In this class, learners with little to no prior exposure to French will learn about basic sentence structure: articles (both definite and indefinite), nouns, descriptive adjectives (including placement in relation to and "agreement" with the nouns they're modifying), possessive adjectives, subject pronouns, verbs, prepositions, and some common expressions using the verbs they're studying. They'll learn to conjugate six of the most frequently used French verbs - être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), faire (to make, to do), pouvoir (to be able to), and vouloir (to want to) - plus "aimer" (to like, to love) and "manger" (to eat) in the present tense, as well as any others that come up in conversation as we create sentences together. ("Jouer" - to play - has come up often in past sections of this class, for example.) Students will practice verbally drilling the conjugations as a group and using these verbs in basic sentences, as these practices help to develop their 'ear' for the correct formation of the verbs. (The correct conjugations will begin to sound right and the incorrect conjugations will begin to sound wrong to their ears.)

Students will be provided with a document (via the Outschool classroom) containing a list of vocabulary, verb conjugations, and grammar rules. This documents can be printed for easy access and reference during and between classes. Vocabulary will be grown through repeated use of words when forming sentences together as a class.

Class 1:

Introduction to French pronunciation
Introduction to the concept of gender
General introduction of the concept of "agreement" (in which articles and adjectives must agree in both gender and number with the nouns or pronouns that they're modifying)
Definite articles (le, la, les, l')
Indefinite articles (un, une, des)
Adjectives and their placement (e.g., most are placed after the noun, but many common adjectives are placed before the noun)
Making adjectives "agree" (in gender and number) with the nouns or pronouns that they're modifying
Vocabulary building (common nouns and adjectives)

Class 2:

Adjectives and agreement continued
Subject pronouns (je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles)
Conjugation of the verb "être" with practice using it in sentences
Vocabulary building (common nouns and adjectives)

Class 3:

Conjugation of the verb "avoir" and using it in sentences
Review of "être"
Vocabulary building (common nouns and adjectives, numbers 1-20)

Class 4:

Possessive adjectives (mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs)
Conjugation of the verb "faire"
Some expressions using "faire" (including the weather)
Conjugation of the verb "aimer"
Continued vocabulary building and review
Students will be assigned a short paragraph to write.

Class 5:

Conjugation of the verb "aller"
The preposition "à" (which "contracts" with the definite articles - le, la, les, l' - that follow it) used with "aller" 
Conjugation of the verb "manger" and using it in sentences along with "de"
The preposition "de" (which "contracts" with the definite articles - le, la, les, l' - that follow it)
Continued vocabulary building and review
Students will be asked to write paragraphs for homework this week.

Class 6:

Conjugation of the verb "pouvoir"
Conjugation of the verb "vouloir"
Expressing sentences/verbs in the negative (negation)
Continued vocabulary building and review
Learners will each read their original paragraphs aloud to the class

During class, I'll be using a combination of white board writing and screen sharing. Students will be asked to actively participate in creating sentences. It would be beneficial for them to also write down the sentences (with pencil/pen and paper) that we create together on the white board, as this will help them more readily solidify grammar concepts and learn vocabulary.