Early Start French Pack 3
9. Le passé et le présent Past and Present
Films to see
In this section children learn to compare a a present-day town (such as their own community) with how it was in a particular year in the past. They already know the names of ‘places in town’, and they have previously talked about the past in Ch.3.1 when they talked about what they had eaten or drunk. They will learn to say the year in French, revising their knowledge of numbers; and to say in what year an event happened - such as when someone was born or died. The class could develop their work into a tourist guide for their town, with a focus on its history for French visitors.
Part A: Saying the year A1. A French school’s centenary A2. Modern and 1907 classrooms Part B: My Town then and now B1. Sars-Poteries - then and now B2. Béthune - then and now Part C: Changes in everyday life C1. Coal-mining in the 1950s C2. Fashions in 1907
Find transcripts on the disc
Part A: Saying the year
Planning your lessons
In this section, before children learn to say the year in French, we suggest ways to revise numbers previously learned. Two films show the centenary of the village school in Sars-Poteries. That is the starting point for saying dates like ‘1907’ in French. Children can then say the dateswhen things happened, e.g. when famous people were born or died, or when the class were born.
Activities
Film 9: Sars-Poteries school - “en 1907, c’était une nouvelle école”.
Ask children to talk in English about what they think is happening. Explain about Madame Geyler-Bouduin and her role in helping the village get a new school (see “Talking Point 1”). n Talk about “La Marseillaise”, the French national anthem played at the end of the school’s opening ceremony (see “Talking Point 2”).
Warm up
Before watching film A1, talk about your school. Is it old or new? When was it built? Show pictures of the school in the past. What do children notice? If your school is very new, why was it built? Look at pictures of older schools in your town. Introduce the idea of things changing and developing as our needs and attitudes change (especially to girls and boys).
Start of work on ‘Dates’ Introduce numbers 100-2,000
Watch film A1: School centenary
❑ Watch film A1 to see Sars-Poteries village school re-enact the opening of their school as part of their centenary celebration.
Children can already count and do sums with numbers up to 200. If they can extend this pattern up to 2,000, they’ll be able say years in French.
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3.9 Le passé et le présent NEW WORDS AND PHRASES A1: Saying the year
mille neuf cents - 1900 deux mille - 2000
for more about years, see “How French works 1”
vers 1341 avant JC - about 1341 BC (Jésus-Christ)
KEY SOUNDS
1
OR ‘BCE’-before Common Era
l’an - year - with numbers,
e.g. j’ai dix ans
as in année
, est né(e) heard before in été , décembre as in... an,
e.g. I’m 10 years old
l’année - year with dates, last, next;
e.g. l’année 1907
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
heard before in
cent, en, avant épouvantail, janvier
as in...fille, Marseillaise
e.g. the year 1907
en quelle année? - in which year?
mille or ville heard before in oeil, oreille, juillet but NOT
other words from film A1
une fille - girl un garçon - boy
as in...mille, qui, suis
heard before in
nouveau/nouvelle - new l’histoire de l’école - story of the school
hiver, aujourd’hui
as in...aujourd’hui,
Vive la République! - Long live the Republic! la Marseillaise - French national anthem
seen before in
cent, vers huit, c’est
e-flashcards A1
e-flashcards A1, A2
Respond with understanding
Start by jogging their memories with some “number tennis”: you say a number, they say the next one. ❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards, initially NOT jumbled, to introduce counting in hundreds up to 2,000.
❑ Play “Counting in tens”: you say a number, throw a soft ball to a random child and ask them to say the next in sequence up to 200. n Play games with these numbers, e.g. give each child a card; when you call a number, those children jump in the air. n Sing the “Numbers song” (Ch.2.8) which ends “deux fois cent, deux cents” (2x100=200). n Go round the class in groups chanting in a round, e.g. group 1: “cent”, group 2: “deux cents”, group 3: “trois cents”, etc. up to 1000. n Do some sums out loud in French, e.g. “200 + 400 = 600”to get comfortable with the sound of “deux cents, quatre cents, six cents”, etc.
Show each number, initially with sound ON and text OFF. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “mille quatre cents”. n Go through the sequence again more quickly, clapping the rhythm - “cent, deux cents, trois cents .... MILLE!” n Remind them of “un mille-pates” (centipede/ millipede), and point out that “mille” is a false friend - it sounds like a million, but it isn’t! n Showing the words may help some children remember the pattern of numbers. Children don’t need to learn to spell out the numbers or dates, since they will almost always see them written in numbers.
Introduce how to say the year...
The e-flashcards show two ways to say the year: that heard in film A1 and a perfectly acceptable and common alternative.
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Early Start French Pack 3 ❑ Echoing: Select ‘Say the year’ NOT jumbled on the e-flashcards; the initial sequence builds up to “1907”, through “mille”, “mille neuf cents”, “mille neuf cent sept”- just the same as with numbers. Get everyone to repeat. n Use e-flashcards for children to echo other dates. Then switch sound and text OFF; ask children to say the year in French out loud. ❑ Echoing: Select ‘Alternatives’ if you 1 want to discuss another way to say dates. ❑ Make cards for the children to form dates from single digits, e.g. 2-0-1-3, 1-9-0-7. Start with a few dates, e.g. the current year and 1907; leave others until later in the chapter).
...and the year of birth or death
The e-flashcards illustrate how to say the year that someone was born (or died*).
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES A1: Births and deaths Teacher questions 1: about births Qui est né en 2000? Who was born in 2000? Tu es né(e) |en quelle année? 2 When were you were born? LITERALLY: You were born in which year?
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LITERALLY: MC, she was born in which year?
Napoléon, |il est né |en quelle année? Napoleon, when was he born?
as a pair - “twenty-thirteen”, but also like this - “two thousand and thirteen” 1976 would be - “nineteen-seventy-six”
Your brother/sister, when was he/she born?
* “Moi,” emphasizes “I”
Il est né en 2007 He was born in 2007 2: about deaths
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Two ways to say the year
In English, we often say the year as a pair of numbers, e.g. for “2013” we say:
Ton frère/ta soeur, |il/elle est né(e) |en quelle année?
(Moi,*) je suis né(e) en 1976 I* was born in 1976
❑ Echoing: Select ‘Births’ NOT jumbled to introduce the new structure. Ask children to echo the phrase shown, with text ON. Take care with pronunciation, especially of “Key sounds” - including how they say the names. Each card shows a famous person, giving their year of birth. Most are French. You could ask children to find out why each is famous. Concentrate on children reading out the year, which is only shown as a number; also 2 see if they can spot how ‘né(e)’ changes. n Switch to ‘Deaths’* and ask children again to echo the phrase shown. Can children spot how ‘mort(e)’ changes? See “how French works 2”. *NOTE: be sensitive to any child’s possible feelings about a recent bereavement.
Marie Curie,|elle est née|en quelle année? Marie Curie, when was she born?
Click here to change between births / deaths
In French, you hear 1976 said like this:
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“mille neuf cent soixante-seize” LIT. thousand nine hundred seventy six That’s the way dates are said in this chapter, but you will also hear them said like this:
Marie Curie,|elle est morte|en quelle année?
“dix-neuf cent soixante-seize” LIT. nineteen hundred seventy six
Marie Curie, when did she die? LITERALLY: MC, she died in which year?
“cent” is always part of the year in French.
Napoléon Bonaparte est mort en 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821 2 Marie Curie est morte (f) en 1934 Marie Curie died in 1934
Children may notice that years like 1900 where no number follows are written: “mille neuf cents” with an ‘s’. NOTE: We show dates in words ONLY to help children remember how to say them - they are most likely to see dates written as numbers.
NOTE: some sentences are made up of |“building blocks”| divided like| this|, which you could order differently.
e-flashcards A1,A2
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3.9 Le passé et le présent Before watching, ask children to anticipate what the Sars-Poteries school of 1907 might have been like - what differences would they expect? ... and what similarities?
Respond with understanding
❑ Play “Can you remember the date?” Show the e-flashcards with sound and text off. Ask children about the person shown, e.g. : “Marie Curie, elle est née (morte) 2 en quelle année?”. ❑ Play “When were you born?” Ask children: “Tu est né(e) en quelle année?” Praise an attempt to say just the year, then repeat the phrase, "tu es né(e) en... (2007)". n Ask children to work out how long each person lived, and say the answer in French.
Film A2: Classrooms then and now
❑ Film A2 starts with school photos over the years from the school’s centenary exhibition.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Play “Find the famous person” game: Display pictures of famous people on the walls around the room; you can print out paper copies from the disc, or create your own. Each should be labelled with the person’s name and the years of their birth and death (if applicable) - as a number. You call out a date in French; the children have to find a picture that has that date, and then give you the correct name. OR, you can call out, e.g. “qui est né en 1628?”, “qui est mort en 1901?”; children again find and tell you the person’s name.
Film 9 A2: Photo of the Boys’ school staff and pupils in 1948.
It then compares a present-day classroom in Sars-Poteries with one re-constructed from 1907.
NOTE: you can adapt this game to fit with whatever is your current History topic.
End of work on ‘Dates’ Warm up
Film 9 A2: Sars-Poteries schoolroom in 1907 (reconstruction)
Film A2 returns to the school centenary seen in film A1.
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Follow up your discussion about how the 1907 classroom differed from those of today.
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Talking about the past: saying when people were born or died, in French
In chapter 3.1 we met verbs to talk about past completed actions, e.g. “j’ai mangé...” (I ate...) “j’ai bu...” (I drank...) In this section, we meet more verbs where you say “je suis...” + the past participle ,e.g. “je suis né en 2005” (I was born in 2005) With these verbs, the participle changes with the speaker’s gender, e.g. a boy says: “je suis né en 2007” but a girl would say: “je suis née en 2007” NOTE that you can’t HEAR any difference!
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To say when other people were born, use: “il est né en 2005” (he was born in 2005) or “elle est née en 2005” (she was born in 2005) NOTE you can hear the difference between: “il est mort en...” (he died in...) and “elle est morte en...” (she died in...) Children should also recognise that questions like these are all asking about past actions: “Qu’est-ce que tu as mangé?”, “Quand es tu né(e)?” “Napoleon, il est né en quelle année?” “Marie Curie, elle est morte en quelle année?” .
Early Start French Pack 3 Get used to the sounds
Topic-specific words The classroom in 1907 and now
❑ Echoing: Select ‘past’ and show each of the e-flashcards. Ask children to echo the statement, e.g. “dans le passé, il y avait des ardoises”, paying attention to pronunciation of “key sounds”. n Switch between pairs of ‘past’ and ‘present’ statements; ask children to echo each one, e.g. “dans le présent, il y a des cahiers”. Take care with “key sounds” (see box), especially “avait”.
dans le passé, il y avait.. (des ardoises) in the past, there were... (slates) 3 dans le présent, il y a...(des cahiers) in the present, there are...(exercise books) see e-flashcards for more examples
1907 classroom objects en 1907, il y avait... - in 1907, there were...
See next pair
...des plumes - pens LIT feathers ...de l’encre - ink un tableau noir - blackboard un globe terrestre - globe des balances - scales un sac d’école - school bag
Switch between past/present
les tables de multiplication - multiplication tables
les règles de l’école - school rules
For each statement, see if children can spot whether it is about the past or the 3 present-see “how French works 3”. n Watch the school photos in film A2 again, with sound OFF. Can children say each year? You could count the boys or girls in French.
un bonnet d’âne - dunce’s cap LIT,
REVISION: modern classroom objects
aujourd’hui, il y a... - today, there are...
...des crayons - ...pencils
des crayons de couleur - crayons
Respond with understanding
des cahiers - exercise books des stylos - ballpoint pens des calculatrices - calculators
❑ Play “Spot the difference” Show film A2 again and ask children: “Quelles sont les différences?”. You could ask them to pick out what they noticed about the past classroom: “Qu’est-ce qu’il y avait?”
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“a donkey’s hat”
Teacher preparation A2
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Comparing now with the past - ‘there was (used to be)...’ / ‘there is...’ In Ch.3.1 children talked about ‘completed past actions’,e.g. ‘J’ai mangé...’, ‘J’ai bu...’ - (‘I ate...’, ‘I drank...’ ). They don’t need to know that this is termed the ‘perfect tense’. Now they hear people talking about ‘there was/were...’, describing what used to be (over a period of time). Teachers will know this is the imperfect tense, e.g.
dans le passé, il y avait deux écoles; aujourd’hui, il y a une école...
in the past, there were two schools; today there is a school... il y a des livres et des crayons; en 1907 il y avait des livres, des ardoises... there are books and pencils; in 1907 there were books, slates... Most children should be able to show they can tell the difference between: -“Qu’est-ce que il y avait?” as a question about ‘what used to be, in the past’ - “Qu’est-ce que il y a?”, which asks about ‘what there is now, in the present’.
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e- flashcards A2
3.9 Le passé et le présent KEY SOUNDS
Talking point 1
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
NEW
EVERYDAY LIFE IN France Madame Geyler-Bouduin
as in avait
heard before in Calais,
In France, each community (“commune”) has to provide its own primary school building and facilities; the French government appoints and pays teachers and decides the curriculum.
mauvais
as in... passé, présent, différences heard before in
année, été, école
heard before in
oiseau, poisson
Compulsory free primary schools
as in...ardoise, noir, aujourd’hui
In the 1880s, French republicans were determined to ensure that French children no longer grew up under the influence of the Catholic church. They made attendance at primary school free and compulsory from age 6 to 13, and banned religious education and teaching by religious orders in state-funded schools.
as in.. présent, différences, encre heard before in an, cent
as in... aujourd’hui, différences, multiplication heard before in fille, hiver
Need for a school in Sars-Poteries
At the start of the twentieth century, Sars-Poteries had two rapidly growing glass factories that were taking on more workers who moved into the village with their families.
as in... présent,
avait seen before in c’est
e-flashcards A2
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES A2: Teacher questions
Quelles sont les différences? What are the differences? Qu’est-ce qu’il y avait? What was there? Qu’est-ce qu’il y a? What is there?
Film 9: Madame Geyler-Bouduin arrives by horse-drawn carriage.
Teacher preparation A2
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ History - “Then & now”: Give each group pairs of “then and now” photos of your school, or of a school your class is studying in history. You could add pairs of objects, e.g. using loans from a local museum. When children share each item with the class, they say the year it comes from, and name it in French (use bilingual dictionaries). Ask them to spot the differences: “Quelles sont les différences?” “Qu’est-ce qu’il y avait en... (1948)?” “Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans le présent?”.
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As a poor community of factory workers, SarsPoteries found it difficult to provide a bigger school for all its extra children. They had to go to nearby villages, or miss school altogether. Locally-born Madame Geyler-Bouduin came to the rescue with money to build a new school.
The benefactor’s speech
Mme Geyler’s speech at the opening ceremony was repeated at its centenary: “the school will help cultivate the children’s moral code; it will stop them being vagabonds; it will help prepare the boys for being agricultural workers or for military service; it will help prepare the girls for their future lives looking after the household....
Early Start French Pack 3 ...We need to form citizens who are free, honest, workers; truthful, informed patriots.”
Talking point 2
The headteachers’s speech
EVERYDAY LIFE IN France ‘La Marseillaise’ - the national anthem
The headteacher’s speech was also recreated for the centenary (but not included in film 9). He told the audience the story of Mme Geyler’s remarkable adventures, and how she came to be a local benefactor: “Mme Geyler was born in Sars-Poteries in the rue Pasteur (where the school is). She was intelligent and always at the top of the class. At 18 she went to live in Paris with her grandfather’s sister. Aspiring to knowledge and independence, she studied in a maternity clinic, then in the hospitals of Paris where she followed the professors in the clinics and at operations.”
Remind the class of school children in Morocco (Ch.3.6) who sang their national anthem each morning and raised the flag.
Film 6: Raising the flag to start the day at a Moroccan school.
French Revolution
The French national anthem dates from the time of the French Revolution, when the people of France overthrew their King, Louis XVI. Following the storming of the Bastille prison and fortress in 1789, a Republic was declared in 1792, followed by the execution of the King for high treason.
Film 9: Sars-Poteries school - Headteacher speaks at Centenary.
The headteacher told how she met Louis Geyler, a republican who took part in the 1848 revolution against the kings reinstated after 1815. Louis refused to live in a country ruled by the Emperor and became an ex-pat in Brazil. “Mme Geyler continued her work in Paris. When Louis returned to France, they married and the couple went to Venezuela, where she made a fortune using her medical knowledge, and saved the son of a high-up person. In 1872 Louis was killed in the Venezuelan forest by bandits. They were both awarded medals for services to Venezuela.”
Execution of the French King by guillotine, 1793.
Monarchs of neighbouring European countries (Great Britain, Prussia and Austria), alarmed that their own citizens might follow this example, got together an army to invade France, capture Paris and restore the King to power.
Mme Geyler’s good works “On returning to France she became part of the Society for elementary education. In 1889 her daughter died, and she decided to use her big fortune to do good works in her home commune, and joined with the municipality to create this school. In addition, she gave money to help the most deserving children. “ n What difference do you think the new school made to the children of Sars-Poteries? n Discuss with the class Madame Geyler’s expectations as expressed in her speech.
Call to defend the French Republic
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The new republic raised a citizen army to defend its western frontiers along the River Rhine. The mayor of Strasbourg asked Rouget de Lisle to compose a song “that will rally our soldiers from all over to defend their homeland that is under threat”.
3.9 Le passé et le présent “la Marseillaise” The French national anthem
Strasbourg was attacked just a few days later; the new song was sung by volunteers from Marseille (known as Marseilles in English) as they marched into Paris to help defend their country’s capital city. The song became known as La Marseillaise, and it was used all over France as a rallying call to join the French Revolution.
Allons enfants de la Patrie, Let’s go, children of the Fatherland, Le jour de gloire est arrivé ! The day of glory has arrived! Contre nous de la tyrannie, Against us (is) some tyranny, L’étendard sanglant est levé, (bis) The bloody banner is raised, (repeated) L’étendard sanglant est levé, The bloody banner is raised, Entendez-vous dans les campagnes Do you hear, in the countryside, Mugir ces féroces soldats ? The roar of those ferocious soldiers? Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras They’re coming right into our arms Égorger nos fils et nos compagnes ! To cut the throats of our sons and women!
Bloodthirsty lyrics
The song’s lyrics reflect this desperate situation. The lines “Do you hear the roar of those ferocious soldiers?... They’re coming... to cut the throats of our sons and women” speak of the desperation felt by ordinary French people faced with a “kill-or-be-killed” situation.
CHORUS: Aux armes, citoyens, To arms, citizens, Formez vos bataillons, Form your battalions, Marchons, marchons ! Let’s march, let’s march! Qu’un sang impur That an impure blood Abreuve nos sillons ! Waters our furrows!
Film 9: Singing the “Marseillaise” at the Centenary celebration.
The invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy, and the King was executed in 1793. The French Republic adopted the tricolore as its flag in 1794 and the Marseillaise as its anthem in 1795.
The Tricoleur - flag of the French Republic
n When do you hear your national anthem? (sporting events, e.g. Olympics). n Sing along with the Marseillaise on the e-flashcards (select ‘B: Watch la Marseillaise’); - how does it make you feel? n Compare the words of the French anthem with those of your own country’s. Is the tone and sentiment different?
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Early Start French Pack 3
Part B: My town then and now Planning your lessons
In the past, Sars-Poteries’ streets saw lots of horse-drawn vehicles; now there are only cars. The old girls’ school has become a “médiathèque”, there’s no longer a railway station, but the church and bandstand are still there. Probably the biggest change is that the old glassworks have closed, losing hundreds of factory jobs.
Section B shows fairly simple ways children can make statements in French about how a town has changed over time, comparing past and present - based on previouslylearnt ‘places in town’, with possible crosscurricular links to their history work. The films show two towns that have lost old industries that once had many workers in hard, dirty manual work: n Sars-Poteries had glass-making factories; n Béthune was a centre for coal-mining. Your class could use these examples as the basis for similar work on your own locality or that of your French partner school.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show ‘Describing past and present’ on the e-flashcards (select ‘B1: Sars-Poteries’); children echo examples of pairs of statements about how a place has changed over time.
See next place
Activities Warm up
Before showing film B1, use the e-flashcards to re-visit ‘places in town’ from Ch.3.7 (and earlier work in Pack 2) by playing games such as ‘true or false?’.
Switch between past/present Pay attention to “key sounds” (see box) and repeat the flashcards until children are confident with the sounds.sounds
KEY SOUNDS
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in...maison, patron,
Tell the class they will be looking at one town and how, over a long period of time, some things have changed but others stay the same.
rénovation heard before in bon, saison
as in...kiosque à musique, usine
Film B1:Sars-Poteries past and present
❑ Film B1 shows Sars-Poteries past and present.
heard before in
mille, hiver
as in c’était,
maison heard before in avait, Calais, saison as in patron,
heard before in
parc préféré, réptile, rouge
as in... toujours,
seen before in Film 9: B1 - “(à Sars-Poteries) ...en 1907 il y avait une gare”.
beaucoup printemps, pas
e-flashcards B1 & B2
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3.9 Le passé et le présent 4
HOW FRENCH WORKS: Comparing now with the past - ‘there was (used to be)...’ / ‘there is...’ In Ch.3.1 children talked about ‘completed past actions’,e.g. ‘J’ai mangé...’, ‘J’ai bu...’ - (‘I ate...’, ‘I drank...’ ). They don’t need to know that this is termed the ‘perfect tense’. Now they hear people talking about ‘there was/were...’, describing what used to be (over a period of time). Teachers will know this is the imperfect tense, e.g.
dans le passé, il y avait une école de filles; aujourd’hui, il y a une médiatèque
in the past, there was a girls school; today there is a media library en 1907 il y avait 2 usines de verre; aujourd’hui, il y a le Musée du verre in 1907 there were 2 glass factories; today there is the Glass Museum en 1907 il y avait un kiosque à musique; aujourd’hui, il y a toujours un kiosque in 1907 there was a bandstand; today there is still a bandstand en 1907 il y avait une gare; aujourd’hui, il n’y a pas de gare in 1907 there was a station; today there isn’t a/any station Children have already been introduced to these questions in part A2: -“Qu’est-ce que il y avait?” as a question about ‘what used to be, in the past’ - “Qu’est-ce que il y a?”, which asks about ‘what there is now, in the present’. e- flashcards B1
Respond with understanding
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
❑ Still using the e-flashcards, ask children to say whether the statement shown is about the past or the present? They could show understanding by standing and stepping back a pace for a past statement. 4 Can they spot which key verb changes? (“il y a / il y avait”). They may notice each s t a t e m e n t i s c o l o u r- c o d e d ( p u r p l e background=past, yellow=present). ❑ Tell the class that the e-flashcards show one town and how, over a long period of time, some things have changed, some gone altogether, but others stay the same. Look for key words that tell you what’s 4 happened, e.g. “il n’y a pas de...” (there isn’t a...), “il y a toujours...” (there is still...).ed
B1 Sars Poteries then and now
Il n’y a pas de... (gare) 4 There is no... (station) Il n’y avait pas de... (supermarché) There was no... (supermarket) Topic-specific words
une médiathèque - media library une usine de verre - glass factory 800 ouvriers - 800 workers
un kiosque à musique - bandstand
c’était... - it was...
...la maison du patron -...the boss’s house
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ History: Collect “then-and-now”photos of your community, or of a place whose history the class is studying. Ask children to prepare statements in French about each pair of photos using the structures “il y avait..., il y a ...”. This might involve finding new words using a bilingual dictionary. Have the children show their pictures to the class, and say their French phrases. Encourage them to say “when” and “where”, using the phrases from the films and the flashcards.
e-flashcards B1
❑ Geography: See suggested activities for B2. ❑ ITC: Ask each group to make a multimedia presentation with their “then-and-now” photos, and sound recordings of their “il y a / il y avait” statements in French. Adopt the colour-coding convention of coloured backgrounds as used in the e-flashcards. OR, make a wall display about your changing community - with captions written by the children in French.
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Early Start French Pack 3 Film B2:Béthune past and present
NEW TOPIC-SPECIFIC WORDS
❑ Film B2 shows historic Béthune where the town is finding new uses for old industrial sites as part of its regeneration.
B2 Béthune then and now
le centre - shopping commercial centre un canal - canal pour transporter - to transport le charbon - coal la Gare d’eau -the Water Station
beaucoup de...(mines) -lots of (many)...(mines)
un parc - park un projet de - renovation project rénovation
Film 9: B2 - “Dans le passé il y avait un canal”.
Today, Béthune station is busy with modern commuter trains that link it with the big city of Lille, where many people work. There’s a big centre commerciale, attracting many shoppers in cars, buses and bikes. In the past, when Béthune had several coalmines, the canal was also busy - with many boats carrying coal in the Gare d’eau (Water Station). Now, with the mines all closed, this derelict area is being made into a park as part of a regeneration project. All that’s left of the mines are the “terrils” (slagheaps). These are piles of waste stone dug out by the miners in order to get at the coal seam, then discarded near the pit-head. One terril has recently been turned into an artificial ski-slope, creating new jobs in leisure and tourism.
e-flashcards B1 & B2
Pay attention to “key sounds” (see previous box) and repeat the flashcards until children are confident with the sounds.s
Respond with understanding
❑ Using the e-flashcards for BOTH towns, ask children to say whether the statement shown is about the past or the present? Again show understanding by standing and stepping back a pace for a past statement.
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show ‘Past and present’ on the e-flashcards (select ‘B2: Béthune’); children again echo examples of pairs of statements comparing how Béthune has changed over time.
See next place
Switch between past/present
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❑ History: See suggested activities for B1. ❑ Geography: Give groups of children sets of “then-and-now”photos of your community, or of a place connected with your current geography topic. Examples might be: n How places (e.g. seaside) evolve over time; n A contrasting UK locality. Ask groups of children to collaborate, using a word processor, to write a pair of sentences in French about each pair of photos using the structures “il y avait..., il y a ...”. They can find new words using a bilingual dictionary. Discuss possible regeneration projects for old derelict sites and land-uses. Avoid children needing to know the future tense by asking them to write as if they were a person in the future,using phrases such as “En 2020, c’est un parc; en 1950 c’était une mine”. Make a display, or create a multimedia presentation or web site about the area being studied, to share with a chosen audience, e.g. other classes or a partner school.
3.9 Le passé et le présent
Part C: Changes in everyday life NEW WORDS AND PHRASES C1 Coal mining
Planning your lessons
In section C your class can explore a social history topic in a cross-curricular way, using French to compare what things are like now with a past era. We give two examples where your class can use the ‘past-present’ language they have learned, and find adjectives to describe ‘what was’.
le métier de...(mineur) ...était... (dangereux)
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the job of...(a miner)...was... (dangerous)
C1: Coal-miners Warm up
Film C1 features what life was like for coalminers in Béthune - a way of life seen in film B2 that has now disppeared. Before watching, ask children to anticipate what they’ll see.
c’était... sale ...lourd ...dangereux ...facile ...difficile le métier
- it was... dirty - ...heavy - ...dangerous - ...easy - ...difficult - job
une mine les mineurs des lampes le charbon un coron une explosion
- mine - the miners - lamps - coal - settlement - explosion
Topic-specific words
Film C1:Coalmining in the 1950s
❑ In film C1 the French class look at an old black-and-white film about coal-mining locally in Northern France, made in the 1950s.
Teacher question
Le métier de...(mineur)..., c’était comment?
The job of...(a miner)..., what was it like? e-flashcards C1
These children live in a different world from their grandparents or great-grandparents who might have featured in the film. They describe the miners’ lives as ‘hard’ and ‘dangerous’.
Film 9 C1: Class discuss an old film about local coalmining
They see the working life of miners underground, and also the narrow rows of smoke-blackened slum terraces (“corons”) where they live.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show film C1 again, asking children to pick out all the words and phrases they hear that describe the miners, their work and their lives, e.g. “dangereux”, “lourd”, “sale”... Write each on the whiteboard and ask children to read it aloud as part of the phrase, e.g. “C’était sale..”, etc
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Film 9 C1: These might have been the children’s great-grandparents.
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❑ Make a multimedia presentation: If possible, make this about your current social history topic, e.g. ‘our town in World War II’.
Early Start French Pack 3 (‘un abri anti-aérien’), show children how to research printed or online bilingual dictionaries (see www.earlystart.co.uk). ❑ Make a tourist guide to your town: Ask children to prepare a tourist guide for French visitors to your community, or to the place your class has been studying. Compare what things are like now with a past era, with text or recorded commentary in French. Discuss whether you want to make a printed leaflet, an audio guide, or an online multimedia guide that visitors could even use on their smartphones as they go round your town.
KEY SOUNDS Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in mine,
mineur, métier heard before in facile, diff icile, mille as in...lampe, heard before in
an, janvier
as in...explosion, coron, heard before in
charbon, bon
as in...charbon,
heard before in
charette à cheval,
heard before in
année, été, école
Talking point 1
EVERYDAY LIFE IN France Coal mining in the 1950s
as in... métier, était
The coal mines of Northern France were made famous by French author Émile Zola’s 19th century novel “Germinal”. Zola exposed the brutal exploitation of the poor miners by private mine-owners, who grew rich whilst paying the miners as little as possible to work in dirty and dangerous conditions underground.
e-flashcards C1
Ask children to work in groups, picking pictures about which they can make a simple statement in French. If their pictures compare past and present, they should use the “il y avait...”/ “il y a...” structures; otherwise, just “il y avait...”. To find topic-specific words, e.g. ‘a gas mask’ (‘un masque à gaz’), ‘an air raid shelter ’
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Exploitation of miners
Miners were encouraged to dig out as much coal as quickly as possible, whilst not “wasting” time on making the mine safe by putting in wooden pit-props to stop the roof caving in.
HOW FRENCH WORKS: The past - ‘what it was like...’
Children also hear people use adjectives to describe what jobs used to be like (over a period of time). Teachers will know this is the imperfect tense, e.g
le métier de... (mineur 1)... était ...(dangereux 2)
the job of... (a miner)... was... (dangerous)
1906 Courrières disaster: mounted troops face angry miners’ families
Wages were paid in a “pub” run by the mineowners, where miners were encouraged to drink their wages. In 1906 in nearby Courrières, 1,099 miners died after an explosion underground. The public and government saw there was no pay or help for sick or injured miners and their families, and no paid annual holidays apart from religious festival days.
NOTES: 1. In French you often refer to a job without an article, e.g. ‘le métier de mineur...’, ‘je suis mineur.’ (I am a miner); 2. ‘métier’ (job) is a masculine noun, so the adjective describing the job is masculine, e.g. ‘dangereux’ NOT ‘dangereuse’.
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3.9 Le passé et le présent
C2: 1907 Fashion
Miners lived in rows of slum cottages built by the mine-owners around the pit-head, next to a towering heap of waste rock (a slag-heap or “terril”) that was dug out to get at the coal. Miners could lose their house if they fell sick, if they went on strike, or if the owners could not sell enough coal.
Planning your lessons
Film C2 looks at fashions in another epoque - which are described in the present tense. For your class, you can compare fashions in any period that might fit with your work in history, the resources you have available, or with the history of your own community. Other history topics could be, say, the Second World War or Victorians.
Activities Warm up
Before showing film C2, warm up by reminding children of clothes they can already say they are wearing in French, using the phrase “Je porte... (une robe fleurie)”. You could use the e-flashcards from Pack 2.
One of the coal-mines near Béthune.
By the 1950s, French mines had changed out of all recognition, although the miners’ houses still look like squalid dirty slums to modern eyes. The French coal-mines were nationalised (‘owned by the government’) and were much safer with fewer accidents. Miners were provided with baths and showers to clean themselves before going home. But in the 1970s coalmines were closed as people changed to using oil and petrol instead. The French government helped the old mining areas find new industries, and to clean up the mess left by the past. They even found new uses for old slag-heaps; in film B2 one is shown transformed into an artificial ski slope. See more on www.earlystart.co.uk.
Watch film C2: Fashions in 1907
❑ Watch film C2 which shows people in the Centenary celebrations wearing fashions from 1907, also contemporary illustrations from the school’s exhibition. People in the procession describe their clothes in the present tense.
Film 9 C2: “Mon bébé porte une robe blanche avec un chapeau de l’époque”
Discuss with the class (in English or your own language) how the fashions shown differ from those familiar in your community today . Try to identify some key characteristics of men’s, women’s and children’s fashions of the time, e.g. ‘the women wore long dresses’, the men wore hats’, etc.
Get used to the sounds
❑ Echoing: Show film C1 again. Pause the film so that children can describe what different people are wearing; you could
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Early Start French Pack 3 commentary, taking care with the pronunciation of ‘portent’ - see “key sounds” box.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES C2: 1907 fashion
CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Je porte... (une robe fleurie) I’m wearing... (a flowery dress) Les dames portent*... (des robes longues)
❑ History: Changing fashions Give children pictures of fashions from the era you are studying, e.g. World War II. Ask them to work in groups, picking pictures about which they can make a simple statement in French. As in film C2, statements can be made about what people are wearing in a photo using the present tense, e.g. “Les dames portent des robes longues”.
The ladies wear... (long dresses)
* ‘-ent’ is silent - see pronunciation note in “Key Sounds”. une queue-de-pie - tail coat un costume marin - sailor suit un béret - beret un manteau - coat la mode de 1907 - fashions of 1907 une femme - woman une dame - lady un homme - man une fille - girl un garçon - boy un bébé - baby un enfant - child
Film 9 C2: “Les dames portent des robes longues.”
This is what children have learnt before and avoids teaching more past tense verbs. Encourage children to say, e.g. “elle porte un masque à gaz...”.
les enfants riches - rich children les enfants pauvres - poor children ... de l’époque - ...of the period Teacher questions
KEY SOUNDS
Que portent*... (les dames)? What are.. (the ladies) ...wearing? Qu’est-ce qu’elle porte? What is she wearing? Qu’est-ce qu’il porte? What is he wearing? Est-ce qu’elles portent* des pantalons? Are they wearing trousers? * ‘-ent’ is silent - see pronunciation note in “Key Sounds”.
Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds: where have you heard them before?
as in enfant
, manteau, heard before in janvier, sandwich as in... garçon, heard before in
bon, pantalon
as in...fille
e-flashcards C2
heard before in
replay so they can hear the film’s commentary repeated if necessary. Ask children questions such as: “Qu’est-ce qu’elle porte?”or “Qu’est-ce qu’ils portent?” Show they could answer by echoing the
chenille, pied, oreille
as in... portent,
enfants, riches, béret seen before in printemps, c’est e-flashcards C2
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