At the zoo: writing from a word list for reference
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use reference materials to determine the gender of nouns when writing descriptions in French.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- The SSCs [ien], [(a)in] and [on] make nasal sounds. Air passes through both the nose and the mouth.
- In French all nouns are either masculine or feminine. This is grammatical gender. It is not the same as male or female.
- We can use reference materials such a dictionaries to help us determine the type of a word and the gender of a noun.
- All dictionaries have symbols to give information about word type and noun gender. For example 'nm' is a masculine noun.
- When saying your favourite animal in French, use the article the (le, la, l'): mon animal préféré est le chien.
Keywords
Nasal sound - a sound in which the air passes through both one's nose and mouth
[ien] - pronounced as in 'chien'
[(a)in] - pronounced as in 'train'
[on] - pronounced as in 'non'
Common misconception
When saying your favourite animal in French, use the article 'an/an' as in English: my favourite animal is a dog.
When saying your favourite animal in French, we in fact use the article 'the': mon animal préféré est le chien.
Teacher tip
In Task B2, instead of drawing the image of the horse, pupils could draw their own picture and write a corresponding description, following the same formula as: [article] [noun] [adjective], [article] [noun] [adjective], et au centre [article] [noun] [adjective].
Equipment
Pupils will need access to a physcial or online French-English dictionary for this lesson.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What does 'combien' mean in English?
Q2.Match each French word to its English meaning.
the (feminine)
the (masculine)
I love
animals
animal
Q3.Put the words in the correct order to form a French sentence.
Q4.Which of these nouns would use l' in French instead of le or la?
Q5.Which sentence shows correct adjective agreement in French?
Q6.Match the animal to the most likely description in French.
est petit et curieux
est grand et méchant
est rapide et gris
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Which of these words contains a nasal sound?
Q2.Match the French words to their English meanings.
(male) teacher
(female) teacher
nice, kind
in the centre
Q3.Which of these is true about grammatical gender in French?
Q4.Put the words in the correct order to say your favourite animal in French.
Q5.Fill in the gap to complete the French version of the sentence 'My favourite animal is a dog': Mon animal préféré est chien.
To help you plan your 4 French lesson on: At the zoo: writing from a word list for reference, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 French lesson on: At the zoo: writing from a word list for reference, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 French lessons from the People, places, things: adjective agreement, subject pronouns 'it' unit, dive into the full primary French curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.