Hi, Ben!
Here it is! My first report from the field. Today was our first day of class. Here is what I did on day one with my Grade 9s. First, we looked at our goals (not a requirement from our school, but thought it would help the kids) I wrote that today our goals are: to get to know each other, to ask any questions we had about the class and to understand spoken French. First, they introduced themselves to the people beside them. I had students make name tents for their tables along with a picture of either a sport they play, an instrument or an activity they like to do. Then, I did the CWB activity. For my morning class, I forgot to encourage silly responses, but I remembered for the afternoon. We did about 4 students and moved on. I felt like their engagement was dwindling a bit. Next, I had them fill out the questionnaire from 97 Story Scripts. I made sure that they knew to make stuff up. I also asked them to write “I love to draw” on the top of their page if that was true of them (for future job openings). I read them. They are amazing. I love these kids already. Last we did a quick quiz! 5 questions. They all aced it. I’m feeling encouraged, but I do have questions. I have the book ANATS, the BIG CI book, TPRS Story Scripts vol 1. My school bought them all for me. I feel like ANATTY could be helpful? Any thoughts? I’m just trying to figure out how to organize my 62 minute blocks and weeks (20* of them) for the semester. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions!
A little class background. I teach in Canada, so my students have been taking French since Grade 4 or 5. Their levels are still quite varied, but they’re not brand new to the language. They introduced themselves in French no problem, some of them even responded to CWB questions in complete sentences. This is my 3rd year at this school and my first teaching CI. I am starting with my Grade 9s and keeping my 10, 11, 12 classes the “same” as the last two years.