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'Finish my sentence'

This is a really simple activity which could be used as a starter, filler or plenary. It's basically a listening task plus vocab retrieval. You could make these up more or less off the cuff, but I've split the examples below into three batches, using present, past and near future tenses in French. It would make sense to design the sentences to fit your current topic, but you could also choose to revise earlier topics. 

The idea is that the teacher reads aloud the sentence minus the final word. The class has to add that missing word. This could be done orally, on paper or with a mini-whiteboard. I'd suggest the whiteboard since pupils then need to show you their response (if they have one). To add a sense of urgency and encourage fluent recall, you could put a strict time limit on each response. Say 10 seconds - you could even do a countdown.

I like the simplicity an clarity of the activity and the fact that it takes careful listening and interpretation of meaning, plus the ability to retrieve some vocabulary knowledge from memory. Each sentence is short enough to be held easily in working memory. If you wanted to add some extra challenge you could ask students to supply the missing word, then add another short sentence. Or you could tell them to translate the sentence into English. High-achieving classes could do the activity in pairs. The examples below lead to very predictable answers, but you could design them to be more open, with various options in play.

The examples below are aimed roughly at students who have done around three years of French, though much depends on the attainment of the class. The expected answers are in brackets and should not be read out.

Present tense examples

1.    Je vais au cinéma et je regarde un __________ (film)

2.    Je quitte la maison tous les matins à huit __________ (heures)

3.    Je mange de la pizza et des spaghettis dans un restaurant __________ (italien)

4.    Je vais à la gare pour prendre le __________ (train)

5.    Je joue à des jeux vidéo et je fais mes devoirs sur mon __________ (ordinateur)

6.    J’envoie des textos avec mon _______ (téléphone (portable))

7.    Je viens tous les jours au collège à __________ (vélo,pied)

8.    À dix heures et demie du soir je me __________ (couche)

9.    Je vais à la boulangerie pour acheter du __________ (pain)

10.  Je joue au football dans le parc avec mes __________ (ami(e)s, copains, copines)

11.  En hiver il neige et il fait __________ (froid, mauvais)

12.  En été il fait __________ (beau, chaud)

Perfect tense examples

1.    Je suis allé(e) au cinéma et j’ai regardé un __________ (film)

2.    Ce matin je suis parti(e) à huit heures et __________ (demie, quart)

3.    J’ai bu un coca et j’ai pris un sandwich au  __________ (café)

4.    J’ai acheté du poulet et du porc à la __________ (boucherie)

5.    J’ai pris le train de neuf heures à la __________ (gare)

6.    Je suis venu à l’école ce matin en __________ (bus, autobus, voiture, taxi)

7.    J’ai mangé un curry au restaurant _________ (indien)

8.    À sept heures du matin je me suis __________ (levé(e), réveillé(e))

9.    Hier j’ai joué au rugby sur le terrain de __________ (sports)

10.  Je me suis lavé(e) dans la salle de __________ (bains)

11.  J’ai parlé espagnol en __________ (Espagne, Argentine, classe, cours, etc)

12.  Hier soir j’ai révisé pour un __________ (examen, test)

Near future examples

1.    Je vais aller au cinéma regarder un nouveau __________ (film)

2.    Demain matin je vais partir à huit heures et __________ (demie, quart)

3.    Je vais acheter des provisions au  __________ (supermarché)

4.    Je vais acheter des médicaments à la  __________ (pharmacie)

5.    Je vais faire mes devoirs dans ma __________ (chambre)

6.    Je vais manger des tapas au restaurant __________ (espagnol)

7.    Je vais faire une randonnée à la __________ (campagne, montagne)

8.    Je vais voyager en Chine en __________ (avion)

9.    Je vais regarder un match de football au __________ (stade)

10.  Demain soir à la télé je vais regarder une __________ (série, comédie)

11.  Le week-end prochain je vais visiter un ________ (musée, château, etc)

12.  Ce soir je vais préparer le ________ (dîner)


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