Unit 16 Notre monde About the unit

MFL – French
Year 9
Unit 16 Notre monde
About the unit
Expectations
Resources
This unit provides pupils with
opportunities to describe and give
opinions about where they live,
their lifestyle and the
environment. They learn to use a
wider range of negatives. They
also consolidate and extend their
knowledge of pronouns.
At the end of this unit
Resources include:
• newspaper headlines and extracts from articles
• old photographs, maps, etc, of localities in this country or abroad
• PCs and word-processing software
• access to the internet
New language content:
• further work on direct object
pronouns
• negatives other than ne … pas
New contexts:
• town/country
• regions of France
• aspects of the environment
Alternative contexts: places in a
town; daily life and routine; home
life.
This unit is expected to take
12–15 hours.
Where the unit fits in
Pupils develop speaking and
writing at greater length on
matters of personal or topical
interest, applying grammar
previously learnt to new contexts,
and expressing personal points of
view. They read articles
independently, and adapt what
they have read in their own
speaking or writing.
Key stage 3 schemes of work
most pupils will: show understanding of, and respond to, a variety of
spoken and written texts with information about aspects of the world
in which they live; speak and write at length on subjects concerning
their home and local environment, including expressing points of view;
use grammar to help with understanding, and apply previously learnt
grammar in wider contexts
some pupils will not have made so much progress and will: understand
shorter and less detailed spoken and written texts on aspects of the
world in which they live; speak and write sentences which are less
ambitious in scope; need support to use and incorporate new language
into the context of the unit
some pupils will have progressed further and will: understand spoken and
written material, some containing complex sentences and unfamiliar
language; use language encountered in reading in their own speaking
and writing; show greater independence in expressing points of view,
and begin to justify these
Prior learning
It is helpful if pupils already know:
• how to express past, present and future using a range of regular and
irregular verbs
• comparative and superlative
• direct object pronouns (le, la, l’, les)
• how to construct complex sentences (pupils will be familiar with this
from their National Literacy Strategy work)
• how to express opinions
• how to use dictionaries and other aids to support their reading and
listening (pupils will be familiar with this from their National Literacy
Strategy work and their work in English)
Out-of-school learning
Pupils could research towns or areas of France, eg by visiting their local
library, or by using the internet.
Future learning
Pupils will be able to apply language skills developed in this unit,
eg applying knowledge of grammar to the context of their home and
local environment to broader contexts, eg the wider world explored in
unit 18 ‘Chez nous, chez vous’.
1
1
• to understand and use direct
object pronouns further, and
use contexts to interpret
meaning in passages containing
direct object pronouns
• This activity could begin with revision of
• Survey eating habits and find out how often pupils eat le fast food. Answers will
• ask and answer questions, eg
incorporate the use of direct object pronouns.
Est-ce que tu manges le fast
work in unit 12 ‘Invitations’ on object
• Pupils describe orally and/or in writing some common household objects or
food/la viande/les frites? Oui, je
pronouns.
modern gadgets without naming them; from the description, other pupils have to
le/la/les mange. Combien de fois ▲ The descriptions of household objects or
gadgets need not be confined to the
guess what the items are, eg matching descriptions to pictures. Pupils then make
par semaine? Je le/la/les mange
up their own descriptions of other household items for others to understand, using
present tense, eg L’été dernier, nous
tous les jours/deux fois par
l’avons utilisé souvent dans le jardin pour
dictionaries to help them.
semaine/rarement.
préparer nos repas.
• ‘Quiz of the century’: reading activity in which pupils have to match descriptions of • understand and then make up
• Pupils have already learnt about être
sentences which incorporate
twentieth-century items/gadgets to the item itself; in a follow-up pupils could
le/la/l’/les before the verb, eg On
verbs and agreement in unit 14 ‘Déjà’
make up a similar quiz, using the reading activity as a stimulus. All pupils should be
l’utilise pour laver les assiettes.
and know adjectival agreement.
introduced to the rules about past participle agreement.
On le trouve souvent dans le
salon, mais rarement dans la
salle de bain. Vous la regardez
souvent.
• understand and then make up
sentences similar to the above,
but incorporating the perfect
tense, eg On l’a inventé il y a 50
ans, and using past participle
agreement.
2
• to give personal views to other
members of the class about the
importance of aspects of the
modern household, adapting
previously learnt language to
explain how and why
• Pupils identify via a class or small-group brainstorm, using a dictionary if necessary,
10 modern household items. They work in small groups, each group having to
outline how the items are used, and then decide on their importance, with reasons
why. Pupils could feed back orally to the rest of the class, or write up their
conclusions.
• Pupils are given a notional sum of money and a mail order catalogue of household
items. In order to improve their quality of life, they decide what to buy and why.
• speak or write on a familiar
topic, giving information and
expressing personal views, eg Il
est important d’avoir un four;
tout le monde le trouve
indispensable parce que … and
ways of agreeing and
disagreeing, eg Je ne suis pas
d’accord. On peut acheter du
fast food tous les soirs.
Je vais acheter un lave-vaisselle
parce que je fais la vaisselle tous
les jours et je déteste faire ça.
• A preliminary activity could include
revision of the negative, and making sure
pupils know words such as important,
essentiel, indispensable.
• An alternative context could be articles
needed when packing for a holiday
abroad, or a camping trip.
• In preparation for the group activity,
pupils could call up a word-processed file
containing descriptions of six household
items with their names listed at the
bottom of the text. The task is to ‘cut’
each name and ‘paste’ it above the
appropriate description.
Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils
Key stage 3 schemes of work
MFL – French unit 16
2
3
• to understand and use language • Pupils read/hear peoples' reactions to being deprived of something they take for
creatively, to imagine life
granted, eg daily use of a car.
without items normally taken for • Pupils are given scenarios requiring usage of different tenses, eg Demain, il y aura
une panne d’électricité chez vous. Qu'est-ce qu'on fait? Un weekend sans télé!
granted
Qu’est-ce que vous avez fait chez vous? ▲ Pupils might be encouraged to think of
other scenarios for themselves. This could become a speed game, eg how many
activities can pupils think of in two minutes?
• use language creatively and
• Some pupils will require support material
imaginatively, incorporating
to guide their writing, eg a fun multiplechoice activity of things to do when there
different tenses, and say or write
is no television.
(with support if necessary)
• Pupils should be encouraged to check
sentences in response to the
their own work critically, eg prior to
situation
redrafting a ‘best’ version, and also to act
as a ‘critical friend’ to other pupils during
pair work or small-group work.
4
• to express personal views using
negatives other than ne ... pas
• With the help of visual clues, pupils understand sentences about their town, and/or • understand and use negatives
one in France, which contain different negatives. Then, initially with help, they
such as ne … jamais/rien/
personne
make up similar sentences about a town, using a range of negatives – a starter
activity might be for pupils to contradict positive statements heard or read, eg
teacher writes: Il y a beaucoup à faire dans le parc, and pupils respond C’est faux! Il
n’y a rien à faire dans le parc. They could go on to use a word processor to call up a
file containing a range of positive statements that must be changed into negative
statements.
• Pupils make similar statements about a different town, using a stimulus of a
brochure or details downloaded from a website.
• To introduce the idea of negatives, revise
ne ... pas, then bring in simple ideas with
il y a, showing pictures of empty boxes/
rooms, etc, for il n'y a rien/personne.
Extend to other verbs, eg Un végétarien
ne mange jamais de viande.
5
• to develop ideas, using and
adapting previously learnt
language, for improving the
pupils’ home town
• Pupils answer a multiple-choice questionnaire about facilities in their home town
and, using their answers as a basis, suggest solutions to problems identified. This
could involve direct object pronouns. ▲ Pupils might make up a parallel
questionnaire on a different topic, eg ways of improving the school environment.
• Pupils needing more support could tick a series of simple contradictory statements
about facilities in the town, identifying which statements are true and which are
false. Once they have identified the problems, they can match picture cards with
solution cards.
• understand questions with
• An alternative sequence of activities
multiple-choice answers about
(with different language content) is
aspects of a town and develop
suggested in Managing the Programme
of Study Part II: areas of experience
spoken or written French in
(QCA, 1998).
response to what they have read
• A further related activity can be found in
• suggest solutions to problems
Optional Tests and Tasks 5.7.
identified
• Pupils read and/or listen to inhabitants of town and country, describing where they
live and giving different viewpoints with reasons. They then categorise the pros
and cons of living in the town or country, and express their own preferences with
reasons. This can include ways of changing or improving the environment, thus
building on the previous activity.
• understand and express
descriptions and viewpoints to
do with town vs country, eg A la
campagne, c’est plus sain parce
que l’air est moins pollué …
6
• to express ideas and points of
view about an issue related to
the environment
• Pupils should be encouraged wherever
possible to develop simple opinions, by
explaining or justifying.
• Further related activities can be found in
Optional Tests and Tasks 6.7, 7.8A/8B.
Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils
Key stage 3 schemes of work
MFL – French unit 16
3
7
End-of-unit activities
• to apply knowledge, skills and
understanding learnt in this unit
• L’île de mes rêves – pupils imagine they are able to develop a desert island in
• write imaginatively, using a
whatever way they want. They produce a poster or brochure explaining what there
range of structures and
will be on the island and why, possible activities, etc, using language highlighted in
vocabulary
this and previous units. This could be a group activity with different pupils
developing different aspects of the island.
• Pupils produce two ‘recipes’:
– recette pour une ville idéale
– recette pour une ville de cauchemar
• Instead of producing a poster or
brochure, pupils could prepare a
multimedia presentation on a computer.
Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils
Ref: QCA/00/453 © Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000
MFL – French unit 16