Passe Compose vs Imparfait: Write it Out!

Most language teachers will agree that teaching the preterite vs imperfect is not a fun task.  In English, it's something we do naturally, but in another language, it's a whole other story.

I've always given them a list of common "trigger words" to watch out for in regards of passe compose vs imparfait, but that generally is more useful only in fill in the blank activities.

I tried something super simple today but super effective.  As a warmup, I projected a random photo I found on Google on the board.  In this photo is an older couple eating breakfast, and the clock is even behind them.  I informed the class we would be writing a story, but every story needs its background.  We quickly review that the background/setting of a story is the imparfait, so I instruct them to come up with a few settings of what they see in the photo as the background of the story.  They did this individually.  After a few minutes, we came together and started the story.  I even let them pick a name for the couple.

Once we established the setting, I let them pick groups of two or three.  I showed them the end photo of the story and told them their task was to continue the story to wind up at that end.  I reminded them that they needed to have the metaphorical "bomb" go off (the interrupting action as they know it... more to come on that later) and switch to passe compose.

Each group presented their story, and they were all very different!  It was fun to see what they came up with.  It was also great practice for them as their presentational assessment which would be to write a short story using their vocabulary as well as their knowledge of imparfait and passe compose.

Passe Compose Lego Activity

The passe compose is always one of the trickiest things to teach (and learn!) in French.  I always take it VERY slowly, one chunk at a time until we get through it all.  We started in October and are just now wrapping up all three together.

My students did fairly well one chunk at a time, but once it came down to not only remembering which category you were in (avoir, VANDERTRAMPP or reflexive) but what pieces you need for each category, things started getting messy.  They were adding reflexive pronouns to VANDERTRAMPPs, agreement to avoir, it was just a huge mess.

To help them work through this, I decided to take them back to the building blocks of each type, quite literally.  Courtesy of my son, each group was given big plastic legos.  I labeled the legos in advance and each group received: subject, avoir/etre, reflexive pronoun, past participle and agreement.  I used tape on each one so I could write those categories in permanent marker on the legos without ruining them.  Then, around the room, I put cards with a subject and a verb.  Their task was twofold.  First, they had to figure out which category of verb it was in the passe compose.  Then, they had to get the right lego pieces and write the corresponding word on the lego piece with dry erase marker (this works awesome..wipes right off).   Once they did this, then they could write out their full answer on the sheet by putting the pieces together.  They could check their answer by lifting the card.  The answer revealed was the "pieces" they would have done as well as the full written out answer.

It seemed silly to me, but they really enjoyed it.  It got them thinking about the different parts of forming the past tense depending on category and it helped them to visualize how it all goes together.

In hindsight, I wish I had done it as we learned each type as well, not just when putting all three together.  Definitely something to do next year!

Barbie VANDERTRAMPP Story

One of the hardest things about teaching the past tense is helping the kids to remember which verbs are the VANDERTRAMPP verbs that use etre to form the past tense instead of avoir.  This method was taught to me in high school (so I cannot take credit for it), but it works so well that I feel the need to pass it on to the rest of my readers!

There is a story about Barbie and Ken that uses each of the 17 VANDERTRAMPP verbs.  It escalates quickly and is slightly morbid (which.. you need mourir in there right?) but it always seems to work for the kids.

When I was in high school, we were required to memorize the story.  That method worked well, but who has the time to tell themselves the story as they are trying to remember whether to use etre or avoir to form the past tense of a verb?  I've done a few different methods with the story.  My favorite is having pairs of students illustrate the story.  This helps them to visualize each verb as it "happened" and then they tell the story to the class like a storybook.  We also just say the story together every so often to solidify it into their heads.  I've also done activities where I remove the verbs (after they know it) and the first person to get them all in correctly wins.

Feel free to use it for your class!

Un jour, Barbie est née.  Elle est venue au monde avec un BANG.  Elle est devenue belle femme et Ken est tombé amoureux d’elle.  Un jour, il est revenu la voir et ils sont restés ensemble.  Ce soir-là, ils sont allés chez elle.  Ils sont descendus à la cave, mais il est tombé.  Alors, Barbie est sortie chercher de l’aide.  Elle est revenue avec une ambulance.  Ils sont arrivés à huit heures chez elle, mais ils sont entrés assez tard parce que l’ambulance est passée par (INSERT CITY HERE) en venant de (INSERT CITY HERE).  Ils sont partis rapidement de la maison, mais Ken était dans une condition critique.  Alors, ils sont rentrés trop vite et ils sont montés dans un arbre.  Et c’est comme ça qu’ils sont morts.  Quel dommage.

Photo from: nandabezerra.com