Crecia C. Swaim
In the sixth grade students learned the question and answer phrases
Tu aimes. . .?
and
J'aime. . .
to ask and tell about likes
.
In the seventh grade, they practiced using all present tense forms of the verb
aimer.
This unit will recycle that knowledge at the end of the seventh grade year to pave the way for determining and practicing how to conjugate all regular -er verbs.
I will present students with the familiar conjugation of the verb
aimer.
I will ask them to analyze it in terms of similarities and differences among all of its present tense forms, in order to discover a possible pattern and procedure. As they present their findings, we will, as a class, decide if each step makes sense, so that we end up creating one classroom prediction of how to conjugate regular -er verbs. Then I will show them my steps checklist, referred to as a Visual Instruction Plan (VIP), for conjugating regular -er verbs. We will compare and contrast to see if they discovered all the actual steps to the procedure. (See the Education World article listed in the
Resources
section for a more thorough explanation of a VIP, and the appendix for a copy of the one I created).
This skill (the ability to conjugate regular -er verbs) will be applied throughout the unit as students continually use conjugations of degrees of like verb expressions (
aimer, adorer, détester)
as well as these verbs related to food:
manger
(to eat),
cuisiner
(to cook),
préparer
(to prepare). The following verbs will be used in our treatment of the nutritional guidelines and recommendations:
consommer
(to consume),
recommander
(to recommend),
augmenter
, (to increase or augment),
limiter
(to limit),
comparer
(to compare),
égaler
(to equal). We may address the need to chew slowly with the following verbs:
savourer
(to savour or enjoy),
engouffrer
(to gobble up or devour),
mâcher
(to chew),
digérer
(to digest),
aider
(to aid).