A brief guide on how to use a sentence builder for those who aren’t familiar with this fantastic tool that has been championed by MFL pedagogy legends such as Gianfranco Conti, Steve Smith and Dylan Vinales - I do not take credit for these ideas, I am simply organising them into a concise list of my personal favourite activities to accompany some of the sentence builders that I upload to my shop.

Here is my ‘lesson builder’ that I wrote about on this blog post and am sharing here after a few requests - the blog explains how it can be used. https://mflclassroommagic.com/2020/05/22/make-your-own-lesson-builder-cut-down-planning-time/

A selection of links where I have compiled lists of key verbs in the main tenses for GCSE French, particularly useful for giving to students for GCSE revision. Download the document for details on how each link can be used by students and teachers. Printable Quizlet PDFs of each list are also included.

A worksheet for a lesson on the different vowel sounds in French (including the nasal vowels) - exercises practising pronunciation, then a minimal pairs listening task (transcript and answers included), followed by a gap-fill for the song dernière danse by Indila focusing on the vowel sounds only.

This is a double-sided mat of ‘complex structures’ for GCSE French writing. This is only verb-related structures. A non-verb related one is available here https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12501391

A challenging microlistening task based on the song fête de trop by Eddy de Pretto. This can be used AFTER students have had plenty of practice differentiating between the different vowel sounds in French, including the nasal sounds. A good way to practise (and also assess) the students’ understanding of these sounds. Answers included.

A worksheet introducing basic comparisons in French within the context of places / your area / where you live. Includes meilleur, pire, plus, moins, aussi. Answers included. Suitable for KS3 to introduce or KS4 for a recap.

A set of translations from English to French to practise 3 key verbs on the topic of family relationships / les relations familiales - se fâcher contre, s’entendre avec, se disputer avec - a good revision exercise to go back to this topic or a writing practice for once pupils have had plenty of practise on reading & listening with these verbs eg. https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/reflexive-verbs-and-family-relationships-worksheets-12282709 les verbes pronominaux / la famille

A half-page worksheet practising possessive adjectives in French mon / ma / mes etc. suitable for KS3 to introduce, or KS4 French as revision.

A paired translation activity to practise adjective agreement rules in French in the context of personality. The game and answers are included along with a set of instructions on how it could be played as a translation race / an oral one pen one dice game / or a trapdoor game. Suitable for KS3 French after introducing adjective agreement rules, or for KS4 French as revision.

A set of 12 basic sentences with which to play a Conti sentence stealer game - see link below if you’re not familiar with the game. This is a reading aloud task can be played just after pupils have been made aware of the pronunciation differences between masculine and feminine adjective endings. You could also later use the same sentences with your pupils to do translations on mini whiteboards, dictation sentences on mini whiteboards, or a quiz quiz trade game. https://gianfrancoconti.com/2018/03/16/my-favourite-read-aloud-task-and-how-i-use-them/

These ‘verb helpers’ can be printed double-sided and laminated to keep on students’ desks as extra support to refer to independently when they complete writing or speaking tasks. Tenses included are present, perfect, imperfect and simple future.

A worksheet on Maître Gims's new song 'Cameleon' from December 2017. Filling in the blanks in lyrics, matching up new vocab, and some short 'find the vocab' activities. You could also spend some time at the start of the lesson discussing French music, Maitre Gims, Black M and Sexion d'Assaut to see if any students have discovered their music before.

This is a revision mat of ‘complex structures’ for GCSE French writing, but all on non-verb grammar topics. I have also made a double-sided verbs one available at this link: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/resource-12498822

A (basic) quiz on French culture to complete with students over zoom / equivalent. Instructions in the powerpoint - I ‘share my screen’ with the students and open the powerpoint to go through each slide with students who complete the answers by typing them on their phones in an email to me.

A quiz in French on the Geography of France based on a fun video (in English) from the ‘Geography Now’ YouTube channel - the quiz is cut into two parts and is aimed at KS4/KS5. Answers included. Good for a cultural lesson. Link to video is in the word doc.

A brief set of activities for saying how long you have been playing a sport using present tense with depuis

A revision worksheet revising the use of depuis with present tense on the topic of music.

A ‘bad translation’ listening activity to practise vocab on physical descriptions such as hair and eyes - les cheveux et les yeux. Transcript and answers included - teachers read the sentences and students listen and correct the ‘bad’ English translation - this requires ‘thorough processing’ and not superficial listening.

A ‘disappearing text’ oral and memory task to practise using direct object pronouns to describe people and say how long you have known them - this activity helps to reinforce word order. Topic of family / friends / les relations familiales / les descriptions.