French News: Quoi de neuf?

Bonjour tout le monde! Hello everyone. Here are some examples of student learning that will be happening in French this term:

Prep: 

The students have started by learning how to say what time it is in French, to the hour. Some early examples of student work are included below. To ask the time in French, you say ‘Quelle heure est-il?’ The word heure can simply mean ‘hour’ but also ‘time’ and ‘o’clock’ as we use it in English. To say the time to the hour, the structure is simply, for example: “Il est quatre heures’, or ‘It is four o’clock.’ The students will then be learning about getting dressed in French, using the verb ‘Porter’ or ‘To wear’. (You might be familiar with the French fashion term ‘Prêt à porter’/’Ready to wear’.) At the end of term, we will look at French Christmas traditions and learn some key vocabulary about ‘Noël’.

Years 1&2: 

In Years 1 and 2, we will be starting out by learning the parts of the home. ‘My place’ in French is ‘Chez-moi’ (‘shay mwa’). Students will start to learn about how to use adjectives in French, for example by adding a colour or size describing word to their work. They will then continue the learning about adjectives by applying descriptive words to clothing. For example, ‘The blue shirt’ would be translated to ‘La chemise bleue’. We will examine how the gender of nouns impacts on the words around the noun, which is tricky for native English speakers. Then to finish the term we revisit Christmas, or ‘Noël’, comparing French traditions to those of their own family.

Year 3: 

The Year 3s have begun by designing some gorgeous posters describing Spring to display in the French room. A couple of examples are included here. Next, we will be revising the parts of the home with the additional challenge of adding describing words and prepositions to reinforce their learning from earlier in the year. The students will be building sentences using simple structures, such as ‘In the kitchen, there is an oven’/ ‘Dans la cuisine, il y a un four.’ Additional learning will include some revision about clothing, how to tell the time in French, and using the Christmas Elf to further practice using prepositions. For example: ‘Where is the elf?’/ ‘Où est le lutin?’. ‘He is under the bed’/ ‘Il est sous le lit.’ 

Year 4: 

The Year 4 focus this term is on all things food related. We will build vocabulary around food, and use verbs such as ‘eat’/manger and ‘drink/boire. Sentence building will involve describing what they like and don’t like to eat and also how to use some describing words such as ‘delicious’/délicieux and ‘disgusting’/dégoûtant. We will investigate the culture of food and eating in France and make comparisons to our own traditions. Students will make a presentation in French about the food they like to eat for each meal of the day.

Years 5&6: 

We begin the term with an exploration of how to express the past tense in French, while discussing what they did over the holidays. The Years 5 and 6 will then do a deep dive into the world of food culture across France and also the Francophone world. We will look into the ways French people shop for food, at the culture around gastronomy and eating in France, and the impact French cuisine has had on the world. We will revise and practise how to express likes and dislikes about food and build a lexicon of adjectives to describe food. Students will then choose a region of France (or a French speaking country) and research the foods from their chosen area, creating a presentation to share with their class. Finally, we will cook crêpes together and celebrate the end of another year of French learning.