Sometimes people tell me, "I took French in high school and I don't remember anything!" I don't want that to be the experience of my students. Every day, my students use French to have conversations with each other, express their opinions, and access authentic resources. They read everything from comic strips and inspirational quotes to great literature such as The Stranger. They listen to current hit songs (we have Mercredi Musique every Wednesday), as well as Youtubers, the news, even ads! They love connecting with the cultures of France and other French-speaking countries.
My students impress me every day with their creativity and their hunger to learn.
They want to engage with real-world topics, and for them, French is not a subject in school, but a way to explore the world with a different perspective.
Starting in middle school and continuing through high school up to Honors French V, my students make an incredible journey together. Through group productions, conversations, debates, shared experiences, moments of hilarity, and sometimes deeply personal revelations, my students create deep bonds with each other. My graduating students always say that their French class is their other family... and so do I.
My Project
The new AP French exam is changing the way our students learn French, and it's all about acquiring a rich, extensive vocabulary starting from day one. If we wait till students are in the AP French class to start giving them the vocabulary they need, it is already too late.
Starting from French I, students need to start acquiring vocabulary to interact with all kinds of texts, both fiction and non-fiction, and to write and speak about real-world topics.
Our beginning textbooks present a generic vocabulary that is not at all sufficient. There is no shortcut, because unlike for other AP exams, there are no definitive, comprehensive vocabulary lists to memorize. Even if there were, memorizing lists of words in a second language does not help students use the words in context. What to do?
The key is to expose students to as many authentic French texts and audio selections as possible, and to pull vocabulary from these sources. To organize our vocabulary study, I will record words we find in our sources on a large white board. As we put the words on the board, we will discuss what they mean. At the beginning of their period each day, students will choose words from the board to use in sentences, thereby reinforcing the meaning of the words and practicing using them in context. At the end of each week, they will write sentences for a quiz grade. We will play games to constantly review words we have already learned.
I am requesting three large white boards, one for each class I teach. These white boards are the tools we need for managing the vast amounts of vocabulary our students learn in order to be successful. Thank you for your support! We couldn't do it without you.
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