Early Start French 2
2.3 Toutes directions Directions
This section enables pupils to begin to ask for directions to particular places in town, and helps them towards understanding simple replies. Politeness (saying “please”) can be introduced. Children will also be able to give French people directions to places in their own school or neighbourhood.
Films to see A1 - Left, right, straight ahead A2 - Sand yachts B1 - Finding my way and street names
Part A: Left, right, straight ahead
Planning your lessons
Young learners will most easily understand directions in French to “left”, “right” or “straight ahead” if you reinforce them with physical gestures. If you face in the same direction as the pupils, it will be easier for them to mirror your actions. Understanding and giving directions will use the words for places learnt in the last two chapters. Start with a little revision as a reminder. Many of the games involve moving around the room and so it is worth making sure that you have plenty of space from the start. Choose when to introduce saying “please.”
Activities
Warm up
When asking simple directions, pupils will need to remember the names for places in the town. Your warm up could include one or two games from Chapter 2.2, and maybe also 2.1, to practise naming key places.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES à gauche - on the left à droite - on the right tout droit - straight ahead Talking Dictionary
Watch film A1
❑ Watch film A1: “Left, right, straight ahead” to introduce the new words. Film A1: Road signs: The opening sequence shows graphics of road signs pointing “left”, “right” and “straight ahead”: à gauche, à droite, tout droit. We then see real French road signs: à gauche, à droite, tout droit; finishing with a view driving down a typical long, straight French country road lined with trees on either side: tout droit. At the theme park: The car arrives at Dennlys Parc, a lively scene of different rides on a hot summer’s day: the water bumper cars, the rollercoaster, the “vintage car” ride. We travel with one of the children as he drives his car: tout droit, à droite, à gauche, à gauche, à droite, à gauche.
Film A1: “...à gauche” at Dennlys Parc.
Scene from film A1: “...à gauche”.
3.1
2.3 Toutes directions Get used to the sounds
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcard for “à droite”, pupils put out their right hand and echo.
gauche Heard before: chat, marché, dimanche as in
as in gauche Heard before: oiseau, au as in
For“à gauche”, pupils put out their left hand and echo the words. For “tout droit”, pupils take one step forward and echo the words. Use the “back” arrow to repeat the flashcards.
Heard before:
revoir
droit(e)
oiseau, trois
tout(e) Heard before: souris, boulangerie as in
Respond with understanding
(Listen to the native speakers try to copy their typically French sounds.)
❑ When pupils are confident with “à gauche”, “à droite” and “tout droit”, turn the previous activity into a game. Call out the phrases at random, gradually increasing speed. This time, pupils do not echo the words, but either put out their left or right hand or take a step forward as appropriate.
NOTE: phonetic symbols are for teachers ONLY! See “Introduction” for how to use symbols)
Talking Dictionary
That’s good). “Tout droit ... voilà! C’est bon”. (Straight ahead ... there you are! That’s good). “A droit, à droit ... voilà! Très bien”.
NOTE: The next sequence (A2 Sandyachting) is intended for “gisting” pupils may not understand all that the instructor says. Do not translate, but help pupils pick out the key phrases: à gauche, à droite and tout droit. Talk about how you can understand what is happening from the pictures.
(Right, right ... there you are! Very good).
❑ Play “Robot” The children may not have sand yachts, but you can direct them around the room or playground by calling out “tout droit”, “à gauche” and “à droite”.
Watch film A2 - sand yachting
Sand-yacht lessons on Boulogne beach: The instructor calls out to the children: “Très bien ... allez ... tout droit”. (Very good ... off you go ... straight ahead).
“Allez, c’est bien, tout droit toujours...”
(Come on, that’s good, straight ahead all the time) “Tout droit, tout droit... voilà!” (Straight ahead, straight ahead... there you are!) “Toujours tout droit! Pas zig-zag!” (Straight ahead all the time! Don’t zig-zag!)
“Voilà! Très bien”. (There you are! Very good). “Prends à droite ...à droite, à droite”
To practice numbers as well as directions, tell pupils how many steps to take in each direction: “Tout droit ... 3” - take 3 steps straight ahead; “à gauche ... 5” - pupils take 5 steps to the left; “à droite ... 7”- pupils take 7 steps to the right.
(Take the right (turn), ...to the right, to the right).
“Très bien ...à gauche après ...allez, c’est bien”.
(Very good ...turn left afterwards ...there you are!
3.2
Early Start French 2
Part B: Finding my way
Planning your lessons
Now that everyone can recognise and respond to basic directions, pupils will be ready find their way around town. This will invove activities which look again at the places introduced in Ch2.2 together with French street names. It is a good idea to put some time aside to talk about French street names and to make comparisons with how streets are named and signposted in your own country.
Watch film B1
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES Où est ...? - Where is ...? la rue - the road/street
Some French street names: rue de la Plage* Beach Street rue de la Gare* Station Street rue Napoléon Napoleon Street rue Jeanne d’Arc Joan of Arc Street rue Orange Orange Street rue du 11 Novembre* 11 November Street
❑ Watch film B1: “Finding my way” Typical French street-names: We see cars driving through a street in the seaside town Berck-sur-Mer: la rue. On a road leading to the beach, the blue and white sign says: rue de la Plage. We see other streets in Berck-sur-Mer: rue de la Talking Dictionary Gare, rue Orange, rue Napoléon, rue Jeanne-d’Arc and rue du 11 Novembre*. (See “talking points”). Cultural awareness Asking directions: A street map appears on screen (reproduced in ■ Talk about French street names the activity sheet), showing these streets and Before practising the language associated key places in the town. with finding your way around town, this Voice 1: “Où est la plage?” is a good time to talk about French street Voice 2: “Tout droit ... rue de la Plage”. names and how addresses are written in Voice 1: “Où est la gare?” France. (See "Talking point"). Voice 2: “A droite ... rue de la Gare”. Get used to the sounds Voice 1: “Où est le café?”. Voice 2: “A gauche ... rue Jeanne d’Arc”. ❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards which give Voice 1: “Où est la rue Orange?”. the names for the different streets shown in film B1. These are real streets in the seaside town of voice 2: “Tout droit et à droite”. Berk-sur-mer. Pupils echo as they get used to the sounds of the street names.
*NOTE for teachers: French street names usually have capitals (even dates, where you would normally write “11 novembre”), but not “rue” or “avenue”.
Film B1: “rue de la Plage”
3.3
2.3 Toutes directions ❑ Give each pupil one of the road-signs from the activity sheet. You move around the room, asking pupils where different places are, e.g. “Où est la rue Napoléon?” or “Où est la pâtisserie?” Add “s’il te plaît” if you wish (see “How French works” below). Pupils reply according to the road-sign they hold and point in a matching direction, e.g. “à gauche”. ❑ Play “draw the route” Each child has a sheet of paper, on which they follow your instructions to draw a route, e.g. from the school to the swimming pool. Beginning at the bottom of the page, they draw a school symbol at the bottom of the page. I f you call out “tout droit”, pupils draw a straight line slowly up the page. If you then say “à gauche et tout droit”, they turn their line off to the left and then carry it on in the same direction. For “à droite”, they draw a line turning right, and so on. An alternative is to ask the children to dictate a route for you to draw on the blackboard. You could add places that you pass as the journey progresses, e.g. le marché, l’école. ❑ Play “I’m lost!” Make two sets of picture-cards of the places in town from chapter 2.2. Mark out a simple floor map, with a straight road, three streets branching off to the left and three streets to the right.
1
Ask seven children to place themselves on the side-streets, each holding one of the pictures. Select a “lost” child, who blindly picks a card from the second set to be their destination e.g. the station. Standing at the edge of the map, s/he asks “Où est la gare, s”il te plaît?” The rest of the class point to the correct picture, and offer directions, e.g. “tout droit”. The lost child moves slowly, and changes direction on further commands, e.g. “à gauche” or “à droite”. Every so often, ask pupils to swap pictures.
Working in pairs
❑ Make multiple copies of the picture cards from ch.2. 2. It is worth sticking these to card and laminating them if they are going to be used regularly. One pupil has a set of the places,
HOW FRENCH WORKS 3: Asking the way politely
When asking directions, a polite French child would say “please” like this: ◆ to an adult: “s’il vous plaît” ◆ to a child, or a member of their family: “s’il te plaît” They might attract attention with: ”Excusez-moi! ...”, but saying “please” first works just as well. Pupils already know how to say “thankyou” in French from Pack 1. You’ll use “please” and “thank-you” later for other things, too -see Ch.2.5 and Ch.2.11.
S’il vous plaît! - où est le marché?
Where is the market, please? (asking an adult not in your family)
S’il te plaît! ... ?
(asking a child, close friend, or a member of your family)
Excusez-moi! - Excuse me!
REMINDER
Merci! (Madame / Monsieur) Thankyou! Talking Dictionary
3.4
Please! Being polite in French QUICK HINT: Just say the name of the place and “please” in a questioning tone:
“Le marché, s’il vous plaît?”
Early Start French 2 (ideally two of each ); the other has a set of the “left”, “right” and “straight ahead” road-signs cut from the activity sheet. Each pupil shuffles his/her set of cards and places them face-down in front of them. The first pupil selects a card from the top of the pile. If s/he selects “le supermarché”, s/he asks, “Où est le supermarché, s’il te plaît?”. The other pupil selects a card from his/her pile and says “à gauche”, “à droite” or “tout droit” as appropriate. At a given signal, pupils swap cards so each has practice at asking the question and giving the reply.
Watch the films again
❑ It is always a good idea to watch the films again for reinforcement.
Look again at sounds
❑ Play “It’s that sound again!” For this game choose typical French sounds that you feel able to pronounce accurately. Place a selection of picture-cards on the floor. (e.g. pets, places, colours and one or two street names introduced in this chapter). The children stand in a circle around the cards. Call out a particular sound, e.g. (ch) as in gauche”. Pupils take it in turns to run to the cards and find a picture of a word containing might be the same sound - possibilities for chat, chien, marché. This activity encourages children to listen carefully and discriminate between sounds; they process lots of information as they think through all the possibilities for a correct response.
Introducing the written word French street names
❑ If you haven’t already, talk with pupils about French street names (see this chapter’s “talking points”). ❑ Make flashcards for the street names shown in film B1. If possible, colour them blue and white for an authentic look. As you show each street sign, say the name e.g. “rue Napoléon”. Pupils echo the words.
3.5
❑ Play “where’s the street?” Mark out the same floor map as for the previous game “I’m lost!” Again place children on the side streets, each holding a street sign. Pupils take it in turns to reply to the question “Où est la rue Napoléon?”, etc. They point to the correct street sign and say whether the street is “à gauche”, “tout droit” or “à droite”. ❑ Play “I’m lost! 2” Give the children standing on the side streets a picture card of a place (e.g. la gare) as well as a street sign (e.g. rue Napoléon). This time the question relates to a place, e.g. “Où est la gare?” The reply includes both a direction and a street name following the examples given in the film, e.g. “Tout droit et à gauche ... rue Napoléon”. ❑ Copy activity sheets “Plan de ville” 1 and 2 for the interactive whiteboard - or draw it by hand. Arrange the pictures of places, and choose your starting point on the map. Then ask pupils to direct you to different streets e.g. “Où est la rue du 11 Novembre?” Pupils answer initially as a group, e.g. “tout droit et à gauche”. You can then move on to ask individuals; pupils could also play in pairs. ❑ You can also ask where key places are, following the examples shown in the films, e.g. “Où est le café?” “A gauche ... rue Jeanne d’Arc”.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ PE: the “Robot” game: You can adapt the game in a variety of ways: (i) If you are in the playground or on the field with plenty of space, ask pupils to run in the direction you call out, e.g. “Tout droit” - straight ahead as fast as they can. “...à droite” - turn and run to the right. “...à gauche” - turn and run to the left. (ii) Agree a particular physical activity for each word (e.g. running, jumping, hopping). Pupils follow the directions you call out, using the appropriate physical movement, e.g. “Tout droit, 20” - run 20 steps straight ahead. “...à droite, 5” - take 5 hops to the right. “...à gauche, 7” - take 7 jumps to the left.
2.3 Toutes directions ❑ Drama: Pupils can use their puppets to practise asking directions and giving replies. Encourage them to use greetings and to say goodbye at the end of the conversation.
“Imaginary Town” project
If you have been making a model of an imaginary French town, you can use it for asking and giving directions in French.
Talking point
EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE Street names and addresses
Many streets in French towns are named after famous people. For example, in Berck-sur-Mer there is a rue Napoléon and also a rue Jeanne d’Arc. (Both characters from French history are described in Early Start French 1: “Salut! Ça va?” chapter 1.4).
❑ History/Geography: study a seaside town: Use Berck as a case-study of a seaside town to compare with a seaside resort in your country or that’s local to you. Like many UK resorts e.g. Brighton, Berck grew from a fishing hamlet by offering cures for serious diseases and pollution in 19th century cities; the sick came to benefit from healthy sea air and water.
Some French street names commemorate well known historical dates: the rue du 11 Novembre in Berck-sur-Mer is named after the date of the Armistice at the end of World War 1 in 1918. They celebrated it because millions of French people died in the fighting; a large part of northern France was occupied. When French people write addresses, they often use abbreviations. M. Bernard Duval 45 rue du 11 Novembre * 62601 Berck-sur-Mer M. is an abbreviation of Monsieur which is used to address a man in a formal letter. A woman is Madame, abbreviated to Mme; a young girl is Mademoiselle, shortened to Mlle. ■ Children could word-process a real French address e.g. your partner school. Select one to attach to a postcard of your town, and post.
The presentation “Seaside history” describes how Berck evolved with the building of railways and the start of paid holidays for working people - and how modern medecine brought huge changes.
Town Guide project
❑ Geography: Pupils could prepare a map/ plan of your locality (or the French town where your partner school is), and use this for asking and giving directions. (See “extra words and phrases” at the end of this chapter).
*NOTE for teachers: some children may find it easier to write their French addresses in capitals, following the style of the street-name signs seen in the film.
3.6
Early Start French 2 EXTENSION ACTIVITY “Second street on the left...”
Cultural awareness ■ You could talk with children about streetnames in your town or district. and where these names come from. Some are named after people who were famous or important locally when the street was built. Others are named after a place along the road, or where it leads to: “Station Road”, “Church Street”, “London Road”) You could swap information about street names with your partner school.
Pupils already know “first” In French 1, pupils met the ordinal number “first”,as in “le premier avril” - 1st of April. If pupils are confident with this section’s new words, you might like to teach them how to say the French for “first, second or third ” in giving directions. “First”,“second”,“third” with streets
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES
RECORDING & ASSESSMENT
Children can record their achievements to date on “can-do statements” sheet 1: 1.TALKING ABOUT WHERE I LIVE to 3.GIVING DIRECTIONS. (Find them to download online or after chapter 2.16. in the Teacher’s Manual) Each child could add his or her completed sheets to their Languages Portfolio.
Directions: (all feminine, to go with “rue”)
1er - la première (rue) à droite first (street) on the right 2e - la deuxième (rue) à gauche second on the left
3e - la troisième (rue) à gauche third on the left
You can hear the difference between “La première rue” and “le premier avril” (see the Talking Dictionary). Children can use the phrases without knowing the reason, which is that French adjectives often change to agree with the noun they describe. La rue is a feminine noun, whereas le jour (first [day] of April) is masculine. NOTE: remember that you say “le deux avril”, etc; not “le deuxième avril”.
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES Maps (le) Plan de Berck - Berck street map NOTE: “un plan” - a town map with street names. A map of an area or country is “une carte”.
The pronunciation of these additional phrases can be heard on the Talking Dictionary see Talking Dictionary
3.7
Toutes directions à gauche
Je m’appelle ...........................
tout droit
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
à droite
© 2018 Early Start Languages
Plan de Ville 1
Je m’appelle ...........................
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Š 2018 Early Start Languages
Plan de Ville 2
Je m’appelle ...........................
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Š 2018 Early Start Languages