Monday, November 14, 2005

Reaction to "Gallery Walk"

I was really impressed with the layout of Andrew's website - very visually appealing and clean. From the other sites that I looked at, it seems like all of us have kept everything pretty honed down - it's mostly just class links and our assignments. I would like to make my website have a little bit more meat to it and clean things up a bit. I could certainly use some work on the design.

Notes 11/14

www.primaryaccess.org -- opportunity to create digital projects/ movie using a selection of photos. can work from wherever you are.
-- as opposed to working with windows movie maker - takes more time, more likely to crash, need to be at home with a bunch of files saved on your computer.

TappedIn chat:
good idea from harrison: check-in time with an online chat room where teacher would be available to answer questions, chat with students
- good opportunity for kids who might not speak out loud in class
- could be cool to bring in a virtual guest speaker ... or in a french class, could have a conversation with students in a francophone country, like penpals but more interactive and immediate...
- can send transcripts: good for keeping kids on task if they know their comments/ private chats will be saved and sent to the teacher. also, good for filling in someone who couldn't be there.
- think of ways to bring this into an academic curriculum in a constructive manner?

Reaction to videos from 11/7

I can see some possibilities for integrating video into a curriculum. However, I don't know if it would be worthwhile to pay the fee for the service. You would really have to hunt and pick through all of the search options in order to find something useful. I did really like the way the videos were divided into chapters, however.
I love the ideas that we've discussed for getting kids involved in creating content. It is an interesting debate over whether it's our place to create more opportunities for kids to be on computers, but I think that it's a worthwhile activity. Kids will be using technology anyway, in school or out, and I feel that any way we can harness their enthusiasm and direct it toward learning activities is valuable. Doing these creative technology activities changes the lesson plan from an "I will talk at you and you will learn things" approach and gives kids an opportunity to take what they have learned and manipulate it on their own in ways that hopefully are more productive and valuable for them.

Monday, November 07, 2005

Notes 11/7

Work on movie!
Steps:
Reserve camera
Get tape
Write a more detailed outline of lesson plan - learn it!!
Put together simple Powerpoint slides
Get examples of movie clips


unitedstreaming.com - video database -or- could make more focused videos yourself, could have students make videos with guidance

student content on the internet - esp. blogs

blog --> response to video content; revised "to do" list

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Lesson plan

Notes for lesson plan:
Add in:
- quickly review forms of avoir and être
- give examples of student responses before you set them loose
- give a list of verbs, phrases, vocab words that they may need (a bit of scaffolding) ... thanks matt! this also adds a bit of "control of error" to the process ...

Lesson: Using the past tense in French
Objectives: Students will learn to use the past tense. They will learn the difference between regular avoir and être verbs . They will learn how to make verbs agree with their subject.
Assessment: Students will be given a written check-up quiz. Students will complete and turn in an in-class activity.

Tech-hi lesson plan:
Materials:
Smartboard
Powerpoint presentation
Video clips, queued at starting points

1. Review conjugations of avoir and être.
2. Introduce basic structure of regular verbs in the passé composé with the aid of a Powerpoint presentation. Display the Powerpoint on the Smartboard, fill in blanks/ charts by writing in answers.
3. Once students have seen the basics, let students come up and fill in some simple forms of the verbs on the Smartboard to get them up and moving and to make sure that they are staying involved in the lesson.
4. Continue with Powerpoint and talk about verbs conjugated with être. Explain the difference between the two types of verbs (direct object/ transitive verbs vs. intransitive verbs). Also show students how to make the verbs agree with their subject.
5. Use what they’ve learned: First give students a list of useful verbs and phrases that will be helpful in this activity. Show a few short video clips on the Smartboard (will make it easier to stop and start at the right clips) and ask students to describe what the people in the clips have just done. Could use well-known movie scenes to draw students’ attention. Example: “L’homme est entré dans la cuisine, il a pris un café, et il a lu son journal. Ensuite, il est parti.” (The man entered the kitchen, he had a coffee, and he read his newspaper. Then, he left.) Students should write down a few sentences and then be asked to read them aloud. Students will turn in their sentences to have them corrected for a participation grade.


Tech-lo learning activities:
Materials:
Chalk board
Handouts
Newspapers and magazines

1. Review conjugations of avoir and être.
2. Introduction - introduce basic structure of the passé composé. Give many examples. Go over the past participle forms of regular verbs.
3. Ask students to turn to each other and say what they did the past weekend.
4. Part 2: talk about verbs conjugated with être. Explain the difference between the two types of verbs ( direct object verbs vs. intransitive verbs). Also show students how to make the verbs agree with their subject.
5. Show pictures from newspapers or magazines and ask students to tell what happened in each picture. First give students a list of useful verbs and phrases that will be helpful in this activity, then have students write down their sentences. The students will read a sentence to the class and turn them in to be corrected for a participation grade.
6. Game: have students form two teams. One student from each team at a time goes to the chalkboard; I say a subject and the infinitive form of a verb and students must race to write the past tense form on the board.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

merlot.org - french materials

http://www.merlot.org/artifact/BrowseArtifacts.po?catcode=363&browsecat=362

j'aime surtout ceci:
http://www.polarfle.com/indexbis.htm

French rhymes and poems

http://momes.net/comptines/content.html