Describing Your Home

Lesson Details

Year Level: Year 8
Subject: Languages – French
Lesson Duration: 50 minutes
Class Size: 24 students
Topic: Speaking About Your Home in French
Curriculum Reference:
This lesson aligns with the Australian Curriculum: Languages – French for Year 8, specifically:

1. Communicating: Socialising and Interacting
   • (ACLFRF017, ACLFRF018) Interact in simple spoken exchanges to share and compare ideas and opinions.
2. Understanding: Systems of Language
   • (ACLFRU023) Recognise and apply features of the French language system, including vocabulary and grammatical structures such as nouns, adjectives, and prepositions for describing people, places, and things.

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Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Use key vocabulary and sentence structures to talk about their home in French.
2. Speak confidently to describe objects, rooms, and locations in their home.
3. Work collaboratively and develop oral communication skills through group and partner activities.

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Lesson Outline

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

• Warm-Up: Begin with a brief discussion in English: "What makes your home unique?" Write 3-4 students' answers on the board. Connect it to how homes can reflect culture and personality.
• Transition to French: Introduce today’s topic in French: "Aujourd’hui, nous allons parler de nos maisons."
• Share the lesson objectives in both English and French:
  "By the end of today’s lesson, you will be able to describe your home in French and have a conversation about it with your peers."

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2. Vocabulary and Structures (10 minutes)

Introduce Key Vocabulary and Phrases

Write the following on the board and practice pronunciation as a class (call-and-response style).

1. Rooms in the House:

   • La cuisine (kitchen)
   • Le salon (living room)
   • La chambre (bedroom)
   • La salle de bain (bathroom)
   • Le jardin (garden)

2. Prepositions:

   • à côté de (next to)
   • en face de (opposite)
   • sous (under)
   • sur (on)
   • dans (in)

3. Useful Sentence Starters:

   • Chez moi, il y a… (In my home, there is/are...)
   • Ma chambre est… (My bedroom is…)
   • J’aime ma maison parce que… (I like my home because...)

Quick Activity:

Students individually write a short example sentence in their workbooks using one vocabulary word from each list (e.g., Dans ma maison, il y a une cuisine à côté du jardin.).

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3. Pair Speaking Activity (10 minutes)

Activity: Describe Your Bedroom to a Partner

1. Arrange students into pairs.
2. Each student has 2 minutes to describe their bedroom to their partner in French. For example:
   "Dans ma chambre, il y a un lit, une table, et une lampe. À côté du lit, il y a une chaise."
3. Partners listen actively and ask one follow-up question using: "Où est…?" (Where is?). For example: "Où est le lit?"
4. Switch roles.

Teacher’s Role: Actively move around the room, offer vocabulary assistance, and encourage students to use their French actively instead of defaulting to English.

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4. Collaborative Group Activity (15 minutes)

Activity: Map It Out!

1. Break the class into 6 groups of 4 students.
2. Provide each group with a large piece of butcher paper and markers.
3. Ask them to draw their “dream home” and label each room in French. (e.g., Le salon, La cuisine.) They must also include 3 sentence descriptions in French to explain the layout or special features of their home. Example:
   • "Dans ma maison de rêve, la chambre est à côté du jardin."
4. Once finished, groups practise presenting their description aloud to each other inside their group.

Teacher’s Role: Offer vocabulary and grammar corrections as needed. If groups finish early, encourage them to add extra features or label furniture (e.g., un canapé – a sofa).

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5. Whole-Class Reflection (7 minutes)

• Reconvene as a class. Invite 1-2 groups to share their “dream home” drawing and sentences with the whole class.
• Lead a short French conversation with the presenters by asking follow-up questions. For example:
  • "Où est le jardin?" (Where is the garden?)
  • "Qu’est-ce que tu aimes dans ta maison?" (What do you like about your house?)

Student Participation: Encourage students in the audience to ask simple French questions about the presentation (e.g., "Où est…?").

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6. Wrap-Up and Homework (3 minutes)

• Highlight achievements: “Great work today! You’ve all shared something unique about your homes in French and practised asking questions. Très bien!”
• Homework Task:
  Write 5 sentences in French about your actual home. Include 3 rooms, 1 piece of furniture in each room, and 1 preposition to describe a location.

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Differentiation Strategies

For Advanced Learners:

• Encourage the use of more descriptive vocabulary (e.g., spacieux/spacieuse – spacious, moderne – modern).
• Suggest writing longer, more complex sentences.

For Struggling Learners:

• Provide sentence starters and scaffolded worksheets.
• Pair them with supportive peers in speaking activities.

For Visual/Spatial Learners:

• Emphasise diagrams, drawings, and visual-labelling exercises like the group activity.

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Assessment

• Observational assessment during pair work and group activities.
• Collect homework for written assistance and to assess vocabulary retention.
• Provide verbal feedback during whole-class presentations.

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Extension Idea

For early finishers or next lesson follow-up:
Have students create a French real estate advertisement for their dream home using 5-8 sentences and labelled drawings to showcase their understanding.

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End the lesson with an enthusiastic: "Bravo à tous! À la prochaine fois!"