Improve your French vocabulary with words related to pets and other animals.
Vocabulary used in this episode:
Animals
- cat / le chat
- dog / le chien
- turtle / la tortue
- bird / l’oiseau (m)
- fish / le poisson
- rabbit / le lapin
- iguana / l’iguane (m)
Verbs
- to drink / boire
- to eat / manger
- to play / jouer
- to go out / sortir
- to wash oneself / se laver
- to sleep / dormir
- to swim / nager
- to fly / voler
- to jump / sauter
Adjectives
- favorite / préféré(e)
- wet / mouillé(e)
- dry / sec (sèche)
- Who am I? / Qui suis-je?
Lesson 6 - Playing with Animals
Objectives
- To learn names of animals and what they do
- To listen to the story “The Tortoise and the Hare”
- To study verbs which describe how animals move around
- To play the guessing game: “What Animal am I?”
Culture
The French have the most dogs per inhabitant in Europe. Even people who live in apartments own dogs. It creates problems of cleanliness in the streets and on sidewalks. Cities rely on a “special patrol”: the pooper scoopers, to keep their streets clean.
Before Viewing the Video Lesson
Take a poll of the students as to the types of pets they have. Do a graph of this information on the board.
Description of the Video Lesson
Mme. Dubois and the children are around the coffee table looking at fish in a bowl. The fish are hungry. They give them something to eat. Then they talk about their color. Then Mme. Dubois brings out a toy fish and starts describing it and what it does. Mme. Dubois then tells the students the story about the hare and the turtle. She asks the students which one they prefer: the hare or the turtle. One of the girls says she likes cats best.
Song
Mon chat (My cat)
Video Clips
Animals (Pets), Milou the dog
Mme. Dubois tells the students about certain animals and also asks them how those animals move around. Insects and roosters fly. Fish swim. Horses and sheep walk, run and jump.
Rabbits run and jump. Cows walk and ruminate. Frogs swims and jump. Turtles walk and swim. Then Patrick scares Mme. Dubois with a rubber snake he pulls from behind his back.
Video Clips
Animals in motion, Children and their pets
Game: Mme. Dubois asks children to imitate certain animals: a cow; a rooster; a fish and a frog. Video Clip Animal guessing game
| le chat | le chien | la tortue | l’oiseau |
| le poisson | le lapin | l’iguane | nage |
| vole | saute | marche | glisse |
Follow-up Activities
- Use the Next Step French Again video lesson to review the emphasized vocabulary and conversations.
- Review vocabulary words related to pets. Use pictures, toys or stuffed animals to represent the vocabulary words. Encourage the use of “I like”… (J’aime…).
- Review vocabulary words related to locomotion – the way animals move. Show an animal and the children will give you the word for the movement the animal makes. Nage (swims), cours (runs), marche (walks), saute (hops), glisse (slithers), vole (flies). If your children are ready to say sentences, they can add the subject to the acting verb, i.e: Le poisson nage. (The fish swims.)
- Using pictures, toys or stuffed animals let students tell the color of each animal. For example: Le lapin est blanc (the rabbit is white).
- After these follow-up activities, let students view the video lesson again so they can respond and practice with the children on the lesson. Write sentences in French.
Supplemental Activities
- Create a grid with 6 blocks. In each box put the following phrases. Have children illustrate story.
- La Tortue et La Lièvre. (The Turtle and the Hare.)
- La tortue et la lièvre faisaient une course. (The turtle and hare were in a race.)
- La lièvre sautait vite. (The hare jumped quickly.
- La tortue marchait lentement. (The turtle walked slowly.)
- La gagnait la course. (The turtle won the race.)
- La lièvre était triste. (The hare was sad.)
- Have kids draw their favorite pet. Then write:
- "Mon chien (My dog), chat (cat), oiseau (bird) poisson (fish), ma tortue (turtle), s’appelle ( ‘s name is…).
- Draw a line from action to animal.
- poisson (fish) vole (flies)
- lapin (rabbit) nage (swims)
- chien (dog)saute (jumps)
- chat (cat) cours (runs)
- iguane (iguana) marche (walks)
- Create a booklet of the cat song. First, write the lyrics in sequence. Then, illustrate it and have the children sing it by following the words in their booklets. The lyrics are the following.
- My cat eats. Mon chat mange.
- My cat drinks water. Mon chat boit de l’eau.
- My cat plays a lot. Mon chat joue beaucoup.
- My cat walks. Mon chat marche.
- My cat jumps. Mon chat saute.
- My cat cleans himself. Mon chat se lave.
- My cat sleeps. Mon chat dort.
Remember to use the vocabulary words as much as possible in class during the next week. Always review previous vocabulary words whenever possible. Continue to add the Next Step French suitcase folders
