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cirque At the circus school... and in your PE lessons!

This section builds on the work pupils did in Early Start French 2, “Les passe-temps” when they found out how to talk about their leisure activities, as well as ch.3.2 “Les parties du corps”.

Using the context of “the circus school”, this section develops simple language to help you use French in lively PE lessons, mainly instructions, e.g. playing “Simon says...”.

You can turn PE activities into a ‘circus performance’, where pupils’ ‘acts’ are introduced and described to an audience by the ‘ringmaster’ - in French. Pupils, as ‘performers’, can also comment on how difficult they find the activities.They may produce extended sentences using words like “parce que...” (because). Your PE lesson/“show” becomes an opportunity to say what ‘I’ and ‘we’ are doing, and also to tell an ‘audience’ what other people are doing, i.e. ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’.

Films to see

Part A: Circus activities

A1. 5 circus acts

A2. More acts

A3. Q and A -at the Circus School

A4. Talking about other people’s acts

Part B: What I like doing...

B1. ... and why

B2. ... difficult or easy?

Part C: Preparing your own “show”

C1. Making a human centipede

C2. Jacques a dit...

C3. Warm-up instructions

C4. Acrobatics: balancing and rolling

C5. Joke about a clown Find transcripts online

Part A: Circus activities

Planning your lessons

Films A1 and A2 introduce the class first to the names of some circus activities, many of which are also appropriate for PE lessons, using everyday equipment. Then they learn to talk about what ‘I’m doing...’ (‘Je fais..’) and what ‘we are doing...’ (‘nous faisons...’).

Activities

Warm up

Before showing film A1, warm up by playing one or two games from Early Start French 2, Ch.2.13 “Les Passe-temps”. This will remind pupils of how much they can already say about sports and hobbies, e.g. “J’aime le football”. n Display some of the new words from this section to the class, and ask them to anticipate how they should be pronounced.

Film A1: “Je fais de l’assiette chinoise”.

Watch film A1: 5 circus acts

❑ Film A1 starts with the title song sequence, which the class can join in singing. It shows children at the circus school (‘l’école du cirque’) at Lomme, a suburb of Lille

They do five circus activities in its ‘grand chapiteau’ ( big top): le trapèze; la boule; le diabolo; le mat chinois; l’assiette chinoise.

A1, A2: NEW WORDS

A1: circus places

Key Sounds

l’école du cirque le grand chapiteau - circus school - big top

A1: 5 circus activities le trapèze la boule le diabolo le mat chinois l’assiette chinoise (f)

- trapeze

- ball

- diabolo

- Chinese pole

- Chinese plate

You also commonly hear ‘les assiettes chinoises’

Describe what YOU are doing (S/PL)

Qu’est-ce que tu fais?

What are YOU doing? (to individual)

Je fais de... (la boule)

I’m doing some... (ball-balancing)

Qu’est-ce que vous faîtes?

What are YOU doing? (to a group)

Nous faisons... (de l’assiette chinoise) (des assiettes chinoises)

We’re doing some... (Chinese plate(s))

You also commonly hear ‘les acrobaties’

Get used to the sounds A1

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘Circus’ e-flashcards, or make enlarged copies of the activity sheet.

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

Show the picture of each activity, initially with sound ON and text OFF. Pupils echo the name, e.g. “le trapèze”. Repeat this several times, as in... assiette, chinois(e), diabolo, cirque heard before in piscine, ville, six as in... chinois(e), heard before in oiseau as in... chinois(e), chapiteau heard before in chat, chocolat, as in... boule, nous heard before in genou, tous, bouche [as in the English: to eat ] as in... faisons heard before in crayon, pantalon as in.. mat, fais, nous faisons seen before in doigt, bras paying careful attention to the “key sounds”, until children are beginning to remember the words for the activities in film A1.

Watch film A2: 5 more acts

❑ Film A2 shows children at the circus school doing five more activities: le fil; la jonglerie; l’acrobacie; le rola bola; le monocycle.

Get used to the sounds A1,A2

❑ Echoing: repeat the e-flashcards activity with all 10 circus activities. You can then move on to show the flashcards which give examples of children saying that they do a particular activity: e.g. “Je fais du trapèze”. Ask children to echo the phrase “Je fais...” and to look for the pattern of “de la”, “du”, “de l’” or “des” which they have met before in French 2 ( see “how French works 1”).

Pay attention to “key sounds” in these phrases. NOTE: In the films you will sometimes hear the Chinese plate(s) referred to in the singular and also in the plural, e.g. “Je fais de l’assiette chinoise” and

HOW FRENCH WORKS: I am doing... (something) 1

You hear children at the Circus School say what they are doing, e.g.:

“Je fais de la jonglerie”

(I’m doing some juggling)

This is natural French phrasing, just as you might answer “what are you doing tonight?” with, e.g. “I’m doing some cooking, he’s doing some painting”. Some in French is du, de la, de l’ or des:

“Je fais du trapèze”

“Je fais de l’ acrobacie”

“Je fais des assiettes chinoises”

Children also know to say “du” not “de le”; e.g. when asking for food:“...du pain, s’il vous plaît?”

They may need reminding of how it works.

“Je fais des assiettes chinoises”. Both are correct, so we have included both singular and plural forms at different points in the e-flashcards for this section.

❑ ‘Announcing’/mime: Encourage children to use the phrase to tell an “audience” what they are doing as they mime an activity. They will use this in the class circus performance.

Respond with understanding A2

❑ Play “ the miming game” 1

Call out different activities and ask pupils to mime what you are saying; e.g. “Je fais de la boule” (pupils mime balancing on the ball). For safety, it may be best to agree beforehand how each might be mimed.

❑ Play “true or false?” 1

Show the e-flashcards with sound and text off. Alternatively, use the activity sheet pictures. You say, e.g. “Je fais du mat chinois”. Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture showing the Chinese pole. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”.

❑ Give each pupil one of the pictures from the activity sheet. You call out an activity, e.g. “Je fais de la boule”; all the pupils with that card hold it up for everyone to see. Swap pictures every so often.

❑ Play “true or false?” 2

Show the pictures again, but this time pupils only echo your phrase when it matchesotherwise they remain silent.

Key Sounds

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

as in... f il, monocycle, jonglerie, acrobacie heard before in piscine, ville, six as in... jonglerie, heard before in jour, orange as in... jonglerie, heard before in crayon, pantalon

(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy their typically French sounds.)

Get used to more sounds: We do...

❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready, show the e-flashcards which represent what “we are doing” with sound and text ON. These show pairs or groups of children doing circus activities. Pupils echo, e.g. “Nous faisons de la boule”. Ask them to spot the verb in the sentence, and how it changes between ‘I’ and ‘we’..

❑ Play “True or False”

Show the “We do” e-flashcards with sound and text OFF. You say, e.g “Nous faisons du diabolo”.

Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Me and us

Quite often you and the class will want to talk about what WE are doing, so it’s useful to introduce this additional language:

“Je fais de la jonglerie...”

(I am doing some juggling)

Now you can also say:

“NOUS faisONS de la jonglerie...”

(WE are doing some juggling) showing the pair of children doing the diabolo. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”.

NOTE how the verb ending changes with “we”; with most verbs, it will end in “-ons”. See “ key sounds ” and help children pronounce the new verb authentically.

Try to catch pupils out e.g. say, “Je fais...” instead of “Nous faisons...”

❑ Play “Give us a clue” (charades)

A small group chooses one of the phrases to act out in mime to the class, e.g. “Nous faisons de la boule”.

If children guess the full phrase and say it correctly, they have a turn to act a mime.

Spot silent letters

❑ Show examples of the “I do” and “We do” e-flashcards, with both sound and text on. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “Je fais du diabolo”. Ask for volunteers to point to letters on the screen that are silent.

Watch film A3: Q and A

❑ In film A3 children answer questions about themselves and what activities they do at the circus school

A3: EXTRA WORDS

A3: Teacher questions

Le weekend, qu’est-ce que tu fais? * What do you do at weekends?

Qu’est-ce que tu fais le samedi? * What do you do on Saturdays?

*NOTE: either word order is OK

Qu’est-ce que tu fais pour être en forme? What do you do to keep fit?

Qu’est-ce que tu fais le weekend pour être en forme? What do you do at weekends to keep fit?

A3: Possible pupil replies (REVISION)

Je fais du... (football) I do (some)... (football)

Film A3:“Dolma, qu’est-ce que tu fais?”-“Du trapèze...”

❑ Before watching film A3 explain that you will do this in your “circus performance”.

As ringmaster (see part C ) you will ask individual performers to explain to the “audience” what they are doing.

As a rehearsal, you could do this with the mimes worked out earlier.

Respond with understanding

❑ Your own Question-and-answer: Use questions such as those in “extra words” to ask pupils what they do at the weekend or on a particular day.

As with the interviews in film A3, you can also ask questions that involve revisiting language learnt in earlier work.

...de l’équitation

...de la natation - ...horse-riding -...swimming

Je vais à l’école du cirque

I go to the circus school

Watch film A4: What other people do

❑ Film A4 introduces how to say what other people are doing. Children already know phrases with “il” and “elle” (he and she) from Ch.3.1 and 3.2; now we also look at “they” - “ils” or “elles”.

Film A4: “Elles font du rola bola.”

❑ The language introduced in film A4 will also be used in your performance. Different children can take on the role of “ringmaster” and say what activities other people are doing. Again enjoy practising with mimes.

❑ “Gisting” - what is going on?

Film A4 also includes some “ gisting ” as Véronique, the instructor, explains how to tackle some of the exercises. Without translating, ask children to work out roughly what is going on - using clues from words they already know, what they can see, and how people respond to what is said.

Get used to the sounds: ‘he/she’

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘I/He/she’ e-flashcardssee “how French works 3”.

A4:

New Words

do

They do diabolo a boy on the trapeze. If it is a girl, or another act, pupils say “Non”. Try to catch pupils out!

*NOTE: ‘elles’ only used for all girls.

Click here to change between I, HE and SHE

Pupils echo, e.g. “Il fait du monocycle” n Spot the patterns

Ask children to compare words and sound on the e-flashcards - have sound and text ON. Note the small change between “il/elle fait de...” and “je fais de...”.

❑ Play “True or False”

Show ‘He/she’ on the e-flashcards with sound and text OFF.

You say, e.g “Il fait du trapèze”. Children respond, “Oui” if the picture shows

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Tallking about other people

Children are quite used to saying things about another person, e.g.:

“il est petit, elle est grande”

(he is short, she is tall)

In your “circus show”, the “ringmaster” says what the “performers” are doing:

“il fait de la jonglerie...”

(he is doing (some) juggling)

“ils font du fil...”

(they are doing (some) tightrope)

NOTE that ‘elles’ is used only when it’s all girls; all boys or a boy/girl mix is ‘ils’.

See “ key sounds ” and help children pronounce the new verb authentically.

Get used to the sounds: ‘they’

❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready show the ‘they do...’ e-flashcards and show them initially with sound ON, text OFF. Pupils echo.

❑ Spot the pattern: Ask children to spot when “ils” is used, and when “elles” - see “how French works 3”.

Respond with understanding

❑ Now predict: Show the e-flashcards again, with text AND sound OFF. Now ask children to predict the phrase that goes with each picture - especially whether it is “ils” or “elles”.

Key Sounds

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?

as in... ils font heard before in faisons, pantalon as in.. fait, ils font, elles seen before in doigt, fais, nous

❑ Play “who does what?” (miming)

Invite an individual child to come to the front of the class. Whisper the name of an activity to the child, e.g. “la jonglerie”- or show a picture from the activity sheet (without letting the others see). The child mimes the activity. You say, “Voici (name of child); qu’est-ce qu’il/elle fait?”

The class replies “Il/Elle fait de la jonglerie”. Now ask two or more pupils to come to the front. This time you ask, “Voici (names of children), qu’est qu’ils/elles font?”

The class replies, e.g.

“Ils/Elles font de la jonglerie”. See “how French works 3”.

❑ Play the circus memory game

You may like to show film A3 again (“question and answer”) before playing this game.

Pupils sit on the floor in groups of 10 (there are 10 circus activities). The first child asks their neighbour to the right, “A l’école du cirque, qu’est-ce que tu fais?”

S/he replies, e.g. “Je fais du trapèze”; then turns right to the next person and asks, “A l’école du cirque, qu’est-ce que tu fais?” They reply adding another activity to the list, e.g. “Je fais du trapèze et de la jonglerie”... Continue round the group until the final person has to memorise all 10 activities in the correct order.

To make the game easier, you could place pictures of each activity in the centre of the circle. Each pupil selects a picture and keeps it visible to help those who have a longer list of activities to remember.

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ PE performance

In your PE sessions, have a “rehearsal” for your own circus show.

Different children can take on the role of “ringmaster” and say what activities other children are doing. They can practise with mimes, so that you use the new words for circus activities.

Later in section C, you can introduce French terms for some of the PE activities they are more likely to do, e.g. a forward roll.

❑ PE - circus skills

It may be possible to introduce some of the circus acts shown in films A1 and A2 into your PE sessions.

Some of the equipment is simple and inexpensive such as jugggling balls. You may also be able to find a specialist group that comes into schools to do circus skills training. It is unlikely that they would speak French, but the children could teach the visitors how to name the acts!

There are also some online video lessons on YouTube that teach skills such as juggling that children may be able to follow.