Teach-Primary-Issue-19.7

When teaching French, it is essential that even our youngest pupils understand the concept of la francophonie : the French-speaking world. It is important that we discuss its origins in colonialism and the fact that, although many of France’s former colonies have fought for and gained their independence, the French language often continues to be widely spoken within particular institutions or social groups. Senegal was once part of FrenchWest Africa and although most of the population speak Wolof, French remains the official language of the country. 1 | NAME IT Teach your pupils a range of nouns for different items of clothing, for example: une robe (a dress), une jupe (a skirt), une chemise (a shirt), un t-shirt (a t-shirt), un pantalon (a pair of trousers) and un short (a pair of shorts), using images, flashcards or real, tactile items. Kim’s Game is an excellent way to embed this new vocabulary, where the teacher removes a flashcard or item from a set and pupils have to guess, in French, which item they think is missing. There is also a wonderful opportunity here for pupils to use their language detective skills and identify cognates – words that share a common root and therefore look or sound the same or similar in different languages – that can help them make meaning and memorise words more easily. There is lots of great discussion to be had around links between the word robe in French and the word robe that we use in English, and ‘loan words’ that have been borrowed from English and are now used in French. Draw pupils’ attention to the use of the indefinite articles un and une . Explain that, although in English we only have one way of saying ‘a’, in French there is more than one and that this is because of the concept of masculine and feminine. Monolingual English speakers can find the concept of START HERE MAIN LESSON WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l The concept of la francophonie (the wider French- speaking world) l The names of various items of clothing in French, including some that are typically West African l The masculine and feminine indefinite articles ( un and une ) l How to create sentences to describe what individuals are wearing French Start by showing pupils some images of Senegal, for example: surfers on the beaches, the busy streets or markets of the capital Dakar, or the Lompoul Desert. Ask the children to guess which country is represented by the images and give them opportunities to justify their answers. Video clips also work really well for this activity – just be careful to select sequences that don’t reinforce unhelpful stereotypes. Once the children have had plenty of discussion time, introduce Senegal’s geographical position, using atlases or Google Earth, explaining the country’s links to France and the reason that French is still the official language of the country, although it is not spoken by all citizens. Blend language, culture, and couture to explore the creativity of Dakar Fashion Week, suggests Ellie Chettle Cully KS2 LESSON PLAN myprimarylanguagesclassroom.com @ECCMFL Peux-tu parler de mode en français? 88 | www.teachwire.net