This is the second in a series of posts about lesson planning for a unit using The Language Gym Trilogy 1 Workbooks and the EPI MARS EARS sequence. I will be outlining how I might teach this unit in the double-block (longer classes of 80-100 minutes), either daily or A/B schedule.
REMINDER: MARS EARS = Modeling, Awareness, Receptive Processing, Structured Production, Expansion, Autonomy, Routinization, Spontaneity
MATERIALS: French Trilogy 1 - Unit 4 - School Subjects and Teachers (Main workbook; speaking workbook; grammar workbook; PowerPoints from Language Gym)
ONLINE ACTIVITIES: LanguageGym.com; SentenceBuilders.com; gamified learning of your choice/access - Quizlet, Quizizz, Blooket, Gimkit
OTHER RESOURCES: Aurélie Lethuilier’s MARS EARS templates; Simona Gravina’s Padlet
Note - When creating my own activities using these templates, I am attentive to being inclusive of my students’ home cultures and non-metropolitan French cultures as well.
END OF UNIT TEST: Will include listening comprehension, reading comprehension, writing OR speaking (you can do both but that depends on your schedule, time availability, program goals, etc - I generally do one or the other for a simple unit test)
DOUBLE BLOCK (80-100 minutes, either daily for a semester or A/B for the year)
Note: For this topic (school subjects), I would create an additional or edited version of the unit sentence builder that included all the subjects my students would have access to at their school so the lesson is relevant.
DAY 1 (M, A):
Register routine/Check In (I do this orally almost every day - depends on group how I do this - if they will not be polite while others are talking, I walk around and check in individually at each desk) - Question can be “Comment ça va?” or something using recent vocabulary & phrases to continue spiraling learned content.
Introduce new sentence builder page 39
Review pronunciation - have students repeat (can do funny voices/whispers for interest)
Point out any salient grammatical points (in this lesson I would likely pick gender markers) and pronunciation/phonetic points of interest (Note: In Spanish, you may not need to spend much time on phonetics)
I like to add color coding during the introduction - for this lesson I might have kids mark the positive adjectives & verb phrases in green and the negative in red. Could also have them color code the nouns by gender.
Listening as Modeling - Choices
Language Gym PPT for Unit 4 - Do several activities to take approximately 12-15 minutes OR
Choose from the activities in Aurélie LeThuilier’s templates
BRAIN/PHYSICAL BREAK OF SOME KIND
Listening activities page 40
If I have students with IEP/504 (not sure what this is in Canada - students with learning disabilities or other health conditions like ADHD who require accommodations and modifications), I would provide word banks for Activities 4 and 5 - maybe on the screen via PowerPoint or on a separate sheet of paper.
If you want students to be able to work independently, you can link the listening tracks for them onto your LMS and have them work through on their own using their technology.
(If there is more time, students can begin the Vocab Building page or work on Language Gym Vocab Trainer or Listening Trainer OR Sentence Builders Vocab Chunks activities)
Exit Pass: To check for any listening comprehension or sound-to-spelling processing issues
Can do on paper or digitally, however you prefer, depending on your tech tools/LMS etc
Write 6 short sentences using the school subjects in French. Read 5 aloud. Students indicate which one they heard. Sound to spelling check.
J’aime l’allemand.
J’aime anglais. (intentionally pick two that could be confused to check sound to spelling recognition)
Je n’aime pas l’éducation physique.
Je n’aime pas l’éducation civique.
Mon ami aime la chimie.
Mon amie n’aime pas la géographie.
IF YOU ARE ON AN A/B SCHEDULE, AND CAN GIVE HOMEWORK, I RECOMMEND IT TO HELP MAINTAIN EXPOSURE TO THE LANGUAGE.
POSSIBLE HOMEWORK IF TECH ACCESS: Language Gym or Sentence Builders.com (see Day 2); continue listening activities from workbook
DAY 2 (MAR)
Register Routine - I would ask “Quelle matière aimes-tu?”
Trilogy PPTs OR Aurélie’s templates/Simona’s Padlet - 10-15 minutes
BREAK - Break of your choice, could include playing a game that involves movement, online game like Quizizz/Blooket/Kahoot, or a quiet time/brain break
Independent work time
Vocab Building page 42 (can continue to Reading page 43 if they work fast)
Go over directions aloud
IEP/504: If you have students with any kind of processing issues or visual impairments, have them skip Act 3 and 7
Tech Options:
Language Gym Vocab Trainer or Listening Trainer - Depending on sequence, may take 10-30 minutes
Set sequences based on student competency - be aware of students with particular needs
Sentence Builders.com
Vocab Chunks - Listen & Translate; Read & Translate - Do Chunk Match and Matching Pairs - Will take less than 5 minutes unless you add on more items
Assign all four modes here and add items if you want it to take longer BUT students may lose attention fast if you add too many items
Quizizz Mastery Peak
EXIT PASS/COMPREHENSION CHECK - Formative Assessment
Use the method of your choice to check recognition of school subjects and adjectifs
DAY 3 (R, S)
Register Routine - Quelle matière tu n’aimes pas?
Game - 5 minutes+
Quizizz/Blooket/Gimkit/Kahoot (build with phrases not isolated words) - Conti may not be a big fan of this but kids find engaging
Language Gym Boxing or Audio Boxing as a Live Game
Whole Group Activities - Receptive & Structured Production - 10-15 minutes
Choose from Language Gym PPTs or MARS EARS templates
Could do Listening Activities page 41 if haven’t done yet
Could do whole group correction of Vocab Building page if that aligns with your practices/you have time
Independent work time
Reading page 43 (can continue on to Translation p 44)
IEP/504: I underline the answers in the reading to help students find them
Tech Option:
Language Gym Workout - Trilogy 1 Unit 4 - Modify as needed for your students
SentenceBuilders.com - SBSentences - Listen and Translate, Read and Translate - choose a few activities
Exit Pass - Cultural Comparison: Give students/display the school schedule of a student in an equivalent grade in a Francophone country (easy to find online - for example, search “emploi du temps 3e France”). Can do “Find similar/different” or ask specific comprehension questions.
HOMEWORK OPTIONS: Complete Reading page; complete Language Gym; assign Paragraph Reading activities from SentenceBuilders.com; STUDY FOR READING QUIZ
DAY 4 (S)
Register Routine - Tu aimes (matière)? - Gives students a chance to use negative in response
Whole Group Activities- Structured Production
Language Gym PPTs or other from Padlet/templates
Independent Work Time
Translation page 44
Writing page 45 (start)
QUIZ - Reading (10-15 minutes)- see Post 1 for suggestions for formatting
HOMEWORK OPTION: Some sort of cultural reading or EdPuzzle/video lesson about school in Francophone countries
DAY 5 (EARS)
Register Routine - Comment tu trouves (matière)? “C’est (adjectif).”
Whole Group- Structured Production
Language Gym PPTS - No Snakes No Ladders is always good
MARS EARS Templates - Rock Climbing is a favorite
Expansion/Explanation
Use the Grammar workbook to practice salient grammar points in context
Work together as a group on some activities then release to work independently
Independent Work Time
Complete grammar activities
Writing page 45
DAY 6 (EARS)
Register Routine (choose what you want - could be how are you doing, what did you do over the weekend - using a sentence builder to help - or question about school subjects)
Whole Group - Culture: Give students/display the school schedule of a student in an equivalent grade in a Francophone country (easy to find online - for example, search “emploi du temps 3e France”). Can do “Find similar/different” or ask specific comprehension questions.
Whole Group - ARS sequence activities
Choose several activities from the templates or Language Gym PPTS for this stage
I prefer things that feel like games - more engaging for the students
Emphasize the productive skill you plan to assess - if you plan to assess speaking, practice speaking.
I like to have kids doing something that resembles what they will do on their test
If they will be doing speaking tests with me, I require them to do a practice run with me
Homework - Studying: Can set a SentenceBuilders.com competition, Language Gym Vocab, Listening or Sentence Trainer to do for review; complete workbook pages if not completed
DAY 7 -- Unit Test - This is when I require my students to have the entire workbook unit done. I have done daily checks as we worked, but the full thing must be completed by the test.
Register Routine - Ask them how they are doing - some might be nervous
Take any questions before test
Unit test
Listening
Create a short listening activity that is similar to those they did in the workbook.
If you choose to use an authentic passage (IPA style), it should be very short, slow speed, and vocabulary contained should be 95-98% comprehensible based on lesson vocabulary and structures
Reading
Create a short reading passage similar to those they have seen
Can also incorporate authentic resource (USA - IPA type assessment) but again make sure it is comprehensible
Sometimes I have both - the one I create is for reading comprehension, the other is a separate grade for intercultural communication
Writing or Speaking
I would NEVER recommend having them do writing on the computer if it can be avoided.
Speaking - if you need to do this by having them record themselves on the computer, be mindful of if they will have access to Google Translate or ChatGPT etc while they are accessing the site to record/submit it.
Speaking tests may take longer and go to the next day depending on class size.
