Starters
Starters are short 5 minute activities which come at the start of your
lesson. They can be linked to the main content of your lesson or can be
used as reinforcement for previously learnt work.
The list of ideas for starters provided may be used, not only as starters,
but, also as 5 minute reinforcement activities to help with consolidation
during the week.
Some of the easiest starters to prepare involve the teacher asking
the class a question about France or Francophone countries and
accepting answers.
This can be set up in different ways.
 Simple teacher - whole class question and answer
 Ask pupils to discuss question with their partner and then take
class feedback
 Ask pupils to note answers on mini whiteboards and then take class
feedback
Suggestions for types of question/activity.
 How many countries can you name where French is spoken?
 How many French cities/towns can you name?
 What colour is the French flag?
 When do you think a French person may use the following phrases?
Bon appetit Bon voyage Bonne chance
Bon anniversaire
 Show class a map of France/Paris/World. Using labels with
bluetack ask class to stick labels in correct place.
Putting vocabulary in alphabetical order e.g.
(1)La Suisse
(5)La Belgique
(2) Le Maroc
(6)Le Luxembourg
(3)La France
(4) L’Algérie
This can be done as a whole class activity or if you number the
vocabulary, the class can use mini whiteboards to note the order which
they think the vocabulary should go. If prepared on an interactive
whiteboard, the items of vocabulary could be dragged and dropped in the
correct order.
Reflecting on English/French/other languages spoken by pupils in the
class.
Suggestions.
 In how many languages can you say “hello”/count to 10/say my name
is? Depending on the make up of your class you would select how
much/little you would expect them to be able to say in different
languages. (If you have time this can be further extended. On a
map of the world locate where the countries of the languages
spoken by your pupils are)

Before you introduce greetings in French, ask class to reflect on all
the different types of greetings we have in English –
Hi/Hello/Good morning/evening/night etc. This will make it easier
for them to internalise the French greetings.

How do we make words plural in English? Which letter do we add to
the end of words? Do you think it’s the same in French?
(Advanced: Is that the case with all words in English? What about
goose – geese? Do you think there are some exceptions in French?
Oiseau- oiseaux)

To help introduce the concept of masculine and feminine. Ask
pupils “Do we have any words which are masculine and feminine in
English?” Prince-princess, actor-actress, king-queen … elicit more
from class. Explain that all nouns are masculine or feminine in
French.
Ordering words
This can be done easily with numbers, days and months.
e.g mardi
vendredi
samedi
lundi
dimanche
jeudi
mercredi
This can be done as whole class activity, in pairs or individually on mini
whiteboard. The items of vocabulary can be numbered to make it quicker
if the activity is being done on mini whiteboards.
If the activity is set up on an interactive whiteboard the words could be
dragged/dropped and therefore reordered easily.
Categorising vocabulary
This can be done in many different ways. E.g.
 Which of these words are colours and which are classroom items?
Rouge orange un livre un bic bleu
une gomme
blanc vert
 Which of these words is masculine and which is feminine?
Une tortue un chat un chien une souris un lapin un serpent
( you could make this more difficult by omitting the article to see if the
class could remember the gender of the word)
 Which of these words is plural and which is singular?
Livres stylo crayons lapin chat chiens gommes
If this was set up on an interactive whiteboard the words could be
dragged and dropped into the correct columns.
Against the clock
Give your class 2-5 words in French, (depending on the ability of your
class and the difficulty of the words you are using) and either the English
or an image in order for them to know the meaning. Then, time them and
give them 2 minutes to learn how to spell the words.
e.g.
tortue – tortoise chat – cat serpent – snake
Feedback can be taken whole class or with mini whiteboards. It is also
important to have a class discussion and share ideas on strategies they
used to help them learn the words. You will probably need to guide the
discussion e.g. Did it help them to know the English? Did they think the
words were similar in French and English (cognates or near cognates) ?
Did they write the words to learn them?Etc
Choose the correct spelling
Show class a list of words and ask them to identify the ones which are
spelt correctly. This activity can be further extended by asking pupils to
correct those spelt wrong.
e.g.
 For greetings
Saloo bonjour au revwa bonsoir
Split the words
This can be done with any vocabulary in a long continuous list. Pupils have
to decide where one word ends and where the next begins.
e.g.
deuxcinqtroisseptdixhuitdouzeneufuntroissixquatreonze
This can be made more difficult by asking pupils to find specific words in
a list
e.g. Find the colours in this list
livrejaunenoirbicrougestylocahierrosevertcrayonbleublanc
Join up the word/phrases
This can be done at word or sentence level.
e.g.
put the days back together
lu
ma
merc
je
ven
same
di
rdi
manche
udi
redi
ndi
dredi
di
Speculation
This can be used in many ways e.g.

Show a question or sentence one word at a time, starting at the
end and ask pupils to guess what the word before it is.
e.g.
Comment tu t’appelles?
Quel jour sommes nous ?
Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire ?
It can also be used to see if pupils can put prior learnt knowledge
into practice. E.g. After pupils have learnt numbers 1-12 you could
show them 12 to 21 and see if they can put them in the correct
order.
dix-huit
dix-sept
dix-neuf
treize
quatorze
quinze
vingt
vingt et un seize

After this exercise it is important to discuss the strategies the pupils
used to work out the order of the numbers. You will probably have to ask
leading questions to guide the discussion.

It can be used with cognates and near cognates to work
out/speculate meaning. E.g. With months of the year, before they
are presented pupils could speculate on the order and meaning. E.g.
Put these months in order
septembre mai août février janvier décembre
novembre juin juillet octobre mars
avril
Again it is important to have a class discussion about the strategies the
pupils used to work out the order.
Odd one out
This can be done on many levels depending on the ability of your class
e.g.
onze un je cinq
here je is the odd one out as it is not a number
salut bonne nuit bonjour à bientôt
here bonjour is the odd one out as it does not end with a silent t.
However your class may come up with other odd ones out which may be
equally valid.
mère père parents frère
here it could be frère or parents – again it is important to listen to the
reasons your class give you.
Lapins stylos chien chats
Here it could be stylos – not an animal or chien – in singular.
Intelligent insect lapin
chat
Here it could be intelligent - not living or chat – does not contain “in”
phoneme.
Fill in the gaps
This can be done with any vocabulary. You can leave out random letters
or just vowels. E.g.
Fill in the missing vowels for these animals
_n l_p_n
_n_ t_rt_ _
_n ch_ _ n
_n ch_t
_n p_ _s_n
Which one am I reading?
This can be done with any list of vocabulary or sentences, however, it
works particularly well with numbers as pupils often confuse numbers
such as 2/12, 3/13, 4/14.
Show pupils a list of various number combinations and read them out
aloud. Pupils need to select which one you have read. E.g.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
12, 12, 2, 12, 2
2, 2, 12, 2, 12
13, 3, 3, 13, 3
3, 3, 13, 3 13
4, 4, 4, 14. 4
14, 14, 4, 4, 14
How many syllables?
Show class a list of familiar vocabulary and ask them to find a word with
1/2/3/4 syllables. Instead of saying how many syllables you are looking
for you could clap the number.
How many vowels and/or consonants?
Show class a list of words new or familiar and ask them to find a word
with e.g.
2 vowels
3 consonants
1 vowel
Etc …
Sound spelling links
Think about these words. Look at them and think about how you
pronounce them to help you pronounce the sounds listed below.
cahier huit oui six dix au revoir écoutez quatre trois
é
er ez i oi qu ui
Sing a previously learnt song or recite a previously learnt poem.