French teachers know how important it is to incorporate listening and reading comprehension in our classroom, but how do you like to do it?
Is there something in particular that you like to use at different times of the year? How about when you’re teaching new French tenses and conjugations?
One approach that I like to use is to have students read and listen to the same story in different tenses, and it’s an engaging method that keeps students on their toes all year long!
How is this technique beneficial for students?
1. It helps them practice and improve their conjugation skills in various tenses.
2. They get exposure to the same vocabulary and concepts multiple times, reinforcing their learning.
3. They can work on listening skills simultaneously while learning and working on new and previously learned verb tenses.
4. Students can compare and contrast the differences in sentence structure and verb usage across tenses as some things obviously need to change in order for the stories to make sense.
5. It provides a fun and engaging way to practice multiple skills at once.
If you want to use this technique in your classroom, here are three simple steps to writing the same story in different tenses:
1. Choose a story that is appropriate for your students’ level of proficiency, or better yet, write one yourself!
2. Rewrite the story in the different tenses you want to teach making all necessary changes so that it will make sense.
3. Use the stories in class to practice listening, reading, and conjugation.
If you love this idea, but don’t have the time to create your own stories, don’t worry! I have ready-to-use lessons in my TPT store that require no prep on your end.
I have written a unique story in 6 different tenses that will help your French students improve their reading and listening comprehension, and keep their attention throughout the exercise as they conjugate using the tense you’re currently working on.
I’ve put the 6 stories together in a bundle that includes the present tense, passé composé, imperfect, futur simple, conditional, and futur antérieur.
Each lesson includes:
MP3 audio recording
French-only text version
French and English text version
Gap fill exercises for verbs and vocabulary
To use these lessons, simply follow the five steps outlined in the lesson plan that is provided.
My French stories in six tenses are also perfect for emergency sub plans when you unexpectedly need to miss a day.
Just scroll down to take a look! You will be able to use these stories and lesson plans year after year with every level that you teach (or that you may find yourself teaching in the future).
