This year I am teaching the bookends: levels 1 & 2… and AP. One teacher sanity saving strategy for teaching six classes with three preps is to use the same activities across levels, adapting for the class you’re in.
Weekend chat is one of those activities. Though I have some high flyers in AP (in all classes, really) even they can benefit from scaffolded support to help them grow. Often times AP Weekend Chat is in partners/small groups, while the lower level courses tend to be large group oriented.
Here’s a supporting document that I created to help all levels. Each student gets a copy on Monday or Tuesday (we are on an A/B schedule) to use as we have our weekend chat, then I collect them and save them for the next week. Hope you find it helpful!
You can find editions adjusted for quarantine-friendly activities here.
Updated 9/2020: Get the Spanish edition with preterit tense here: Weekend chat placemat
Update 9/8/2018: A future tense version of the Spanish edition (Iré…): Weekend chat placemat Spanish Future
Updated 9/2020 Update 9/19/2018: An immediate future version of the Spanish edition (Voy a…)
And thanks to Lindsay Smythe Doucet, here’s a French version: Weekend chat placemat FRENCH
Update 11/23/2018: Thanks to Wendy Farabaugh for contributing an alternative past tense French version: Weekend chat placemat past tense FRENCH
German editions past & immediate future (I’m going to…) are here! Weekend chat placemat German
Interested in helping produce versions in other languages? Message me! It’s fast & easy–just fill in translations in a spreadsheet & I’ll take care of the rest.
Aventuras Nuevas 
I love the “Level ups”!
I’m not quite sure “Fui a mi sofá” is an authentic type of response though. My students always want to say “Fui a mi casa” and I have to work with them on saying “Me Quedé en casa/ no salí”. Perhaps a better alternative would be to respond “Solo descansé (en el sofá)”
Good point. I’ll put it in placemat 2.0 🙂
Did you make a version 2.0? I would like to use with my class this week.
Not yet. So far I have the original, the French edition, & the Spanish future tense edition. I hope you will find those useful.
I love it! All of the visuals really help make things clear. And the levels ups section is fantastic! Thank you for sharing!
Could I make an Italian version? I teach level 2 Italian and would like to do this activity with them.
Hi Danielle, yes, please! Send me an email at lovemysummer AT gmail DOT com and I’ll send you an editing link.
I would be interested in doing a version of this in French futur simple tense.
Hi – I’m curious, if I may – what do you do differently in/for AP to make their weekend chats more at their level? (Other than having do it in pairs, rather than as a class.) Thanks!
Hi Kasey, I ask them for more details, ask them to chat & tell me comparisons/contrasts in what their group did, and try to pull others into their reporting. We also talk about “what would you have done if you had another day for the weekend?” and similar questions to push the complexity up. Periodically we have midweek Pupdate where kids show off pics of their pets & tell us about them. Sounds simplistic—and it can be—but they invented it are into it, so we go with it 🙂
Could you possibly share an editable version of this with me? I love it, but we live near a lake, not a beach, and my kids are k-6 so no work for them. I would love to customize it…!
Hi Elizabeth, if you can edit Pages documents, yes. If not, let me know what other changes you would recommend and I’d be happy to make a younger student version.
Would you be willing to share an editable version? I have a few students who do not want the Fortnite llama and I’d like to do a French near future version, if it’s needed. I could also do an Italian one, if it’s still needed as well.
Hi Lydia, the updated version (in red above) doesn’t have the loot llama on it. I’ll email you about the other versions 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Hello – could you explain how to make a weekend place mat?
Hola, happy to help. Could you elaborate on your question?
Hi, I love the idea. I just wondered how you created them – do you just do these on google slides?
Thank you!
Christine Jones French Teacher, French Club Sponsor and Gifted Coordinator Upper Dublin High School Fort Washington, PA 19034
On Tue, Jun 23, 2020 at 5:04 PM Aventuras Nuevas wrote:
> sradibujo commented: “Hola, happy to help. Could you elaborate on your > question? ” >
I used Pages on a Mac. Most of the images are emoji 🙂
Hello, Sradibujo, I am wondering if you would be willing to share an editable version of the placemat. Some of the choices my students cannot use. Thanks so much! I appreciate you sharing this material with us.
Hola, gracias por leer. If you can open Pages documents on a Mac, I can share an editable edition.
Yes, I do use Pages. Thanks again!
These are fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing. One question…Where is ‘puzle’ used? Is it pronounced like an Englishy ‘poozle’? or is it ‘POOZ-lay’? I’ve only heard of rompecabezas. Thanks again!
Thank you for reading. It’s from Spain, pronounced POOS-lay 🙂
¡Hola! I love these! Is there an Italian version of the placemats?
Not yet—would you like to help make one?
Yes! Count me in!
I’m an AP Spanish teacher, and WOULD LOVE to help you make placemats for that level. Would you be interested?
I also teach AP, and use these (as well as others) in AP. That said, I’m always open to hear new ideas. What do you have in mind?
I’d like to first prepare a placemat which explains what to do at each turn of the conversation. Then, placemats according to AP themes (based on preguntas esenciales). How does that sound?