A Year in F7 – Week 29

This stretch before spring break is always difficult.  We are in the fourth quarter now, and I am experiencing that phenomenon where the days are short but the class periods are long.  This time of year there is a lot of wandering attention, a lot of side conversations, a lot of blurting, a lot of …

A Year in F7 – Week 28

Monday, March 11th, Day 123 1.) Discussion/One Word Image a.) Character creation (physical characteristics/preferences/fears/talents) b.) Problem: use generic problems first, then specific NOTA BENE: I have found that discussing the characters possible problems briefly in English is way more efficient and clear that trying to stay in the TL.  After we settle on two or …

A Year in F7 -Week 27

Monday, March 4, Day 119 Calendar Talk – “Ides of March” To prepare the student for the Ides of March, I made the password for the next two weeks: “cave Idus Martias” Prep Time: 10 minutes Interrogatio/discipulus illustris – Theme “expers” A twist on the student interview.  I asked the students to fill me in …

A Year in F7 – Week 26

MONDAY, February 25th, Day 114 OWI – Character creation (animal) Reflection: I chose “animal” as the category because Wednesday’s Watch and Discuss/Movie Talk activity involves an animal, and the class character could be used in an alternate version of the story. I followed Mike Peto’s character creation sequence, and included brain breaks whenever I felt …

A Year in F7: Week 25

Monday, February 18th President’s Day – No School.   Tuesday, February 19th, Day 110 1.) One Word Image (OWI) Reflection: I’m trying this again in order to get better at creating an entire character in a short amount of time (15 minutes of so).  I did this by asking more questions about personality, rather than …

A Year in F7 – Week 24

Monday, February 11th, Day 105 1.) Card Talk/Picturae Verae et Falsae: Quid egisti biduo? (what did you do on the weekend?) We had a long weekend, and students seemed eager to talk about it; therefore, I had the students draw two pictures: one depicts Prep Time: 0 minutes 2.) Picture Talk: Pictura Vera/Pictura Falsa After …

A Year in F7 – Week 23

Monday, February 4th – Day 103 1.) Storytelling/Storyasking (using Rory’s Story Cube and One Upon a Time storytelling cards) Students turned over the cards to provide options for characters, locations, objects, and emotions.  I use Rory’s Story Cubes to provide options for actions (I have the blue Action sect).  I found both of these resources …

A Year in F7 – Week 22

Monday, January 28th, Day 99 1.) Picture Talk Still image captures from the short film “Piper” (Talk and Discuss to continue) Prep Time: 10 minutes 2.) MovieTalk/Talk and Discuss This is based based on the short Pixar film “Piper” Prep Time: 15 minutes 3.) Ridiculum! using the MovieTalk text Prep Time: 5 minutes 4.) Quick …

A Year in F7 – Week 21

MONDAY MLK Day – No School   TUESDAY, January, 22nd - Day 95 Calendar Talk Card Talk: Picturae Verae et Falsae Topic: Winter Break.  Students drew two pictures: something that they did over break, and something that they wish they did. Picture Talk/Guessing Game: Using a document camera, I projected the students’ pictures, briefly discussed …

A Year in F7 – Weeks 19-20

This is where my plan of making public my lesson plans falls apart a bit. This is not a lesson.  It is a confession. My son was born in late December, and during these two weeks I was out on paternity leave. I had grand plans for comprehension-based, communicative, creative assignments. In the final weeks …