2026 GCSE subject content is published!

Two DfE documents were published today. The first was the response to the consultation about the proposed new GCSE (originally due in October 2021) and the second is the subject content document which, ultimately, is of most interest to MFL teachers in England. Here is the link  to the document.  We are talking about an exam to be done from 2026 (current Y7s). There is always a tendency for sceptical teachers to think that consultations are a bit of a sham and that the DfE will just go ahead and do what they want when it comes to exam reform. In this case, the responses to the original proposals were mixed, and most certainly hostile as far as exam boards and professional associations representing the MFL community, universities, head teachers and awarding bodies are concerned. What has emerged does reveal some significant changes which take account of a number of criticisms levelled at the proposals. As I read it, the most important changes relate to vocabulary and the issue ...
5 comments
Read more

La retraite à 60 ans

Suite à mon post récent sur les acquis sociaux..... L'âge légal de la retraite est une chose. Je voudrais bien savoir à quel âge les gens prennent leur retraite en pratique - l'âge réel de la retraite, si vous voulez. J'ai entendu prétendre qu'il y a peu de différence à cet égard entre la France et le Royaume-Uni. Manifestation à Marseille en 2008 pour le maintien de la retraite à 60 ans © AFP/Michel Gangne Six Français sur dix sont d’accord avec le PS qui défend la retraite à 60 ans (BVA) Cécile Quéguiner Plus de la moitié des Français jugent que le gouvernement a " tort de vouloir aller vite dans la réforme " et estiment que le PS a " raison de défendre l’âge légal de départ en retraite à 60 ans ". Résultat d’un sondage BVA/Absoluce pour Les Échos et France Info , paru ce matin. Une majorité de Français (58%) estiment que la position du Parti socialiste , qui défend le maintien de l’âge légal de départ à la retraite à 60 ans, ...
1 comment
Read more