Y3/4 Lesson 5 (Cycle A): Inspired by Matisse's French 'Christmas Night' window

Children consolidate their learning of adjectival position for adjectives of size and colour, practice French words for shapes and colours, learn vocabulary for Christmas decorations and create a picture based on Matisse's stained glass window, 'Nuit de Noël'.

Learning objective

  • To create and describe a festive picture

National curriculum

Languages

Pupils should be taught to:

  • Describe things orally, speak in sentences using familiar vocabulary, understand basic grammar (adjectives).

See link: National curriculum - Languages - Key stage 2.

Success criteria

Cross-curricular links

Before the lesson

Teacher knowledge - language points

Attention grabber

Main event

Differentiation

Pupils needing extra support: Children will require adult support for describing their artwork in French. Ask children to repeat your words and phrases as you point to each shape in their picture.

Pupils working at greater depth: Challenge children to accurately describe their picture using previously learnt grammatical structures. Some also may be able to respond to the your questions with the following structure: e.g Teacher: “c’est un…?” Pupil: “non, c’est un…” or “oui, c’est un...” Teacher: “c’est un grand ruban orange ?” Pupil: “non, c’est un grand ruban bleu.”

 

 

Wrapping up

During the week

  • Use tissue paper to turn your classroom windows into Matisse’s ‘Nuit de Noël’.
  • Listen to some French Christmas songs – a wide selection are available online.
  • Use the Christmas tree game as a listening assessment – give the children an outline and get them to decorate it by giving a set of instructions to decorate each branch.

Assessing pupils' progress and understanding

Vocabulary

Created by:
Belinda Dean,  
French specialist
Belinda has been a French and Spanish teacher based in Bath for more than 15 years. She has delivered a range of courses for teachers and PGCE students and is particularly passionate about weaving language, culture and global learning across…
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