Les jeux coopératifs

Les jeux coopératifs, or cooperative games, are a great way to engage students in the FSL classroom. Brain research has shown that when students are engaged in cooperative games they are using more parts of their brain than during other types of learning activities (eg. giving presentations, listening, reading, or writing). This is because cooperative learning lets students interact with each other and generate their own words and sentences instead of using scripts or memorized lines to practice speaking a new language. To see a teacher using cooperative learning strategies in action, watch these videos. Here is a table with four cooperative games and activities to try with your class: 

 

Les jeux coopératifs	Description	Applications
Rally Robin	1.Assign partners A and B 2.Decide on a question to use 3.Pass a sheet of paper back and forth, with each partner sharing one idea 4. Share the sheet with the class	Vocabulary Eg. Name all the colours you can think of
Determining key ideas	1.Assign an amount of reading 2.On a post-it note, have students write one or two main ideas found in the reading 3.Put all the post-its on the board to discuss after two minutes	Reading Identifying the main idea
Jigsaw	1.Make groups of six 2. Each member of the group of six becomes an expert on one aspect of a task 3. Each member then divides off into their expert groups to read or discuss a certain topic 4. Each member then reports back to their original group to inform them about what they now know	Reading (dividing 6 difficult readings up)
Inside/outside circle	1.Divide into two groups 2.One group is on the inside and the other is on the outside of a circle 3.The inside circle faces out and the outside circle faces in 4.Start with a partner 5.After two minutes, step two steps to the right to discuss a topic with a new partner.	Review for a summative task