Sample chapters Early Start French Pack 1

5. Les couleurs

5. Les couleurs Colours some nouns to which adjectives might be applied, e.g. pet animals. That is the appropriate point when you could gently introduce them to using adjectives with nouns in French.

In the meantime, children can develop their vocabulary and enjoy some interesting activities without having to worry about these grammatical issues before they are ready.

Colours are often used in games to identify players and teams; painting and colouring activities also provide many opportunities to practise the names of the colours in French as part of everyday classroom life.

Pupils will see French children playing indoor and outdoor games in the video section, “Les couleurs”. They will overhear several authentic phrases, typically spoken as part of the process of playing the game.

The idea is that pupils should be able to follow the “gist” of what is happening, without the need for literal translation.

We have included most of these key phrases in the “Extra words and phrases” box at the end of the chapter.

VIDEO: Section 5 Paintbox colours The opening sequence shows each colour as it appears in a children's paintbox:

HOW FRENCH WORKS At this early stage, the children just “label” the colours, rather than using them as adjectives to describe specific objects.

In later sections, pupils will begin to learn

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

bleu blanc rouge noir jaune vert orange rose gris marron violet quelle couleur?

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“Paintbox colours” - from video section 5.

Quelle couleur? Bleu, blanc, rouge, noir, jaune, vert, blanc.

Colours of flags France: bleu, blanc, rouge.

European Union: bleu, jaune.

Children playing pétanque. N.B. We include a helpful translation, but do use this sequence for “gisting”- encourage pupils to follow what is happening from the context and other clues.

blue white red black yellow green orange pink grey brown mauve which colour?

CD Track 14 Zélie: “Moi je prends les rouges.” - from video section 5.

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5. Les couleurs The die is thrown again - ”..bleu ...”

Jean-Baptist: “C'est à moi! Voilà! C'est ma couleur!”

(It's my turn! There! It's my colour!)

Zélie: “Moi, je prends les rouges.”

(I'm having the red ones.)

Justine: “Moi, les verts.”

(I'm having the green ones.)

Claire: “Moi, les bleus.”

(I'm having the blue ones.)

Jérémie: “Non, les bleus sont à moi!”

(No, the blue ones are mine!)

Zélie: “C'est moi qui commence.”

(I'm going to start.)

Jérémie: “Non, c'est moi!”

(No, I am!)

The colours of the different boules for pétanque are identified: noir, rouge, bleu, jaune, vert.

Paintbox colours Five new colours are introduced: orange, rose, gris, marron, violet.

Children cutting coloured paper orange, rose, vert, jaune.

Children playing a board game (“Othello”) Claire: “Blanc ou noir?” (White or black?)

Justine: “Blanc.”

The counters are placed on the board: blanc, noir.

At the fairground - fishing for coloured ducks: orange, rose, vert, rose, bleu, jaune Children playing the board game “Allez les escargots!” (The snail race) This is another sequence intended for “gisting”.

Planning your lessons Pupils can progress from learning to identify the colours in French, through responding correctly to instructions about colours, to associate the written word with the colours.

When you start playing games where they say the colours, you could also introduce some of the French phrases they have heard used in playing games.

You could ask pupils to think of situations when they refer to colours in their own language.

As there are a lot of colours to learn, you may find it easier to focus at first on a smaller number of colours, e.g. the primary colours and black and white.

Activities 1. Warm up ......

You could open the lesson using the French greetings and asking pupils to say what their name is.

You might toss a soft furry toy to the first child you ask to respond; s/he throws it to another, and asks them a question, and so on.

Vary the questions to keep up the pace; if time permits, play a game from earlier sections.

2. Watch the video ❑ Watch video section 5: “Les couleurs”; stop the tape before the written words are shown.

Claire throws“rouge” and moves her snail.

This board game is also on an activity sheet.

3. Get used to the sounds.....

Jean-Baptist: “C'est à moi après. C'est à moi.”

(It's my turn next. It's my turn.)

Claire: “À toi ...” (It's your turn.)

Jean-Baptist: “Bleu - c'est ma couleur.”

(Blue - that's my colour.)

(The die is thrown again - “jaune ...”

Justine: “Rose ... j'avance.”

(Pink ... I'm moving forwards.)

❑ Echoing: Make flashcards with large “blobs” of each colour - or use sheets of coloured paper, or coloured transparencies on the OHP. Say the name of the colour as you show each card. Pupils echo the word, associating its sound with the colour itself.

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5. Les couleurs ❑ Play “run to the colour” You need plenty of space to play this game.

When you call out “jaune”, for example, pupils run to touch something yellow, and so on.

If the environment you are working in is not very colourful, you could attach coloured flashcards to different parts of the room.

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

“ ” as in marron Heard before in:

non, bonjour

“ ” as in blanc, orange Heard before in:

soft

❑ Play “tray of objects” If you do not have space for running around, you could instead prepare a tray of assorted objects of different colours, and show it to a group or the whole class.

Hold up an object and ask, “Quelle couleur?”

As a variation, ask children to pick objects of a particular colour, by saying: “Rouge?” and so on - demonstrating with a mime to start with.

comment

“ ” as in jaune,

rouge, orange Heard before in: bonjour ...

CD Track 14

❑ Play “listen to the sounds” again You call out a series of words; children make agreed gestures when they hear a “key sound” (see Chapter 2).

❑ Play “which colour?”

Put the coloured flashcards face down on a table or conceal them in a bag. Ask a confident pupil to select a card. To check s/he knows the French name of the chosen colour, ask her/ him to whisper it to you.

Make sure the rest of the class cannot see which colour has been chosen - they have to guess the colour on the card. When they guess wrongly, the pupil says “non”; when they guess the right colour s/he says “oui” and shows them the card. This game helps pupils to remember the names of the colours without a visual prompt. ❑ Play “swap colours”

4. Respond with understanding ❑ Give each pupil a flashcard representing a colour. When you call out “rouge”, for example, all the pupils with red cards hold them up for everyone else to see, and so on. ❑ Play “jump to the colour”

Pupils arrange their chairs in a circle. Give everybody a coloured flashcard, making sure that there are several children holding each colour. When you call out “vert”, for example, the pupils with green cards swap places.

As they do so, you run for an empty chair.

The pupil left without a chair becomes the caller.

Divide the class into two teams. Each team has the same number of coloured cards.

When you call out the name of a colour, the pupils holding that particular card try to be the first to jump up and call out the name of the colour.

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5. Les couleurs can name in French. Each colour should be used for one snail and one segment of the hexagonal “spinner”.

Play the game in groups of three: each player has two snails. They take it in turns to spin for a colour. If the colour is blue, for example, they call out “bleu” and the child with the blue snail moves one square forwards.

The first snail to reach the cabbages wins.

❑ Play “colour lotto” Before the game starts, each pupil draws a grid as they would for “noughts and crosses”.

S/he fills the grid with coloured blobs without repeating any. You call out different colours in French and they cross them off their grids.

The first pupil to have crossed off all his or her colours calls out “Oui!” ❑ Play “hide the colour” 1 This game works best if you use the OHP. Alternatively, you could attach flashcards to the board and ask pupils to shut their eyes when you remove a card.

Place coloured transparencies on the OHP so that three or four colours can be seen at the same time. Point to the different colours and ask the class to name them.

Now remove one of the colours. Point to the colours again. The class calls out the names of the colours including the “missing” colour.

See how much of the sequence the class remembers as each visual prompt disappears.

Repeat the activity with different combinations of colours.

❑ Working in pairs: When pupils are familiar with the names of the colours, they can play a version of “noughts and crosses” in pairs.

Each pair draws a grid and puts a coloured “blob” in each square.

When they choose a square, they must say the name of the colour before marking it with an “O” or “X”.

5. Introduce the written word When pupils are familiar with the sounds of the words, you could show section 5 of the video again - especially the end part to help them associate the written words with the sounds.

Give each pupil a photocopy of the two “snap card” activity sheets.

Ask them to colour the circles with the corresponding colour; then cut along the dotted lines to make “snap” cards - the words on one set, and the coloured circles on the other.

❑ Play “hide the colour” 2 Place the coloured transparencies on the OHP. Pupils name the colours they can see. This time, when you remove a colour, rearrange the order in which the remaining colours are displayed on the OHP. The class has to say which colour has disappeared.

❑ Attach the original coloured flashcards to the wall and set out word flashcards on a table.

Point to a colour, and ask a pupil to select the appropriate word flashcard, say the colour, and attach the word-card to the colour-card.

❑ Working in groups: play the “snail game”

❑ To make this into a game, give some pupils word-cards and others the colour-cards.

When you call out a colour, pupils run to find their partner. ❑ Play word-picture “snap” Pupils work in pairs. Shuffle the two sets of cards. One player turns up the word cards, the other the coloured circles. If a word and circle match, the first player to call out the name of the colour collects the cards.

Photocopy these two activity sheets so pupils can play the snail game shown on the video.

They colour the sheets, using six colours they 48

5. Les couleurs Audio CD for Teachers EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES

blanc ou noir?

Moi je prends le rouge le bleu (c'est) à moi à toi j'avance

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white or black?

I'm having the red one the blue one it's my turn it's your turn I'm moving forwards

These are some of the phrases heard in the “gisting” sequences of the video which pupils can learn to use themselves to make the experience of playing games more “French”. It is best to introduce the phrases gradually. You could use the class puppet to help you demonstrate the phrases in action.

FOR PLAYING PÉTANQUE

pétanque la boule / les boules le cochonnet la piste c’est la plus près!

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the name of the game. the ball / balls used in pétanque. the “jack”, the target in the game. the playing area; pitch or terrain. that’s the nearest! (boule) CD Track 14

Watch the video again

pupils run round the hall or playground; when you call “orange” they form a “humped back bridge” with both hands and feet on the ground; when you call “rouge” they stop absolutely still and anyone who wobbles is “out”.

Last child remaining “in” wins.

❑ Watch video section 5: “Les couleurs” again for reinforcement. Encourage pupils to echo the colours as they hear them pronounced on the video.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Cultural awareness

❑ Classroom routines: Whenever you are using paints or crayons, encourage pupils to name the colours in French

Blue wins!

The aim is to have your ‘boule’ nearest the ‘cochonnet’ when the game ends.

❑ PE: Divide pupils into teams. Place a selection of coloured items such as beanbags, hoops or quoits some distance away. When you call out a colour, the person at the front of each line runs to collect an item of the appropriate colour. The aim is to be the first back to the team.

If your class enjoys playing pétanque (see “talking point”) you could develop your skills and arrange an “international match” with your twin school in France.

Discuss with the pupils: ■ What game from your country do you like playing that you could help the French pupils to learn?

❑ PE: Play “Traffic lights” You can play a French version of the well known game “traffic lights”.

Agree a range of instructions before starting the game. For example, when you call “vert”, 49

5. Les couleurs Le cochonnet or “jack”: a small ball about 3cm in diameter (usually wooden), which is used to start the game. You can use some other throwable object if you do not have a “jack”.

How to start Give each player a colour; they draw coloured balls out of a bag without looking to decide the order of play.

The first player, for example “rouge”, gets to choose the place that everyone throws from.

S/he marks a circle on the ground - about 0.5m in diameter - then stands in that circle to throw the cochonnet, which becomes the target.

It must land within 4 to 8metres of the circle, and not outside the marked out piste (or s/he tries again).

How play continues The rest of the game is spent trying to throw your boules closer to the cochonnet than the other players do.

How you win (simple beginners’ game) After all the boules are thrown, the winner is the one with the closest boule to the cochonnet.

Later, when the children have learnt numbers, you can introduce them to the team game, with point scoring and measuring, making it more like the adult game (see section 9: Les nombres: 13 - 31).

Details of the game Rouge has won the toss and thrown the cochonnet. S/he then stands in the circle, and with both feet together throws a boule, trying to place it as near as possible to the cochonnet.

The next player then plays. You try to throw a boule so it lands closer to the cochonnet than the first player's.

You can do this either by placing your boule more accurately, or by knocking another boule out of place - which means hitting into it quite hard.

You can also hit and move the cochonnet with your boule - but if you knock it right off the piste, the game is abandoned without a winner.

If you succeed in getting a boule closer to the cochonnet - or if you run out of boules, the next player has a go. The game ends when all the boules have been played.

The winner then throws the cochonnet to begin another game.

Talking point Playing pétanque or boules The children shown in the video are playing “beach boules”, a fun version of the game pétanque, played with light plastic balls capable of rolling over firm sand.

Play area in a public park in Villeneuve d’Ascq - a roughly levelled gravel surface is ideal for pétanque

Pétanque is also known around the world as Boules. First played in France around 1910, it can be played outdoors by everyone no matter what their age or athletic ability, so it is very suitable as a P.E. activity.

All you need is a few players, an open space, a set of coloured plastic balls, and the ability to aim and throw a ball.

For more, see: www.earlystart.co.uk

Introducing children to pétanque Playing “beach boules” is a good way to start, and gives more practice talking about colours.

The players Pétanque is normally played between two teams, but we suggest you first play between individuals, using different coloured plastic boules.

Where to play Pétanque is best on a hard but not perfectly flat surface: part of the school playground, a car park, hard tennis court or a section of gravel path would be suitable for a piste.

Mark out an area about 4m wide and 10m long.

Equipment needed Boules: we suggest giving each player two boules, about 7-8cm in diameter - because you usually get two of each colour in a set.

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