Part B: My town then and now

Planning your lessons

Section B shows fairly simple ways children can make statements in French about how a town has changed over time, comparing past and present - based on previouslylearnt ‘places in town’, with possible crosscurricular links to their history work. The films show two towns that have lost old industries that once had many workers in hard, dirty manual work: n Sars-Poteries had glass-making factories; n Béthune was a centre for coal-mining. Your class could use these examples as the basis for similar work on your own locality or that of your French partner school.

Activities

Warm up

Before showing film B1, use the e-flashcards to re-visit ‘places in town’ from Ch.3.7 (and earlier work in Early Start French 2) by playing games such as ‘true or false’.

In the past, Sars-Poteries’ streets saw lots of horse-drawn vehicles; now there are only cars. The old girls’ school has become a “médiathèque”, there’s no longer a railway station, but the church and bandstand are still there. Probably the biggest change is that the old glassworks have closed, losing hundreds of factory jobs.

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards ‘Then and now ’ which are marked ‘B1: Sars-Poteries’ ; children echo examples of pairs of statements about how a place has changed over time.

Switch between past/present

See next place

Pay attention to “key sounds” (see box) and repeat the flashcards until children are confident with the sounds.sounds

Key Sounds

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

Tell the class they will be looking at one town and how, over a long period of time, some things have changed but others stay the same.

Film B1:Sars-Poteries past and present as in...maison, patron, rénovation heard before in bon, saison as in c’était, maison as in...kiosque à musique, usine heard before in mille, hiver heard before in avait, Calais, saison as in patron, parc heard before in préféré, réptile, rouge as in... toujours, beaucoup seen before in printemps, pas

❑ Film B1 shows Sars-Poteries past and present.

HOW FRENCH WORKS:

Comparing now with the past - ‘there was (used to be)...’ / ‘there is...’ dans le passé, il y avait une école de filles; aujourd’hui, il y a une médiatèque in the past, there was a girls school; today there is a media library en 1907 il y avait 2 usines de verre; aujourd’hui, il y a le Musée du verre in 1907 there were 2 glass factories; today there is the Glass Museum en 1907 il y avait un kiosque à musique; aujourd’hui, il y a toujours un kiosque in 1907 there was a bandstand; today there is still a bandstand en 1907 il y avait une gare; aujourd’hui, il n’y a pas de gare in 1907 there was a station; today there isn’t a/any station

In Ch.3.1 children talked about ‘completed past actions’,e.g. ‘J’ai mangé...’ , ‘J’ai bu...’ - (‘I ate...’, ‘I drank...’ ). They don’t need to know that this is termed the ‘perfect tense’. Now they hear people talking about ‘there was/were...’, describing what used to be (over a period of time). Teachers will know this is the imperfect tense, e.g.

Children have already been introduced to these questions in part A2:

-“Qu’est-ce que il y avait?” as a question about ‘what used to be, in the past’

- “Qu’est-ce que il y a?”, which asks about ‘what there is now, in the present’.

Respond with understanding

❑ Still using the e-flashcards, ask children to say whether the statement shown is about the past or the present? They could show understanding by standing and stepping back a pace for a past statement. Can they spot which key verb changes?

(“il y a / il y avait”).

❑ Tell the class that the e-flashcards show a town and how, over a long period of time, some things have changed, some gone altogether, but others stay the same.

Look for key words that tell you what’s happened, e.g. “il n’y a pas de...” (there isn’t a...), “il y a toujours...” (there is still...).e d

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ History: Collect “then-and-now”photos of your community, or of a place whose history the class is studying.

Ask children to prepare statements in French about each pair of photos using the structures “il y avait..., il y a ...”. This might involve finding new words using a bilingual dictionary. Have the children show their pictures to the class, and say their French phrases. Encourage them to say “when” and “where”, using the phrases from the films and the flashcards.

Il

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

B1 Sars Poteries then and now

Il n’y a pas de... (gare) There

Topic-specific words une médiathèque une usine de verre 800 ouvriers un kiosque à musique c’était...

...la maison du patron

- media library

- glass factory

- 800 workers

- bandstand

- it was...

-...the boss’s house

❑ Geography: See suggested activities for B2.

❑ ITC: Ask each group to make a multimedia presentation with their “then-and-now” photos, and sound recordings of their “il y a / il y avait” statements in French. OR, make a wall display about your changing community - with captions written by the children in French.

Film B2:Béthune past and present

❑ Film B2 shows historic Béthune where the town is finding new uses for old industrial sites as part of its regeneration.

NEW TOPIC-SPECIFIC WORDS

Film B2: “Dans le passé il y avait un canal”. Today, Béthune station is busy with modern commuter trains that link it with the big city of Lille, where many people work. There’s a big centre commerciale, attracting many shoppers in cars, buses and bikes.

In the past, when Béthune had several coalmines, the canal was also busy - with many boats carrying coal in the Gare d’eau (Water Station). Now, with the mines all closed, this derelict area is being made into a park as part of a regeneration project.

All that’s left of the mines are the “terrils” (slagheaps). These are piles of waste stone dug out by the miners in order to get at the coal seam, then discarded near the pit-head. One terril has recently been turned into an artificial ski-slope, creating new jobs in leisure and tourism.

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the ‘ Then and now ’ e-flashcards marked ‘B2: Béthune’; children again echo examples of pairs of statements comparing how Béthune has changed over time.

Switch between past/present

See next place la Gare d’eau beaucoup de...(mines) un parc un projet de rénovation

- shopping centre

- canal

B2 Béthune then and now le centre commercial un canal pour transporter le charbon

- to transport

- coal

-the Water Station

-lots of (many)...(mines)

- park

- renovation project

Pay attention to “key sounds” (see previous box) and repeat the flashcards until children are confident with the sounds.s

Respond with understanding

❑ Using the e-flashcards for BOTH towns, ask children to say whether the statement shown is about the past or the present? Again show understanding by standing and stepping back a pace for a past statement.

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ History: See suggested activities for B1.

❑ Geography: Give groups of children sets of “then-and-now”photos of your community, or of a place connected with your current geography topic. Examples might be: n How places (e.g. seaside) evolve over time; n A contrasting UK locality.

Ask groups of children to collaborate to write a pair of sentences in French about each pair of photos using the structures “il y avait..., il y a ...”. They can find new words using a bilingual dictionary.

Discuss possible regeneration projects for old derelict sites and land-uses. Avoid children needing to know the future tense by asking them to write as if they were a person in the future,using phrases such as “En 2025, c’est un parc; en 1950 c’était une mine”.

Make a display, or create a multimedia presentation or web page about the area being studied, to share with a chosen audience, e.g. other classes or a partner school.