Using Picasa to make an oral presentation about one’s life

Class or Subject Area: Foreign Language

Specific Learning Objectives:

Speaking (beginner / intermediate):

Students give a short prepared presentation, without practicing word for word, and answer clear questions.

Students describe their family, living conditions, educational background.

Students ask and answer simple questions about familiar topics (e.g., weather, hobbies, social life, music, sport).

Students ask and answer questions about habits and routines.

Students take notes on the main points of a presentation.

Speaking (intermediate):

Students ask and answer questions about pastimes and past activities.

Grade Level(s): 6-12

Activity Summary:

Students compile a series of pictures about themselves and their family. They use Picasa to make a slide show which shows just pictures, no text. They make an oral presentation using only the slide show as an auxiliary. their classmates take notes about the presentation and ask questions.

What you need:

Access to Internet

Access to Picasa

Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with Picasa and prepare a slide show about yourself and your family with a dozen of pictures. Explain the assignment to your students.

Directions for the students:

“ You will make a presentation about yourself and your family. In order to do so, you will use Picasa to help you make a slide show that contains only images, no text. You will compile a dozen of pictures about yourself and your family, that you will insert in your slide show. To understand how it works, let’s demonstrate with … (you model the activity by explaining how to use Picasa and by showing a slide show you created yourself).

Sample:

Here is a sample slide show I have made for the students, to use as a model.

Using Flashface to work on vocabulary related to human physical features: face, eyes, hair, …

Class or Subject Area: Foreign Language

Specific Learning Objectives:

Speaking/Writing: Students use a series of phrases and sentences to give a description or presentation of people.

Speaking/Listening/Reading: Students ask and answer questions about people’s physical features (face, eyes, hair ...).

Grade Level(s): 10-12

Activity Summary:

Students use Flashface to practice the vocabulary terms related to human facial features (parts of the body and characteristics), like in the following examples:

- face: elongated, round, square, oval…

- eyebrows: thick, thin, bushy…

- eyes: blue, green, dark, light, big, almond-shaped…

- hair: dark, light, short, long, bald, moustache, beard…

- chin: douible, square, receding, pointed, prominent…

- mouth / lips: thick, thin, lower, upper, fleshy, lipstick, lipgloss…

What you need:

Access to Internet

Access to Flashface

How it works:

Students 1 uses Flashface to draw a sketch artist that (s)he later describes to Student 2.

Student 2 uses Flashface to draw a portrait according to the description given by Student 1.

They compare both sketches and make comments.

They exchange roles.

Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with Flashface so that you can give your students a short tutorial, if needed.

Explain the assignment to them

Directions for the students:

“ You have witnessed a crime and you are the only person who saw the perpetrator. You need to describe that person. In order to do so, you will use a software to help you draw a sketch artist. You will later give a description of your drawing to your partner. (S)he will make her/his own drawing according to your directions and you will compare both portraits. After that, you switch roles with your partner. To understand how it works, let’s demonstrate with … (you model the activity by explaining how to use Flashface and by showing examples you created yourself).

Sample:

Here is a sample model made with Flashface.

Using Google SketchUp (or Gliffy.com) and PowerPoint to describe one’s house

Class or Subject Area: Foreign Language

Specific Learning Objectives:

Speaking (intermediate): Students describe their home and where they live.

Speaking (intermediate): Students describe places and objects in a simple way.

Speaking (intermediate): Students describe in details their family and their living conditions.

Speaking (intermediate): Students talk about likes/dislikes and make comparisons.

Grade Level(s): 10-12

Activity Summary:

Students use modeling software downloadable for free on the Internet (such as Google SketchUp or Gliffy.com) to describe their home. They convert their models into images that they paste into a PowerPoint slideshow. They comment orally their presentation (either by using the recording feature on Power Point - Insert/Sound/Record Sound – or by giving a live presentation in class). A second option is to allow your students to make a short movie instead of a PowerPoint Presentation. In this case, they give a tour of their house with their comments as a soundtrack.

What you need:

Microsoft PowerPoint

Access to Internet

Access to Google SketchUp or Gliffy.com

Preparation:

Familiarize yourself with both Google SketchUp and Gliffy.com, so that you can give your students a short tutorial, if needed.

Explain the assignment to them

Directions for the students:

“ You will describe your home and your living conditions. In order to do so, you will use a software to help you draw your house. After drawing your house and its different rooms, you will insert your drawing into a PowerPoint presentation and give your classmates a tour, adding your comments. To understand how it works, let’s demonstrate with … (you model the activity by explaining how to use both Google SketchUp and Gliffy.com and by showing examples you created yourself).

Sample:

Here is a sample model made with Google SketchUp.

Using Themeefy to narrate in the past

Class or Subject Area: Foreign Language

Specific Learning Objectives:

Reading (beginner): Students locate a concert or a film on calendars of public events and identify where it takes place and at what time it starts.

Reading (intermediate): Students I read reviews dealing with the content and criticism of cultural topics (films, theatre, books, concerts) and summarize the main points.

Writing (intermediate): Students give clear detailed descriptions on a wide range of cultural, intercultural and social issues.

Writing (advanced): Students write detailed critical appraisals of cultural events (film, music, theatre, literature...).

Grade Level(s): 6-12

Activity Summary:

Students use Themeefy to write a short e-book presenting the cultural life of a given city.

What you need:

Access to Internet

Access to Themeefy

How it works:

Students use Themeefy to (1) agregate and (2) curate relevant information about the cultural life of a given city. They visit web pages giving information about seasonal festivals, movies, dance, theater, museums. Then they pretend that they spent their last week-end in that city and write - in the past – about their experience, contrasting past tenses, such as “perfect” (what they did) versus “imperfect” (how it was).

Preparation:

Make a list of cities you want your students to visit. Those may be related to places that your students will visit in real life or places described in a novel you are reading in class. Assign each student (or group of students) one of the cities on your list.

Have them write about the cultural life of the city they just visited.

Directions for the students:

“ I will assign for each of you one of the cities we have discussed in class. Using Themeefy, you will gather information about cultural events happening in that city. Your task is to write a five-page long e-book about the cultural life of that city, as if you had spent a week-end there For each page, write a comment about the cultural event you supposedly attended. Your magazine includes 5 contrasted uses of the past tense. At the end, you will send to your teacher the url of your e-book. To understand how it works, let’s demonstrate with … (you model the activity by explaining how to use Themeefy with a city and a narration of your own).

Sample:

Here is a sample e-book I have made for the students, to use as a model.

Déjeuner du matin

Regardez ce petit film et faites-en la description.

playlist_Hippocampe sélectionnée dans Cinéma

Voici le poème de Prévert dont s'inspire ce film. Lisez-le attentivement. Vous pouvez cliquer sur certains mots pour en comprendre le sens.

Visitez cette page pour écouter le poème lu par un acteur professionnel. Lisez le texte pendant qu'il lit et soyez attentif à la prononciation de chaque mot.

Ensuite, comparez cette lecture à la lecture ci-dessous. Laquelle préférez-vous? Pourquoi?

Antoine décrit sa maison

Ecoutez le document suivant et répondez aux questions.

1. Où habite Antoine?

2. Décrivez sa maison:

-superficie?
-nombre d'étages?
-nombre de chambres?

3. Décrivez sa famile.

Nathalie décrit sa maison

Ecoutez le document et répondez aux questions suivantes.

1. Où habite Nathalie?

2. Pourquoi aime-t-elle cet endroit?

3. Que trouve-t-on dans son jardin?

4. Nommez la première pièce mentionnée et dites quelle est sa caractéristique?

5. "On dit de notre maison qu'elle est comme ___ __________"

6. Décrivez la famille de Nathalie.

7. Que collectionne le papa?