14 e s' iA f rp è: h rL ea s'bae el tp h da eb s et Op t .i oAns 1a-. lt4us ed sc oLt e u or ln s?
1.4 L'alphabet The alphabet
This chapter aims to help children recognise French letter names when they hear them. It's the same 26 letters A-Z as in English (only the added accents are different). Young beginners will not find it very helpful to be able to list the French letter-names in order from memory. Children will find that it's much easier to understand when a word is spelt out in French, especially once they have learnt to deal with the few "false friends". We present groupings by sound to make it easier to remember where the alphabet in French is different. We suggest some activities like spelling games that will give pupils fun experience of responding to the French letter names, without expecting them to memorise and produce the list from A to Z.
Films to see A1. French alphabet circus B1. Spelling games Later on it may be worth revisiting this section. Learning how to understand words spelt out in an authentic French way will be useful for acquiring new vocabulary. The French sounds often help children to work out how to pronounce an unfamiliar word. The section also provides good practice with typical French sounds and introduces some common organisations which are known by their initials - particularly the French railways, S.N.C.F, which are the subject of this section’s “talking point.”
Part A: The alphabet in French
Planning your lessons
Learning 26 sounds matched up to the letters A-Z and remembering them is a fairly daunting task for most children. Introducing them in groups helps, so that, with practice, pupils become familiar with a manageable number of letter-names at a time. Follow this with some spelling activities from those suggested.
Film A1: :The letters perform in an animated circus.... “A B”
Activities
Letters grouped by sound
Letters are shown in six groups - probably the easiest way to remember their sounds. First there are letters with a closed “e” sound, as in the English word “café”:
Warm up
❑ Start the lesson with a game from Ch.1.3 to remind children how to say their names.
B C D G P T V
Watch film 4 A1 "L'alphabet"
❑ Watch film 4 A1, giving children the chance to join in as the letter sounds become familiar. Alphabet circus animation The opening sequence shows the animated letters A-Z performing as circus acrobats. Each letter is named in French as it enters the ring.
In Saint Omer station, we hear some of these letters spelt out, referring to the high-speed train, the “T-G-V” - Train à Grande Vitesse. 4.1 4.1
ue e siroftn r è rr e'sn O p1t4i.E oA n a sa r -l tys Sd ae c l pthhd1 aebs e t sctota e u r s:F ? Le
Film A1: French high-speed train, known as the “TGV”
Film A1: “Je m’appelle Justine: J-U-S-T-I-N-E.”
The second group are letter names with an open “e” sound, as in the English word “tennis”:
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards; with sound and text ON. Ask pupils to echo each letter as they hear it.
F L M N R S Z French railways are always referred to by their initials: “S-N-C-F”- Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français. Film A1 shows a number of railway stations.
❑ Show the ‘sound groups” e-flashcards to help the children to hear the similarities of sounds within the six groups of letters (see 'Key sounds' below). You will soon find that you need to make your mouth into a different shape in order to pronounce eachgroup of letters. Repeat this several times; encourage children to relish the sounds they are making. n Echoing: Show ‘A-Z’ in alphabetical order on the e-flashcards; work through the un-jumbled sequence A-Z, asking pupils to echo the letters as they hear them. ❑ Jumbled: Select ‘shuffle’ and ask pupils to echo each letter as it comes up. Then switch
Signpost outside Saint-Omer station: “Gare SNCF”
Three more groups of letters are introduced:
A H K I J Y X E O
- with an “a” sound, as in “taxi”
- with an “i” sound, as in “police”
Then children spell out their names: Je m'appelle Lili: L-I-L-I Je m'appelle Benjamin: B-E-N-J-A-M-I-N Je m'appelle Thomas: T-H-O-M-A-S Finally, the 6th group of letters is shown:
Q U
KEY SOUNDS
- listen to how native speakers say these two sounds.....
Listen to the sounds of the alphabet letters in six groups:
B C D G P T V W - closed “e” sound F L M N R S Z - open “e” sound A H K - “a” sound I J Y X - “i” sound E O - French “e” and “o” sounds Q U - French “u” sound
- with a French “u” sound, as in “salut”
Hugo, Justine and Arthur spell their names. 4.2 4.2
see Talking Dictionary
14 e s' iA f rp è: h rL ea s'bae el tp h da eb s et Op t .i oAns 1a-. lt4us ed sc oLt e u or ln s? OFF sound; can they say the letters? ❑ What comes next? Show ‘A-Z’ in alphabetical order on the e-flashcards; work through the unjumbled sequence A-Z, asking pupils to predict which letter comes next. You can then click to the next letter to see if they are right.
Respond with understanding
❑ Play 'Spell-my-name' 1:
Any accents are added automatically, e.g. for "Chloé” you press 'e' but 'é' appears; you hear "e - accent aigue" (the French for 'e-acute'). They may still wish to know the French names for accents (see Talking Dictionary).
(Note: not all versions will offer this feature)
Select the ‘Spell my Name’ game 1. The child's name is spelled out and pupils click the correct key on the on-screen keypad . This helps them get used to hearing and responsing to the French letternames, e.g. “C-H-L-O-E... Chloé”. When they have completed typing the name, they hear the film say, "Je m'appelle Chloé."
❑ Play ‘Spell-my-name’ 2: On another occasion you may like to play ‘Spell my Name’ game 2 in which the names of famous French people are spelled out. ❑ Ask pupils to spell out their own names: say (to ONE pupil) "épelle ton nom" . Some may need help; you can write an individual’s name on the board and say the letters yourself while the pupil repeats them. Gradually pupils will become familiar with the letter-sounds that spell their own name. Try asking them to spell other simple words, e.g. "épelez 'bonjour'" (to more than one pupil). ❑ Play “Comment t'appelles-tu?” 1 When pupils have learnt how to spell their names, they can play “comment t'appelles-tu?” in pairs. Ask them to introduce themselves to each other as if they did not quite catch the name on first hearing and need it to be spelt out, e.g. "épelle ton nom" . Pupil 1: “Bonjour. Comment t'appelles-tu?” Pupil 2: “Ella.” Pupil 1: (Gestures to show that she has not heard clearly). Pupil 2: “E-L-L-A ... Ella.” Pupil 1: “Ella! Bonjour! Je m'appelle Daisy.” - and so on ... ❑ Play Dictation Challenge: Ask the class to write a single French word, to see if they can, e.g. "écrivez 'bonsoir'" . Show a written word they know and ask, “Ça s’écrit comment?” .
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES
une majuscule - an upper case letter une minuscule - a lower case letter une voyelle - a vowel une consonne- a consonant "Pendu" - the game "Hangman"
on va jouer au "Pendu" - we're going to play "Hangman" CLASSROOM INSTRUCTIONS: Writing
écris "bonsoir" write "bonsoir" - to ONE PUPIL écrivez "au revoir" write "au revoir"
- to SEVERAL PUPILS / CLASS
ça s'écrit comment? What does that say? Spelling
épelle ton nom spell your name - to ONE PUPIL épelez "bonjour" spell "bonjour"
-to SEVERAL PUPILS / CLASS
see Talking Dictionary 4.3 4.3
ue e siroftn r è rr e'sn O p1t4i.E oA n a sa r -l tys Sd ae c l pthhd1 aebs e t sctota e u r s:F ? Le Watch film 4 B1:'Spelling games'
beforehand. Pupils take it in turns to come to the front and point at a letter. The whole class says the name of the letter in French. You strike it off and either draw the next stage of the hangman’s gibbet or fill in one of the blanks on your word line.
❑ Film B1 shows French children in class playing "Pendu" ('Hangman').
❑ Play “Comment t'appelles-tu?” 2 This is a variation on the earlier game in which children pass on a name by spelling it in French. This time give each pupil a slip of paper with a French name written on it. You could use the names from the presentation, “famous French people” or popular French first names from Ch.1.3: “Comment t'appelles-tu?”. Pupils can also play this game using their puppets.
Film B1: Children suggest letters as the class play “Pendu”
Then a small group do a search on the class computer about 'Henri Matisse'. They spell it out on the keyboard, - 'M-A-T-I-S-S-E'.
❑ Show film A1 regularly for reinforcement of A-Z. Encourage pupils to echo the letters as they hear them. They could practise a French style of handwriting (see “talking points”).
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Music: Ask pupils to make up their own tune or chants for the French alphabet. ❑ History: famous French people Ask each group of pupils to research and report to the class on one famous French person, and what made them famous. They could choose from those in the “Talking point” presentation, or find another. They could fit each person chosen onto a French timeline in relation to key events like the French Revolution.
Film B1: Children search for “MATISSE” on the computer.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Play “Countdown”: Children play in two teams. Each team picks 9 letter cards one-at-a-time, saying they want either “une consonne” ) or “une voyelle” ). On receiving a letter, they say its French name. By the TV rules,each team must have at least 3 vowels. They have up to 30 seconds to make a French word using the 9 letters. If their word is acceptable, they get points for how many letters it has. NOTE: This game is worth playing again later when children know more words.
❑ Play “Hangman”: When pupils are confident with the letters of the alphabet, you can play ‘Hangman’ “Pendu” in French. Following the example in the film, children guess which letters are in a name or familiar French word. Some pupils may find this difficult, so you could play a version where you write each letter of the alphabet on the whiteboard 4.4 4.4
14 e s' iA f rp è: h rL ea s'bae el tp h da eb s et Op t .i oAns 1a-. lt4us ed sc oLt e u or ln s? Cultural awareness
Talking point 1
■ Talk with children about their experience of travelling by rail. How many have been only on a tourist steam train? ■ Swap information with your French partner school about how much pupils travel in their parents’ cars, and by train.
Everyday life in France: Travelling by rail
France has the largest land area of any European country, and the second biggest length of motorways - autoroutes - of which most are toll roads where the driver has to pay. Over three-quarters of French households own a car. At the beginning and end of the summer holidays, the autoroutes between the cities to the coast are blocked with traffic jams.
Talking point 2
Everyday life in France: French handwriting
Saint-Omer station on Sunday evening: the town's once-a-week TGV train is ready to depart.
French railways remain popular for travelling long distances and for commuting into big cities, like Paris and Lille - where double-decker trains are often used. SNCF has been state-owned since 1937, and the fares are generally cheaper than in UK and heavily subsidised. Many passengers now choose the high speed train, or “TGV” (Train à Grande Vitesse), which holds the world speed record at 515 km/hour (over 300 mph) running on specially-built new lines running straight through the countryside. The first ran in 1981 from Paris to Lyon and Geneva. Beyond the new lines, the TGV has to share the ordinary tracks, which reduces the average speed to 214 km/hour (133 mph) - it takes only 1 hour for 220km from Lille to Paris! If you wish to travel on TGVs, you have to pay a supplement, but many people use them because they are so fast and comfortable. The network is gradually extending to neighbouring European countries, including through the Channel Tunnel to London.
The activity sheets show the alphabet written in a typical French-style of handwriting. Pupils who have received handwritten communications from children in French schools may have noticed the distinctive way the letters are formed. Pupils can try to use this style of letters to write their names, or play “Pendu” .
4.5 4.5
Je m'appelle
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Š Copyright 2018 Early Start Languages
Je m'appelle
This page may be photocopied for classroom use
Š Copyright 2018 Early Start Languages