Part C: The complete story

Planning your lessons

Having worked through the 6 scenes of the ‘Cendrillon’ story, you can return to looking at the significance of the whole story and what it means.

Pupils can enjoy preparing and performing their own production of “Cendrillon”. This is suggested as an ‘end-of-unit’ activity to celebrate all the progress they have made, and to help with transition to the next phase of the language education.

Activities

Warm up

Before watching the films straight through, tell pupils they are going to develop their own production of the Cinderella story.

Watch film B1: “Chez Cendrillon”

❑ Watch each scene of the Cinderella films in sequence without a break. Then talk with pupils in English (or your own language) about what they would like to have in their production. As a starting point for developing their own production, pupils can re-examine the characters in the story. This can be used to consolidate pupils’ understanding of how adjectives work in French.

❑ Play

“Who am I?”1

Give each pupil a picture of one of the characters. Pupils take it in turns to describe their character using at least one adjective e.g. “Je suis belle”. The rest of the class identifies who is being described. NOTE: for pupils holding the picture of “les soeurs”, you could explain beforehand that it is fine to describe just one sister. Some pupils may be able to say “Nous sommes désagréables”, but it is probably best to keep things simple at this stage.

❑ Play “Who am I?”2

This is a variation of a well-known party game. Attach a picture of one of the characters to each pupil’s back. They move around the room while music plays. When the music stops, they stop and ask a partner a question, , e.g. “Je suis gentille?”. The partner replies “oui” or “non”. The easiest way to ask a question is via intonation (with a raised tone at the end to show that this is a question); alternatively pupils can say “Est-ce que je suis gentille?” or “Suis-je gentille?”. When they think they know who they are they say “Je suis Cendrillon”).

CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ Drama: “Who am I? What am I doing?”

Children work in pairs. They choose two characters from the story and plan a short scene to represent an everyday activity which they can describe in French. This could be anything they like, e.g. “Je mange une glace”; “Je vais au supermarché”; “J’aime le football”

The rest of the class has to guess who is being represented and what the phrase is.

You may prefer to give each pair pictures of their characters and a picture of the activity to be described.

You could use pictures from Early Start French 2 of places; hobbies; school subjects; food etc.

The aim is to really “act” the characters: n the stepsisters could be very disdainful as they buy things in the supermarket; n the King could be very regal; n Cinderella could be sad; etc.

The funnier the better!

Preparing for your performance

Preparing for a live performance of “Cendrillon”, or devising a multimedia presentation of the story, is a great way to bring together all the skills pupils have developed during the time they have been learning French - speaking, listening, reading and writing. It can also be a truly cross curricular project.

It is worth taking plenty of time to devise, develop and rehearse your pupils’ version of the tale to make the process of creating the performance as memorable as the event itself.

❑ Literacy: Sharing the ‘story boards’

Use pupils comic strip storyboards as a starting point for discussion in English (or your own language) about the essential parts of the Cendrillon story that will need to be included in your performance. In choosing a key image and one or two essential phrases to sum up each scene, pupils will have pin-pointed pivotal moments in the narrative.

You can then talk about how you want your production to develop: n Do the children want to be true to the well-known story? n Would they like to make up a different ending? n Would they like to set their version in the past or the present?

❑ Drama; art/design; technology

Pupils can decide upon the medium they wish to use for their production. Will it be: n a stage show? n a puppet show? n a multimedia presentation?

What are the pros and cons of each medium?

Your class may wish to work in smaller groups, each producing a different version of the story in their choice of medium.

❑ Drama; Literacy - improvisation

Before preparing their script for the production, you could encourage the children to improvise scenes using as much familiar language as possible. You could make it a challenge to see how many phrases from Early Start French 1, 2 and 3 can be incorporated into the script.

❑ Literacy : Pupils can prepare their own versions of the script for their productions, using key phrases from the films as a starting point. Some pupils may want to include improvised scenes as part of the whole show.

❑ Art/design; technology - props and costumes

Whichever form of presentation they choose, pupils will need to design and make essential props and costumes. Try to make opportunities to talk in French while the children are engaged in these tasks, e.g. ask pupils what they are making or drawing; talk about size, measurements and colour.

If they have prepared models or drawings, prior to making finished versions, ask them to label them in French. How will they tackle the transformations?

❑ Art/design; technology - tickets, posters, programmes, credits

Pupils can prepare tickets, posters and programmes for their production. If they are making a multimedia presentation they can add their cast and production list to the credits at the end of their movie or slideshow. You can look at the closing of TV programmes and films to see how many different styles there are. If possible look at the closing of French children’s TV programmes.

❑ Art/design; technology: puppets and scenery

If your pupils are producing a puppet show, they can design and make their own puppets and scenery.

They may choose, for example, to make glove puppets, finger puppets, string puppets, or cardboard cut-out characters.

They may want to design backgrounds for each scene - possibly even a complete puppet theatre.

❑ Music and sound effects.

Pupils can be involved in choosing music for their production to add interest and atmosphere. Perhaps they want to use classical music for the ball scene by composers such as Lully

Alternatively, they may want the ball to be a disco. Some children may be able to play their own instruments. What sound effects might be needed? Fanfares? Horses hooves galloping? Midnight striking? How could these be produced? Will they be performed “live”? Will they be pre-recorded? Will you need specific editing software to add music and sound effects to a multimedia presentation?

❑ Music

Some pupils may like to compose a song for their production. It could have very simple lyrics based on key phrases from your show. It doesn’t necessarily have to rhyme as long as the children devise a good tune and rhythm.

❑ Personal and social: Teamwork

Devising a successful production is dependent on teamwork, not star performances. Everyone in the class can be involved in many different ways. It is a good idea to develop “crowd scenes” so that a large number of children can have a significant amount to do as part of the action. Shy children can enjoy “cameo” roles which do not require them to learn lots of words in French. For example, the role of the King and Queen at the ball could be developed; servants and other guests at the ball could comment on how beautiful Cinderella is. The ball scene offers scope for “entertainment”: there could be a jester who tells some of the jokes from from earlier sections of Early Start