Tech Thursday: Birds Dessinés

I am linking again with the Teaching Trio for their weekly Technology Thursday linky.

Today, I am sharing a FREE website called Birds Dessinés where you can create bird comic strips like this one:

Ericiel Dubois

It is incredibly easy to use: simply drag the bird(s) you want to use, add speech bubbles and enter your text! Once you're done, you can download your comic as a picture.

Although it is a French website, you can create your bird comic strip in any language :)

Click on the image below to start creating your first bird comic strip:

 Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out other bloggers' tech tips by clicking on the button below:

Currently November

November... Really??!

I am linking for the first time with Farley's Currently linky!

Listening:

Since my older daughter got a keyboard for her birthday, she doesn't spend a day without practising! Not that I'm complaining of course!

Loving:

I'm loving my classroom so much that I'm spending way too much time in there! I have decided to write a separate blog post about it as I was going on for way too long!!!

Thinking:

Am I the only one who gets seriously depressed in November?!! I don't really like rain, mud, wind, cold, red noses or root vegetables!!! And as much as I love the autumnal colours (on photos), I don't enjoy this type of weather at all. Sorry to all the fall lovers! For me, there is only one thing to look forward to: my birthday!!!

My favourite season has to be late spring, I love blossoming cherry trees, birds singing, flowers and sunny days without it being too hot :)

Wanting:

I love creating products for my TpT store, but it takes me SO long to get something done and ready to sell. I have SO many clip arts waiting for resources to be created...

Needing:

I really need to spend less time marking and I've been looking for marking stickers. I have found these really cute, time-saving and FREE stickers on Twinkl and I'm so excited about using them!

Click on the image to go straight to the download page :)

 

All I need now is to buy the blank Avery speech bubble sticker sheets which they sell on their site. Twinkl currently only ships to the UK but I've got a colleague who's going there at Christmas and she's offered to bring the stickers back to Kenya for me!

 

Twinkl is such a cute website which has tons of resources, a lot of which are FREE. They also have a small French section :) Although they are UK based, they also have a smaller selection of products which they sell on their TpT store.

Reading:

I am supposed to be reading Le Cas Eduard Einstein by Laurent Seksik at the moment, but I've been reading blogs far too much lately. It's so much fun!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out other bloggers' currently posts! Click on the image below to join the linky!

*FREE* FILM RESOURCES!

Les Films du Préau is a great website with TONS of FREE film resources including posters, trailers, clips, reading materials, accompanying worksheets and more!!!  If you are looking for resources to go with a film you already have, or if you want to show short extracts for language practice, this site is the one for you! There are so many films to choose from!

Click on the image below to access the site :)

*FREEBIE* FRENCH SPEAKING PUNCH CARDS!

Hi all,

Today, I am sharing my way of encouraging pupils to speak French in the classroom! Just click on the image below to download this freebie:

These adorable punch cards are great fun and really motivate pupils to speak the language. As pupils get more confident, I start becoming more demanding of them and only punch a pupil's card if they've said an entire sentence...

When pupils have their entire card punched, they can trade it for a prize. I got a whole bag of mini Eiffel Tower keyrings for free when I took the pupils on a trip to Paris and the children absolutely LOVE them! Stickers or any other incentives will work great too :)

I hope you have fun using these with your own pupils!

Have a great week!

Ma France - French Video Course for Post Beginners

Hello everyone,

First of all:

Happy New Year!

I've just come across an online 24-unit video course designed by the BBC and called Ma France. Each unit includes 3 videos on a chosen topic such as directions, hotel requests, eating out, football, etc. In each unit, the first video (A) concentrates on introducing topic-related vocabulary and grammar, the second video (B) focuses on a cultural aspect and in the third video (C), the interviewees are given a challenge! All videos are shot in France, with native speakers.

Pupils can watch the videos with or without subtitles and subtitles are available in French and/or in English. If you have a fast connection, I recommend that you choose the interactive flash version.

Now this is what it looks like:

              

For each unit, teachers can also download suggested activities which give additional guidance on how best to use the videos in the classroom.

Hope you find this resource useful!

Audacity

Hello everyone!

Living in Kenya means that I sometimes have to use rather old recorded materials... from audio tapes...

I know...

However, I am in the process of turning all my audio tapes into mp3 files.

Here's how to do it:

Step 1 - Simply dowload Audacity for free onto your computer, along with Lame, which is also free.

Step 2 - Connect your tape player to your computer, check the settings and have a few goes to make sure you get the best recording quality possible, and press record.

THAT'S IT!

All you then need to do is trim the audio if you need to, go to file and choose 'Export'. The file will be saved as an mp3 file!

This can be a very tedious job, but it's worth it. You can of course record the whole side of a tape in one big file and then trim it into individual recordings, which makes it a lot easier.

The programme can also be used to record pupils, if you don't have digital recorders.

Have a great day!

*FREEBIE*: 'Mon Prof Dit' Bookmarks

Hi all,

I have just added a new freebie on my TpT store!

They are bookmarks for your pupils with teacher comments in French and English. There are 2 identical bookmarks per page. Simply cut the page in half and fold each bookmark with English and French back to back, before laminating. You can then use the comments orally and/or in your pupil's books.

Click below to download from my TpT store!

 

Have a great weekend!

Audio Lingua

Hi everyone!

I've just bumped into a website and am really excited to share it with you! It is called Audio Lingua and it has over 3000 short mp3 files in 10 different languages, of which 455 are in French!

The files are on a variety of topics (recipes, hobbies, opinion on books, films or TV, etc.). They are authentic materials recorded by native speakers only. These files can be listened to online or they can be downloaded. You can also contribute and upload your own recordings on the website. All you then need to do is create your own teaching materials to go alongside these audio recordings.
 

Have a great weekend!

A Website Full of Free Language Resources!!!

Hi all,

Are you looking for some free resources for your French lessons? Keep reading!

Find tons of worksheets and other materials on iSLCOLLECTIVE French! The beauty of this site is that all the materials are completely FREE! So have fun browsing through ;D

For lovely, colourful materials, check these two contributors: Bea1901 and Nattik. Simply click on the pictures below to view their contributions:

Bea1901

 

Nattik

Have a lovely weekend!

Passeport pour la Francophonie

Hello!

I've just found this very exciting interactive website called Passeport pour la Francophonie which you can use at the start of the year, on the international day of 'Francophonie' or at any other time of the year!

Once you've clicked on a country (France, Egypt, Gabon, Madagascar or Polynesia), you are taken to a series of activities related to the country chosen, from vocabulary lists (with sound to practise pronunciation) to stories, videos and challenges, with supporting materials and guidance on how to use them. A great way of raising cultural awareness wilst having fun!



Hope you and your pupils enjoy this!