A network for all who teach languages to children

June 2008 Blog Posts (13)

Pronunciation

This is my one big worry with the current push for languages at Primary Level. I know that although I am not a native speaker of French, my accent is pretty good. I am asked by French people what part of France I come from, but I know this is because I was first taught French when I was 7 by a French woman. I worry that many pupils first contact with the language is not going to give them that. What do others think?

Here is one neat tip that really works though when you are trying to… Continue

Added by Mark Purves on June 30, 2008 at 8:41 — 11 Comments

Nings, blogs, wikis and sharing good practice online: A revolution in cpd perhaps?

OK, so Power to the People may not quite be where we are at in cpd (Continuing Professional Development) just yet, but I really do believe that in order for teachers at the chalkface to get the 2010 entitlement for 'all KS2 children to be learning a language during lesson time' to work - we need to share and work together, Primary and Secondary, Specialist and Newbies altogether. And thanks to the wonders of t' Internet - we can!

There are some fantastic forums out there… Continue

Added by Jo Rhys-Jones on June 28, 2008 at 22:21 — 2 Comments

Primary MFL workshop July 11th - Colchester

Hi all, am copying this from the discussion forum since I just realised that by putting it in Blogs more people would see it. Apologies for "cross posting"

There are still some places on the Colchester workshop:

http://www.aimlanguagelearning.com/Colchester_UK.htm

Here's an excerpt from the brochure:

In this all-day workshop, you will learn how story-telling, music, drama and gestures can work synergistically to rapidly increase second language… Continue

Added by mmichels on June 26, 2008 at 1:25 — No Comments

More Primary resources

There are a whole load of KS2 powerpoint and interactive whiteboard resources on this site.

Teachers Resource Exchange

Wendy Adeniji

is one teacher with a… Continue

Added by Mark Purves on June 25, 2008 at 10:00 — 1 Comment

J'aime pas l'anglais video

Here's attempt number two at the subtitling. There are LOADS of neat vids on youtube that could be used for any level of teaching. You can tailor what kids have to listen out for at any level as long as you simplify the task. Great for teaching kids to sift through noise to find one relevant sound, and in a fun way. Song is pretty annoying after a while… Continue

Added by Mark Purves on June 25, 2008 at 9:29 — No Comments

Asterix vid

Well just joined this site so thought I would post my first vid. I learnt at last how to do subtitles and this was my first stab. I love this song from Asterix and… Continue

Added by Mark Purves on June 24, 2008 at 17:39 — 6 Comments

Animation and MFL's

I had a great day yesterday, working with 20 Primary teachers from LA's in the West Midlands. They were all Modern Languages teachers and had signed up to my two hour workshop to find out how animation can help teach French and Spanish, keeping the students engaged and thinking about different languages and cultures, as well as their own. We decided to do adverts, keeping all minds focused is always a challenge and short adverts around a product or idea automatically keep everyone involved… Continue

Added by Oscar Stringer on June 24, 2008 at 11:26 — 5 Comments

Theatre in Spanish for primary children

Thought I would bring this to the attention of folks who do Spanish, especially as you seem to lose out to French in terms of resources and so on. A Cuerpo is a theatre company offering performances, workshops and resources for KS2 Spanish. They are based in the Leicester but could travel further afield.

Added by Clare Seccombe on June 23, 2008 at 20:06 — 3 Comments

QCA Unit 14 Le Musicien

Another work in progress this, for the remainder of this half term with my whole KS2 class. I've attached my first powerpoint so far, which introduces the Unit - it has lots of soundfiles which are from the built-in PowerPoint mediaclips (so should work on most people's versions of ppt) or from the fantastic free KS2 Soundfiles at Babelzone. Where I've used these clips I've added notes underneath the slides to explain… Continue

Added by Jo Rhys-Jones on June 20, 2008 at 15:00 — 6 Comments

Animation For Education - for complete beginners and experts too!

Just a quick post to alert people to a new ‘ning’ group that has been set up by Oscar Stringer. Animation for Education is for those interested in learning how to make simple animation films in the classroom, and equally for those who already know how, to share tips and tricks to get the best results. There are recommendations for free and/or cheap… Continue

Added by Jo Rhys-Jones on June 15, 2008 at 20:00 — 2 Comments

Something for the weekend?

Lots happening this weekend: Lisa and I are off to Nottingham for the British Council eTwinning National Conference (will tell you all about it and share the ideas/materials when I get back), Helen Myers is running a fantastic… Continue

Added by Jo Rhys-Jones on June 13, 2008 at 0:30 — 4 Comments

European Day Of Languages -26th September

Just spotted it's European Day of Languages on 26th September. A long way off but nothing like forward planning!

'What is the European Day of Languages?

With just four months to go until this year’s European Day of Languages, schools, colleges, businesses, universities and individuals around the country are beginning to plan how to celebrate the Day.

The European Day of Languages on 26 September is an ideal opportunity to raise awareness of different… Continue

Added by Helen on June 12, 2008 at 6:41 — 2 Comments

Using Catherine Cheater Scheme of Work

The Catherine Cheater schemes are very popular - some LA's have even bought enough for all their schools. In Devon the scheme is even handed out free to schools who attend the Catherine Cheater training for each Year group. By sending in a receipt for the recommended book packs, Devon schools can also obtain the stories on PowerPoint read by native speakers - which is a… Continue

Added by Jo Rhys-Jones on June 4, 2008 at 13:30 — No Comments