Future Weather Sentences

Title: Future Weather Sentences
Current Content:

Learning Objective

Understand and use future tense sentences to describe the weather in French, using the structure il va + infinitive verb.

Success Criteria

• Students can read and understand weather phrases in future tense.
• Students can translate weather sentences from French into English and vice versa.
• Students can write simple sentences in French using il va + infinitive to describe future weather.

National Curriculum Link

Languages (French) – Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6), 2014 National Curriculum for England

• Pupils should be taught to:
  • understand and respond to more complex spoken and written phrases and sentences about familiar topics, including expressing simple future events.
  • write and spell simple sentences, using a reference (e.g., vocabulary list, dictionary) and understanding of basic grammar, including future tense forms.

This lesson specifically supports:

• Understand and use basic future tense forms in context to describe the weather and daily life (NC Programme of Study: KS2 Languages).
• Extends pupils’ knowledge and skills on verb tenses beyond the present tense.

Key Vocabulary

French Phrase	English Translation	Notes
il y a du vent	it is windy	Present tense phrase
il va y avoir des nuages	it is going to be cloudy	Future tense using il va y avoir + noun
il fait froid	it is cold	Present tense phrase
il va faire chaud	it is going to be hot	Future tense il va faire + adjective
il va pleuvoir	it is going to rain	Future tense with infinitive verb
il va neiger	it is going to snow	Future tense with infinitive verb
il y a du brouillard	it is foggy	Present tense phrase
il grêle	it is hailing	Present tense phrase

Prior Knowledge and Experience

• Students have used basic present tense weather phrases such as il fait..., il y a...
• Familiarity with infinitive verbs (e.g., pleuvoir, neiger) introduced previously.
• Basic sentence structure in French (subject, verb, complement).

Resources to Prepare

• Projector or printed slides displaying vocabulary, example sentences, and visuals representing weather types.
• Worksheets with exercises for:
  • Translation of sentences French ↔ English
  • Sentence matching (present vs future tense)
  • Scaffolded sentence writing using il va + infinitive
• Flashcards of weather images matching key phrases.
• Mini whiteboards and pens for quick formative assessments during activities.

Common Misconceptions

• Confusing il fait (present tense, e.g., il fait froid) with il va faire (future tense).
• Misplacing il va + infinitive (e.g., saying il va pleuvoir correctly, but mistakenly saying il va pleuvoira or mixing forms).
• Overgeneralising il y a as only for present, not recognising il va y avoir for future events.

Adaptive Teaching Approaches

• Use pictures and realia to link vocabulary to concrete images (e.g., clouds, sun, snow).
• Pair work to encourage peer support and oral rehearsal of sentences.
• Scaffold writing by providing sentence starters and word banks.
• For students needing more support: use sentence manipulation cards so they reorder words physically to form correct future tense sentences.
• Challenge more able learners by having them produce negative future weather sentences (e.g., il ne va pas pleuvoir).

Assessment for Learning

• Observe and listen during pair translation activities, giving immediate feedback on pronunciation and grammar.
• Use mini whiteboards for quick formative checks: write down future tense weather phrases or translations.
• Collect and mark independent sentence writing worksheet for correct use of il va + infinitive structure.
• End with oral reading of selected sentences to assess fluency and confidence in future tense usage.

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Lesson Timeline (30-40 minutes)

Time	Activity	Notes
0–8 mins	Introduction: Recap present tense weather phrases using images and elicitation. Introduce future tense pattern il va + infinitive with examples. Use slides.	Concept check by eliciting examples orally; correct pronunciation.
8–18 mins	Guided Practice: In pairs, students translate future weather sentences from French to English and back using worksheet. Teacher circulates and models correct structure. Use flashcards to reinforce meaning.	Pair stronger learners with others to vary difficulty.
18–28 mins	Combined Activity: Sorting activity on board or in groups — present tense vs future tense weather sentences. Follow with scaffolded independent writing: students write 3-4 sentences about future weather using il va + infinitive phrases with sentence starters and vocabulary bank.	Reinforces tense identification and production in writing.
28–35 mins	Assessment for Learning: Use mini whiteboards for students to write French future tense sentences from English prompts. Teacher provides immediate feedback and correction.	Quick formative check to address misconceptions.
35–40 mins	Plenary: Volunteer students read sentences aloud. Quick oral quiz – teacher says English future weather phrase, students respond with French equivalent. Summarise learning objective and success criteria.	Reinforce learning; close with positive feedback.

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Additional Notes for the Teacher

• Emphasise the importance of the infinitive verb after il va – no conjugation of the second verb.
• Connect lesson to real-life application – “How will the weather be tomorrow?” Use a weather forecast video or website if available to personalise learning.
• Consider follow-up activities such as creating a short weather forecast video in French for homework or as a project.

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This lesson plan meets the requirements of the National Curriculum for Languages in England by developing students’ understanding and use of simple future tense through engaging, scaffolded activities that foster reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills appropriate for Year 6 within a condensed 30-40 minute timeframe.