Students in my Core French classes (both the 1/2 and the 3/4) have been practicing familiar and everyday expressions and very basic phrases. They've been working at introducing themselves and others and asking and answering simple questions, like "Comment ca va?"
These kiddos had wayyyyy too much fun:
The great thing about the Ipad Minis (what's not to love about them, really) is that assessment and evaluation is literally at my fingertips. I can have students email me the videos at the end of the class and I have all the information I need for the day. Who did well, who needs to be pushed a little harder, which groups worked well together, who was silly, who understands basic sentence conventions in French, etc... . It's not the be-all, end-all, but it's certainly a great way to assess if I'm not able to make it around to each "working group" in a day. Based on this video alone, I can tell that we need to revist the "Je m'appelle ____" introductions! One student began as "Je suis ..." and the other began as "J'ai ..." Hmm.
We've also been using the Ipad Minis as a supplement to my reward incentive program. Each of my classes is set up so that students sit in groups (they choose where they want to sit), and each group is assigned a colour. One person from each group is the "chef" and they are expected to change "chefs" each day ... The chef is in charge of the clothespins. Each group earns clothespins (les pinces) for answering questions in French, singing loudly, transitioning quickly, cleaning up their workspace, etc ... At the end of the period, the chef tells me their total (and if they tell me the number in French, they get a bonus point) and at the end of the week they cash in their clothespin totals for reward time. They've been using their reward time for Ipad Mini time!
Students in my classes are rewarded (A LOT and OFTEN) for small accomplishments... But these 'small' accomplishments are what make my students feel successful. And in order to move them from an A1 to an A2 (when referring to the CEFR), they need to know that they are doing well.
What do you use as incentives in your Core French classes?
TTFN,
Pin It
I rewarded homework completion with a stamp, which could be collected & turned it to be redeemed for a small prize. I intermittently use prizes now in my immersion class, but just off and on - never in a way that can be counted on... I do want students to do their best in games, competitions and their general work just for the satisfaction of doing well.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking of using Class Dojo to issue reward points to reinforce certain behaviours I'm looking to increase. I've been hearing a lot of good things about that. I found your blog through a product of yours I recommended to another teacher in the facebook group Ontario Core French teachers. Come on over & join us if you'd like! I'd also like to put your blog button on my blog if that's ok. Contact me through my blog if you'd like to chat further. I'd love that!
Tammy @ Teaching FSL