1 - What Are You Wearing? ~5 mins
Look at the person beside you. In English, can you describe what they are wearing in one short sentence?
Today we learn eight French words for clothes. By the end you will be able to dress someone in French: le pull, la jupe, les chaussures and all.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Name eight clothing items in French
- Label a dressed figure with the right French words
- Match each clothing word to its English meaning
Take three or four quick descriptions in English only. Laugh with any funny outfit descriptions, then bridge: in French every clothes word brings its little friend le, la or les, that is our mission today. Keep it light and move on. Do not correct fashion opinions; steer straight into the flashcards.
2 - Eight French Clothes ~10 mins
Here are today's eight clothing words. Listen to the audio first, then repeat together. After a few cards you can try a quiet guess before the flip if you like. Watch for le, la and les on every card.
Run the flashcards on the IWB with the whole class. Pace the set: do the first four (play audio, class repeats twice, once all together, once by table), quick chorus of those four, then the remaining four the same way. Do not ask for a cold guess on the first meeting; invite an optional whisper-guess only after pupils have heard the word once. Insist on the article every time: pantalon alone is not enough; le pantalon is the answer. Point out that les chaussures is plural, so it takes les. Warm beat: le pull looks like English pull because it comes from pullover, give yourselves a point if you spotted that. In France you would hear these on the way into class, no uniform in most state schools, which is why the words matter day to day.
Pronunciation reference (all eight):
- le pantalon, luh pahn-tah-LOHN
- la chemise, lah shuh-MEEZ
- le pull, luh pool
- la jupe, lah ZHEWP
- la robe, lah ROBE
- les chaussures, lay shoh-SYUR
- le manteau, luh mahn-TOH
- le chapeau, luh shah-POH
3 - Ready for L'école on a Cold Morning ~10 mins
A French primary pupil is dressing for a cold morning on the way to l'école, coat, jumper, shoes and more, but the labels are missing. Look at each marker. Before anyone clicks, whisper the French word with its article at your desk (or show fingers for the option you choose). Then a volunteer clicks the correct French clothing word on the board.
Model the first label yourself so the class sees how the interactive works. Every pupil responds first: whisper the word with its article, or hold up fingers for the numbered option, then a volunteer clicks. If a wrong label is chosen, say the correct word clearly with the article and pronunciation, then let them try again. Keep the pace brisk so every item is met once. Warm beat: nice work if you kept the article — le manteau, not just manteau. That is proper French.
4 - Match the Clothes ~10 mins
On the board, flip two cards at a time and find each French clothing word with its English meaning. When a card is turned, whisper the French word with its article at your desk.
A second pass at the same eight words. Run matching on the IWB; volunteers flip cards; the class whispers the French with its article on each turn. If a pair is missed twice, stop and chorus the French word with its article before moving on. When the board is clear, a quick class cheer, you just matched all eight. Celebrate full matches without turning it into a race.
5 - Into Your Copy ~3 mins
From today's eight words, write four items that you, someone near you, or the figure on the board is wearing. Copy each with its article (le / la / les). Check each article and copy the spelling carefully from the list.
Word bank (keep this on screen):
- le pantalon, trousers
- la chemise, shirt
- le pull, jumper
- la jupe, skirt
- la robe, dress
- les chaussures, shoes
- le manteau, coat
- le chapeau, hat
Pause the board and leave the full word bank visible for the whole three minutes so pupils can check spellings. Everyone writes: this is the only three minutes where every pen moves. Walk the room and check the article is in front of every noun. Pupils choose four from today's list only (items they, a neighbour, or the board figure is wearing). Do not collect the copies.
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