Quel temps fait-il?
Task: Decide for each activity the most appropriate year. In addition, record any ideas for adapting the activities for a different
year group. Finally, add further learning activities for the theme of weather and / or clothes from your own experience.
Learning activity
1 Introduce the question Quel temps fait-il? and the weather phrases with pictures, flashcards
and actions. You say a phrase and children mime the action; you show a flashcard and children
say the phrase and mime the action.
2 Ask children to listen carefully to some weather phrases and see if they can hear two that
rhyme (beau and chaud).
3 Show children a map of France on which you have marked the following places. These have
been chosen because they rhyme with weather phrases: Bordeaux (beau); Pau (chaud); Troyes
(froid); Beauvais (mauvais); Le Mans (vent); Lisieux (pleut); Marseille (soleil). Ask them to tell
you the weather in each place (according to the rhymes).
4 Distribute cards containing the name of a country and a picture of the weather, eg En Guyane,
il fait chaud. Children produce combinations of sentences such as En France, il fait froid, il pleut.
5 Quel temps fait-il à Bordeaux?
A Bordeaux, il fait beau.
Quel temps fait-il à Pau?
A Pau, il fait chaud.
Quel temps fait-il à Troyes?
A Troyes, il fait froid.
Quel temps fait-il à Beauvais?
A Beauvais, il fait mauvais.
Quel temps fait-il à Lisieux?
A Lisieux, il pleut.
Quel temps fait-il au Mans?*
Au Mans, il fait du vent.
Give children this rhyme with each line on a separate card. Read the poem aloud and children
put the cards in order.
6 Use the rhyme above but give children the lines of text and ask them to pair the rhyming lines
themselves.
7 Children read the rhyme in no.5 aloud with good pronunciation.
8 Keep a class (or individual) weather diary for one week, drawing a picture and writing a phrase
underneath once each day. Children write sentences from memory with reasonable accuracy.
9 Use internet sites to find out the current weather in France or francophone countries.
Children use this information to provide weather forecasts. They write a phrase given the
weather in each area or country. They present the information orally with good pronunciation,
using only the visual symbols to prompt them.
Year
Adaptation for another year
10 Play Montrez-moi with weather phrases. You say a phrase and children show you the
correct weather symbol OR draw it.
11 Play Chinese whispers with weather phrases in table groups. The first person draws the
matching weather symbol and hides it. S/he starts the whispering. The final person draws the
symbol for the weather phrase s/he has heard. Person 1 reveals his/her symbol.
12 You (or a pupil) says a series of weather phrases (between 5 and 9 phrases) aloud in a
sequence, speaking steadily and clearly. The children lay weather symbol cards out in order
in which they were spoken.
13 Children listen to and read short weather forecasts (3-5 sentences) and draw weather
symbols in the order of the text.
14 Play Trouvez l’image. Invite two children to the front. Attach weather pictures or flashcards
to the board within easy reach. Call out a weather phrase and children race to see who can
touch the correct picture first.
15 Children make up a rap or song using some place names and some weather phrases. They
perform it from memory.
16 Play Qu’est-ce qu‘il te faut? (What Do You Need?) Display a selection of clothing and props
to match weather phrases, eg gloves, sunglasses, umbrella, etc. Invite children to come to the
front. Call out a weather phrase. Children select an appropriate prop or item of clothing.
17 Show or point to a weather symbol and say a weather phrase. Children say oui or non
depending on whether you are correct or incorrect (i.e. if the phrase matches the symbol).
18 Offer alternative answers, eg il fait beau ou il fait froid? Children volunteer and say the
correct phrase.
19 Children combine weather and clothes vocabulary, using the sentence structure Quand il....,
je porte un/une/des... You model some sentences on the board, replacing the weather phrase
and the clothing word with pictures, and then changing them. Children read them aloud,
substituting each time.
20 You say a weather phrase and children respond by finding (or drawing) an appropriate item
of clothing for that weather.
21 Make two grids on the interactive whiteboard, one containing six pictures of weather and
one containing six items of clothing. Number each item 1–6. Use dice throws to select the
weather and clothing items. Children have to make a sentence as suggested (E.g. quand il fait
froid je porte un short) followed by repetition if correct or non! with thumbs down if incorrect.
22 Children create and read out a weather report, eg Bonjour, je m’appelle Monsieur Brown.
C’est mardi le 22 avril. Voici la météo. Aujourd’hui il pleut. Quand il pleut il te faut un
parapluie.
23 Children read aloud the weather phrases with good pronunciation.
24 Children use a writing frame to write sentences about what weather is like in different places
and seasons. They add qualifiers and time expressions to their sentences, using a word list
or bilingual dictionary.
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