Alloprof is brimming with explanatory videos to accompany our hundreds of concept sheets. Many of these videos are interactive, allowing students to validate their understanding of the concept at hand by answering questions throughout. To make it easier to learn and revise material covered in French class and to help make your classes a bit more fun, here are a few suggestions on how to use these valuable tools.
A quick review with easy-to-understand examples is a great way to wrap up a class on temporal markers. This video on our YouTube channel is garnering a lot of views—and for good reason. In fact, the most widely consulted French concept sheet on the Alloprof website is about temporal markers (French only). We suggest showing the video on your interactive blackboard at the end of the lesson. It’ll clear up any questions your students have about this French grammatical concept! When in doubt, your class can go back and watch the video.
Learning about temporal markers often leads to a topic that can be confusing for students—the difference between a phrase and a syntactic function (links in French only). If your students are having a hard time telling these two concepts apart, check out this video, which summarizes the subject in a very simple, entertaining style. One interesting and creative way to use this video is to play it in class start a discussion about the best ways to differentiate the two concepts. Speaking out loud is an effective memorization technique. It can also inspire your students to come up with a few tricks of their own!
An interesting teaching approach you can use to break up your routine is to flip your classroom around. This strategy entails rearranging your class time to focus on doing exercises, applying concepts, and engaging in discussions. In exchange, students are responsible for reviewing theoretical concepts at home. This is where our interactive Crash Lessons on French topics can come in handy—you can ask your students to watch one for homework, then cement their understanding of the concept at hand by working on in-class exercises during the next lesson. Students will be able to replay the video as many times as they like to make sure they understand the concept, and you’ll be able to dedicate your class time to review and practical exercises! For example, this Crash Lesson (French only) focuses on strategies to help students identify the thesis statement and arguments in an argumentative text. Cycle 2 high school students can use it to review this topic in a flash. It’ll teach them everything they need to know to write an argumentative text in class.
If you’ve explained subordinate clauses to your students but notice they’re still confused about the subject, don’t panic. Alloprof teachers Laurie and Sarah-Anne have teamed up to explain subordinate clauses to your students in terms they’ll understand. But wait! What if you or your students are suddenly in the mood for cake? (You’ll get the joke when you watch the video ;).) Indulge in a complementary activity instead where your students get to correct each others’ work. First, each student writes a series of sentences and hands them to one of their classmates. Their classmate must then identify the subordinate clauses in the sentences and evaluate whether they are well written. This type of exercise allows students to develop their critical thinking skills and receive immediate feedback.
Writing : Alloprof Teacher's team