Vocabulary and Communication

Lesson Plan Overview

This is the first in a series of 10 lessons designed to prepare Year 11 students for their GCSE French exams (May sitting) in line with UK education standards. This lesson addresses AQA Specification themes for Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), focusing on vocabulary development and communication strategies in the context of Theme 1: Identity and Culture. The session will teach students how to describe personal relationships and leisure activities while practising speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills at the required CEFR level A2-B1 for GCSE.

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Lesson Objectives

• Knowledge: Master key vocabulary for describing family members, friendships, and hobbies.
• Skills: Develop confidence in responding to GCSE-style speaking prompts and improve reading comprehension for theme-related texts.
• Application: Create extended responses in speaking and writing tasks using complex structures and idiomatic expressions.

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Curriculum Links

This lesson aligns with the GCSE French syllabus (AQA), addressing:

• Key Topic: Theme 1 - Identity and Culture
• Subtopics: Family relationships and leisure activities
• Assessment Objectives (AOs):
  • AO1: Listening – understand and respond to spoken language.
  • AO2: Speaking – communicate and interact effectively in speech.
  • AO3: Reading – understand and respond to written language.
  • AO4: Writing – communicate effectively in writing.

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Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity (5 Minutes)

• Goal: Activate prior knowledge.
• Activity: Rapid-fire questions in French to recall key vocabulary from previous years:
  1. “Comment s’appelle ta meilleure amie ?” (What is your best friend’s name?)
  2. “Quel est ton passe-temps préféré ?” (What is your favourite hobby?)
• Differentiation: If student struggles, the teacher provides word/phrase prompts using flashcards or mini whiteboards.

2. Mini-Vocabulary Session: Thematic Lexis Building (15 Minutes)

• Activity 1 – Vocabulary Discovery (10 minutes):

  • Present a short passage about a French teenager explaining their relationships and hobbies (reading comprehension task). Example:
    J’adore faire du sport avec ma sœur. Le week-end, je joue souvent au tennis avec mes amis. Mes parents sont compréhensifs, mais ma plus grande inspiration reste mon frère cadet.
  • Highlight key terms related to family and leisure (e.g., sœur, parents, inspiration, tennis, etc.).
  • Students annotate their own copies of the passage, identifying cognates and inferring meanings of unfamiliar words from context.

• Activity 2 – Vocabulary Game (5 Minutes):

  • Use the discovered vocabulary for a memory challenge:
    • Teacher verbally describes a relationship or hobby, and the student needs to respond with the correct word or phrase in French.
      Example prompt: "This is your mother’s sister" – correct response: "Ma tante".

3. Listening Practice: Real-Life Context (10 Minutes)

• Resource: Pre-recorded or teacher-read audio clip of French teenagers discussing their family life and hobbies.

  • Example dialogue:
    Salut, je m’appelle Max. J’aime passer du temps avec ma famille, surtout avec mon père. Nous jouons au foot chaque samedi. Avec mes amis, je préfère aller au cinéma.

• Task: Students answer comprehension questions in French, such as:

  • Who does Max like spending time with? (Sa famille)
  • What does he enjoy doing with his father? (Jouer au foot)

• Differentiation: Pause the clip to allow the student to process, or provide a transcript for support.

4. Speaking Practice: Role-Play Exercise (15 Minutes)

• Task: Simulate a GCSE speaking exam scenario.
  • Teacher plays the role of the examiner. Example prompt:
    “Parle-moi de ta famille. As-tu des frères ou des sœurs ? Que fais-tu avec eux ?”
  • Student provides structured replies, using target vocabulary and attempting to include at least one complex sentence (e.g., using a relative clause).
  • Challenge: Encourage the student to use idiomatic phrases such as “je m’entends bien avec...”, “j’ai hâte de faire...”, and justify opinions with reasons (e.g., “parce que c’est amusant”).

5. Grammar Focus: Possessive Adjectives & Relative Clauses (10 Minutes)

• Mini-Lesson: Recap key grammar points essential for describing relationships:
  • Mon, ma, mes… (Possessive adjectives)
  • Using qui and que to introduce clauses:
    Mon frère, qui a 12 ans, aime jouer aux jeux vidéo.
• Practice Task: Rewriting sentences to include relative clauses. Example: Rewrite “J’adore ma sœur.” to “J’adore ma sœur qui est très gentille.”

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Plenary Activity (5 Minutes)

• Activity: Exit card exercise in French. Student answers these two questions in 2-3 sentences each:

  1. “Quelles activités aimes-tu faire avec ta famille ?” (What activities do you like doing with your family?)
  2. “Décris ton ami(e) idéal(e).” (Describe your ideal friend.)

• Teacher reviews responses to inform planning for the next lesson, especially focusing on grammar and vocabulary gaps.

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Homework

1. Research and create a short written paragraph (5-6 sentences) answering:
   • “Que fais-tu normalement le week-end ?” (What do you normally do at the weekend?)
2. Memorise 10 new vocabulary words or phrases from the lesson and prepare to use them in a sentence during tomorrow's speaking task.

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Evaluation and Reflection

At the end of the lesson, the teacher should:

• Assess the student’s speaking fluency and grammar accuracy using GCSE scoring rubrics.
• Review the listening and reading answers to identify comprehension patterns.
• Reflect on whether the resources (audio, passages) were engaging and age-appropriate – adjust accordingly for the next lesson.

This lesson creates active engagement while tackling core exam requirements, ensuring students are well-prepared for GCSE success in French!