How to make your MFL lessons interactive!
Over the years, there has been a stigma attached to language learning. Students have a preconception that learning a new language will be difficult and are often apprehensive at the start of their MFL learning journey. It is our job as specialist MFL teachers to remove the stigma and provide the children with the best first impression of what it is really like to acquire a second language!
At Primary PPA Cover, we have our own teaching software (TeachTool©) which includes games, music, videos, demos, worksheets, resources and more! Therefore, if you are using TeachTool© to cover your MFL provision, we guarantee all resources are interactive and engaging for children. This is how we achieve it…
- Use technology for group learning
We live in a generation where we have been bowled over by technology. So, why are you still using textbooks and workbooks to teach MFL? Use the resources at your fingertips now that technology gives us the opportunity to do so! This includes online interactive games that can be displayed on the interactive whiteboard, videos that can be watched as a class via a projector and then discussed as a group and much, much more. The world really is your oyster when technology meets MFL!
- Use technology to assess learning
Wouldn’t it be great if children were engaged in interactive online games and the data was being evaluated and sent directly to you as a teacher to review? This is exactly what our KidzTool system does! Using an iPad, children complete a series of online games that include vocabulary, grammar points and phrases that have been covered across the half term. This includes listen and write, mix and match activities and many more! This information is then attached to their name in the system where teachers can review their progress and add a comment before pressing a button in the system that converts it into a PDF report to send home to parents. Sometimes, it’s best to take the pressure off yourself and use the tools to do the work for you!
- Connect with native speakers
For some children, going abroad is something they have never had the opportunity to do. So, when it comes to language learning, it never seems “real” until we meet a native speaker! We advise you to set up PenPal schemes where your children can write email letters to children in a Spanish school and the children can reply. This can be an interactive exchange, the Spanish children can write back to them in English or Spanish (alternating) to allow them to also practise their language skills! If we provide your MFL, this is something we will set up for you so please just get in touch. An even better interaction would be to arrange a video conference call via Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams etc. and meet the children “in person”! In our experience, this has always been the highlight of the year for many children. Finally, and if parent/school budget allows, plan a residential! We offer residentials to our partner schools in Malaga and San Pedro (Andalucía). Children in Years 5-7 can go on a week-long residential trip and attend a Spanish school with Spanish children – what better way to practise their language skills learnt all year! For more information, click https://www.primaryppacover.com/residential.
