Topic: Story – le navet énorme Lesson: 7
Main lesson aims: By the end of this lesson you will be able to: take part in a story in
French; recognise masculine and feminine nouns
Starter: Teacher quickly introduces the 8 nouns required for the story in the following order and sticking the flashcards to the board, with pupils repeating the
French: “le fermier”, “la fermière”, “le fils”, “la fille”, “le chien”, “le chat”,
“la souris”. At this point ask the pupils what they think the story might be – they’ll probably guess correctly The Enormous Turnip. The final flashcard can be introduced: “le navet énorme” (Resource 7.1)
Activity
1.
Choral repetition of vocabulary – loudly, softly, quickly, slowly etc. Pupils only repeat vocabulary if teacher is pointing to the correct flashcard
2.
Ask pupils to separate the flashcards into two groups.
You might want to start them off by saying “le
fermier” will be in one group and “la fermière” in the other. Encourage and help pupils to create one group of blue colour-coded flashcards - “le” words, and one group of red colour-coded flashcards – “la” words. Ask pupils to work out the meaning of “le” and “la” – “the” and that there are 2 words for “the” in French, but only one in English. Encourage and elicit why these words
3.
are in two groups – some are masculine words and some are feminine words and in French all nouns are either masculine or feminine, even if they are words like turnip! Practise the vocabulary again, with pupils using deep, low voices (and pointing down to the floor) when saying masculine words and high, squeaky voices
(pointing up to the ceiling) when saying feminine words.
Introduce the 3 verbs required for the story, using actions:
“tire” (mime pulling something)
“appelle” (mime calling someone with 2 hands to mouth)
“ne bouge pas” (hold arms across chest and shake head from side to side)
4.
Tell the story, using the flashcards and following the script. Encourage pupils to participate as soon as they
Learning objectives and outcomes
O3.4 Listen attentively – repeat words and phrases modelled by the teacher
KAL Imitate pronunciation of sounds
KAL Hear main word classes
Recognise that languages describe familiar things differently
(Recognition of gender
– masculine and feminine nouns)
LLS Use actions and rhymes to aid memorisation
©MFL Sunderland 2009 RM http://www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland

feel comfortable. All should at the least join in with the action mimes – “tire”, “appelle”, “ne bouge pas” +
“mais” (hold up index finger of right hand) +
“énorme” (draw an enormous turnip in the air with both hands) (Resource 7.2) O3.1 Listen and respond to simple stories – join in with storytelling
Plenary:
Play “OXO” with noun flashcards – focusing on correct use of “le” or “la” nouns. As there are only 8 flashcards, the extra could be any of the verbs from the story
(Resource 7.1)
Consolidation work:
Draw a storyboard to illustrate each section of the story and write a caption in French
(each group could take a different part of the story)
Resources required:
Resource 7.1 – 8 noun flashcards
Resource 7.2 – story script
Resource 7.3 – word flashcards
Language:
le fermier – the farmer
la fermière – the farmer’s wife
le fils – the son
la fille – the daughter
le chien – the dog
le chat – the cat
la souris – the mouse
le navet énorme – the enormous turnip
tire – pulls
appelle – calls
ne bouge pas – doesn’t move
mais – but
+ il était une fois – once upon a time there was; + un jour – one day
+ decide de manger – decides to eat
Follow-on activities:
1.
Introduce the written form of the noun flashcards – pupils match with the pictures (Resource 7.3)
+ et – and; + bouge - moves
2.
Introduce a mime for a noun – placing one hand on top of the head (naming word) and pointing down with the other hand for a masculine noun or pointing upwards for a feminine noun. Retell part of the story. Pupils listen carefully and respond with an action when they hear a noun.
3.
Play “Human OXO”:- place 9 flashcards on floor. Team members who correctly identify a square take the place of the flashcard, sitting on the floor crossing their arms if they are from the “X” team or sitting with their arms around their knees if they are from the “O” team.
4.
Retell the story, using high and low voices, depending on gender of noun