Here are three short, accessible poems by great French poets - Verlaine, Hugo and Alfred de Vigny. Pupils then write the fourth season - Le Printemps!

Resources and a lesson idea for introducing this wonderful character to children and older pupils, too. Children in particular can find it absolutely hilarious when adults do ridiculous things. Don Quixote can really provide some funny and stimulating lessons if you let him ride into the classroom! Lesson plan contains ideas on how pupils can create and act out stories about a modern Don Quixote. Perhaps this person has watched too many Batman films and thinks the world needs someone to fly around in a bat costume trying to solve the world's problems...in Spanish, of course! Have fun! }:o)

The famous part in 'A La Recherche du Temps Perdu&' by Marcel Proust when he takes a spoonful of madeleine (cake) soaked in tea and is suddenly strangely happy, and puzzled, and remembers...A brilliant evocation of how taste prompts memory - and also of tea and cake! Worth reading aloud as the French is so delicious. This sheet starts with a short biog of Proust that suggests why he was &';in search of lost times'. Long extract; pages 4, 5 or 6 could stand alone, though. Double spaced for annotation. Pupils could write their own memories prompted by childhood sweets.

Link to YouTube audio of Juliette Greco singing this dramatic song by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. There are some extra contractions in the lyrics so it is worth letting students know this. Pupils could write diaries or letters after listening to the song. There were a few female pirates, so pupils could write a letter from a pirate to a girlfriend or boyfriend. Or they could write a reply from the pirate to the woman in this song!

Lyrics and YouTube version of a Pirate Song in Spanish. Fun to get the class to write new verses for this song using the vocabulary of everyday life. So pirates are not only the demons of the sea - 'Lavamos los platos&' as well!

This beautiful song in Spanish with the English translation on a separate sheet is suitable for all age groups as the language is simple and there is lots of repetition. The video shows the Spanish lyrics. It is by Jesús Adrián Romero, a Mexican Christian singer/songwriter, and he sings it here with his wife, Pecos.

Paul Verlaine’s ‘Le Ciel Est, Par-Dessus Le Toit…’ uses simple language to set a beautiful scene then deliver an emotional punch at the end. The text has been set out in large font with lots of space around each short verse, for pupil annotation and illustration. After studying this poem, pupils can write their own poem that a) describes a setting then b) expresses a mood or state of mind. This formula works in any combination - e.g. lovely park + murderous rage, rainy day + joyful expectation.

This works as an introduction to Shakespeare’s characters and stories for young children. It also gives older pupils the experience of working with Shakespeare&'s raw materials of character, motive and props. This makes them think about how he wrote for the stage: crucial for gaining marks in Shakespeare exams! Please read Lesson Notes to understand how it works. I have provided two of the sheets in a version with cartoons: Characters and Props. Useful if you are doing this in an MFL. The other sheets would probably need a translation on the back. Have fun! - Also, check out my YouTube Channel, “pavertutor”, for my Shakespeare Puppet videos!

The Lesson Plan (in two parts) tells you how to help pupils to build their own fairy tales step by step. It can be used to teach any language. The videos are The Sleeping Beauty and Snow White in Spanish. There are plenty more fairy tale cartoons in Spanish on YouTube where I found these! Just watch out - a few of them are parodies, so goodness knows what's in those!

The Lesson Plan tells you how to help pupils to write their own fairy tales using a worksheet that gives them a series of simple choices about character, setting and plot. Two French fairytale websites follow, then the videos are cartoon versions of fairytales. Finally, enjoy Part 1 of 'La Belle et la Bête&' - a magical, classic film! The other parts are on YouTube.

A Powerpoint in Spanish introducing the characters and plots of some of Shakespeare's major plays, very briefly and in very simple Spanish.

This imaginative, moving poem goes down well with pupils of all ages. It builds simple images step by step into something highly original. The poem is printed in quite a large font and double spaced to allow room for pupils' own annotations, e.g. of unfamiliar words. They can also illustrate it to help them build up the picture of why death might be wonderful for a very poor person.

These are the lyrics to an Italian song about pirates, but I have so far been unable to find the tune. (I find that if I ask the class if anyone would like to make up a tune there is always someone who offers!) In any case, the rhythm is what helps pupils to remember the words, so speaking or chanting it and it works just as well. Great for revising first person plural verbs. Fun to get the class to write new verses for this song using the vocabulary of everyday life. So pirates are not only the demons of the sea - they also do the washing up!

The Lesson Plan tells you how to help pupils to create their own fairy tales using a series of simple choices of character, description and plot. The videos are examples of some of tne many cartoon versions of famous fairy tales in German. Finally, a feisty German Rapunzel finishes this set of resources!

Goethe’s terrifying poem based on a Danish folktale about the ‘Erlkonig’, possibly meaning ‘Elven King’, but the name is a mystery. Give 1-2 verses at a time to build suspense. {Anyone who Googles the ending and tells the class gets a detention! ;o) ] Let them illustrate each verse to build up a storyboard. Divide class into groups who each learn a different part to recite in a spooky chorus, with the lights off. First web link is Schubert’;s menacing song version, dramatically performed! Second web link is an eerie cartoon version that makes the different voices clear.