Session 15: Visual Survey

Objective: By the end of class, you will be able to…

Beginner: say words or phrases in French to describe technology now and in the past, giving details to compare

Intermediate: say sentences in French to describe to describe technology now and in the past, giving details to compare

Advanced: say a series of connected sentences in French to to describe technology now and in the past, using transition words to say more

Preparation:

The Guided Oral Input strategy you will be using today is a Visual Survey. This versatile strategy was first introduced in Session Six, where you can read a more detailed explanation of the strategy.

As explained in Session Six, a Visual Survey is basically a series of images about a topic, which you will describe/discuss, and then a “voting slide” which shows all four of the images so that students can vote on their favorite. The example in this lesson is from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI

Liftoff) but you can make your own quite easily, about any topic that fits with the language focus of “describing in the past and present.”

Now, on to the lesson procedures:

Continue to greet the students in English review expectations, etc., and share the lesson objective.

If you have not yet set up your Videographer, I urge you to do so now, because the next session, Session 16, is the first session in the Narration cycle (Cycle Two), and you will want to have the Videographer trained to record Video Retells. See the HR Manual in the Appendices for more information.

You might make your own Reading Workshop text, use the ones in our Teachers Pay Teachers store, such as the example below, or work with a Shared Writing text from a previous lesson. Distribute or project the text. Then, share the lesson objective if you have not already done so, check in with your Class Starter (and perhaps Videographer), and begin the lesson.

Write Inside the Story

This strategy is explained in more detail in Session Nine, when it was first introduced as a Student Application and Assessment strategy, and in Session 12, where it was first used for Reading Workshop.

In this sample lesson, I use the beginner reading from our Teachers Pay Teachers store (CI Liftoff) for Cycle One Phase Four. The texts for this phase are infographics. Of course, in any Reading Workshop, you can always choose to use a text that your class wrote together in a previous lesson.

As always, the lesson notes are written in English. The course language is in black. The class’s stronger shared language is grey.

Hand out (or project/display) the Reading Workshop text. Once the students can see the projected text, or they have it on their desks, you can proceed.

First, tell the class what the topic of the reading is, most likely speaking in the class’s stronger shared language, and then read it aloud in the course language and use the strategy, as modeled below.

“I will read this infographic to you in French, about technology use in France. We will continue using this list of words (point to the anchor chart) to write more details in the text.”

French Beginner Infographic

(Give the signal to start class, and have your Videographer begin filming, and then read the text in the course language and discuss the graphic elements, if using an infographic.)

“In the past (pointing to the anchor chart)…who had a phone when they were 5?” (Students raise hands or call out.)

(Speaking and writing in the course language) “Who had an iPad when they were 5?” (Students raise hands or call out.)

(Speaking and writing in the course language) “Who loved their iPad?” (Students raise hands or call out.)

(Speaking and writing in the course language) “Terrell (pointing to the anchor chart) loved his iPad in the past.”

(You might want to give the class a check mark on the anchor chart or other location, to award a “point” for using an item from the chart.)

Repeat with a couple of other sentences, using the term(s) on your Anchor Chart to restate the information from the Reading Workshop text. After a few minutes, move into the Guided Oral Input, with a short calendar check-in and then begin the class survey.

It is suggested to continue the routine of a brief (2-3 minutes) calendar check-in, which (1) creates an opening/transition routine and (2) continues to reinforce, daily, and in a meaningful context, important vocabulary such as the names of the months and days, weather, numbers, preferences, and activities. For guidance on how to gradually introduce new topics/vocabulary into this daily routine, please see Session Five.

Display the slideshow, and briefly introduce the Class Survey. “This is a survey about technology now and in the past.”

“Class, look (gesture) at the phone (point to the image). Think (gesture) about the phone (gesture). Is it modern (write the word in the course language and, if it is not an obvious cognate, in the class’s stronger shared language, also, to establish the meaning of the term)?”

(students call out: No! etc.)

“Yes, class, this phone is NOT modern (place your hand under the word). Who in the class (gesture) has a modern phone? (counting students’ raised hands) One, two, three…28 people have a modern (point) phone.”

“Who in the class (gesture) has talked (gesture) on a phone like this (place your hand on the image)? (counting students’ raised hands) One, two…two people have talked (gesture) on a phone like this (point).”

“Class, think (gesture). Is a modern phone smaller (gesture) or bigger (gesture) than this phone (point)?”

(Note: You may not have used the construction “smaller than” previously in class. Because your goal is for students to comprehend the overall message, and not the individual parts of the language, there is probably no need to worry about the fact that your students have not yet encountered that language structure. You will rely on meaning and context to convey the comparison you are making between old phones like the one pictured, and “modern” phones.)

(students call out: Big! Bigger! etc.)

“Yes, this phone (point) is bigger (gesture) than a modern (point to the word) phone. A modern phone is bigger (gesture) or smaller (gesture) than this phone (point)?”

(students call out: Small! Smaller! etc.)

“Yes, a modern (point) phone is smaller (gesture) than this phone (point). Does a modern phone fit in your pocket (gesture or sketch to establish meaning)?”

(students call out: Yes! Pocket! etc.)

“Yes, a modern phone is portable (write in the course language and, if it not an obvious cognate, in the class’s stronger shared language as well). It fits in your pocket (gesture or indicate the sketch/words). Is this phone (point) portable (point to word(s))?”

(students call out: No! Not portable! No pocket! etc.)

“Yes, a modern (point) phone is smaller (gesture) and portable (point to the word) and it fits in your pocket (gesture and/or point to the word/sketch). Is a modern phone more convenient (write in the course language and perhaps also in the class’s stronger shared language to establish meaning)?”

(students call out: Convenient! More convenient! Yes! etc.)

“Yes, a modern (point) phone is smaller (gesture) and portable (point to the word) and it fits in your pocket (gesture and/or point to the word/sketch) and it is more convenient.

Look (gesture) at this phone (point). “The Jetsons” was a TV show (sketch, write, and/or teach a gesture to establish meaning) - the Jetsons (writing and spelling in the course language) J-E-T-SO-N-S. The show was from the year 1962 (write) and it showed the future (write in the course language and the class’s stronger shared language if the word “future” is not a close cognate, as it is in French) - 2062 (write). Is the year now 2062 (point) or 2021?”

(students call out: 2021!)

“Yes, it is 2021 - do we have phones like this phone from the TV show (point to the sketch) the Jetsons? Do we have video (point and, if the word is not an obvious cognate, write in the course language and perhaps the class’s stronger shared language to establish meaning) phones in 2021?”

(students call out: Yes! Video! We have video phones in 2021! etc.)

“Yes, we have video phones (point) in 2021. Is this video phone (point) from the TV show (point) the Jetsons, from the year 1962 (point), is it bigger (gesture) or smaller (gesture) than a modern (point) phone?”

(students call out: Bigger! Bigger than a modern phone! etc.)

“Yes, this video phone (point) from the TV show (point) the Jetsons, from the year 1962 (point) is bigger (gesture) than a modern video phone. Is this video phone (point) from the Jetsons (point) portable (point)? Does this video phone (point) fit in your pocket (gesture and/or point to the sketch/word)?”

(students call out: No! No pocket! etc.)

“Yes, this video phone (point) does NOT (gesture “not”) fit in your pocket (point/gesture). Is this phone (point) or a modern (point) phone more convenient (point to the word(s) you wrote previously)?”

(students call out: Modern! More convenient! Modern phone! etc.)

Continue in this fashion to discuss all four slides that are pictured on the voting slide. You can “angle” the question for the vote however you want.

For beginners, you will most likely want to stick to more concrete questions, such as “our favorite picture” or “the best technology.” With more advanced students, you might ask students to vote for “the most convenient” or “the most-changed technology” since the olden days. Teachers, I *know* that the nineties and even the eighties don’t seem like the “olden days” to us, but then I think about how in 1994 (the year I graduated from high school), the year 1967 seemed like ancient history to me, and then I think about how 1994 is just as “ancient” to kids now as 1967 was for me when I was 17. And then I understand how recent the “olden days” can actually be.

You can also prepare two sets of four slides - a total of eight - and two voting slides. This is particularly useful in a block class, as you can use the first four slides in the first part of Guided Oral Input and the second set in the second part of Guided Oral Input.

If you have two voting slides, then you might want to have four images of old tech on one of the voting slides, with which students can vote on the “most different from the modern day” image, and a second voting slide with four images of modern tech, with which students can vote on “the most useful modern-day tech.”

After about 10 to 12 minutes of Guided Oral Input, you will want to make sure that you move on to the voting slide, and conduct a brief vote, before it is time in the class session to move on to Scaffolded Oral Review, so you will only want to spend about two to three minutes - maximum - per slide, briefly introducing and discussing each one, and leaving at least two or three minutes to conduct the vote before moving on.

Finish My Sentence

Move to your Review Spot. Move to your Review Spot. For a detailed explanation of the “Finish My Sentence” strategy, see Session Five

“OK, we are going to play a game called ‘Finish My Sentence.’ I will say a fact from what we just learned, in French, and then you will all speak in French as much as you can, to finish the sentence and say more facts that we learned, or add on other facts that you know. I will listen and count to six on my fingers. If everyone is still talking when I get to six, the class will get a point. If you cannot keep talking in French for the whole six seconds, I will get a point.”

If you want to explain again in the course language, it might go something like this:

You will get with a partner. I will begin a sentence in French. Partner B will speak in French. Partner A will encourage Partner B.

I will count to ten. If you speak in French for ten seconds, the class gets a point!

“Number One. (hold up one finger) The video phone on the Jetsons TV show from 1962 is…” (The class speaks in French saying endings like, “big, not convenient, not modern.” or other statements according to their ability.)

“Ten! Good job, a point for the class!” (Tally the class points, perhaps writing on the board.) “Question Two. Modern phones are…” (The class speaks in French saying various endings as you count the seconds.)

Repeat with more sentences, if time permits.

Write and Discuss with an Anchor Chart

You will continue to use the anchor chart that you set up in Sessions 13 and 14, adding two or three new terms to it today. Please see the Shared Writing in Session 14 for a more detailed explanation of how to add new terms to the anchor chart. Additionally, please see the sections on Reading Workshop and Shared Writing in Session Nine for more detailed information on setting up anchor charts and goal boxes during Shared Writing.

Your Shared Writing might sound something like this today:

Draw a box and write/sketch the word “Goal” in the course language.

Note: Some teachers like to make pre-printed sheets that already have the goal box and clip art of a basketball, soccer, or other goal.

“Our goal (point to the word “goal” in the course language) is to describe in the past (point to the word “past” on the chart) and present (point to the word “past” on the chart). Today our goal is to use these words (write “n’était pas aussi” (was not as) and “est plus” (is more) in the course language in the box). We will get a point every time we use one of these words, so look for ways to use them in the sentences. OK, let’s go!”

Write: Technology

Say: Technology that was MORE portable (gesture/point to the words/images) or Technology that was LESS portable?

Students: Less! or Less portable! or Technology that was less portable! etc.

Write/Say: Technology that was less portable… Good job!

Write/Say: Technology that was less portable than in 2021.

Say and write: Old phones are… Say: Old phones are NOT as small, or old phones are as small as modern phones? (put a check or tally mark in the goal box because you used one of the goal words.)

Students: NOT! or Not as small! or Not as small as modern phones! etc. Say and write: Old phones are not as small as…not as small as phones in 2021 or not as small as modern phones? Students: Modern! or 2021! or Not as small as modern phones! etc. Say and write: Old phones are not as small as modern phones. Good job! (put a check or tally mark in the goal box because you used one of the goal words.)

Read/Recycle: Technology that was less portable than in 2021. Old phones are not as small as modern phones.

Continue as time permits, accumulating points in the goal box as you go. If another word to describe in the present and past comes up naturally as you write, and you think it is important to remember and use in the future, you can add it to the Anchor Chart — but SPARINGLY! You do NOT need to add every single new term to the chart; that can get very cumbersome. After you have written two to five sentences, depending on time, move on to Shared Reading.

The “Go-To” Daily Strategies

Shared Reading is not modeled in this lesson, as you are simply continuing to use the “go-to” strategies explained and modeled in the previous sessions. Refer to Sessions one through ten for more details.

Everyone Acts

This strategy is an excellent “bridge” to the next lessons, from Cycle Two (Narration), in which the literacy strategies (and anchor charts) will focus on narrating actions in the past, with dialogue and inner thinking to show the characters’ reactions and personalities. It is a “bridge” because, here in the last Description session, you will begin having students think/ speak aloud, as they re-enact possible thoughts and statements that someone might make regarding the descriptive topic you discussed today (in the example, old and new technology).

I first saw this strategy in a video called “TPRS in the Nineties,” by Susan Gross, a talented French teacher and pioneer of teaching with comprehensible input. Susan had her students partner up and portray the action of a story, each partner taking a role and reenacting the story, with half the class speaking simultaneously to portray the action of their assigned character, as Susie narrated and coached the whole class on their lines

and actions. I was smitten by the idea of having all the students involved in the acting, instead of the usual “professional” actors, the students whose job it will be to act in class stories when they are “hired”).

This strategy is an excellent introduction to the job of actors, as it offers all the students, no matter how timid or retiring, the opportunity to get in on the acting action, from the safety and comfort of a partnership, and without anyone’s attention being directed at them, as all the other students are involved in their own acting partnership.

You might tell your students, speaking in the class’s stronger shared language, as you set up this activity the first few times, that they can “ham it up” as much as they want to, but your basic expectation is that they repeat their lines to their partner and use any gestures that you assign to the words, even if their gestures are not incredible examples of the time-honored French art of le mime, or pantomime.

If your class seems reluctant to participate, you might have them spend a couple of minutes drawing or fabricating props, which can make the acting more fun and also give shier students something to do with their hands as they act with their partner.

You can either direct the making of the props by speaking in the course language and modeling the drawing on the board or overhead, which means that you can use the prop-making time as an opportunity for more language input and also control the props that the partnerships have available during the acting, or you can give the class a couple of minutes to prepare independently, which means that everyone might have different props, and also that the use of students’ stronger shared language(s) will most likely rule during the propmaking time.

You might want to quickly retell the details that you intend to use when you begin “Everyone Acts,” before providing a few minutes of work time to prepare the props, so that students can jot down possible props that might be employed, as they listen. This retell, of course, also gives you an opportunity to provide another dose of input that reuses the language that students already interpreted during the preceding lesson components of Guided Oral Input, Scaffolded Oral Review, Shared Writing, and Shared Reading.

There are advantages to allowing students to make their own props that, for you, might outweigh the time spent working in the stronger shared language: it builds creativity and strengthens the bond between the partners, and might help less-eager actors to “warm up” to the upcoming guided speaking task.

When using Everyone Acts in a narrative lesson, you will already have established the character(s) that the actors will portray. However, when using this strategy with non-narrative lessons, with informational or, in this case, descriptive lessons, you will need to “fabricate” two characters who can speak and think about the details of the class discussion.

You can “fictionalize” some of the information and have students assume various roles to act out short vignettes that bring the information to life. For example, in this example of technology, you can fabricate two characters, perhaps a time traveler from 1962 and a modern-day person, or a character from the Jetsons and a modern-day person. The important thing when setting up your characters for this particular phase (describing in the past and present) is that the two characters naturally have different perspectives on the past and present. So, one of them needs to be more “old school” and the other needs to be more “modern,” however that makes sense for the specific information that you chose to present in this Visual Survey.

You can just make up the dialogue on the spot, or you can pre-plan a short script that contains ideas and words that students have heard, written, read, or used in previous instruction.

You will simply retell the details of the class discussion in the course language, using the two characters to think and say various things about the information, modeling gestures that the various characters do, and indicating to the class to recreate the gestures in their partnership. You state the characters’ thoughts and dialogue, accompanied by gestures, and then pause and indicate that the students who are portraying that character are to repeat the line.

You can provide all the dialogue and narration, and simply have the actors repeat after you, or, with more advanced students, you can offer the opportunity to improvise a bit of dialogue by beginning a statement and having the actors finish it in their own way, in a similar fashion to the “Finish My Sentence” strategy that you have already used.

The activity might go something like this, after the example lesson provided in this session:

“OK, you will get with a partner, and decide who is Partner A and who is Partner B. Partner A will be a time traveler (write “time traveler” in the course language and perhaps also in the class’s stronger shared language to establish meaning) from the year 1962, and Partner B will be a modern person from the year 2021. I will say your lines in French with gestures and emotions, and then the partner who has that role will repeat the line with gestures and emotions, then Partner A will do the same, taking turns to create a little scene in French.”

“Partner A, the time traveler (point to the word(s)), says (gesture), “I love (gesture) my phone!” (the students who are Partner A repeat to their partner, speaking in the course language, “I love (gesture) my phone!”)

Note: To exhort your class to greater heights of dramatic artistry, and also make an opportunity to repeat the input another time, you can use the “No, No, Not Like That!” trick, as described below.

You will simply restate the actors’ line, insisting that the actor say it with MORE emotion, as modeled below.

“No, no, Partner A, the time traveler (point) is VERY HAPPY (gesture or use your posture and/or facial expression to establish meaning). The time traveler says (say the line very dramatically and gesture very dramatically), “I LOOOOOVE (big gesture) my phone!!”

(the students who are Partner A repeat to their partner, speaking in the course language and, it is to be hoped, in a more dramatic fashion , “I looooove (gesture) my phone!”)

Continue on to Partner B, and perhaps return again to Partner A and, time permitting, cycling through another set of lines with both partners.

At the end of the period, you might debrief on what went well, and perhaps setting or reviewing goals.