Tips to passing the english Bac

[Mittens14]

It is my first year teaching english at a french lycee .
I have a curriculum to follow but does anyone have any tips about the best way to help the students pass their English Bac?
Is it a good idea to give them lots of Bac blancs?
Or as much vocabulary as they can retain?
Or is there something that I am perhaps missing?
It would be great ro hear from students or teachers.
Many many thanks

[Ancienchateau]

My friend teaches at lycée and prépa and she says it's mostly about vocab lists that they need to learn with key words which need to be used as much as possible.

[Mittens14]

Thank you so much ancienchateau
Sorry to question further but what are the ' key words?'
Where would I find these ?
Thank you if possible

[Ancienchateau]

No idea but I can ask my friend. Remind me if I forget because I won't see her until after NY. Maybe it's something the lycée provide you with?

[Mittens14]

Thank you so much.
I will PM you in a few days.
Happy new year

[Madamfrog]

Which académie are you in? You can get books of vocabulaire thématique, key words tend to be context-specific, however, if you are doing preparation of a document relevant to one or more of the notions in the programme then the vocab list is easy enough to sort out yourself. Concentrate on getting them to learn vocab in context with structures so that they can actually use it for expressing themselves orally and in writing. Depending on which série you have and whether it is LV1 or LV2 they need to be attaining B1, B2 or C1 in the European framework of reference so there is a lot to learn.

The part of the exam which causes the most trouble is the listening comprehension ( for S ES and STMG) because of the way it is marked, this is something you need to give them plenty of as well. You should be expecting most of them to have a fairly sophisticated grasp of language by Terminale, even if many don't actually have it. If you don't mark the Bac just giving them past papers isn't that useful, you give them bits eg a comprehension and then dissect it in class to see where to get the points, a Bac Blanc is the actual mock exam and takes 2, 3 or 4 hours depending on the série so you won't have the opportunity to do more than a couple.

You also need to read the rules for the programme on eduscol and get the marking sheets for each série and paper so you and the pupils know where they are. I give them to my pupils in première so they know what is expected, and again in Terminale. You can ask me if you have any specific questions, I teach in Lycée and, as most of us are, am also a Bac examiner.

[Mittens14]

Many thanks Madamfrog, very helpful indeed.
I will PM you