e astt ef r è r e s ae 1 . 1 31 4 Q1.u0 eA et s ld a e n enres s aire? .l l es Q-u e tu lle e ntitvod s odse u lradsed?at to en d anniversaire?
1.13 Joyeux anniversaire! Happy birthday!
Now that pupils know the months of the year and numbers 1-31, they are ready to talk about when their birthdays are. With their increasing repertoire of language, they can both talk about their own birthdays, and find out about other people’s. When they ask about someone's birthday, they will have to try and understand whatever answer they hear!
Films to see A1. When is your birthday? A2. Birthday celebrations
Watch film 13: A1When is your birthday?
❑ Film A1 starts with children saying when their birthdays are:
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire? When's your birthday?
Mon anniversaire est le... (7 mai) My birthday is the... (7th May) 1 le premier... (mars) the first of... (March) Joyeux anniversaire! Happy birthday! see Talking Dictionary
Planning your lessons
Children will already know the numbers and months, so there are only a few new words for children to get used to hearing and saying. We suggest you start with some revision, then give plenty of practice talking about birthdays. This will also help prepare for saying today’s date in French - which could become a regular class routine.
Film 13 A1- Zélie: “Mon anniversaire est le 8 avril.”
“Mon anniversaire est le premier décembre.” “Mon anniversaire est le 7 juin.” “Mon anniversaire est le 8 avril.” “Mon anniversaire est le 9 septembre.” “Mon anniversaire est le 15 novembre.” “Mon anniversaire est le 15 décembre.” “Mon anniversaire est le 20 mars.” “Mon anniversaire est le 21 février.” “Mon anniversaire est le 25 avril.” “Mon anniversaire est le 4 avril.” Birthday celebrations in school On Charlotte's 11th birthday, her classmates count to 11 and wish her a happy birthday: “Joyeux anniversaire!” as she blows out the candles on the cake.
1
HOW FRENCH WORKS 1: Numbers in the date French speakers do not use “second, third, fourth” etc. in dates. They simply say the plain number, e.g. "le sept mai" and write "le 7 mai". The exception is with the first of the month, e.g. "le premier mai" - written "le 1er mai". If an event is regularly repeated (like a birthday), you say "the" - "le 7 mai". You always say/write the number before the month: "the 7th May", not "May 7th".
Activities
Warm up
❑ Before watching film A1, have a brief “warm up” session to remind children of the numbers 1-31 and the months of the year. You could also talk with pupils about how they celebrate their own birthdays.
13.1
1 4 1. 0 A est staf rPtea a-urtelulyl ed S rarstè k .E s Q e lr d a escd e e tt1odn e s s o e u ? anniversaire? Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards ‘When is your birthday?’; play each film clip - initially with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “mon anniversaire est le 7 juin”.
Film 13 A1: Charlotte's 11th birthday is celebrated in class.
Charlotte distributes slices of cake to her class, who sing two birthday songs (see this chapter's “talking point”). Question and answer sequence Children answer the question “Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?” The final child asks: “Et toi? Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?”
After several repeats, switch text ON and sound OFF; ask children to read aloud, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est le 21 février”. ❑ Echoing: Continue with some random birthdates, using a selection of flashcards for numbers 1-31 and months. (You may need to combine the e-flashcards with paper versions). Say when your birthday is, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est le 12 juin.” As you speak, display the number and month. Pupils echo your words. Repeat this with other dates including several examples of birthdays on the first day of particular months, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est le premier février.”
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
mon, ton Heard before in: onze, marron, non as in
Soft
Heard before in: as in
joyeux âge, rouge, juin
as in
Respond with understanding
❑ The teacher calls out a selection of dates, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est le 12 avril.” When a pupil recognises his/her birthday, s/he jumps up and says the date, echoed by the rest of the class. ❑ Show the “question and answer” sequence of the film again. Now move around the room asking different pupils “Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?” Pupils answer as the children do on the film, e.g. “le 15 décembre”. To make this activity more amusing, you could use one of your class puppets. Ask the puppet “Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?” The puppet replies. He then asks different pupils when their birthdays are.
quelle, anniversaire
Heard before in: treize
as in
joyeux
Heard before in: bleu
as in quelle Heard before in: as in
quel, quatre
premier
Heard before in: je, le, de, ne
premier, génial Heard before in: janvier as in
as in
super, superbe
❑ Do a “Mexican wave” to practise saying birthdays. The first pupil in the circle says when his/her birthday is, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est
Heard before in: tortue, tu, salut see Talking Dictionary
13.2
e astt ef r è r e s ae 1 . 1 31 4 Q1.u0 eA et s ld a e n enres s aire? .l l es Q-u e tu lle e ntitvod s odse u lradsed?at to en d anniversaire?
le 20 mars.” The other pupils take it in turns to say just the dates of their birthdays, e.g. “le 9 octobre.” ❑ Play “musical birthdays” Pupils move around the room with French music playing in the background. When the music stops, they stop to talk to the nearest person, e.g. Pupil 1: “Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?” Pupil 2: “Le 24 mai. Et toi?” Pupil 1: “Le 17 juin.” Alternatively, pupils form two circles. The outer circle moves clockwise, the inner anticlockwise. When the music stops, pupils ask the person opposite, “Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?” ❑ Copy the months flashcards so that every pupil has a card representing their birthday month. Ask them to write the figure for their birthday on a sheet of paper, big enough for everyone to read. The children hold their numbers and cards so that you can see them. Call out a selection of dates, e.g. “Mon anniversaire est le 23 septembre.” When a pupil recognises his/her birthday, s/he holds the cards up for everyone to see. The rest of the class echoes the date. ❑ Play “true or false” To help develop pupils’ listening skills, write a selection of dates on the board or use cut-out months and numbers as flashcards. Point to a date, say “Mon anniversaire est le ... .” Say either the correct date, or one that is slightly different. If the date you say is the same as the one you are pointing to, pupils echo the date; if it is different, they remain silent. You might, for example, say just one of the components correctly. Numbers which are sometimes misheard by beginners are: 2 and 12, 3 and 13, 4 and 14 etc. It is best to wait until pupils are confident with saying dates before trying this activity.
Look again at sounds
❑ Play “It’s that sound again” Now that the new words and sounds are familiar, pick out a “key sound” from this chapter’s new words. Ask children to suggest all the French words they know that also contain
13.3
that sound. As the children’s vocabulary is expanding, you can repeat this with some of the other sounds. This will help them remember the French they already know. ❑ Play “Find the sound”where children find an example of a “key sound” in a number of word-cards scattered on the floor, and the whole class says that word.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Art and design: Pupils can design and make French birthday cards. ❑ Classroom routine: When you know a pupil has a birthday, ask the class, “C’est l’anniversaire de qui aujourd’hui?”and announce “Aujourd’hui c’est l’anniversaire de X. Quel âge as-tu, X?”-see “Extra words and phrases”. The class could hand over home-made French birthday cards and sing “Joyeux anniversaire”. ❑ ICT/data handling: Pupils can do a survey of how many people have birthdays in different months. They could collect information from other classes as well as their own. The results can be shown in a chart or graph.
Watch film 13: A2 Birthday celebrations
❑ Watch film A2 which shows Léa’s 9th birthday party at “Zanzi-Boum” a soft play centre near Béthune in Northern France. The children play with giant lego bricks and jump on the bouncy castle. They are really enjoying themselves: “C’est superbe!” “C’est genial!” (It’s great!) They sit down for presents and birthday tea: “Salut!” Voice: “Joyeux anniversaire Léa! Elle a 9 ans”. Léa opens presents and shows them to friends:
1 4 1. 0 A est staf rPtea a-urtelulyl ed S rarstè k .E s Q e lr d a escd e e tt1odn e s s o e u ? anniversaire? Boy: “C’est moi ça. Ça c’est moi”. (That’s me). It is time for pancakes! “Les crêpes! Les crêpes! Les crêpes!” A member of staff brings Léa the “birthday hat” and a pile of pancakes with a “9” candle on top. Everyone sings “Joyeux Anniversaire”. It’s time for a group photo: “Un, deux, trois!” Children put toppings on their pancakes.
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES Exclamations of delight, praise
C’est génial! That’s brilliant / cool! C’est superbe! That’s superb / magificent! C’est super! That’s super/ great!
Add these 3 phrases to your classroom repertoire.
Marking children’s birthdays C’est l’anniversaire de qui aujourd’hui?
Who has a birthday today?
Aujourd’hui c’est l’anniversaire de ...
Today it’s ...’s birthday Elle a 11 ans She is 11
Film 13 A2: Léa wears the special birthday hat at tea-time.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Drama: Pupils can use their puppets to improvise birthday celebrations. The scenario could be birthday celebrations in school as in film A,1 or a birthday party with friends as in A2. Pupils may be surprised when they realise just how much French they have at their command to equip them for this activity. The puppets can now greet each other; they can count out the birthday puppet's age and wish him happy birthday as the children do in the film. The birthday puppet can say “merci” when he receives his presents; party guests or classmates can say “merci” when they are offered birthday cake. Puppets who do not know each other can introduce themselves and find out how old the other puppets are. They can all sing “Joyeux anniversaire” and say goodbye as they leave the party.
see Talking Dictionary
❑ Drama: Pupils who enjoy role-playing themselves could improvise a birthday party along similar lines. They could also include one or two “party” games that they are familiar with from their French activities, such as “musical birthdays” or “swap colours”.
13.4
e astt ef r è r e s ae 1 . 1 31 4 Q1.u0 eA et s ld a e n enres s aire? .l l es Q-u e tu lle e ntitvod s odse u lradsed?at to en d anniversaire?
BIRTHDAY SONGS from film 13 A1
Talking point
SONG 1:
EVERYDAY LIFE IN FRANCE Birthday celebrations
En ce joyeux anniversaire nous te disons notre amitié. Si tu n'étais sur cette terre, le monde serait-il entier? Nous te disons notre amitié.
Not all schools celebrate birthdays in the way shown in film A1. However, singing a birthday song and sharing a cake is quite common.
The first song loosely translates as: “On this happy birthday we tell you of our friendship. If you weren't on this earth, would the world be complete? We tell you of our friendship.”
SONG 2: “Happy birthday!”
Joyeux anniversaire, joyeux anniversaire, joyeux anniversaire, ..Charlotte.! Joyeux anniversaire!
The class sings “Joyeux anniversaire” to Charlotte on her birthday - from film 13 A1
In some schools the cake will be made in school by the children in the class; in other schools the birthday child will bring a cake to school. French children celebrate their birthdays in much the same way as British children do. Birthday parties are still popular, particularly with younger children. Many French families live in flats, particularly in the towns and cities and so there is not always enough space to have a party. Instead children will often go on a special trip, perhaps to a softplay centre, swimming pool or to see a film.
Name days
Some French families who are Catholics will also celebrate a child's Saint’s day or ‘Name day’, i.e. the day devoted to the saint after whom they are named. The celebration will include a special meal and a small present. In past generations, a child’s name day would have been a more important family event than their birthday. Many French families refer to a calendar which is published yearly by the French Post Office, which includes a list of Name days.
Cultural awareness
❑ Pupils can talk about their own birthday celebrations. If you are linked with a French primary school, the children can draw pictures showing how they celebrate their birthdays and exchange these with their French counterparts.
Film 13 A2: Léa’s party; inflatables at the soft-play centre.
13.5