Early Start French Pack 3
4. Les petites bêtes Mini-beasts
This section has strong cross-curricular links with children’s work in their science lessons on mini-beasts. We see French children on a mini-beast hunt in a forest with a nature warden. He shows how to identify what creature you are looking at. Children will focus on asking QUESTIONS about various characteristics (and parts of the body), e.g. ‘does it have wings?’ - and on ANSWERS such as ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘more than six’. The hunt introduces extra French terms that are used with mini-beasts and other animals. They look at the whole eco-system of the forest, including food chains and how the forest’s life cycle is sustained. The language introduced here with woodland creatures is transferable to your work on other habitats, e.g. pond-life or the seashore.
Films to see Part A: Mini-beasts in the forest e A1. The forest floor habitat the titl A: use ”, on R T X E là A2. Naming mini-beasts “Ici et oke song, ra a k R A3. Song 1: ‘Petit escargot’ film O hcards e-flas
Part B: Identifying mini-beasts B1. What is it? (Keys) B2. Song: ‘L’araignée gypsy’ B3. Jokes 1 and 2 Part C: Who eats what? C1. Food chains and the forest life-cycle C2. Joke 3
Find transcripts on the disc
Part A: Mini-beasts in the forest
Planning your lessons
Watch film A1: the forest floor habitat
❑ Watch film A1, which starts with the title song; children can sing along. It then introduces the forest floor habitat, where the French children are going on a mini-beast hunt to find some of the creatures that live there.
Part A introduces the forest of le Parc Départemental d’Olhain near Béthune, where the children go on their mini-beast hunt with an “éco-garde”. Film A1 shows the habitat of the forest floor in autumn. Film A2 shows some of the teeming life to be found amid the leaf debris on the forest floor.
Activities Warm up
Before showing film A1, ask the class to talk (in their own language) about what happens to woodlands in autumn. If you haven’t taught this already, they could speculate about: n what happens to the leaves that fall to the ground every year? n what creatures might be found living on the forest floor?
Film A1: The children hunt for mini-beasts in the forest.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Select ‘A1.The forest’ on the e-flashcards, and show initially with sound ON and text OFF (or use the activity sheet).
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