This lesson teaches the French words used for directions and landmarks, and other French words that are needed to find your way around town.
Vocabulary used in this episode:
Nouns
- fireman / le pompier
- doctor / le docteur/le médecin
- librarian / la bibliothécaire
- baker / le boulanger
- hospital / l’hôpital
- library / la bibliothèque
- bakery / la boulangerie
- north / le nord
- south / le sud
- east / l’est (m)
- west / l’ouest (m)
Prepositions
- near / près de
- far from / loin de
- next to / à côté de
- between / entre
Lesson 8 - Places in Town
Objectives
- To learn names of certain professions
- To study names of certain workplaces
- To learn and review prepositions of location
- To learn how to give directions
Information for the Teacher
Watch out for the false cognate “librairie.” This word means bookstore. “Library” in French is “la bibliothèque.”
Before Viewing the Video Lesson
1. Review previous vocabulary words.
Description of the Video Lesson
Mme. Dubois is talking to the children about different professions. On the coffee table are several items that relate to different professions. The teacher tells the children about each one: the hat of a baker, the stethoscope of a M.D., the helmet of a fireman, the reading glasses of a librarian.
Then, each student has to describe the profession assigned to them. Video Clips Professions, At the bakery
Mme. Dubois shows the students a city map. She asks the different “pretend workers” where each one works: the M.D. works at the hospital, the baker at the bakery, the librarian at the library. She then asks the students to locate different buildings using prepositions such as: near, between, next to and far from.
Video Clips
Public places, Little bird introduces, More prepositions of location Song Allons en ville
Mme. Dubois shows students a city map. She asks each student to take a toy car and to go to a certain place. Each student explains how he gets there using the direction terms: east, west, north and south.
Video Clip
East, West, North, South
le pompier le docteur/le médecin la bibliothécaire
le boulanger la boulangerie l’hôpital la bibiothèque
Follow-up Activities
- Use the Next Step French Again video lesson to review the emphasized vocabulary and conversations.
- In French, practice giving directions using left, right, north, south, east and west.
- On a sheet of butcher paper, draw a large circle simulating a city (une ville). Have flashcards of various buildings placed in the ‘city’. Ask students to say in which direction of the city the buildings are found. i.e. “La bibliothèque est au nord.” (The library is to the north.)
- In the town that you have created (#4), or using miniature buildings, hide pictures of the librarian (la bibliothécaire), the fireman (le pompier), the doctor (le docteur/le médecin), and the baker (le boulanger). Ask the students, “Oú est le…” (Where is the…?) followed by a profession. Students will answer, “dans” (in), “à côté de” (next to), “entre” (between) – followed by a building name.
- After these follow-up activities, let students view the video lesson again so they can respond and practice with the children on the lesson.
Supplemental Activities
- Draw your city or an imaginary town area or pull the one you drew for Level I. Find the bakery (la boulangerie), hospital (l’hôpital), fire station (la station de pompiers), and the library (la bibliothèque). Ask children “Où est ?” The children will respond with preposition of place: à côté de (next to), entre (in between), près de (near), loin de (far).
- Show kids a map. Ask them where a country is in comparison to the U.S. They will respond by saying au nord, au sud, à l’est, à l’ouest.
Remember to use the vocabulary words as much as possible in class during the next week. Add words and materials to the Next Step French suitcase folder.
