14. As-tu des frères et des soeurs?

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14. As-tu des frères
et des soeurs?
Brothers and sisters
This section introduces pupils to talking
about their immediate families. The focus
is on brothers and sisters, because that is
the natural emphasis in children’s
conversation. The vocabulary for parents
and other close relatives can also be
introduced.
Many activities revolve around “imaginary
families” so pupils do not only talk about
their own circumstances. Teachers should
be sensitive to individual children's
circumstances.
Pupils will use the plural form of nouns which you might have already introduced
with pets. This will only be apparent if they
are reading or writing, as in French the
singular of brother/sister sounds exactly
the same as the plural.
Films to see
14a I've got a brother and a sister EX
TRA: use the titl
e
14b - Do you have any brothers
song, “Salut! Ça
va?”, on karaoke
or sisters?
e-flashcards
14c - Reading and Writing
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
un frère une soeur deux frères deux soeurs -
a/one brother
a/one sister
two brothers
two sisters
As-tu des frères et des soeurs?
Have you got brothers and sisters?
DVD: Film 14
Je n'ai pas de frère
I haven't got any brothers
Film 14 shows animations of different
combinations of brothers and sisters, then
French children talking about how many
brothers and sisters they have. It starts with
two children saying:
Girl: “J'ai un frère...”
Boy: “...et moi, j'ai une soeur.”
Je n'ai pas de soeur
I haven't got any sisters
Je n'ai ni frères, ni soeurs
I have neither brothers nor sisters
(Note: “et moi” literally means, “and me”; this phrase is commonly used by French
speakers to add extra emphasis, like saying:
“I've got a brother..” “..and I've got a sister”)
Flashcards CD 14
Animated cartoons: un frère une soeur
Children: “J'ai une soeur.” “J'ai une soeur.”
“J'ai un frère.”
“J'ai une soeur.”
“J'ai une soeur.”
“J'ai une soeur.”
“J'ai un frère.”
Animated cartoons: “J'ai un frère.” (The giant Phinaert)
“J'ai deux frères.”
“J'ai deux soeurs.”
“J'ai un frère et deux soeurs.”
“J'ai trois soeurs et deux frères.”
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Children drawing their brothers and sisters
and saying their names:
“J'ai deux soeurs et deux frères, Olivia, Valéria,
Mario et Mateo.”
“J'ai deux soeurs, Sarah et Mathilde.”
Animated cartoons: “Je n'ai pas de frère.”
“Je n'ai pas de soeur.”
“Je n'ai ni frères ni soeurs.”
Question and answer: Children respond to the
question, “As-tu des frères et des soeurs?”
The sequence finishes with a child asking,
“Et toi, as-tu des frères et des soeurs?
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jump up. Now say “J'ai deux frères” and pupils
who have two brothers jump up.
Repeat this with three, four, brothers etc. in
sequence. Then do the same with sisters.
❑ Play “brothers or sisters?”
Say “Je n'ai pas de frère”. Pupils who do not have any brothers jump up.
Now say “Je n'ai pas de soeur”. Pupils who do
not have any sisters jump up. Now say “Je n'ai ni frères ni soeurs”. Pupils who do not have any brothers or any
sisters jump up. Repeat the phrases several times varying the
order in which you say them.
“J'ai une soeur.” - from film 14.
Planning your lessons
Keep it simple! Plan activities from those
suggested to give children lots of practice
at listening and talking, first about each
other’s families, then imaginary ones and
other variations.
❑ Play “how many brothers and sisters? 2
You can now move on to include different
combinations of brothers and sisters as well as
the phrases “Je n'ai pas de frère”, “Je n'ai pas de
soeur” and “Je n'ai ni frères ni soeurs”. Pupils will have to listen very carefully to hear
the statement that fits with their own
families.
Activities
1. Warm up
❑ Before watching film 14, it is a good idea to
have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils
of all they can now say in French about
themselves: for example, ask several pupils
their names, ages, birthdays and whether they
have any pets. If you have time, play a quick
game to reinforce this vocabulary.
2. Watch film 14
❑ Watch film 14:“As-tu des frères et des soeurs?”
Stop before the written words are shown on
the screen.
Cut up copies of the activity sheet for 15 cards
representing different numbers of brothers and sisters.
3. Get used to the sounds
❑ Draw a stick figure of a boy on the board or
use the cut out figures from the activity sheet
on the OHP. Say“J'ai un frère” and ask pupils
to echo the phrase. Now draw a representation of a girl and say
“J'ai une soeur”. Pupils echo the phrase.
Then add another boy figure and say “J'ai deux
frères”. Pupils echo the phrase.
Repeat this with two girls, three boys, etc.
❑ Play “how many brothers and sisters?” 3
Make several copies of the activity sheet and
cut out the 15 cards. Mount them on stiff card
if they are going to be handled regularly.
Give everyone one of the pictures. When you call out, for example, “J'ai deux frères
et trois soeurs”, the pupils with cards showing
two brothers and three sisters, hold up their
pictures.
You could divide the class into two for this
activity and make it into a game to see who can
be first to hold up their picture.
4. Respond with understanding
❑ Play “how many brothers and sisters? 1
Say “J'ai un frère”. Pupils who have one brother
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❑ Now move round the room asking different
pupils, “As-tu des frères et des soeurs?”. Pupils
reply according to the picture they hold.
e.g. “J'ai un frère et deux soeurs”. On another occasion you can ask pupils to
respond according to their real
circumstances.
❑ Working in pairs: play “snap”
Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet
and ask them to cut out the groups of brothers
and sisters. In pairs, pupils use a minimum of
two sets to play ”snap”.
When two identical cards appear one after the
other, the first child to correctly call out what
is on the card, collects the pile.
different numbers of brothers and sisters. The
survey can be conducted in French and the
results presented in a graph.
❑ Talking about pets and families
Many of the activities described above can be
used to give pupils practice talking about their
pets as well as their brothers and sisters.
The plural forms of the pets introduced in
section 13: “As-tu un animal?” are included in
that chapter’s “extra words and phrases”.
See the Early Start website for
ideas for suitable software
www.earlystart.co.uk
❑ Art and design: Pupils can draw pictures
of their brothers and sisters. They can then
present their pictures to the rest of the class as
the children do on the video: “J'ai un frère et
une soeur, Andrew et Emily.”
Cultural awareness
When pupils have had the opportunity to
practise the words and phrases for talking
about their brothers and sisters, you could
start discussing aspects of family life with
them. See this chapter's “talking point”
about family sizes in France.
❑ ICT: Pupils can word-process labels in
French for their pictures.
❑ Drama: Pupils can use their puppets to
develop conversations which include the new
words and phrases they have learnt for talking
about their brothers and sisters. This will give
them practice in asking questions as well as
responding to them.
Watch film 14 again
❑ Watch film 14: “As-tu des frères et des soeurs?”
again for reinforcement - show the last part if
you want to introduce the written word....
Introduce the written word
❑ Drama: Pupils who enjoy role-playing can
develop extended conversations which involve
Watch film 14 again, including the last part
where each key word and phrase is heard
again, with the words superimposed on the
pictures. If you have not already done so,
talk to pupils about how the plurals of
‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are said and written in
French.
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HOW FRENCH WORKS 1: Hearing plurals
When you listen to film 14 and the Flashcards
CD, you will hear that the words “frère” and
“frères” sound exactly the same:
“un frère” (a/one brother)
“deux frères” (two brothers). The “s” which makes the word plural is silent.
The same applies to the words “soeur” and
“soeurs”.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Data handling and ICT: Pupils can do a
class survey to find out how many people have
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FLASHCARDS CD for the teacher
The pronunciation of all these words and phrases can be heard on the Flashcards CD.
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES
When pupils say how many brothers or sisters they have,
they can simply add their names
- asthe French children do in film 14:
Pupil: “J'ai deux soeurs, Sarah et Mathilde.”
ASKING THE QUESTION
The teacher may want a prompt with which to ask the names
of a pupil’s brothers or sisters:
Pupil: “J'ai ... frère(s)/soeur(s).”
Teacher:
..et ton frère? Il s'appelle?
..your brother? What’s his name?
..et ta soeur? Elle s'appelle?
..your sister? What’s her name?
..et tes frères? Ils s'appellent?
..your brothers? What are their names?
..et tes soeurs? Elles s'appellent?
..your sisters? What are their names?
..et tes frères et tes soeurs? Ils s'appellent?
..your brothers and sisters? What are their names?
N.B. listen to the verbs - they all sound the same!
HOW PUPILS REPLY
The most natural language would be for a pupil to reply with just the names,
rather than the stilted-sounding repetition of the question.
Flashcards CD 14
talking about and introducing their brothers
and sisters and pets. The children could make
up names for themselves and pretend to be
groups of brothers and sisters meeting in a
particular context such as moving into a new
house or flat, meeting at the beach club etc.
Introduction) - ready to show to their parents
and their next teacher.
Recording and Assessment
Children are ready to record their achievements
to date on the third and final sheet of “can-do
statements”: PETS to BROTHERS AND SISTERS
(find it after Chapter 15).
Each child could keep their completed sheet as
part of their European Languages Portfolio (see
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Talking point
Flashcards CD for the teacher
Everyday life in France:
How many brothers and sisters?
EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES
Today French families are quite small. Most
French women do have children (about 90%)
but the average mother has only 1.78
children.
This means that the typical French child has
only one brother or sister, and that many are
single children.
Large families (3 or more children) are now
quite rare in France.
un demi-frère
une demi-soeur
ma mère
mon père
ma belle-mère
mon beau-père
ma grand-mère
mon grand-père
ma tante
mon oncle
- a half-brother
- a half-sister
- my mother
- my father
- my step-mother
- my step-father
- my grandmother
- my grandfather
- my aunt
- my uncle
Flashcards CD 14
We have included just the phrases most
likely to be asked for by pupils. You may
choose not to teach these at this stage.
Cultural awareness
“J'ai un frère et deux soeurs.”
This would be an unusually large family in France today!
■ Exchange information with your French
partner school about how many brothers
and sisters each pupil has.
■ Pupils could draw all the people in their
household, perhaps in a typical family scene.
They could add labels in French with the
names and ages of their brothers and sisters,
and swap the pictures with a class in a Frenchspeaking country.
■ You could talk with the class about being
part of a larger family, or being an only
child.
❒ - how is it different?
❒ - what are the good and bad points? ❒ - do they like being an older/younger
brother/sister?
How family sizes have changed
Back in 1850, the average French family would
have had about 5 children.
A generation ago, the parents of today’s children
were brought up in families of
typically 2 - 3 children.
The evolution of family life
In France, many children today live in a
household that includes children from other
relationships.
In most such “mixed” families, a child will refer
in casual conversation to the other
children they live with as their “brothers” or
“sisters”.
When discussing brothers or sisters, most
pupils would be used to counting all of the
children they live with. We include some useful
extra vocabulary in case it is required.
For more sources of
information about families and
social change in France, see:
www.earlystart.co.uk
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Je m'appelle
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