MFL – French
Unit 3 Chez moi
About the unit
In this unit pupils learn to ask and
answer questions about where
they live. They also learn to say
what time it is in French. They
begin to find their way around an
English/French glossary.
New language content:
• further questions with Où? and
Qui?
• à + town and à + hour
• further use of il y a
• regular -er verbs
• further rules for pronunciation/
spelling
New contexts:
• where you live
• rooms
• furniture
• telling the time
Alternative contexts: school.
This unit is expected to take
12–15 hours.
Where the unit fits in
Pupils are increasing their
vocabulary and learning how to
reuse and adapt previously learnt
language in new contexts. They
start to work more independently
by using a simple glossary. They
consolidate their knowledge of
subject pronouns, possessive
adjectives and verbs.
Key stage 3 schemes of work
Year 7
Expectations
At the end of this unit
most pupils will: understand a range of familiar statements and questions
about where people live and what they do; ask for, understand and
give the time; speak and write about where people live and what they
do at home, using a range of language, some from memory; use a
simple glossary to find new words
some pupils will not have made so much progress and will: understand
single familiar sentences about where people live and what they do; ask
for the time and understand clearly spoken answers with some
support; give simple responses with single words and phrases to
questions about where they live and what they do at home
some pupils will have progressed further and will: describe their own home
in speech and in writing; understand a written or spoken text, made up
of familiar language, about where people live; use a glossary or
dictionary accurately to help them understand texts describing where
people live
Prior learning
It is helpful if pupils already know:
• some prepositions
• possessive adjectives
• agreement of adjectives
• avoir, être, and the principles of a verb paradigm
• use of ne ... pas
• how to use a glossary and dictionary in English (pupils should be
familiar with this from their National Literacy Strategy work)
Resources
Resources include:
• letters from French-speaking youngsters describing their homes
• visuals to illustrate à la campagne, en ville, etc
• verb cards with -er verb stems, endings and subject pronouns
• cards with key words for telling the time, eg et quart, heures
• a range of clock faces
• wall map of France
• PCs and word-processing software
• CD-ROMs
Out-of-school learning
Pupils could:
• do some research to find where the main towns in France are located
• share some information on the towns and villages in a region they
know, if they have visited France or a French-speaking country
Future learning
Pupils will learn vocabulary and structures to enable them to
communicate more fully on where they live and what they do at home,
and will continue to learn how to make more independent use of a
glossary and a dictionary. The use of on will be covered more fully in
unit 7 ‘Les autres pays’.
1
• to ask questions about where
people live, using Où and Qui?
• to answer questions using à +
name of town and some simple
phrases
• how to develop a conversation
about where they live by
describing the rooms of their
house and its furniture with
prepositions and il y a
• how to use their knowledge of
avoir, and possessive and other
adjectives, in the context of
describing a house so that they
express themselves with a small
range of vocabulary and
structures
Key stage 3 schemes of work
• Pupils listen to young French people describing where they live and match each • ask questions such as Où • When using a multimedia CD-ROM
person to a picture. This can be done using a commercially produced CD-ROM. habites-tu? Il habite où? Or Qui pupils can listen to a spoken text as many
• Cocktail party activity: pupils circulate with cards which identify the town and type habite à Melchester? and times as they like. They also get
of house they live in, and interview other pupils to find the one whose card provide and understand answers immediate feedback whenever an
matches their own. such as J’habite dans une petite answer is attempted.
maison à X; c’est un village dans • J’habite à might lead to some work
la banlieue de Y. looking at the location of the main
French towns on a map of France.
• True/false activity: pupils hear or read statements about a picture and say whether • understand and produce in • Pupils should be shown how to keep and
they are true or false. written and spoken forms refer to their notes. Any agreed symbols
• Où est le chat? Game using overhead projector (OHP) with visuals of different descriptions of a house using a and codes for the class, eg using blue for
rooms and different items of furniture. A visual of a cat is moved around the range of words for rooms and masculine and red for feminine, should
screen. furniture, with previously be used in pupils’ notes.
• Information gap activity: pupils reproduce a picture of a room described to them. learned adjectives and • Pupils will have practised note making as
• Agence immobilière: pupils write descriptions of different appartements à louer possessives, eg Dans ma maison part of their work in English.
using magazine pictures or illustrations and floor plans. Using word-processing il y a deux chambres. Dans ma • Show how pas can be used emphatically.
and desktop-publishing software, and scanned photographs, pupils can produce chambre j’ai un petit téléviseur. Extra emphasis might be achieved with
authentic-looking descriptions. These could be combined to make a small Sur mon lit il y a ... . pas du tout. A good pronunciation
brochure. activity/tongue twister is to practise
• Listening: pupils hear a series of single sentences describing different rooms and saying pas du tout, du tout, du tout,
have to pick out the prepositions. Revisit the use of negatives, including pas de ... . du tout!
▲ Spot the difference: pupils describe the differences between two pictures of a • Further related activities can be found in
bedroom or between a picture and a written or spoken description of a room. Optional Tests and Tasks 2.1, 2.4.
Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils
MFL – French unit 3
2
• how to use all the subject
pronouns with -er verbs when
talking about what they do at
home
• that verbs have an infinitive and
what this means
• that the infinitive has to be
changed when they want to use
a verb
• that learning the pattern for one
verb enables them to use many • Pupils suggest ways in which their notes could be made visually very clear, eg use
other verbs
• strategies for learning the
paradigm
• how to say what time it is and
use the time in questions and
statements about everyday
activities
• how to use a range of -er verbs
Key stage 3 schemes of work
• Introduce the paradigm of regular -er verbs in stages through active use: • understand written and spoken • Using a word processor enables pupils to
– Presentation of personal information, eg Je regarde la télé dans ma chambre. French in which houses and focus directly on the items of language
J’aime les Simpson. some routines are described requiring attention. Editing can be done
– Pair work: Tu regardes la télé le matin? Où? • produce, orally and in writing, quickly and easily.
– Feedback following pair work: Il/Elle regarde la télé le matin dans la cuisine. sentences such as Je travaille • For homework pupils might be asked to
– Class/group survey on TV viewing habits and feedback: Ils regardent la télé le dans la/ma chambre. Mon père note the paradigm with different verbs
matin dans la cuisine. Nous regardons la télé le soir dans le salon. Elles ne regarde la télé dans le salon. On from the examples used in class.
regardent pas la télé le matin écoute la radio dans la cuisine. • Encourage pupils to speak or write using
• Use verb cards to demonstrate visually the way that -er is lost and other endings persons other than je.
are added. Pupils could be asked to choose appropriate verb-ending card(s). • It should be emphasised that there is just
one way in French to say ‘I eat’ and ‘I am
of a dividing line or hyphen for -er; use of different colours to link subject and verb eating’ compared with English.
ending; or representing the verb as the trunk and branches of a tree. Put the • Point out also the meaning and
paradigm to a well-known tune selected by the class. usefulness of on and how this compares
• Pupils call up a word-processed file containing a range of sentences in which the with English. Pupils will have
verbs have been presented as infinitives. They identify the infinitives, change them encountered on in the context of phrases
into the correct verb form and underline them. for conducting classroom business. It is
• Substitution exercise: beginning with a sentence such as Paul mange dans sa covered more fully in unit 7 ‘Les autres
chambre, pupils have to change, alternately, on instruction, the verb, the room, pays’.
the subject, etc. You can use other ways to signal the changes, such as pointing to • The 'substitution exercise' idea in the last
the word to be changed. activity can, of course, be applied across
a range of language and contexts.
• Pupils with word cards come to the front of the class to form the time which the • ask questions such as Quelle • Pupils might be given tapes to prepare
teacher calls out or represents digitally on the blackboard. heure est-il? ▲ A quelle heure tu oral and aural work for homework from
• Telly addicts: A TV programme is quoted and pupils have to give day and manges? time to time. Regular practice at home of
transmission time, using authentic TV listings if possible, eg Télé 7 Jours. • understand and say what time it listening to the time, for example, will
▲ Pupils form questions from statements by adding à quelle heure? and change is in simple statements with -er help pupils’ self-confidence when they
intonation. verbs, eg Je quitte la maison à have to do the same in the greater
• Pupils stand facing each other in concentric circles. On instruction the inner circle huit heures. Ma mère rentre à la pressure of the classroom.
rotates and holds up time cards for changing partners to answer the question Il est maison à sept heures trente. • It is more motivating if there is a valid
quelle heure? purpose for an activity. The class survey
• Pair work or class survey on domestic routines, eg Tu manges à quelle heure? Vous on domestic routines could be linked
mangez en famille? Tu quittes la maison à quelle heure? Ta mère travaille? with PSHE. The feedback of findings
could be displayed on the wall. A
computer database of responses could
be created.
Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils
MFL – French unit 3
3

• the interrelationship of sounds • Pupils listen to native speakers talk about a few simple household activities and fill • have satisfactory pronunciation • Pronunciation/spelling rules should be
and writing, particularly: in a gapped text. ▲ The gaps might focus attention on words related to the main and intonation for the language taught progressively through the unit,
– the effect of grave, acute and sound/writing relationships of this and earlier units. covered in this unit and apply when the need or opportunity arises.
circumflex accents on a and e: • Present pupils with new words and ask them to work out how to pronounce them. rules to new words and to Activities to practise these should be
a (il a); à (à huit heures); è The Telly addicts game could be extended by using a page from a French TV listings explain pronunciation errors brief. Occasional dictation exercises, of
(achète, père); é (écouter, magazine. The teacher gives the day and time of a programme, pupils try to read ▲ use correct endings and accents short, focused sentences, help develop
déjeuner); ê (fenêtre, être) out the name. with verbs used in this unit pupils’ aural and spelling skills. At times,
– when and how to soften c pupils might be asked to read a short
(with a cedilla) and g passage (or a sentence) aloud. This
(commençons, mangeons) should not be overdone; it can be
– the pronunciation of e in -er, tedious and it embarrasses some pupils
-e, -ez and -ent (regarder, to perform in public. For short bursts, in
regarde, regardez, regardent) the security of small groups, however, it
– ch (chaise, chambre, chez) can be an effective way of improving
reading and pronunciation skills.

how to use a glossary or the
vocabulary section of the
textbook, particularly:
– the difference between the
French–English and the
English–French sections
– how to find out the gender of
a noun
– how to pronounce a new
word found in the glossary
– that the glossary gives the
infinitive of a verb so that they
are able to understand and
produce language more
independently
• Team races to find certain specified words in the glossary, eg a room beginning • use both sections of a simple • Throughout the unit, pupils’ stock of
with s. Some pupils will need support, for example being given more than one glossary to find new words such target language phrases, for active and
letter as a prompt, eg sal- for salon rather than just s. as lit or ‘to play’ passive use, should be built up gradually.
• Pupils then use these words in sentences. ▲ use a glossary reliably to help These can be built up on a wall display
• Pupils work in pairs to prepare a description of a picture which contains some them understand an unknown and in a special section of pupils’
unknown words; they use a glossary for support, and apply their knowledge of word in a printed text notebooks. Pupils should use French for
pronunciation rules in their presentation. • work out pronunciation of, eg answering the register, giving in marks,
• Pupils find words in the French–English section which are the same as English and ordinateur, lave-vaisselle stating the date, greeting the teacher
compare pronunciations. and should use standard phrases for
• Pupils might create a word puzzle on the theme of Ma maison using picture frequent activities (such as j’ai gagné) in
(▲ or verbal) clues based on their glossary work. every lesson. Occasionally, when
answering the register, the class might
be required to give a response other than
the usual présent/absent, eg by giving
their birth month or their favourite
colour.

7 End-of-unit activity

• to apply knowledge, skills and • Pupils receive letters from a penfriend class about where they live and compare • speak or write about where
understanding learnt in this unit lifestyles. Alternatively, they conduct a class survey on domestic routines and TV other people live and what they
viewing habits. They produce an oral or written account of their findings, drawing do at home
on all the work undertaken in this and previous units.

Any activities marked ▲ might be better suited to higher-attaining pupils

Ref: QCA/00/453 © Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) 2000 MFL – French unit 3