f1.08 brothers and sisters

1.8 As-t 14. u As-tu d e sdes f rfrères è r e set o des u soeurs? des soeurs?

1.8 As-tu des frères et des soeurs?

Do you have brothers and sisters?

This section extends what pupils can say about their immediate families. Now children know numbers 1 to 12, they can talk about how many brothers and sisters they have.

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.

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 A1. My brothers and sisters B1. His/her brothers and sisters

Film A1: Zélie- “J'ai un frère”; Jérémie- “et j'ai une soeur”.

Part A: My brothers and sisters

Planning your lessons

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

un frère une soeur deux frères deux soeurs

-

a/one brother a/one sister two brothers two sisters

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.

1

Warm up

As-tu des frères et des soeurs?

Have you got brothers and sisters?

J'ai... (un frère) I have... (a brother)

Je n'ai pas de frère I haven't got any brothers

Activities

2

❑ Before watching film 8 A1, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session to remind pupils of what they can say in French about: n their ages: ask several pupils “Quel âge astu?” and encourage the response “J'ai ... ans”. n family: play a game from ch.1.5 to remind the children of the names of family members.

Je n'ai pas de soeur I haven't got any sisters Je n'ai pas de frère, pas de soeur I haven't got any brothers or sisters see Talking Dictionary Film A1: “J'ai trois soeurs et deux frères”.

8.1

E 14. a rAs-tu l y des S tfrères a r t etFdes r esoeurs? nch 1 Watch film 8 A1:My brothers and sisters

KEY SOUNDS

❑ Watch film A1 which shows French children talking about how many brothers and sisters they have, and also animations of different family combinations of brothers and sisters.

It starts with two children saying: Girl: “J'ai un frère...”

Boy: “...et moi, j'ai une soeur.”

Listen to the sound of ...

silent-

as in as in

frères, soeurs, pas, des

le, de, ne

Heard before in: je, au revoir

(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”)

as in des

Heard before in: et, journée, zéro Animated cartoons: un frère une soeur as in mon, ton Children: Heard before in: bonjour

“J'ai une soeur.”

“J'ai une soeur.” see Talking Dictionary

“J'ai un frère.”

“J'ai une soeur.”

“J'ai une soeur.”

“J'ai une soeur.”

“J'ai un frère.”

Get used to the sounds Animated cartoons: ❑ Echoing: Display the “brothers and sisters”

“J'ai un frère.” (The giant Phinaert) e-flashcards; start with sound and text ON.

“J'ai deux frères.”

“J'ai deux soeurs.” Show each picture and pupils echo the words, e.g. “J'ai deux soeurs”.

“J'ai un frère et deux soeurs.”

“J'ai trois soeurs et deux frères.”

Children draw their brothers and sisters and say their names: 1 “J'ai deux soeurs et deux frères, Olivia, Valéria, Mario et Mathéo.”

“J'ai deux soeurs, Sarah et Mathilde.”

Animated cartoons:

“Je n'ai pas de frère.”

Ask children what happens to ‘soeur’

“Je n'ai pas de soeur.” and ‘frère’ when there’s more than one Question and answer: (i.e. add an ‘-s’) - but can you hear it?

Children respond to the question, Now switch OFF the text; pupils “As-tu des frères et des soeurs?” echo the phrase again.

The sequence finishes with a child asking, n Now move on to the “I don’t have” “Et toi, as-tu des frères et des soeurs? e-flashcards - start with sound and text ON.

2

Hide the text; can pupils still say the phrase? Do children remember how they made negatives with other statements, e.g. “ça ne va pas”?

Film A1: “J’ai un frère.”

8.2

1.8 As-t 14. u As-tu d e sdes f rfrères è r e set o des u soeurs? des soeurs?

1

Give each child 1 of the activity sheet cards.

HOW FRENCH WORKS 1: Plurals you can’t hear

When you listen to film 8 and the e-flashcards, you will hear that the words “frère” and “frères” sound exactly the same:

“un frère” (a/one brother)

“deux frères” (two brothers).

As in English, you make many words plural by adding “s” - but in French, the “s” is silent.

The same applies to “soeur” and “soeurs”.

“As-tu des frères et des soeurs?” - literally: Have you some brothers and some sisters?

The “s” in “des” is also silent.

Cut up copies of the activity sheet for 15 cards representing different numbers of brothers and sisters.

We learn more about ‘des’ in Pack 2.

❑ Draw a stick figure of a boy on the board or use the e-flashcards. 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.

You say, e.g. “J'ai un frère”. Pupils who hold a ‘1 brother’ card jump up.

Now say “J'ai deux frères” and pupils who hold a ‘2 brothers’ card jump up.

Repeat this with three, four, brothers etc. in sequence. Then do the same with sisters. n Change the focus: “NO brothers or sisters” You now call out negatives, e.g. “Je n'ai pas de frère”. Pupils who hold a ‘no brothers’ card jump up. Now say “Je n'ai pas de soeur”. Pupils who have a ‘no sisters’ card jump up.

Now say “Je n'ai pas de frère, pas de soeur”. Pupils with a ‘no brothers or sisters’ card jump up.

Repeat the phrases several times varying the order in which you say them.

Respond with understanding ❑ Play “Make families" All the children in the class stand around ideally in a space where they can mill about easily (hall, gym or playground). All the boys will be "frères", all the girls "soeurs"; if your class is not mixed, they can hold copies of the appropriate flashcard.

You call e.g. “J'ai un frère et deux soeurs”. Pupils have to form groups of one "frère"and two "soeurs". Anyone left without a group is out of this round of the game. ❑ Play “how many brothers and sisters? 1 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.

2

n “Brothers and sisters?”team game You could divide the class into two for the activities above. Make it into a game to see which team can be first to hold up their picture.

You call out, e.g. “J'ai deux frères et trois soeurs”; any pupil with card showing two brothers and three sisters holds up their picture. ❑ 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”.

Another time you can ask pupils to respond according to their real circumstances. ❑ Play “Human sentence” Different children hold large cards saying “J’ai”, two sets of a series of numbers (1,2,3,4), “frère”,”frères”, “soeur”, “soeurs” and “et”.

You call out a phrase, e.g. “j’ai deux soeurs et un frère”. The children arrange themselves in front of the class to make your sentence.

HOW FRENCH WORKS 2: Negatives - “not any”

Children know from Ch.1.2 how to make a sentence negative: “ça ne va pas” (It’s not going OK) BUT you USUALLY say: “je n'ai pas de frère” (I don't have any brother) NOT “je n’ai pas un frère” The same applies with: “je n’ai pas de soeur”.

NOTE: it’s usually ‘frère’ rather than ‘frères’.

8.3

E 14. a rAs-tu l y des S tfrères a r t etFdes r esoeurs? nch 1 ❑ Play “I went to market” Make several copies of the paper flashcards, cut out and shuffle. Everone sits in a circle.

Teacher starts, takes a card and displays it to the class, saying, e.g.“J’ai deux soeurs”. Everone echoes. The next pupil draws another card and adds that to the list, e.g. “J’ai deux soeurs et un frère”. The next pupil draws a card , e.g.

“J’ai deux soeurs, un frère et trois soeurs”.

❑ 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.

Part B: His/her brothers and sisters Planning your lessons

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

In the 'My family' topic (Ch.1.5), your class learnt to exchange information about other people's familes. Now we pull together some of what they can already say about other people's brothers and sisters.

As before, this can be not just about each other’s real families, but also famous ones, families from literature and from children's imaginations

B1: Pronouns (REVISION)

il - he elle - she

il s'appelle... - he's called... elle s'appelle... - she's called...

Ask their name

Ton frère, il s'appelle?

Your brother, he's called?

Ta soeur, elle s'appelle?

Your sister, she's called?

Activities

Warm up ❑ Have a quick look back at what your class learnt in Ch.1.5: can they still respond to: "Comment t'appelles-tu?" with "Je m'appelle..."? and also to:

see Talking Dictionary

Voice: "Elle s'appelle Zélie."

Her brother cycles past; "Il s'appelle Jérémie."

Girl points to her drawing; "J'ai deux soeurs, Sarah et Mathilde".

Voice: "Elle a deux soeurs."

“Le frere, il s’appelle?” - “Il s’appelle...”; “La soeur, elle s’appelle?” - “Elle s’appelle...”.

Watch film B1:His/her brothers and sister

❑ Watch film B1 in which people again speak about others by name using ‘he’ or ‘she’:

Respond with understanding

❑ Play “Human sentence 2” As before, different children hold large cards; now add two saying “Il a” and “Elle a” to the numbers (1, 2, 3, 4), “frère(s)”, “soeur(s)” and “et”.

You can call out ‘third person’ phrases about other people, e.g. “elle a deux soeurs et un frère”.

Again the children arrange themselves in front of the class to make your sentence.

Film B1: “Elle a un frère; il s’appelle Axel”.

Look again at sounds

Claire introduces her little brother: Claire: "J'ai un petit frère. Il s'appelle Axel".

Voice: "Elle a un frère; il s'appelle Axel".

Zélie stands by her brother: "J'ai un frère..."

Jérémie: "...et moi, j'ai une soeur."

❑ Play “It’s that sound again” Now that the new words and sounds are familiar, pick out a “key sound” from this chapter’s new words. Ask children to suggest all the

8.4

1.8 As-t 14. u As-tu d e sdes f rfrères è r e set o des u soeurs? des soeurs?

French words they know that also contain that sound. As the children’s vocabulary is expanding, you can repeat this with some of the other “key sounds”. This will help them remember the French they already know.

Talking point

Everyday life in France: How many brothers and sisters?

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.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

❑ 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, James et Emily.” ❑ Data handling and ICT: Pupils can do a class survey to find out how many people have different numbers of brothers and sisters.

They can conduct the survey in French and present their results in a graph.

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 “blended” 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 Ch.1.5’s ‘Talking Dictionary’ in case it is required.

This activity gives children good practice at asking the questions and answering them. ❑ 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.

Cultural awareness

■ 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 French class.

■ 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?

❑ Drama: Pupils who enjoy role-playing can develop extended conversations which involve talking about and introducing their brothers and sisters. The children could make up names for themselves and pretend to be groups of from different families meeting in a social context such as moving into a new town, meeting at a holiday beach club etc.

8.5

Je m'appelle ...................

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