Part A: Going to school
Planning your lessons
This part names different modes of transport in French, based on a survey of how children travel to school in northern France; your class could do a similar survey for themselves. It also shows how children get to school in Morocco.
Activities
1. Warm up
Before showing film A1 , ask children in English (or their own language) how they get to school? Later you can organise a proper class survey in French. You might like to discuss how they or their parents choose between different modes of transport. This will introduce some of the considerations that will influence the choices of the French and Moroccan children.
Watch film A1: Modes of transport
❑ Watch film A1 which introduces the names of modes of transport, illustrated with examples in northern France and Morocco.
Some modes of travel more associated with long-distance international journeys are left until later.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards which name the modes of transport.
Show each picture, with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “le vélo”. Pay careful attention to “key sounds”.
3.7 En route pour l’école 7.1
Film A1: “Le tracteur” - a Moroccan child goes to school.
Respond with understanding
❑ Give each pupil one picture from the activity sheet. You call out a mode of transport, e.g. “la voiture”. 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 modes of transport e-flashcards with sound and text off. Alternatively, use the activity sheet pictures. You say, e.g “le train”. Children respond, “Oui” if the picture shows the train. If it doesn’t, pupils say “Non”.
A1-A4: NEW WORDS
A1 Modes of transport
la voiture le bus le train le tram
le métro
la moto le vélo à pied
la charrette à cheval le tracteur
- car
- bus
- train
- tram
- underground
- motorbike
- bicycle
- on foot
- horse and cart
- tractor
A2-A4. Travel survey
On va faire.../ nous faisons... un sondage. We’re going to do/ are doing... a survey.
Comment vas-tu à l’école? How do you go to school?
Je vais à l’école... ...en voiture. I go to school... ...by car.
...en bus
...en train
...en tram
...en métro
...en moto*
...en vélo*
...à pied
- ...by bus
- ...by train
- ...by tram
- ...by underground
- ...by motorbike
- ...by bicycle (bike)
- ...on foot
* You may hear ‘à’ instead of ‘en’
Comment viens-tu à l’école?
How do you come to school?
Je viens à l’école... - I come to school...
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in... métro, vélo, pied heard before in légumes, marché, épaule, école
as in... voiture
heard before in oiseau, bois, poisson
as in... train heard before in main, lapin, moins
as in... pied, avion (A2) heard before in taille, oreille, oeil
❑ Play “true or false?” 2
Show the pictures again, but this time pupils only echo your phrase when it matchesotherwise they remain silent.
Watch film A2: How I travel to school
❑ Watch film A2 which shows children saying how they travel to school. We see children going on foot, by car, bus, train, métro (underground) or tram - and some riding pillion on the back of a motorbike, on a tractor or a horse and cart
See “how French works 1” for a note on which prepositions are used.
HOW FRENCH WORKS:
“I go by...” with “en” or “à”?
Children will notice that the phrase “à pied” stands out from the rest of the means of transport presented:
“en voiture”, “en train”, etc.
“On foot” is always said “à pied”; “en” is the preposition used for going by most types of transport - but you do sometimes hear “à” used where you go on a mode of transport rather than in it - e.g. you can say “à moto” and “à vélo”, but “en moto” and “en vélo” are also OK (and make an easier pattern for children to remember).
Early Start French 3 7.2
1
1 2
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Click to change from ‘mode’ to ‘I go by...’ on the e-flashcards - or use the activity sheet pictures.
Watch films A3 and A4
❑ Film A3 shows children answering the question “Comment vas-tu à l’école?”l
Show each picture, with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the sentence, e.g. “Je vais à l’école à pied”. Play “true or false?”as before.
❑ Give each pupil one picture from the activity sheet. Hold up a picture (e.g. the bicycle) so that everyone can see, and say “Je vais à l’école en vélo”. Move around the class asking different pupils how they travel to school, “Comment vas-tu à l’école?” Pupils respond according to the picture they hold, e.g. if it is the two children walking, “Je vais à l’école à pied”.
To help anyone who is struggling, you could offer alternatives, e.g. “Comment vas-tu à l’école? A pied ou en voiture?”
❑ Play the “miming game”
Invite an individual child to come to the front of the class. Whisper the name of a means of transport to the child, e.g. “le vélo”. Alternatively, show one of the pictures from the activity sheet (without letting the others see). The child mimes going to school by bike. Ask the class to guess the sentence that is being mimed e.g. “Je vais à l’école en vélo”
Encourage children to develop their mimes to include a whole sequence representing “going to school”, e.g. finishing breakfast; putting a coat and cycle helmet on; getting the bike out of the shed, etc.
❑ Play “pass the parcel”
Put a set of the transport picture cards into a large envelope. The children sit in a circle and pass the envelope from one to the other. When the music stops, the person holding the envelope takes out a card. If the card shows the tram, s/he says, “Je vais à l’école en tram”.
Film A3: “Je vais à l’école à pied”.
It includes a full question and answer sequence where one of the children answers a whole range of questions about herself.
Film A4 shows pupils at École Jacques Prévert in Ruitz near Béthune discussing how they travel to school with their class teacher.
Film A4: Survey - “Comment viens-tu à l’école?”. They conduct a survey of other pupils as they arrive to find out how they travel to school.
HOW FRENCH WORKS:
“Coming” or “going ”?
The French children conducting the survey ask a slightly different question,
“Comment viens-tu à l’école?”
(How do you come to school?). rather than...
“Comment vas-tu à l’école?”
(How do you go to school?).
This is because they are actually at school when asking the question. However, just as in English, both ways of phrasing the question are fine and would be understood.
3.7 En route pour l’école 7.3
2
❑ You could reproduce the classroom discussion with your own pupils. Ask questions such as,
“Qui va à l’école à pied?”
“Qui va en voiture?”
“Qui va en moto?” t
The children respond by putting up their hands. Encourage everyone to join in counting up who travels by each mode of transport.
❑ Geography: Travel to school survey
Pupils can conduct their own survey and collate the information as a graph. If conducting a whole school survey, the questions could be asked in English and the results collated and presented in French. The results could be shared with your partner school.
A4 Extension activity: International travel
Pupils already know the names of continents from Ch.3.5, and of some countries from Ch.3.6. They also know the names of various towns and cities in France and Morocco. Now they can extend the use of this chapter’s phrases to talk about international journeys and ways of travelling to different towns and cities. See “How French works 3” for how to say you are going “to” a country or city.
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards , for “international travel” which are found at the end of ‘Travel to school’
EXTRA WORDS
International travel
Pupils echo the new words.
HOW FRENCH WORKS:
3
“How are you going to X ”?
In this phrase, “en” is used to talk about countries that are feminine, e.g.
“Je vais en France”
“au” is used for countries that are masculine - e.g. “Je vais au Maroc”.
“à” is used for towns and cities - e.g.
“Je vais à Paris”
le bateau
Où vas-tu? - Where are you going?
Je vais... (en France (f)) en... (bateau).
I’m going... (to France) by... (boat).
Je vais... (au Maroc (m)) en... (avion).
I’m going... (to Morocco) by... (plane).
en bateau en avion en TGV en train à grande vitesse en Eurotunnel en Eurostar
- by boat
- by plane
- by TGV
l’avion (m) - boat/ship - aeroplane ... a city
- by high-speed train
- by Eurotunnel
- by Eurostar
Je vais à... (Londres) en... (train).
I’m going to... (London) by... (train).
❑ Play “where am I going? 1”
Show the e-flashcards “modes of transport” including ‘le bateau’ and ‘l’avion’ (sound and text OFF).
Using a large world map or globe, point to a country and say, for example,
“Je vais au Canada...”
Pupils complete the sentence by looking to see which transport picture is displayed on the white board, e.g. “... l’avion”. Some pairings will, of course, be rather silly e.g. “Je vais en France... en tram” - but if the children find it funny, it means they have understood!
❑ Play “where am I going? 2”
Put the names of some familiar countries and the transport picture cards face down on a table. Invite pairs of pupils to pick a country and a means of transport. Child 1 starts the sentence, e.g. “Je vais au Maroc...” and child 2 completes the sentence, e.g. “...en avion”. Ask pupils to show the country on a map or globe.
❑ Play “human sentence”
Invite 6 children to come to the front. Give each child a word card. Ask the children to arrange themselves into the correct order.
Early Start French 3 7.4
3 3
3
I’m going to... a country
EXTRA WORDS
Why are you travelling?
Pourquoi vas-tu (à Manchester)?
Why are you going (to Manchester)?
Pourquoi vas-tu (en France en bateau)?
See examples of possible responses in the “extra words” box..
❑ Drama: Each group chooses a journey which includes a starting point, a destination and at least one means of transport.
- for a holiday
- for work
Why are you going (to France by boat)? pour les vacances pour le travail pour le football
Je suis réfugié(e)
un réfugie/une réfugiée
c’est rapide (en avion)
c’est plus rapide...
c’est moins rapide...
- for the football
- I am a refugee
- refugee (m/f)
- it’s fast (by plane)
- it’s faster...
- it’s not so fast...
The class reads out the sentence.
❑ Play “Is it possible?”
This activity requires pupils to think about how a real journey from one country to another might take place.
Before starting this activity, you could talk with the children in English about why people travel from country to country (e.g. holidays, business, or refugees fleeing from war). What can influence the choice of transport (e.g. cost, time)?
Using a map or globe, give pupils an example of a possible journey, e.g. “J’habite en Angleterre. Je vais en France en bateau et en voiture”. Pupils work in pairs or small groups.
Each group has a set of transport picure cards and a selection of names of countries.
Each group chooses a country for their starting point and another destination country. They locate them on the map and work out what ways they might travel between the countries. They can discuss in English what their reason for the journey is.
Each group presents their journey to the class. You can use a range of questions to find out about the journeys, e.g. “Ou habites-tu?”;
“Ou vas-tu?”;
“Comment vas-tu (en Afrique/au Maroc?”
“Vas-tu en avion? Vas-tu en bus?”
Some children may be able to give reasons for their journey in French. You could ask:
“Pourquoi vas-tu (au Maroc/en France)?”
”Pourquoi vas-tu (à pied)?”
They then think of as many different ways of telling the rest of the class about the journey. e.g. they can be excited; scared; bored; showing off; angry etc.
Some children may be able to give reasons for the journey in French.
❑ Geography: “City to city”
Pupils can be more specific in the descriptions of their journeys by including cities and towns. These could be in the UK or abroad. e.g.
“J’habite à Londres.
Je vais à Douvres en bus.
Je vais à Calais en bateau.
Je vais à Paris en bus.
Je vais à Paris pour les vacances.”
Talking point 1
EVERYDAY LIFE IN France
The “deux chevaux” (2CV) car
The e-flashcard depicting “la voiture” shows a 2CV car. Nearly 9 million of this famous car were produced in different variations between 1948 and 1990, making the “2CV” an instantly recognizable icon of France.
Like Germany’s Volkswagen Beetle, the basic idea was conceived before the Second World War. They designed a car to be cheap to make and run, simple to use, reliable - even off-road - and versatile: with its canvas roll-back roof, it could be used as a car, van or truck, and could carry large and heavy loads, even farm animals!
3.7 En route pour l’école 7.5
3
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Part B: My route to school
Planning your lessons
Part B gives some examples of how to describe your route to school, referring to landmark places you pass, changes of direction and street-names. This section builds on work children have already done in Pack 2 when they learnt the names for key places in town and basic directions. They now move on to describe more complicated journeys, and to plan other routes.
Activities
1. Warm up
Before showing film B1 to introduce new vocabulary, remind children of places they can already name from Early Start French 2, Ch.2.2 e.g. “le marché”, and of street-names and directions from Ch.2.3. You could take another look at the French 2 e-flashcards for these sections.
Watch film B1: My way to school
NEW WORDS Part B
Describing my route
Je passe devant... (la poste), I go past... (the post office),
Je traverse (la place)
I cross (the square)
... pour aller dans... (la rue Pasteur*)
... to go into... (Pasteur Road*)
* NOTE: it’s good practice NOT to translate street names
J’arrive... (à l’école)
I arrive... (at school)
Changes of direction (REVISION)
Je tourne... à gauche
I turn... left.
...à droite ...right.
Je continue... tout droit
I continue... straight on.
extra joining words
puis
ensuite
après ça finalement
- then - next - after that - finally
More places in town
la poste
la mairie
l’église la place
- post office
- town hall
- church
- square
Film B1: “Je passe devant la poste”.
❑ In film B1 two children describe their route to school through the village of Sars-Poteries
Claire walks to school through the village. Arthur rides his bike taking a different route through the village.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: First focus on some new place names: show the ‘Places’ e-flashcards and pupils echo the words. This set of flashcards includes some additional useful words to help children describe their own journeys to school.
le magasin
le passage piéton
la rivière
la véloroute
- shop
- pedestrian crossing
- river
- a cycle-route
Early Start French 3 7.8
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in... piéton, église heard before in métro, vélo, pied
as in... piéton, pied heard before in taille, oreille, oeil
as in... devant, finalement heard before in antenne, lancez, jambe
as in... magasin, train heard before in main, lapin, moins
Encourage children to carry on using these new joining words when they describe other journeys.
Respond with understanding
Many of the activities described below involve moving around the room, so it is a good idea to have access to an open space if possible.
❑ Play “true or false?”
Invite several children to come to the front of the class. Give each child a picture of a place. Use a mixture of familiar places from Early Start French 2 and new places introduced in this section.
The children stand in a line so that everyone can see their pictures. As you walk past the first child you say, for example: “Je passe devant la mairie”.
If the child you are passing is holding the town hall picture, the class shouts “oui”. If the picture is of a different place, they shout “non”.
❑ Play “How do I get there?”
Pay careful attention to pronunciation, particularly the “key sounds”. Play “True or false” as before.
When children are familar with the places, move on to describing routes to school.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the ‘ Routes to school ’ e-flashcards which present each key stage of Claire’s and Arthur’s routes. Pupils echo the phrases, initially in the first person, e.g. “je tourne à droite...” (click on ‘my route’)
❑ Joining words: Present one of the trip descriptions again. Between each step of the journey, ask pupils to add an appropriate “joining word”.
They already know “et”and “mais” ; you could introduce children to others from “extra joining words”(see p.7.8) to add variety.
Place a selection of pictures face up on a table. You can include modes of transport, directions, and places.
As you make a statement, individuals pick up the corresponding picture and come to stand in the front.
You “read” out the journey from each picture,
e.g. “Je vais à l’école en vélo.
Je passe devant le supermarché.
Je continue tout droit.
Je passe devant la mairie.
Je tourne à gauche ... et j’arrive à l’école”.
You can also include some of the “extra joining words” in your description.
Film B2: How s/he goes to school
❑ When pupils are ready, watch film B2 which repeats the two journeys to school.
This time we hear the routes described in the third person; for Claire it starts, “elle”; Arthur’s route starts,”il”.
❑ Echoing: Now show the journeys on the e-flashcards by clicking on ‘his/her route’; start with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the phrase, e.g. “Elle passe devant la poste”; “Il traverse la place”.
3.7 En route pour l’école 7.9
as in... puis, ensuite heard before in droite, oiseau
Respond with understanding
Repeat some of the earlier activities, this time practising “he/she”.
❑ Play “How does he/she get there?”
You will need plenty of space for this game. A number of children stand at different points around the hall or playground each holding a picture of a place.
Identify the destination, e.g the child holding the picture of the school (from Early Start French 2). Choose a volunteer to make the “journey”.
The volunteer starts from a position furthest away from the destination. He/she then follows a route described by the rest of the class: e.g. “Elle tourne à gauche. Elle continue tout droit. Elle passe devant la mairie. etc.”
At the early stages, you may need to give most of the directions, or offer alternatives to the children- e.g. “Elle tourne à gauche ou à droit?”
n An alternative version of this game requires the volunteer to choose which route he/she will take to the destination. The class has to describe each step of the journey.
n If you have a broadband connection in the classroom, use Google Maps with “Street view” on the whiteboard. One child controls the cursor; other children give directions on which way the cursor should go, e.g. “à droite”, “tout droit”.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Your class can use the language they learned in this section to outline improvements they would like to make to how people travel about your town - in particular, to plan new, improved routes e.g. a safer cycle route to school, or a new bus or tram route that would reduce congestion on your local roads.
Extension activity 1: Describe a new cycle route from A to B
As part of work in geography, pupils can work collectively to design a cycle route. This could be from school to a local playground; from the railway station to the park or sea-front, etc. If many of the children in the class live on a particular housing estate, they could design a cycle route from their estate to school.
Either as a whole class or in groups, the children can discuss in English where the route could go and why. What might be needed to make it a really easy and safe route to use?
Ask them to describe in French a trip along their proposed route. Most children should be able to describe this as a personal experience using the first person:
Je traverse (le parc).
Je continue tout droit.
Je tourne à gauche pour aller dans “London Road”.
Je traverse le passage piéton
J’arrive à l’école
Children will need to use dictionary skills to find out the names of key landmarks and their knowledge of phonemes to work out how these words are pronounced.
Some may be able to describe impersonally where “la véloroute” goes. The teacher would ask: “Est-ce que tu peux décrire la véloroute?”
La véloroute va de l’école au parc.
La véloroute passe devant (le supermarché) et (la piscine).
Early Start French 3 7.10
Extension activity 2: Describe a new tram route from A to B
Many British cities are introducing trams as an economical and “green” way to travel; as a way to fight the build up of traffic in city centres. Trams have always been a familiar sight on European streets, often transporting people to and from the outskirts of the city.
Talking point 2
EVERYDAY LIFE IN France
Cycle routes in France
It’s healthier and better for the environment if people walk and cycle rather than use a car, but how do you encourage them to make that choice?
Planned tram route through Béthune - see earlystart.co.uk. The local council in Béthune had been planning a new tramway in place of its busiest bus route There are successful trams in nearby Lille and Valenciennes. Béthune ‘s trams could have carried people past the traffic jams on special tracks separate from the main roads, and taken them from a “park-and-ride” car park -“P+R”- right into the town centre or other popular destinations. The route served the hospital -”H”, sports centre, factories, “La Rotonde” shopping centre, the SNCF railway station) without the problems of car parking.
Signs guide cyclists to an off-road path near Lille. For good reason, many find cycling in traffic feels dangerous, especially with children. It is quite expensive to make a network of special paths for cyclists, but easier and cheaper to put up signs to direct cyclists along existing roads that are quieter.
In France you can find clearly identified “voies vertes” which are safe, country routes for family cycling, away from busy traffic. These generally pass through small villages and attractive countryside.
Artist’s impression of Béthune tram in the town centre. Béthune’s tram scheme was cancelled following the 2008 financial crisis, but it may go ahead in the future when money is available.
Pupils could plan a tram route which links key places in their town or city. To describe the tram route, pupils could just talk about the tram itself , e.g. : “Le tram passe devant (la gare). Il continue tout droit” etc.
If you want to use it, the phrase for “tram route” is la ligne (de tramway).
A country cycle route along a river in Northern France. There are also, “les voies bleues” which are waterside cycle routes that follow waterways - canals and rivers.
If you live in or near a rural area, your class could plan a possible “voie verte” (greenway) for family cycling.
Many big cities are built around or near a large river which could be the inspiration for a “voie bleue” (blueway).
3.7 En route pour l’école 7.11
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