KS3/4 Modern Foreign Languages - Actions Speak Louder

Hello everyone,
I am teaching in the middle of the desert of Morocan Sahara...I have been teaching English for 6 years now..the more I teach , the more I discover myself, my potentials and my points of both weaknesses and strenght...let me tell you that using students ' bodies in the classroom is one of the best enjoyable techniques that I found useful for teaching all students...they like learning by playing...at the beginning , they found it somehow childish, but later on they discover that it is not a shame to make the child that is inside us all learn through playing and using our hands and feet and voices....
As tachers, we focus alot on books, copybooks ...and pens and we foregt that kids bring other materisls with them to the classroom...that's their bodies, minds and souls...
I would like to thank the beloved Jude, from the States, who has always been a great source of love, help and inspiration for me...she provided me and my students with certain songs that I do use at school...and this have changed the atmosphere inside the realm of the classroom...Thanks for teachers tv for this video...It is so fruitful, helpful , and &as Jude taught me: so likeable and loveable...
Rachid khouya
Es-Semara City
Morocoo

I heard the "expert" person talk about "creativity", and the students being "active", but all I see is a very repetitive lesson, with the children imitating the teacher. This method can be used at times, but not as systematically as it seems to be on the video. I know that a part of teaching is based on repetition, but this method takes it to the extreme.
Moreover, this isn't natural! French people aren't fidgeting while speaking, and when they are, it's for very precise effects (which could be learnt too).
As for the intonation, the "music" of French : gestures emphasize the words far too much, thus distorting the French language. I found that each word is pronounced very well by both teacher and children, but the sentences (whenever they occur)do not sound very French. The problem is the "chain" of words, words together, fluently stuck together : for instance the verb "avoir" is never ever used on its own : "j'ai" doesn't make sense at all. I understand that deconstruction is all part of the process to get to fluency, but I think that children need to hear some fluency to grab it, understand it, and eventually integrate it more and more into their linguistic skills.

Really entertaining, a good idea to learn with movement.
This could be a good idea for "English students" to learn english

Having watched Anne Orde teaching French using gestures, I would like to recommend to everyone interested in this method to consult the work of David Hicks who has published a book called "Le francais par le rythme et la musique de Monsieur X"
and a CD entitled "Le rythme, la musique et les raps de Monsieur X". I had the pleasure of taking part in one of David's workshops and was absolutely sold to the idea. I teach primary school twice a week, but am head of languages in a secondary school and decided to try this method with my year 10's...and they love it. It takes a while to get into the habit of repeating the same gestures, but it is well worth persevering. Music and action mean fun and success!

Having watched Anne Orde teaching proves that using gestures works. May I recommend to everyone interested in using this technique to consult the excellent work of David Hicks, who has published a book of songs and exercises, accompanied by a CD to help teaching with gestures and music. I have tried this method with my year 10 classes who absolutely love it...yes, even the tall lads in year 10 enjoy learning with gestures and music. Although David's work is intended for primary school pupils, I found that most of it is easily adaptable for secondary classes:
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Very very creative, yes actions speak louder, cause on learning a new language, students have limited vocabulary and grammar so they needs to take encouragement from their actions to express themselves better, and when they associate the words with actions it is much more better. Congratulations!!!

Great idea, I can't wait to try this out!
Is there an episode 2?

Well done! Visual and kinesthetic cues in learning a foreign language, are great aids to increase student motivation and engagement.