KS2 French Unit 4 : Les animaux
Section 1 –Pets
Section 2 – Numbers to 40
Section 3 – Festivals (eg Easter)
Unit 5 core vocabulary and structures
As-tu un animal?
Oui, j’ai …
Non, je n’ai pas d’animal
Je n’ai pas de chien/cheval/poisson
Have you got a pet?
Yes, I have …
No, I haven’t got a pet
I have no dog/horse/ fish
un animal/des animaux
un chat/des chats
un chien/des chiens
un oiseau/des oiseaux
un cheval/des chevaux
un poisson/des poissons
un lapin/des lapins
une souris/des souris
un hamster/des hamsters
Section 1: Pets
A pet/some pets
A cat/some cats
A dog/some dogs
A bird/some birds
A horse/some horses
A fish/some fish
A rabbit/some rabbits
A mouse/some mice
A hamster/some hamsters
Objectives
 to understand
and answer
questions
about pets
Activities
 Introduce one or two names of pets, using
drawings, soft toys, flashcards, posters or
on an overhead projector (OHP), allowing
plenty of repetition before introducing more
Bucks KS2 SoW French (Unit 4, Page 1 of 5)
un cochon d’Inde/des cochons d’Inde
A guinea pig/some guinea pigs
un oeuf (singular)
des oeufs (plural)
An egg
Some eggs
Joyeuses Pâques
Happy Easter
les numéros
trente-deux à quarante
The numbers
Thirty two to forty
Outcomes
 give details of pets in
reply to the question, eg
As-tu un animal? Oui, j’ai
Points to Note
Presentation of new language:
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Handling objects, finger puppets, toys
and cards will help children to remember
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nouns.
Introduce with a verb, eg As-tu un animal?
Oui, j’ai un chien. Ask children if they have
a particular pet.
Play a guessing game, eg Je pense à un
animal qui commence par C. Un chien? Un
chat?
As the children gain confidence, build in
the questions Comment il s’appelle? and Il
a quel âge? Allow one-word responses
but encourage use of the set phrases, eg il
s’appelle … .il a trois ans
As pupils complete the labelling worksheet
emphasise the pronunciation of oi and eau
phonemes e.g. poisson, oiseau, you can
then ask them to discriminate these
sounds, e.g. by putting their hands up
when they hear them in a list of words.
Children could work in pairs or groups with
animal playing cards, using games such as
‘Matching pairs’ or ‘Snap’. They score only
if they pronounce the word correctly and
clearly.
As a reading activity, children read aloud
and match short sentences about animals
to the appropriate picture, eg Je m’appelle
Céline. J’ai deux chats.
As a listening activity, read out short
statements or use suitable audio/video,
asking children to identify the main points.
Elicit how plurals are usually formed in
English, compare to the French. Draw
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un chat or Non, je n’ai
pas d’animal. As-tu un
chien? Non, je n’ai pas
de chien
• pronounce words clearly
and correctly
• develop their response to
the question, eg J’ai un
chat. Elle s’appelle Mini.
Elle a deux ans.
• show understanding of
short phrases presented
in a familiar context by
matching sound to print
and by reading aloud
• listen carefully to identify
meaning and show their
understanding of familiar
statements
• ask others if they have
any pets, eg As-tu un
animal? and respond
appropriately
 develop listening skills by
picking out keywords
the words.
• If introducing a large number of new
words, introduce the different genders
separately. Place the flashcards on
separate parts of the board or use two
colours of card to highlight the difference
visually.
• Vary the presentation of new words by
using high and low pitch, increasing and
decreasing volume, by varying the pace,
and by multiple repetition of the same
word.
• Children may enjoy saying the words in a
voice that suits the character of the
animal.
Practice of new language:
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Additional games include taking away
a card which pupils have to recall, Simon
says... (Jacques a dit) and bingo (Loto).
• Provide extra support, if necessary, in the
form of visual clues to the animals
mentioned, displayed in the correct order.
Survey:
• The survey might be a timed activity in
order to provide a challenge and ensure
children complete the task in a similar
time. Some children may need support
when initiating conversation, others can
fold over the example on the sheet.
Children who are more confident can
volunteer further information.
• Children could use block graph
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attention to the irregular plurals animaux,
chevaux, and remind children of the
sound/spelling rule of the ‘silent final
consonant’ for plurals met in unit 2.
Children show understanding by picking
the appropriate flashcard when the
singular and plural are used together.
Children take part in a survey to find out
the most usual pet owned in their class.
They ask and answer the question with
other children. If they have a Frenchspeaking partner school, exchange
information by e-mail.
Use songs and/or ‘Big Books’ which refer to
animals. Children listen out for keywords and
respond with an action or sound.
techniques to present their findings, and
could produce their results using ICT.
Section 2: Numbers up to 40
Objectives
• to understand
and use
numbers to 40.
Activities
• Revise numbers 0-30 using techniques
introduced in work in numeracy, eg
number dice, number fans.
• Encourage children to explain how
numbers 20-30 are made up and to predict
what the French will be for numbers 30-39.
Encourage them to take risks as they
work. Teach them quarante.
• Count backwards. Say the numbers out of
sequence.
• Perform a ‘Mexican wave’ using numbers
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Outcomes
• understand and use
numbers 1 to 40, both in
and out of sequence
Points to Note
Practice of new language:
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Children could practise using
numbers and letters together to read
out car number plates. If possible,
use pictures of international car
number plates from Frenchspeaking countries or copy them.
Additional games include covering
the board with numbers, getting
players from 2 teams to stand with
forwards and backwards, and in steps of
one, two, three, four and five, starting from
a random number.
• Play ‘Bingo’ with numbers 20 to 40 to give
practice in listening and understanding.
• Reinforce number patterns in French,
using techniques from children’s work in
numeracy.
• Do times tables in French at a level suited
to the class, eg une fois quatre fait quatre;
deux fois quatre font huit.
 For written practice, two differentiated
worksheets are provided.
• Sing a song that incorporates numbers.
Section 3: How others celebrate festivals
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their backs to the board, then saying
one of the numbers and giving a
point to the first person to touch the
correct number. You could also
play fizz buzz in French, or get
pupils to work in pairs, writing a
number on one another’s back for
their partner to guess.
Objectives
 how others
celebrate festivals
Activities
 Discuss ways in which festivals are
celebrated in different countries, eg Easter,
if using this unit at that time of year. Children
could consider the differences and
similarities between festivals, eg common
features would include food and drink, family
get-together, closure of businesses,
religious traditions.
 Encourage children to exchange greetings
cards with their French-speaking partner
school, card to colour in available.
 Teach seasonal greetings using visuals or
objects.
End of unit activity
Children create a wall display featuring the
different animals they have come across in
French. They write a profile in French of an
animal, including details like name, age, where
they live, what they eat and other family
members. They label the colours of the animal.
Children could use ICT to create their display
work.
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Outcomes
• consider their own
culture and compare it
with others
• work with English
language materials to
research other countries
and cultures
• use the foreign language
for real purposes
Points to Note
• Festivals taking place at springtime
include Passover, Easter, Holi, Mardi
Gras. Children could research the
celebration of festivals in other countries
using appropriate books or CD-ROMs.
• Children could use ICT to produce their
greetings cards. They select and import
appropriate images and combine them
with text. They use skills of centring,
aligning and resizing graphics. Some will
choose effects to match their purpose,
ensuring that the text and graphics
complement each other.
• If children use ICT to produce the card,
they may be able to send their greetings
by e-mail.
This activity helps reinforce work in art, ICT
and music.