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 extra joining words puis ensuite après ça finalement

I continue... straight on.

- 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 le magasin le passage piéton la rivière la véloroute

❑ 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.

- shop

- pedestrian crossing

- river

- a cycle-route

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”.

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).

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).