I have put together, in this portfolio, some examples of various activities and teaching elements used in class: just click on the links to view a PDF version of the element you wish to consult. At the end of the page, you will be able to click away to two unedited teaching videos.

To contextualize activities, here is a short breakdown of how levels are framed/what the class numbers correspond to.

At Syracuse University, we used the textbook Imaginez, and I taught the two levels of intermediate. The sequence in the program went 101, 102, 201, 202. 202 is the first class that counts toward the minor or major. We used, at the time I taught there, the textbook Imaginez, complemented with material from authentic texts, as well as material I produced.

At Brown the levels are distributed as follow: French 100 and 200 are in the same sequence (students have to take both to get a grade for French 1). Students who excel in 100 and complete 200 Accelerated (an additional class they take along 200), can jump ahead to 400 or 500, depending on their performance in 200 Accelerated. French 300 is a review of 100-200 and, normally, the third semester of French for students who start at Brown. French 600 (sixth semester in normal progression) is, with 500, part of the advanced language cycle. For French 100-200, we used the textbook Campus, along with other rotating material, and for all other levels, in addition to grammar textbooks, we use a mix of films, graphic novels, novels and essays.

At Montclair State University, I taught Composition and Advanced Grammar, an advanced class. The class used CLE as a grammar book, and other materials were given in class.

At the College of Staten Island, I taught French 101, with a Vista textbook.

And at Cornell the levels are distributed as follow: French 1210 and 1220 are in the same beginner sequence. For all levels, in addition to textbooks (Cengage and Vista), we used a mix of films, graphic novels, novels and essays.

At Ohio Wesleyan, I taught an intermediate class for which we used a CLE textbook, in an effort to make it more accessible to low income students. We also used a number of authentic material, such as selected passages from short stories from La Première Gorgée de Bière et autres plaisirs. I also taught at OWU an advanced 1 French class on orientalism in France, and one advanced 2 level on French identities for which I entirely designed the syllabus.

 

 

You will find here three lesson plan samples, based on French 1 lesson plans. The first teaches directions to students, and the second reviews the “I like/I dislike” pair and introduces pronouns. The last lesson plan is entirely in French, and it is a lesson that goes with this presentation and this Set of characters’ cards. It is a class that involves reviewing the passé compose, the imparfait, negations with use of adverbs, and the sounds é (e) and è (ε).

For basic levels, I frequently use bodily gestures, but I also enjoy visual material, in basic and advanced levels, like a graphic novel made with the software Comic Life (free for the first 30 days in the computer version). You can consult the whole unit’s breakdown as well as see a page of a “roman photo” here: Roman Photo Activity.

I also like to integrate technology through the use for example of blogs, which I discuss in the page “Technology in Class“

 

For unedited videos of my teaching, please head to these links:

  • For a teaching video of a French 2 class from Cornell University, head here. The class is from Spring 2018, and covers the review of the difference between “savoir” and “connaître”, a discussion on love (which involved one of my students asking for the French for “true love is a social construction”), and listening activity. The English used in this class is when I am repeating grammatical points verbatim from  the grammar in the textbook, which is in English, although the classroom was conducted in French.
  • For an unedited teaching video from Brown University, head here and here for part 2. This is a class that was of a unit using films from the French Film Festival at Providence. The video does not cover the entire class. It is a beginners’ level.
  • For a more recent video of my teaching please head here. This class is at the 101-102 level, and we were doing the 6th chapter of the book Espaces. This is the third class of the semester, coming back from winter break.

 

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Teaching Activities by Anne-Caroline ‘Acey’ Sieffert is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License