Three stacked books with the Seine river in the background.
TAPIF

Four Free and Simple Lesson Plans for TAPIF

Let’s be honest: Lesson planning is one of the less exciting parts of participating in the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). Furthermore, many TAPIFers come to France with no formal teaching experience, making lesson planning all the more challenging. We’re here to help!


Jalen and I created tons of activities for both middle and high schoolers during our time as language assistants. In this article, we’re sharing four of our most successful lessons with you for free! We’ve included a lesson for students at the beginner level (ex: sixième, cinquième, & quatrième), the intermediate level (ex: troisième & seconde), and the advanced level (ex: première & terminale), and a bonus lesson that’s adaptable to all secondary students! Additionally, each lesson plan includes instructions, tips, and learning objectives to guide you. These tried-and-true activities are easy to implement and a hit with the French students.


Feel free to save or print these lesson plans and use them in your classroom! If you try out one of our lessons or if you have any questions, let us know in a comment.

Check out our video to prepare to participate in TAPIF!

4 Comments

  • Adriana Culotta

    These are great! Where did you guys come up with these ideas? Looking for as many resources as I can…I’m working in one high school but it’s lycée générale and a lycée pro, and there are all different levels…I’ve already been in that awkward situation where I have nothing prepared for my class. I’ve been looking at ESL websites but these are the first lessons I’ve seen that I’ve really enjoyed! Thank you!

    • Jalen & Maria

      Hello! We are so glad that our lessons worked for you. Almost all of our lessons, including the ones in this article, were lightly inspired from ideas that we found online and heavily adapted to our needs as language assistants. One tip that could be useful to you as you plan your own lessons is to keep in mind that complex lesson plans from full-time teachers tend to be unsuitable for language assistants. Instead, try searching for “ESL warm ups,” “ESL games,” or “ESL speaking activities.” You’ll have a much easier time adapting these kinds of lessons to your classroom as a language assistant. Don’t forget to communicate with your teachers about lesson planning, as they can often give you useful ideas that they know will work with a particular group of students.

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