Encouraging French oral practice is so crucial; yet how do we engage students in oral practice?

Previously, Mlle. Waddell taught the students the basics of communicating about time in French. We reviewed how to ask questions and give responses about time, and then played a game that helped students to reinforce oral expressions of time.
  • The class was divided into 2 teams, and one student from each team was asked to come to the front of the class by the whiteboard.
  • A PowerPoint slide with various clocks was projected onto the whiteboard.
  • I wrote one of the times (eg. 3h05) onto a mini board to show to the class, while concealing it from the students at the front. 
  • The class had a bit of time to think about how to say the time in French.
  • The students at the front asked the class "Quelle heure est-il?"
  • On my cue, the class responded together "Il est... (eg. trois heures cinq)".
  • The students at the front of the class had to listen for the time in French, and then try to find the corresponding clock. The first student to put their hand on the correct clock earned a point for their team.
  • The competition was on, and students were eager to participate!
Lesson Reflections
  • Communicating the time as a group helped students to not be singled out, yet still have the opportunity to gain oral practice. But it was difficult to monitor who actually spoke and who remained silent; so it was up to students to take ownership of their own learning and oral practice.
  • Students also received listening practice when they were up front, but the activity was mostly geared toward speaking practice.
  • It was great to see students who do not normally volunteer for activities to put up their hand and volunteer to come up to the front!