What a student can do at home
The Wasatch French program is very successful for students who
dedicate themselves fully to the work we do during our daily class time.
The responsibility of the teacher is to present the "content" in a
comprehensible way and the responsibility of the student is to do ALL s/he
can to understand and remember.
We have reviewed the various techniques to achieve these goals on a
great number of occasions.
A good number of students will make reasonable progress without
studying outside of the classroom. However, greater progress, better
retention of what has been acquired in the past and eventually a higher
grade can be obtained by following the plan indicated below.
Part 1:
Bring the notebook home 2 or 3 times a week. Have fun with it, keep it in
excellent condition and color it to make it attractive.
A number of former students have kept their notebooks and enjoy looking at
them again.
Students should simply spend 15 minutes a day on an average (1 hour 1/2 a
week) re-reading outloud previous texts clear back from the beginning of the
French folder. They should almost memorize the stories or parts of the
stories.
We call this MAINTAIN !!! Maintaining means to spend time regularly re-
reading outloud past texts in the French notebook. French 2 students should
for instance maintain by re-reading texts from French 1. Students should
understand and practice (in some way) : repeating aloud, memorizing, re-
inventing stories etc...
Students should use google.fr "images" if they have forgotten what an
important word is. This is assuming parents have given permission to do so.
Students should also go to TV5.org and consult the French-French dictionary.
They should not check the French-English section. Reading definitions and
synonyms is an excellent form of comprehensible input.
In other words there should be SOME work, study and research done AT HOME!
Students can bring a yellow post-it note to me anytime when they
don't remember something from the past and the above mentionned internet
ideas do not work. The note should include the student
name, the chapter, the phrase, and the difficulty underlined. The note
should be placed on my tablet before the beginning of class.
Part 2:
Students should ask someone (parent, brother/sister, older friend etc.) who
does NOT understand French to play the role of "student".
- Read aloud to this person a text from the French folder. This "student"
should not correct you, help you or do anything else but listen and encourage
you. Perhaps ask questions to guide you and help you clarify a point.
- Tell the "student" in English the meaning of what you just read to him or
her. This shoud not be a word for word translation but an accurate idea of
the reading.
- Ask the listener to date, sign and give a score (at the bottom
of the page) on a scale of 0 to 10 regarding his/her impression of
how well you communicated the ideas to him/her.
Important note: If someone else (parent, friend, relative etc,)
wants to reteach you, this person cannot play the role of "student"
as well. The interaction with the "student" should be a pleasant
experience for both.
[Please ask the person who wants to reteach you to contact me
for important information. Click on Home and on the mailbox to email
me.]
Bonne chance!!!