Promoting creativity in French lessons using storytelling with year 7. Alice Ayel

Why telling simple stories? to challenge and engage pupils. to boost pupils independence and creativity. to enable pupils to understand stories in the target language. to enable pupils to create their own little stories using taught language.

Year 7: a simple story about animals. Objective of the lesson: to know at least 10 animals in French. to reinforce the days of the week. to be able to understand a simple story about animals. to be able to write a simple story about animals.

Starter: to identify new words that will come up in the story. Students work in pairs to find the meaning of key words they will need to understand the story. One pupil goes around the classroom and look for 8 words on post-it notes. He/she memorises it, goes back to the other pupil who looks for the meaning of the word in the dictionary. 7W8 / 7W7 / 7T4

1) Main part of the lesson: to listen to the story and learn new words. Pupils are told the story (all in French). Pupils do not just listen to the story, they also interact. They are asked: which day of the week it is what the problem is with the animal. Because the story is quite repetitive, pupils can relate to it as well as the questions asked by the teacher. 7L2 / 7L3/ 7L4 / 7L5 / 7C4

2) Main part of the lesson: to reinforce animal words. Students repeat and play a memory game about animals. They classify the animals into masculine and feminine genders. 7W7 / 7W4

3) Main part of the lesson: to write own little story about animals. Pupils are asked to invent their own little stories using animals. Pupils write and design their stories in a little booklet made with folded paper. 7T5 / 7T6

Plenary: peer assessment. In pairs, pupils assess each others stories. They also show and read their stories to the whole class. 7T7 / 7L6

Objectif: raconter une histoire danimaux.

Il y a 8 mots dans la classe. Quest-ce que cest en Anglais? Timide Bavard Marrant Effrayant Nerveux Petit Gourmand Parfait

Ma surprise! Ecoute lhistoire:

Lundi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais il est trop timide, quel dommage!

Mardi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais elle est trop petite, quel dommage!

Mercredi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais il est trop bavard, quel dommage!

Jeudi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais il est trop gourmand, quel dommage!

Vendredi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais il est trop marrant, quel dommage!

Samedi, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais elle est trop nerveuse, quel dommage!

Dimanche, je reçois un cadeau. Quelle surprise !

Mais il est trop effrayant, quel dommage!

Alors, le facteur réfléchit bien et il mapporte ….

Comme il est parfait, il reste avec moi !

Fin

Maintenant un peu de répétition !

Un jeu pour samuser!

Attention ! un animal disparait cest lequel ?

Un peu de compréhension !

Ecris les animaux dans la bonne colonne FémininMasculin un chien / une souris / un serpent / un chat / un singe / une tortue /une araignée /un hamster / un cochon dinde / un lapin / un oiseau / un poisson

Solution :Ecris les animaux dans la bonne colonne FémininMasculin Une souris Une tortue Une araignée Un chien Un chat Un serpent Un singe Un hamster Un lapin Un oiseau Un cochon dinde Un poisson

Invente et écris une histoire: 1.Choose different animals as a surprise. 2.Think of problems for your animals. 3.Write your story in a little booklet. 4.The title is: UNE SURPRISE! Lundi, je reçois un cadeau. Un poisson Mais il est trop timide. Quel dommage! Mardi, je reçois un cadeau. Un hamster Mais il est trop bavard. Quel dommage ! Mercredi, je reçois un cadeau. Un chien Mais il est trop grand. Quel dommage! Jeudi, je reçois un cadeau. Un …. Mais il est trop ….. Quel dommage! Vendredi, je reçois un cadeau. Un …. Mais il est trop ……. Quel dommage! Samedi, je reçois un cadeau. Un …… Mais il est trop ……. Quel dommage! Alors, le facteur réfléchit et il mapporte…. Comme il est parfait, il reste avec moi!

Plenary What have you learnt today? How have you learnt it? What worked best for you?

Examples of stories:

Benefits: Increased confidence Higher challenges and expectations Willingness to try Enthusiasm Higher achievement- instead of only achieving a level 2-3, pupils were able to gain level 3-4. Being able to transfer language across topics Enjoyment of the language – teacher and pupil

Conclusions: You can find simple French stories on the Internet: Increase expectations. Little by little – build up new words and expressions in the target language.