As you have guessed from the title, today was the first taught session on modern foreign languages. I'll admit, at the beginning of the week, this was the subject that concerned me the most. Like everyone, I can confidently say a range of Spanish and French greetings along with various questions. Not studying foreign language for 7 years, you would think you would not be able to remember a thing but it's amazing how fast it all comes flooding back.
The day consisted of three, one and a half hour sessions that each started with a sample lesson. They all proved really, really enjoyable. There were too many good points to mention, so I'll keep it short and mention one point from each of the sessions (Jack if you're re-reading this, don't worry, you made notes and there are about 20 activities you got from the lectures.)
The first included a game called "Dinner Party." After basic introductions had been learnt, children were given a character card and told introduce themselves to everyone until they found their partner. This has a secondary advantage in a way that you can pair up children with their language partners without them realising you've set them up, sneaky.
The second session was great because it taught us ways to go about teaching a set of words, e.g. colour, in the best way possible. On powerpoint, have all the colours on the board, then each time you press enter, an insect will hop onto a different colour. Firstly you get them to say their colour for a few rounds, then hold up a sheet of coloured paper for a few rounds. Lastly they will write their colour on a white board and hold it up allowing them to begin to write in a foreign language.
In the last lesson we played Jacque a dit, or Simon says to you and I. We learnt body parts with lots of repetition. Once this was achieved we closed our eyes whilst the teacher said, "Jacque a dit..." with a body part and we had to point to it. If we pointed wrong or pointed when she didn't say Jacque a dit, we were out and had to help her spot people to get out. That would be great for less able learners, who would be out straight away, as they would still be able to take part, but with less pressure. You could also pick the spotter straight away and get them to tap the pupils out (I just thought of that myself. I guess my trainings coming along.)
And that's my first week in a nutshell. It's been a tiring, yet (Gary Barlow voice) ab-so-lut-ely fan-tas-tic. It has definitely been the most enjoyable university week of my life and I cannot wait to see what's to come.
The day consisted of three, one and a half hour sessions that each started with a sample lesson. They all proved really, really enjoyable. There were too many good points to mention, so I'll keep it short and mention one point from each of the sessions (Jack if you're re-reading this, don't worry, you made notes and there are about 20 activities you got from the lectures.)
The first included a game called "Dinner Party." After basic introductions had been learnt, children were given a character card and told introduce themselves to everyone until they found their partner. This has a secondary advantage in a way that you can pair up children with their language partners without them realising you've set them up, sneaky.
The second session was great because it taught us ways to go about teaching a set of words, e.g. colour, in the best way possible. On powerpoint, have all the colours on the board, then each time you press enter, an insect will hop onto a different colour. Firstly you get them to say their colour for a few rounds, then hold up a sheet of coloured paper for a few rounds. Lastly they will write their colour on a white board and hold it up allowing them to begin to write in a foreign language.
In the last lesson we played Jacque a dit, or Simon says to you and I. We learnt body parts with lots of repetition. Once this was achieved we closed our eyes whilst the teacher said, "Jacque a dit..." with a body part and we had to point to it. If we pointed wrong or pointed when she didn't say Jacque a dit, we were out and had to help her spot people to get out. That would be great for less able learners, who would be out straight away, as they would still be able to take part, but with less pressure. You could also pick the spotter straight away and get them to tap the pupils out (I just thought of that myself. I guess my trainings coming along.)
And that's my first week in a nutshell. It's been a tiring, yet (Gary Barlow voice) ab-so-lut-ely fan-tas-tic. It has definitely been the most enjoyable university week of my life and I cannot wait to see what's to come.