A presentation of useful websites and activities for teaching French and Spanish.

1. Using Technology in the Spanish and
French Classroom
School District 42:
Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows
http://slidesha.re/QCxhPj
Shauna Néro
French Immersion, Core French and Spanish teacher
@MmeNero
mmenero.edublogs.org
mmenero.wordpress.com

2. The Digital Innovation Project in
SD36
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLE:
Engaging students in their learning requires a
multidimensional approach. While social and
academic engagement is imperative to
student success, we know that "...ultimately,
we need to achieve the more ambitious goal
of promoting deep cognitive engagement that
results in learning."
National Research Council, cited in Dunleavey and Milton, 2008

3. Why do I use technology in class?
 To increase student engagement
 To empower the digital native student
with using what they know (technology)
 To give choices to students through a
variety of apps can appeal to different
learning styles
Allows for differentiated learning so that
students of all levels can be successful

4. Ultimately it is the learner who learns,
and the new applications certainly
place more power in their hands,
albeit that they are still in need of
support with how to use these in
educational contexts.
(Rethinking Learning for a Digital Age, Sharpe et al 2010)

5. Suggestions by teachers on Twitter about using
technology in the language classroom:
 @rolat We integrate technology to encourage
recording conversations for oral communication &
explaining Students thinking orally on all subjects
 @msewen uses them for student success and
ease of use. He recently used iPad dictation for a
student who cannot write (a great example of
empowering the student)
 @whitmore_c uses them to record themselves
before doing a presentation in FSL, they work on
their pronunciation before having to present. They
love it.
 @beverleybunker Have done blogging with my
grade 7 late frimm kids…it’s been a great
experience!

6. But don’t forget…
Nathalie Roy (@NathalieR71):
« To engage a student, it is important
to remember not to « overload »
becaue not all students like using
technology to learn. » Translated by a Tweet sent
to me Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012

7. Useful sites
and online
activities for
the second
language
learner

8. POLL EVERYWHERE:
Another way to
« listen » and
communicate
Students can text or send answers online
to open-ended or multiple choice
questions
Free account is limited to 40 answers, but unlimited
number of surveys

9. Dowload my presentation on how to s

10. Edmodo: taking the target language Your messages
appear here
outside of your classroom
Write your
message here Your group
code to share
You can
see when
students
log in
The list of
your groups

11. Assessing oral output:
Using recordings to improve oral output
(all of the lessons, step by step are on my blog)
Lesson 1: Modeling
 Students may never have done a
recording before, or may not
understand the project outcome.
 Give an example audio clip that can
be used for a pre-activity to the
project.
 Talk about the benefits of being
able to speak the language;
engage in conversation!
 Highlight the different themes
represented in the clip.

12. Generating criteria as a class
 Students are aware of the expectations
• Student ownership: students decide what the
learning objectives are
 Some students will drive the others to work hard by
setting high standards (ex. Number of questions to be
asked and answered)
***Sample criteria forms are on my blog to be adapted
and used as you wish.

13. Colour-coded criteria sheets
Students are given 3 sheets per
podcast recording depending on if it
is an A recording or a B graded
recording.
 A Recordings: a self-assessment,
partner assessment & a peer
assessment
 B Recordings: a self-assessment,
partner assessment & a teacher
assessment
Have students fill out the checklist
and staple it to the assessments in
order (this will save you time later,
and a lot less headaches)

14. I’ve got it…and more! Keep I’m almost there, but what’s I need to practise I need to get
1A applying my BK missing? the concepts extra help
Self Assessment of: learned
Concept
Asking questions I can ask 7+ logical questions I can ask at least 5-6 logical I can ask 3-4 I can ask 1-2
correctly. questions (ex. weather, questions questions
clothing, date, greetings)
Answering I can answer all of the questions I can answer at least 5-6 I can answer 3-4 I can answer
questions asked by my partner. questions. questions 1-2 questions
Vocabulary and I included all of these themes: I included all but 1-2 I am missing 3-5 I am missing
expressions •“les expressions de la salle de expressions from the themes from the 6+ themes
classe” vocabulary list. vocabulary list. from the
•Nom vocabulary
•Âge list.
•Les jours de la semaine
•Le temps (la météo)
•La mode
•Jouer & faire
•Les types de personnalité

15. Pronunciation I used the website to When pronouncing words, Some effort in I did not make a huge
correctly pronounce my listener can understand. pronunciation; I try effort, I sound like I am
most. I can correctly I do not pronounce the final to correctly speaking English. I need
pronounce 75-100% of “s” sound & I do not pronounce the to work on it and use the
the words. pronounce the silent H. words. website & tutorials
I can pronounce 75% of the (50-75%) provided for help.
words correctly.
Grammar & I took all of my feedback Most (75-90%) of my 75% of my sentences 10-50% of my sentences
sentence into consideration and sentences are correct and are correct and are correct and logical.
structures applied it to my grammar logical. logical.
and sentence structures.
Communicatio The entire conversation I made a good effort to I tried hard but I spoke some French, but
n in FRENCH is in French. speak in French (75%) conversation is mostly in English. (>25%
50/50. in French)
Ease of A conversation that There are a few pauses (no There are some There are 7+ pauses in
conversation flows smoothly without more than 3) in the pauses (no more the conversation,
any pauses. conversation. than 6) in the unstable flow.
conversation.

16. Lessons 2-5:
 The first time students do this activity, it might be
in their best interest to pick their own partners so
that they are doing it with someone they are
comfortable with.
 Let students practise and write a script based on the
criteria provided

17. Text to Speech website: playing
with Avatars
Students can practise
their pronunciation using
this fun and interactive
website. Play with
Francophone accents!
francophones!

18. RECORDING DAY!
 Students record their
podcast using Voice
Memo app
 They get 2 tries and
pick their best one
 Teacher uploads to
Edmodo and assigns
another group to be
assessed

19. Recording
samples are
on my blog

20. Final Assessment : Spoken Interaction
 Students compile a list of questions in groups of 2-3
 I compile a list of all of the possible questions that
can be asked during the interview so that students
may prepare the structures
 My peer tutor practises with each student and then
he/she completes a last self-assessment with an action
plan on how to improve
 I do an interview with them, asking questions from the list
and try to get them to talk as much as they are capable.

21. Final Assessment : See my blog for examples of
this project:
Oral Production http://mmenero.wordpress.com/espanol
In my Spanish class last semester, some
students used the iPads and the application
PuppetPals HD Director’s Cut to cut out
characters and « play » with them to talk in
scenes from a Hispanic region.
• Opportunity to assess the language that they
acquired and their cultural knowledge at
once. LA FAMILIA MODERNA
VIAJEN
• More importantly, I was able to assess their
oral production as it gave me the chance to
listen and listen again to how they were able
to pronounce the words that they had learned
all semester.

22. Voicethread: developing oral production
 Examples of Voicethread
projects by A.I.M. teacher
Sylvia Duckworth
(@sylviaduckworth)
 Only 3 free projects for each account,
with the iPad use the app Pix N Tell

23. Wordle
Use this site to
communicate what
students have
learned. Create a
visual Word Cloud
to incite discussion
in class.

24. Jeopardy: http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/
Ideal for reviewing vocabulary: oral and written

25. Short films
 Use the language they know to discuss
the content
 Teach idiomatic expressions
French short films
Les courts-métrages
La leyenda de estan payaros + worksheet

26. TV 5 Monde:
a great website for Core French teachers
 Teacher worksheets
depending on DELF levels
(A1-B2)
 Teach using the French
culture
 This site was the inspiratio for
my Alors on danse project
Fiches: Activité et description du projet
Critères du projet

27. Ça bouge au Canada
Pick a region and the activities which go with it
(Débutant, Intermédiaire, Avancé)

28. Teaching about the Francophone World
Here are some of my favourite sites:
Il était
Conte-
une
moi
histoire…
100
Le musée
Québecois
virtuel du
qui ont fait
Canada
le 20e siècle
Il était Le musée
1820… d’Orsay

29. Spanish videos
 Sunny Earth Academy playlist
 Commercials in Spanish (doc added
with videos and teacher explanations)
 Senor Jordan’s videos (explanation of
grammar, interactive and interesting by
level)
 Latin Grammys (you would have to find
the artists on YouTube since the US
blocks us)

30. Online resources: Sylvia Duckworth’s
blog for FSL
(@sylviaduckworth)
A great selection
of activities and
sites by theme for
the Core French
teacher

31. Other online resources to browse for
your classes:
 L’acquisition de la langue française
 Ressources vues sur Twitter
 Les clips vidéo de Mme Nero
 Bandes annonces francophones
 Là où je t’emmenerai (clips de TF1)
 La musique de la Francophonie
 Clips sur l’apprentissage (en français)
 Forvo: autre site de prononciation (suggested by
@Traciepod)
 Paige Kee’s French Teacher Pinterest Board
 French Teachering Pinterest Board
 Emilia Carrillo’s Spanish Teacher Pinterest Board
 Los actualidades en espanol
 Speaking and writing prompt images

32. Useful Sites for the Language Learner
and Teacher
Share links easily!
BITLY : reduce the length
of a URL
Copy and paste the link to
create a direct link to the site
Reduces mistakes by
students = less waste of
class time

33. Accents online and in Word
Mac Option
Codes
Windows Alt
Codes

34. Share digital work online!
My blog for
Exceptional
Student
Work
Annie Reichhoff’s
Classroom Site:
Activities and examples of
exceptional student work
(@MmeReichhoff)

35. And in the classroom using
QR codes
QR CODE
GENERATOR
(in French)

36. I know that this is a lot to take in!
I am here to share my experiences
and provide you with ideas.
If you want to try 1-2 of these sites or
activities, and you need support, please
contact me at nero_s@surreyschools.ca

37. Merci y gracias for sharing with me today!