F3.4 Mini-beasts v18 2023

4. Les petites bêtes

Mini-beasts

This section has strong cross-curricular links with children’s work in their science lessons on mini-beasts. We see French children on a mini-beast hunt in a forest with a nature warden. He shows how to identify what creature you are looking at. Children will focus on asking QUESTIONS about various characteristics (and parts of the body), e.g. ‘does it have wings?’ - and on ANSWERS such as ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘more than six’.

The hunt introduces extra French terms that are used with mini-beasts and other animals. They look at the whole eco-system of the forest, including food chains and how the forest’s life cycle is sustained. The language introduced here with woodland creatures is transferable to your work on other habitats, e.g. pond-life or the seashore.

Films to see

Part A: Mini-beasts in the forest

A1. The forest floor habitat

A2. Naming mini-beasts

A3. Song 1: ‘Petit escargot’

Part B: Identifying mini-beasts

B1. What is it? (Keys)

B2. Song: ‘L’araignée gypsy’

B3. Jokes 1 and 2

Part C: Who eats what?

C1. Food chains and the forest life-cycle

C2. Joke 3

Find transcripts online

A: Mini-beasts in the forest Planning your lessons

Part

Part A introduces the forest of le Parc Départemental d’Olhain near Béthune , where the children go on their mini-beast hunt with an “éco-garde”.

Film A1 shows the habitat of the forest floor in autumn.

Film A2 shows some of the teeming life to be found amid the leaf debris on the forest floor.

Activities

Warm up

Before showing film A1 , ask the class to talk (in their own language) about what happens to woodlands in autumn.

If you haven’t taught this already, they could speculate about:

n what happens to the leaves that fall to the ground every year?

n what creatures might be found living on the forest floor?

Watch film A1: the forest floor habitat

❑ Watch film A1, which starts with the title song; children can sing along. It then introduces the forest floor habitat, where the French children are going on a mini-beast hunt to find some of the creatures that live there.

Film A1: The children hunt for mini-beasts in the forest.

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards marked A1 ‘Forest floor’ and show initially with sound ON and text OFF (or use the activity sheet).

A1: NEW WORDS

Forest floor habitat

la forêt un arbre une feuille le sol en automne les feuilles...

...tombent

...restent

les feuilles mortes un champignon (ils) poussent

- forest - tree

- leaf

- soil / earth

- in autumn

- the leaves...

- ...fall

- ...lie

- dead leaves

- mushroom

- (they) grow

Questions

Qui habite ici? Who lives here?

Pupils echo the words, e.g. “une feuille morte”

KEY SOUNDS

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

as in... champignon heard before in piscine, ville, six

as in... champignon heard before in chat, chocolat,

as in... champignon, tombent heard before in jonglerie, crayon

as in... feuille heard before in oeil, yeux, bien

as in... mortes, tombent seen before in fais, doigt

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

Watch film A2: naming mini-beasts

❑ Film A2 shows and names the mini-beasts that the girls find on the autumn forest floor. Some small creatures are filmed close-up, others are animated drawings.

Respond with understanding

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

❑ Play “true or false?” 1

Show the e-flashcards with sound and text off. Alternatively, use the activity sheet pictures. You say, e.g. “un arbre”.

Children respond, “Oui” if it is the picture showing a tree. If it isn’t, pupils say “Non”.

❑ Play “true or false?” 2

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

More getting used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards ‘A2. Naming mini-beasts’ (or use activity sheet) - start with sound ON and text OFF. Pupils echo the name of each creature, paying attention to “ key sounds” (p.4.3) e.g. “un escargot”

Film A2: “Un scarabée” - animation.

KEY SOUNDS

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

as in fourmi, mille-pattes, chenille heard before in diabolo, facile, six

as in... scarabée, araignée heard before in assez, ajouter

as in... chenille, mouche

heard before in chat, chinois

as in...chenille but not mille-pattes heard before in feuille, oeil

as in... araignée heard before in campagne

as in... escargot seen before in tombent, bras

Respond with understanding

❑ Repeat the activities suggested for A1, using the activity sheet and the e-flashcards

❑ You can introduce some additional minibeasts that the children will know, using the e-flashcards. This will widen the scope of children’s later activities. Show the ‘Minibeasts' e-flashcards marked “EXTRA” with sound and text ON. Ask children to echo as they see each creature, e.g. “un pou de tête” (a headlouse features in this unit’s joke - see later).

❑ Repeat all the activities suggested for A1, using the activity sheet and the e-flashcards.

Watch film A3- SONG 1

❑ Film A3 shows a class of French children singing the traditional song, “Petit escargot” about a snail and its shell that likes the rain (see box, ‘Song 1’); children can sing along. The song lends itself to actions - make up your own with your class as you sing it!

A2: NEW WORDS

Names of mini-beasts

les petites bêtes un cloporte une fourmi une araignée un scarabée un mille-pattes une mouche un ver de terre un escargot

- mini-beasts - woodlouse - ant - spider - beetle - a millipede or centipede - a fly

- (earth)worm - snail

other mini-beasts (not in film A2)

une chenille un papillon une coccinelle une abeille une guêpe

un pou (de tête)

- caterpillar - butterfly - ladybird - bee - wasp - (head) louse

Identifying

Qu’est-ce que c’est? What is it?

SONG 1: ‘Petit escargot’

Petit escargot (little snail)

porte sur son dos (carries on his back)

sa maisonnette. (his little house)

Aussitôt qu’il pleut (as soon as it rains)

il se sent heureux (he feels happy)

il sort sa tête!

(He puts is head out!)

Part B: Identifying mini-beasts

Planning your lessons

Part B is about the next stage in a mini-beast hunt: when you’ve caught a mini-beast, what questions will help you identify which creature you are looking at?

You can review all the questions children already know in French, and look at how questions can be phrased.

Activities

1. Warm up

Ask children what questions they can ask in French, e.g. “Quel âge as-tu?”, “Comment t’appelles-tu?”, “Quelle heure est-il?”, “Où habitestu?”, “Qu’est-ce que c’est?”, “C’est combien?”... There are quite a lot! If you haven’t already done so, you could look for patterns in how questions are phrased in French, and how to turn a statement into a question (see “how French works 1”).

Watch film B1

❑ Film B1 introduces four features of minibeasts: the number of legs*, and whether it has wings, antennae or a shell.

*Note that humans have “jambes” but animals have “pattes”

B1: NEW WORDS

des pattes (f)

des ailes (f)

des antennes (f)

une coquille

- legs (of animals)

- wings

- antennae

- a shell (e.g. snail)

Est-ce qu’il a... (des pattes)?

...des ailes?

...des antennes?

...une coquille?

- ...wings?

- ...antennae?

- ...a shell?

..and answers

il a... (des pattes)

it has... (legs)

il n’a pas de... (pattes) it doesn’t have... (legs)

il n’a pas d’ailes it doesn’t have wings

il

Combien de ... (pattes) a-t-il?

How many... (legs) does it have?

Il a ... (six pattes)

It has ... (6 legs)

Qu’est-ce que c’est? C’est... (un scarabée) What is it? It’s... (a beetle)

The children learn how to identify which creature they are looking at by observing these features and answering key questions (see “B1: new words”).

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Select ‘B1. Minibeast body parts’ on the e-flashcards, and show with sound and text ON. Children echo what they hear.

The four body parts mentioned are wings, legs/ feet, antennae and a shell; pupils will use these characteristics to identify mini-beasts.

Film B1 Identification - “Combien de pattes a-t-il?”

KEY SOUNDS

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

as in coquille heard before in diabolo, mille-pattes

as in... antenne heard before in lancez, jambe

as in...coquille heard before in chenille not mille-pattes

as in... pattes, ailes seen before in escargot, c’est

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

❑ Echoing: When pupils are ready, show the e-flashcards ‘B1. Identifying minibeasts Q & A’. Each shows a question about the creature portrayed, followed by the answer - initially with sound and text ON.

1

How to make a question

When you turn“il a six pattes” (it has 6 legs) into a question, you don’t just turn it round (“a il..”), you also add a “t”: “a-t-il six pattes?” does it have six legs?

Adding the“-t-” helps make the phrase easier to say. Try saying “a il..” - you’ll see how awkward it is without an extra “-t-” between the two vowels.

Another useful way to make a question is to add “est-ce que...” before a statement: “est-ce qu’il a six pattes?”

(LITERALLY: is it that it has 6 legs?)

Note how the “est-ce qu’...” slides into “il a” - that’s another way to make it easier to say.

NOTE 2: explain to children that an unknown creature is always referred to as ‘he’ (‘il’)

- see “How French works 2”.

NOTE 3: When you hear a negative statement, e.g. “il n’a pas de pattes”, ask children to look for the pattern : see “How French works 3”.

Respond with understanding

Click to move from Question to Answer

Pupils echo the question, e.g. “Est-ce qu’il a une coquille?” Click the ‘forward’ arrow to hear the answer which they also echo, e.g. “Oui, un escargot a une coquille”.

There are a range of questions included on these flashcards so you may wish to refer to the following:

NOTE 1: with the question “Combien de pattes a-t-il?”, point out the extra ‘-t-’ sound. Ask children to guess why it is there.

- see “How French works 1”.

❑ Q-and-A with the e-flashcards: Show the e-flashcards again: display the question, then switch OFF text and sound. Ask children to answer the question without a prompt - pay particular attention to negative answers, e.g. “A-t-il des antennes?” about a worm.

Children could suggest other questions to ask about the current mini-beast, e.g. “Quelle couleur est-il?”; and answer them, e.g. “Il est rose”

- see “Extra words” for possibilities.

HOW FRENCH WORKS: Referring to “it” (genders) 2

In French,you refer to an unknown mini-beast as “he” - “il”:

Combien de pattes a-t-il? Il a 8 pattes. (How many legs does it have? It has 8 legs)

Once “it” is identified, you use “il” or “elle” as usual, depending on whether it’s a masculine or feminine noun:

C’est un escargot. Il a une coquille. (It’s a snail. It has a shell)

C’est une araignée. Elle a 8 pattes. (It’s a spider. It has 8 legs)

So when children ask questions about something they are trying to identify, it’s always masculine while it’s unknown.

❑ Play “Guess who?”

Lay out all the mini-beast flashcards face up, so all the children can see. You secretly think of a creature, e.g. “un escargot”; the class find out what it is, by asking questions.

HOW FRENCH WORKS: “It does NOT have ANY....”

Children are used to making a statement NEGATIVE by adding“ne...pas” around the verb:

A-t-il des pattes? Il n’a pas de pattes. (Does it have legs? It does not have any legs)

NOTE: ‘not...any’ is always “de” (or d’ if before vowel), not “des”, “du” or “de la”:

A-t-il une coquille? Il n’a pas de coquille. (Does it have a shell? It doesn’t have a shell)

A-t-il des ailes? Il n’a pas d’ ailes. (Does it have wings? It doesn’t have any wings)

As-tu un animal? Je n’ai pas d’animal. (Do you have a pet? I do not have a pet).

❑ Play “Beetle Drive” (‘Brico-scarabée’ - DIY Beetle) :

Seat the class in groups of four, each with a dice. Cut up copies of the “Beetle Drive” Activity Sheet (1 per group) but don’t give them out

When you start the game, the children in each group throw the dice in turn. When a child throws a “6”, they raise a hand and ask you for a body: “six; un ventre/un corps, s’il vous plaît”. They can then add to their group’s body by throwing:

5=head (“une tête”), 3=one leg (“une patte”) (they need 6 legs, so to save time you could give them all the legs for throwing one three!) Each time they ask you, in French, for the body part they need.

If they ask, “Est-ce qu’il a des ailes?”, you say “non” and remove all those cards where the animal does not have wings. Carry on asking questions until only one card is left.

Encourage diverse and imaginative questions; they should range over the number of legs, whether it has wings, antennae or a shell; its colour and size, etc.

❑ When they are ready, children can also play this game in pairs. One child thinks of a creature; the other asks questions until they have guessed what it is.

Change roles depending on children’s confidence. Winners are the chooser who holds out for most questions, and the guesser who guesses in the fewest.

Once they have a head, they can throw: 2=an eye (x2), 1=a mouth, and 4=an antenna (x2).

First group to complete a whole “beetle” wins. *NOTE: this version is made up: the British ‘Beetle Drive’ game is not well-known in France.

B1: EXTRA WORDS

On va jouer au Brico-scarabée

Let’s play DIY Beetle

Qui a fini son scarabée?

Games like ‘Beetle Drive’ lance le dé/les dés

Who has finished their beetle?

- throw the die/dice

j’ai gagné tu as gagné à toi/vous de jouer

- I’ve won

- you’ve won

- it’s your turn (SING/PL)

B1: EXTRA WORDS

More identification questions

est-ce qu’il a plus de 6 pattes? does it have more than 6 legs? qui a quatorze pattes? who has 14 legs? qui habite ici? who lives here?

quelle couleur est-il? what colour is it?

il est noir

it’s black (masculine or unknown noun) elle est noire

it’s black (feminine noun) est-ce que c’est un scarabée ou un cloporte? is it a beetle or a woodlouse?

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Science: Make an identication key

This can be a teacher-led whole class activity, or children can work on it in groups.

Start with a selection of creatures, each represented by a flashcard. The aim of the activity is to make a framework of questions (known as a “knowledge key”) to enable someone to identify any of those creatures. You also need a collection of questions which require a “yes/no” answer, e.g. “Est-ce qu’il a des ailes?” On the board sort the animals into those two groups. If there’s ony one animal in a group, you have succeeded! You have a “key” to identify that animal. Otherwise, apply another question to each group, e.g. “est-ce qu’il a une coquille?”, and sort those animals according to the answer, and so on...

When a group has completed a key, they can try it out to see whether another child can use it to play “Guess who” (see earlier).

Watch film B2: Song 2

❑ In film B2 a class of French children sing the traditional song, “L’araignée Gypsy” - a version of “Incy Wincy spider” which is washed down the pipe (‘spout’) every time it rains (see box, ‘Song 2’); children can sing along with hand actions.

SONG 2: ‘L’araignée Gypsy’

L’araignée Gypsy monte à la gouttière (Gypsy, the spider, climbs up the pipe)

Tiens voilà la pluie, (Hey, here’s the rain), Gypsy tombe par terre, (Gypsy falls to the ground)

Mais le soleil a chassé la pluie... (But the sun has chased away the rain)

L’araignée Gypsy monte à la gouttière Tiens voilà la pluie, Gypsy tombe par terre, Mais le soleil a chassé la pluie...

L’araignée Gypsy monte à la gouttière.

NOTE: some versions end with this last line: L’araignée Gypsy s’est endormie.

Film B2: Singing the “Incy Wincy spider” song in French.

Part B extra: Joke

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Literacy: Use the jokes as a starting point for discussion in English about jokes and what makes them funny. Look at examples of English jokes. Pupils can collect simple jokes in English that they think pupils in their French partner school should understand. If you are holding a video conference, pupils can tell each other jokes in their native tongue.

Watch B3: two mini-beast jokes

❑ Watch the two jokes which are separate films in B3:

Joke 1 is a play on French grammar: children know (from ch.3.2, “Les parties du corps”) that French people generally refer to parts of their bodies impersonally, e.g. “A head-louse walks on the head” not “...your head”. Hence it is possible to confuse that sentence with “A head-louse walks on its head”.

Joke 2 depends on a similar double-entendre: as in English, ‘cricket’ (the sport) sounds the same as ‘criquet’ (the insect).

❑ Literacy: Help pupils work out the meaning of the French jokes.

JOKE 1:

Antoine: “Quel animal a six pattes et marche sur la tête?” (Which animal has six legs and walks in its head?)

Voice: Je ne sais pas. Quel animal a six pattes et marche sur la tête?

Antoine: “Un pou!” (A headlouse!)

JOKE 2:

Léo: “Quel est le sport préféré des insectes?” (What is the insects’ favourite sport?)

Voice: Je ne sais pas. Quel est le sport préfére des insectes?

Léo: “Le criquet!” (Cricket!)

Film B3: “Quel est le sport preferé des insectes?”

Film B3: “Quel animal marche sur la tête?”

Part C: Who eats what?

Planning your lessons

Part C fits the pieces together: the children see how mini-beasts are a vital part of the forest’s LIFE CYCLE. By helping old leaves and wood to decompose, they create richer soil for new young trees to grow in. They are part of FOOD CHAINS in which mini-beasts eat debris of dead leaves and wood on the forest floor, and in turn attract other creatures that want to eat them - and of course, some mini-beasts eat others. The key question is, “who eats what?”

Activities

1. Warm up

Before showing the film, discuss in English (or your own language) what there might be for a mini-beast to eat if it lived on the forest floor?

If you were a worm, a spider, a woodlouse or a bird, what would you eat?

2. Watch film C1: Food chains

❑ Show film C1 to introduce the idea of ‘who eats whom’ in the forest floor habitat, and how this forms part of a sustainable forest life-cycle (see “talking point”). The film is narrated in the first person, e.g.“Je suis un oiseau et...”

C1: NEW WORDS

Who eats what?

Qui mange quoi?

Who eats what?

je suis... (un scarabée)... et je mange... (des feuilles mortes)

I am (a beetle)...and I eat...(dead leaves) (les oiseaux) ...mangent... (des insectes) (birds) ...eats... (insects)

Forest food chain

un insecte

- insect

les feuilles se décomposent the leaves decompose

les arbres poussent the trees grow

KEY SOUNDS

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

as in... insecte heard before in main, lapin, moins as in... quoi heard before in moins, oiseau

as in... je mange heard before in jonglerie, orange

as in... mangent, poussent seen before in mat, fais, doigt, bras

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘ C1. Who eats what?’ e-flashcards, with sound and text ON. Children echo as they hear phrases from film C1 , e.g. “Je suis un scarabée et je mange des feuilles mortes”.

Click to move from “I eat...” to “it eats...”

As you go through the e-flashcards, switch sound OFF and see if pupils can read the words aloud. Switch text OFF ; for each picture, can they say who the creatures are and what they eat?

Children may prefer to talk about creatures as ‘scientific observers’ rather than as if they were one themselves, e.g. “Le scarabée mange des feuilles mortes”. The second set of e-flashcards shows the phrases in the third person.

Respond with understanding

❑ Play “What do you eat?”

Give each child one of the creature cards (just those included in the e-flashcards). Switch sound and text OFF.

When a child sees “their” creature displayed, they say who they are: “Je suis un scarabée”. You then ask them what they eat: “Que mange le scarabée?” or “Qu’est-ce que tu manges?” - see “C1: extra words”.

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Science: Play “Food chains”

Display pictures of creatures on the board, along with some arrows.

They could equally well phrase it in the first person: “Je suis un oiseau; je mange le ver de terre; le ver de terre mange le feuille morte.”

Ask other children to make different food chain diagrams; see who can make the longest!

Introduce the word for “seed” (see “ extra words”) to bring in the role of birds in helping new trees and other plants to grow.

You could let children introduce additional creatures, based on their own research and on the topics they are studying in science lessons, e.g. to show food chains amongst pond life. Their research should include dictionary work, finding the French names for their additional creatures, and working out how to pronounce them.

Talking point 1

EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE

Life cycle of the forest

Decay and decomposition are all part of the forest’s life-cycle, in which mini-beasts play a vital role.

They help old leaves and wood to decompose, and so create richer soil on the forest floor for new young trees to grow in.

Predators and Prey

Ask a child to arrange some of the cards into a “food chain” diagram, with arrows pointing from predators to prey, showing “who eats whom”. Ask the child to explain in French what their diagram shows, e.g. “L’oiseau mange des vers de terre; le ver de terre mange des feuilles mortes.”

C1: EXTRA WORDS

Food chain questions

Que mange... (le scarabée)?

What does... (the beetle) eat?

Il mange des feuilles mortes

It eats dead leaves

Forest life cycle

une graine - seed (EXTRA WORD)

L’oiseau mange des graines

Birds eat seeds

Birds are attracted to the woodland to eat the insects and other mini-beasts that thrive there - and also to eat the seeds of plants and trees, so helping to distribute the seeds, so they too play a part in the life cycle.

In this situation, the bird is an example of a predator, the animal that is eating, while the insects and seeds are its prey, i.e. what it eats.

The food chain

A food chain explains how food energy is transferred between living things in an environment. At one end of a food chain is a producer, such as plants or trees, that obtains energy from non-living sources.

Consumers get their energy by consuming other living things, as a predator - and will probably also be something else’s prey. Many mini-beasts will both eat some creatures, and in turn be eaten by others - or spend their lives trying to avoid being eaten!

Part C extra: Joke

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Literacy: Use the jokes as a starting point for discussion in English about jokes and what makes them funny. Look at examples of English jokes. Pupils can collect simple jokes in English that they think pupils in their French partner school should understand. If you are holding a video conference, pupils can tell each other jokes in their native tongue.

JOKE:

Voice: Et maintenant une blague...

Leah: “Une petite araignée demande à sa mère, ‘Maman, qu’est-ce qu’on mange comme dessert ce soir?’

(A little spider asks its mother, “Mummy, what are we eating for pudding tonight?)

Une mouche au chocolat!”

(A chocolate ‘fly’ - the French word ‘mouche’ sounds like ‘mousse’)

❑ Watch film C2 in which Leah tells a a joke about what spiders eat.

❑ Literacy: Help pupils work out the meaning of the French joke.

This joke is a play on words, i.e. two similarsounding French words: “une mouche” - a fly, and the dessert “une mousse” as in ‘a chocolate mousse’.

Since spiders eat flies, it’s quite amusing to think that little spiders might like their flies served up as a children’s dessert!

Film C2: Punchline - “Une mouche (mousse) au chocolat!”

Watch film C2: spider joke