Lesson 1C

I used the French edition, and searched for "house." The response was quick, but I was surprised by how many items pertained to the United States. I had expected the articles to emphasize houses in France and French speaking countries. I did not get the article on Maisons that focused on houses; rather I got articles on Hull House, Halifax, and Jane Addams. The sidebar information was cognates and unremarkable. I noticed when I hovered over certain terms like "suivant" an English definition popped up. Students would like that.

Next I browsed "Peuple" and scrolled down to find "Maison." For results, I got three pages of articles ranging from terrariums to lamps to pets to vacuum cleaners. There was also a wonderfully complete article on houses, and once I found the Translate button I was able to learn a lot.

I encourage my students to explore and just have fun in the French and Spanish editions. They rarely have enough free time or patience to do this, but on the occasions when I have required them to do it for 10 minutes, they laugh a lot and enjoy it. Sadly, there is very little opportunity for this kind of playtime in a middle school day.