Watch the Teaching Demonstration · Transcript

Recorded demonstration using illustrative examples, without students. A tour of the interactive sequence « Elle disait toujours… » (B2, written production) in under four minutes; the sequence is designed for 45 minutes, and the classroom version published on the site runs about 60 minutes. The video has no sound: the explanations are written on screen.

[0:00] (Title card, with the notice: Recorded demonstration using illustrative examples, without students.)
    Elle disait toujours… B2 written production: building an evocative portrait from concrete details, habits and reported speech. Recorded demonstration using illustrative examples, without students. A tour of the interactive sequence in under four minutes; the sequence is designed for 45 minutes, and the classroom version published on the site runs about 60 minutes.

— 1 · Presentation —
[0:09] (The opening screen of the sequence: title, tags (Production écrite, Niveau B2, Démonstration pédagogique · 45 minutes) and the simulated-class note.)
    The interactive sequence as it opens on the site: B2 written production, designed for 45 minutes.
    Simulated class: every learner suggestion is a prepared example, shown on demand, never presented as a collected answer.

— 2 · The model text —
[0:20] (The model text «Le mardi, à six heures», then the same text with its habits, details, reported words and ending marked in colour.)
    The model text: a short portrait, « Le mardi, à six heures ».
    They look for what makes her appear: habits, concrete details, reported words, an open ending.
[0:35] (The screen «Quatre indices pour faire apparaître une personne», then the detail-removal test: «Tu aidais les voisins.»)
    Four clues make a person appear: a habit, a concrete detail, a characteristic phrase, an ending that does not conclude.
    Then a test: what do we lose if we remove the most precise detail?
    Only a quality remains, « Tu aidais les voisins. »: the effect on the reader becomes visible.

— 3 · Grammar in context —
[0:49] (The screen «Une phrase du texte»: the sentence in indirect speech, three questions, a possible direct-speech reconstruction, and what changes.)
    Grammar starts from a sentence of the text, in indirect speech.
    Turned into direct speech, her voice is heard differently: « On se reverra au mois d’août. »
    Learners observe what changes: « que » disappears, the conditional becomes a future.
[1:01] (The screen «Faire entendre sa voix : le discours rapporté»: the same sentence in direct and indirect speech, a prepared suggestion, the changes.)
    Two ways of reporting the same words…
    …and the narrator’s point of view explains the changes: tu → je, vas → allais.
[1:10] (The screen «Une réponse imparfaite : comment guider ?»: a prepared answer, what already works, a guiding question, the revised version.)
    Feedback on a prepared, imperfect answer: first what already works, then a question that guides…
    …towards the correction: « que je pouvais recommencer ».
[1:19] (The screen «Pourquoi choisir le direct ou l’indirect ?»: the two sentences, two questions, the effect of each form.)
    Why choose direct or indirect speech?
    Direct speech gives the voice presence; indirect speech blends it into the story. A choice of narration, not a rule.

— 4 · The transformation machine —
[1:29] (The screen «Une qualité, aucune scène»: from «Ma grand-mère était généreuse.» to «Tous les dimanches, elle préparait une assiette supplémentaire, même quand personne n’avait annoncé sa visite.»)
    The transformation machine starts from an abstract description: « Ma grand-mère était généreuse. »
    First, an observable action: « Elle donnait beaucoup de cadeaux. »
    Then a situated habit: a day, a gesture, people.
    Finally an evocative detail: the extra plate. The reader sees the generosity without it being named.
[1:53] (The screen «La machine avec la grammaire du jour»: from «Mon oncle m’encourageait toujours.» to the enriched version with a habit, a place and reported words.)
    The same machine with the grammar of the day: a general verb becomes words reported directly, then indirectly…
    …then a habit, a place, an object, and the words: a living portrait.

— 5 · Three paths —
[2:06] (The screen «Trois parcours», column by column, then the side panels opened from the level switch: Coup de pouce, Pour aller plus loin.)
    Three paths to the same objective: Coup de pouce, En autonomie, Pour aller plus loin.
    Learners choose the support they need, and can change along the way: it is not a ranking.
    Coup de pouce: sentence frames, verbs of habit, markers of frequency.
    Pour aller plus loin: four writing choices, such as varying the rhythm or ending without explaining.

— 6 · Writing and feedback —
[2:30] (The screen «À vous de faire apparaître quelqu’un.»: the writing task and its four criteria.)
    The writing task: a 60- to 90-word portrait, built on a habit, a concrete detail and reported words, without naming the emotion.
[2:39] (The screen «Production fictive B»: a prepared portrait, what already works, then two priorities for revision.)
    A prepared example, not a learner’s text: a portrait to improve.
    Feedback: read first, value what works, then choose two priorities, precision and reported speech.
[2:50] (The screen «Amélioration stylistique»: from «Ma tante était vraiment gentille.» to «Elle posait sa tasse de thé, fermait son livre et m’écoutait jusqu’au bout.»)
    Revision, step by step: from a named quality, « vraiment gentille », to a scene the reader can see.
[2:59] (The screen «Amélioration grammaticale»: «que tu pouvais» becomes «que je pouvais».)
    Then grammar: the pronoun follows the narrator’s point of view, « que je pouvais ».
[3:06] (The screen «Version révisée»: the revised portrait, then the before/after comparison view.)
    The revised version…
    …compared with the first: what was kept, enriched, corrected. Feedback helps the learner’s voice become more precise.
[3:16] (The screen «Je vérifie mon portrait»: five criteria ticked one by one.)
    Before giving the text to read, learners check it against a five-point checklist.
[3:26] (The closing screen of the sequence: «Parfois, un détail suffit pour raconter toute une personne.»)
    The aim: help learners write a more precise, more evocative text.
[3:32] (Closing card: the address of the interactive activity and of the classroom version.)
    Open the interactive activity: lelaboh.com/usc-elle-disait-toujours-final. Every step shown in this video can be explored at your own pace. Recorded demonstration using illustrative examples, without students. Classroom version, about 60 minutes in live mode: lelaboh.com/pe-elle-disait-toujours.

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Running time: 3:41