i
Life Cycles
(Jack and the Beanstalk)
Medway
Cross-curricular
Year 6 unit
Wendy Cobb
(science revision unit linked to QCA unit 5B and QCA French Unit 6)
Wendy Cobb
1
2008
This is a story based unit with links to the QCA Science Unit 5B Life Cycles. It could be used alongside year 6 science revision and
builds on vocabulary and structures covered in earlier Medway Plans. Equally, the story element could be delivered separately or
alongside other story based units.
Activities that deliver Framework objectives are highlighted on the following grid. All activities from the various units are highlighted on
a separate grid. Teachers are free to dip in and out of the units to develop their own plans but should check that they cover all the year
6 objectives during the course of the year.
A suggested teaching sequence is given together with suggestions for warm-up activities and example lesson plans.
A list of useful web links is also provided together with suggestions for additional cross-curricular activities.
The unit could be covered in its simplest form in a sequence of 6 x 30/40 minute lessons. Alternatively, it could form part of a longer
unit depending on the curriculum needs of the class.
Wendy Cobb
2
2008
Learning Objectives
Learning opportunities
Knowledge about language
Unit Activity references
06.1 Understand the main
points and simple opinions in a
spoken song or passage
Listen attentively, re-tell and
discuss the main ideas.
Agree or disagree with
statements made about a
spoken passage.
Recognise the importance and
significance of intonation.
06.2 Perform to an audience
Present a short piece of
Use knowledge of language to
narrative either from memory or present information and
by reading aloud from text.
personal ideas
Develop a sketch, role-play or
presentation and perform to the
class or an assembly.
Lesson two
Lesson four
Lesson six
06.3 Understand longer and
more complex phrases or
sentences
Re-tell using familiar language
a sequence of events from a
spoken passage containing
complex sentences.
Understand and express
reasons.
Notice and manipulate
agreements
Lesson two
Lesson four
06.4 Use spoken language
confidently to initiate and
sustain conversations and to tell
stories
Understand the gist of spoken
passages containing complex
sentences e.g. descriptions,
information, instructions etc.
Use knowledge of words, text
and structure to make meaning,
using simple language
spontaneously.
Lesson one
Lesson five
Lesson six
Lesson one
Lesson three
Lesson four
Participate in simple
conversations on familiar
topics.
Describe incidents or tell
stories from their own
experience, in an audible voice.
Wendy Cobb
3
2008
Learning Objectives
Learning opportunities
Knowledge about language
Read and respond e.g. to an
extract from a story, an e-mail
message or song.
Give true (vrai) or false (faux)
responses to statements about
a written passage.
Read descriptions of people in
the school or class and identify
who they are.
Use knowledge of form including
where appropriate, plurals and
notions of gender to improve
access to a range of texts.
Apply knowledge of word order
and sentence construction to
support the understanding of
written text.
Lesson three
Lesson four
Lesson five
L6.2 Identify text types and read Read for enjoyment an e-mail
short, authentic texts for
message, short story or simple
enjoyment or information.
text from the internet.
Read and understand the gist
of a familiar news story or
simple magazine article.
Use knowledge of language
features, style and layout of
different texts to support
understanding.
Lesson three
Lesson four
L6.3 Match sound to sentences
and paragraphs.
Use punctuation to make a
sentence make sense. Listen
carefully to a model and reconstitute a sentence or a
paragraph using text cards.
Apply most words correctly.
Apply knowledge of word order
and sentence construction to
support the understanding of
written text.
Lesson two
Lesson four
L6.4 Write sentences on a
range of topics using a model.
Construct a short text e.g.
create a PowerPoint
presentation to tell a story or
give a description.
Apply knowledge of word order
and sentence construction to
support the understanding of the
written text.
Lesson one
Lesson two
Lesson five
L6.1 Read and understand the
main points and some detail
from a short written passage.
Wendy Cobb
4
Unit Activity references
2008
Learning Objectives
IU6.1 Compare attitudes
towards aspects of everyday
life.
IU6.2 Recognise and
understand some of the
differences between people.
IU6.3 Present information about
an aspect of culture.
Wendy Cobb
Learning opportunities
Knowledge about language
Recognise similarities and
differences in attitudes
amongst children in different
cultures.
Learn about role models for
children in difference cultures.
Devise questions for authentic
use.
Discuss similarities and
differences between the
cultures they have learned
about.
Recognise and challenge
stereotypes.
Recognize that languages have
different ways of expressing
social relationships.
Perform songs, plays, dances.
Use ICT to present information
having a greater sense of
audience.
Create spoken and written
language using simple
sentences.
5
Unit Activity references
Lesson four
(additional activities)
2008
Unit 5B objectives linked to unit
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that flowering plants reproduce and that seeds can be
dispersed in a variety of ways
to make careful observations of fruits and seeds, to
compare them and use results to draw conclusions
that many fruits and seeds provide food for animals
including humans
that plants reproduce
to consider conditions that might affect germination and plan
how to test these
that insects pollinate some flowers
that seeds need water and warmth (but not light) for
germination
about the life-cycle of flowering plants including pollination,
fertilisation, seed production, seed dispersal and
germination
that adults have young and that these grow into adults
which in turn produce young
that human young are dependent on adults for a relatively
long period
Wendy Cobb
Useful Resources
Fruit and vegetables flashcards/real fruit & vegetables
Seeds
Images of life-cycle of plant
Text of the story of Jack and the Beanstalk
PowerPoint of the story
Text of life-cycle of plant
Diagram of life-cycle of plant
Key vocabulary and question resource file
Labelling a flower game
Images of French markets
6
2008
Web links (additional links indicated within activities)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/language/french/label/bflylifecycle/ Life cycle of butterfly worksheet
http://www.qca.org.uk/libraryAssets/media/French-Unit_6_v2.rtf
QCA Unit 6 Ça pousse! (Growing things)
Includes text and translation of Jack and the Beanstalk, text
of life-cycle of plant
http://wsgfl.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/content/curriculum/mfl/ks2/crosscurricular-resource-packs/french/Jacques-and-the-beanstalkfrench.en
Lesson plans, activities and resources linked to Jack and
the Beanstalk story
http://www.ec-lapierre-evry.acversailles.fr/article.php3?id_article=283
French site, labelled pictures of the different stages of
germination of a bean seed, thoughts on a bean seed,
results of germination experiment
http://www.jardinons-alecole.org/pages/idee18.php
French site, text and pictures about life-cycle of plants
http://gnis.lecentre.net/forum/read.php?1,368,9237
French site showing e-mails by children asking and
answering questions about beans/bean seeds
http://www.etab.accaen.fr/ecauge/pedag/JeanChristophe/Cycle3/graineaufruit.pdf
French plant life-cycle lesson plan, which includes a simple,
mostly pictorial, worksheet for a bean germination
experiment and more complex vocabulary for the life-cycle
of a bean
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/jackbeanstalk/index.html
A useful site for the history of the tale and for researching
similar tales across cultures
Wendy Cobb
7
2008
Suggested teaching sequence
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Warm up activities revising names of fruits and vegetables.
Introduce la graine (seed) sorting activities seeds/no seeds, edible/non-edible seeds, observational and
tasting activities, matching seeds to correct fruit/vegetable.
D’où viennent les graines ? – Where do seeds come from?
Revise life-cycle of plant introducing French vocabulary with actions.
De quoi une graine a-t-elle besoin pour germer ? – What does a seed need to germinate?
Set up bean seed experiment to revise the conditions needed for germination.
La graine a besoin d’eau ? etc Agree and disagree with statements.
Introduce story of Jack and the Beanstalk
Retell story in various ways, written and oral.
Additional activities
 Talk with children about the growth and development of humans and discuss different stages e.g.
babyhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood. Revise family vocabulary, research cultural differences of
different stages, revise petit/e, grand/e, plus grand/e agreement and position of adjectives
 Life-cycle of a butterfly
 (see also list of extension/additional activities as follow up to the example sequence of lessons)
Wendy Cobb
8
2008
Example Lesson One Outline
Resources: Pictures of fruit and vegetables/ real fruit and vegetables, edible seeds, dictionaries
Teaching and activities
Objectives – to observe seeds closely matching seeds to the correct fruit/veg
sort seeds/fruit/veg into groups
be able to talk confidently about preferences
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Warm up activities revising names of fruit and vegetables and
preferences J’aime, Je n’aime pas,
Qui aime…? Tu aimes…? Je préfère... Moi, je déteste......J’aime
beaucoup (I like .....a lot) Je n’aime pas du tout..(I don’t like.... at all)
Show children a bean seed, say Voici une graine.
Ask C’est la graine d’une tomate, d’une banane, d’un concombre ? etc.
until the seed has been correctly identified : C’est la graine d’un haricot.
Select activities
Sorting/matching
E.g. sort pictures into seeds/no seeds.
Edible/inedible seeds
Match seeds to plants. Play pairs.
Observational activities. Ask and answer questions:
Est-ce qu’il y a des graines ? (Are there any seeds?) Où sont les
graines ? (Where are the seeds?) Voici les graines. (Here are the
seeds.)
Tasting activities – e.g. taste fruit/seeds, ask and answer questions about
preferences.
Extension activities
Observational drawings of fruit/seeds labelled la graine d’une pomme etc.
Write/produce a table about likes and dislikes:
J’aime beaucoup les pommes. Je n’aime pas les bananes.
Ma mère aime les fraises, mais (but) mon frère préfère les oranges.
Wendy Cobb
9
KAL
Use of intonation in
questioning.
C’est la graine d’une
tomate ? In French a
statement can become a
question when pitch is
raised at the end.
Framework refs
06.1 – understand the
main points and simple
opinions
06.4 – use spoken
language confidently to
initiate and sustain
conversations
L6.4 – write sentences on
a range of topics using a
model
2008
Example Lesson Two Outline – D’où viennent les graines ?
Resources: The flower game, dice, text of life-cycle of plant
Teaching and activities
Objectives – to recite from memory a short text explaining the life-cycle of a plant
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KAL
Ask the question D’où viennent les graines? Where do seeds come from?
Warm up: Display picture of flower and introduce words for labels – la
fleur (flower), la feuille (leaf), la racine (root), la tige (stem), les graines
(seeds)
Play The flower game, rolling dice and matching labels to correct part of
the flower.
(Children in pairs could work as fast as they can to be first to label the
flower – they say the name as they place the label).
Ask children what they know about the life-cycle of a plant. Using
pictures, describe in French the different stages. Add mime and get
children to repeat. Display text of the life-cycle of a plant. Get children
to recite and mime, gradually covering/removing a line until they can
Identifying clauses and
recite it without the words.
use of comma
Talk about the structure of the phrases, identifying the clauses, the
commas and comparing with the English translation.
Mix up the clauses and get children to identify which statements are
true/false.
Give groups the text lines cut up and jumbled. Read out any line and get
groups to race to continue the text starting at that point. (Discuss: is
there a starting point – which comes first, the flower or the seed?)
Framework refs
06.2 – perform to an
audience
0.6.3 – understand longer
and more complex
phrases or sentences
L6.3 – match sound to
sentences and
paragraphs
Extension activities.
 Get children to create and caption a simple pictorial text about the
weather using the ‘Après + noun’ structure. E.g. Après la pluie, le soleil
brille. Après le soleil, il fait du vent. Après le vent, il neige etc. Grow
cress seeds, take digital photos and create a PowerPoint presentation of
the life-cycle of a plant.
Wendy Cobb
10
2008
Example Lesson Three Outline
Resources: bean seeds, text ‘Thoughts about a bean seed’
Teaching and activities
Objectives – to revise the conditions needed for germination of a seed
to read and understand the main points from statements about
seeds
 Warm up by reciting and miming the life cycle of a plant
 Review what the children know by the word germination. Explain that the word is the
same in French la germination. Talk about word roots in both languages: germinate –
germination germer - germination
 Ask the question De quoi une graine a-t-elle besoin pour germer ? (What does a seed
need in order to germinate?) La graine a besoin d’eau/de terre/de lumière, de chaleur ?
(Does the seed need water/soil/light/ warmth?) Get the children to work out the meaning
of each word by a process of elimination using known words (l’eau)/ word associations
eg terre – terrain, lumière – luminous, then discuss in pairs and feedback answers to the
question.
Oui, la graine a besoin d’eau/ Non, la graine n’a pas besoin de terre etc.
 Explain that some French children have been looking at a bean seed and deciding what
they think it is. Display their first thoughts
http://www.ec-lapierre-evry.ac-versailles.fr/article.php3?id_article=270 give the text to
groups/pairs. Ask them to try to work out what the children are thinking using the words
they have been learning about plants and seeds and then to discuss which of the
statements are true.
 Feedback to the class
KAL
Word roots
Word order in questions.
Framework refs
06.1 – understand
the main points and
simple opinions in a
passage
L6.1 – read and
understand the main
points and some detail
from a short written
passage
L6.2 – identify different
text types and read short,
authentic texts for
enjoyment or information
Extension activities:
 Set up a bean germination experiment.
 Compare the results of the class bean experiment with that of the French children.
http://www.ec-lapierre-evry.ac-versailles.fr/article.php3?id_article=284
Ask how did the children test their seeds? Where did they put their seeds?
How fair do you think their test was? Did they get the same result as our class?
What conclusion did they come up with?
Read e-mails written by children asking and answering questions about beans and bean
seeds http://gnis.lecentre.net/forum/read.php?1,368,9237
Wendy Cobb
11
2008
Example Lesson Four Outline
Resources: text and visuals relating to Jacques et le Haricot Magique, ppt
Teaching and activities
Objectives – To listen to and understand a French version of the Jack and the
Beanstalk story.
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Warm up activity – chant the following rhyme Quand je vais au marché, je
voudrais … (When I go to market I’d like...). Each time a child has to say
the name of a fruit or vegetable but must also list any already said trying
to remember the order. Start again with a new list each time the order is
forgotten.
Introduce key new vocabulary in preparation for the story of Jacques et le
Haricot Magique:
Jacques, le géant (giant), il glisse (slip), il grimpe (climb)
Present the story with visuals and encourage the children to join in
repeating familiar vocabulary. (Do not need to show text at this point).
Choose a selection of phrases and ask children in groups/pairs to think of
an appropriate mime.
Read the story again and each group/pair performs their mime and joins
in when appropriate with their phrase. Repeat again.
Remind pairs/groups of their phrases. Ask them to have a go at writing
down what the French might look like, thinking about what they know
about French sounds and sentence structure.
Show the PowerPoint of the story and get children to compare and
discuss what they have written with the actual text.
Explain that they will be adapting and presenting their own version of the
story. Get children to share initial ideas about how they might adapt the
tale.
Extension:
Create a play about a visit to the market.
Compare French and English markets and create a ppt presentation.
Wendy Cobb
12
KAL
Framework refs
06.1 – understand the
main points and simple
opinions in a spoken
story, song or passage
0.63 – understand longer
and more complex
phrases and sentences
06.2 – perform to an
audience
IU 6.3 – present
information about an
aspect of culture
2008
Example Lessons Five and Six Outline
Resources: text of Jacques et le Haricot Magique, examples of similar tales/different versions
Teaching and activities
Objectives – Write and perform an adapted version of Jacques et le Haricot
Magique.
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KAL
Framework refs
Warm up – play a warm up game using imperatives with words from the text
Cachez, (hide), entrez (enter), volez (steal), flairez (sniff), dormez (sleep), grimpez
(climb). Discuss difference between singular and plural commands Cache-toi,
Jacques !
Explain that they are going to create their own version of Jacques et le Haricot
Magique.
Ask groups to think of different ways of changing the text:
Support groups with suggestions eg: change the ending, change the items that are
stolen, change the plant that grows, add/change characters, change the story so that
Jack goes to the market and buys food in exchange for the cow including a magic….
Include audience participation calling out instructions. Suggest that all groups must
include at least one piece of additional conversation in the text.
(You may wish to share examples of versions of the tale across cultures at this
point.)
L6.4 – write sentences on a
range of topics using a
model.
06.2 – perform to an
audience
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Groups work on altering the text and then develop a performance of the adapted
play.
Extension/additional activities linked to the unit:
 Create a song/rhyming rap to go with the play.
 Create a multimedia presentation.
 Create a board game based on the story.
 Produce a set of instructions on how to grow a bean plant.
 Find other fairy tales in French.
 Create a presentation based on life-cycles.
 Find out the names of baby animals in French and produce a fact file.
 Discussion about how old Jack was (should he have been sent to market with that
responsibility?) – compare humans and animals - dependency on adults.
 Find out about similar tales across cultures.
Wendy Cobb
13
2008