1 - Twenty Seconds About You ~5 mins
You have twenty seconds to tell someone who you are. What makes the cut: your name, your age, where you live, one thing you like?
Today you string those facts into a short spoken profile in French, one after another, the way you would if someone new asked on the first day at school.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Give a short spoken profile: name, age, home and likes
- Notice that French says age with avoir (to have), not être (to be)
- Share your profile with a partner and listen to theirs
Keep the hook brisk and playful. Invite two or three pupils to fire off a twenty-second English profile, then stop with a grin: four facts, no novel. The point is to feel how much fits, not to polish the English. Do not translate yet; the word-table in the next step carries the French. Cheer the boldest volunteer with a quick class clap so speaking feels like a win from minute one.
2 - Eight About-me Phrases ~10 mins
Listen to each phrase on the board, then say it back together. We build your profile in two beats: first the four core stems (name, age, home, one like), then four extra facts you can add.
Watch the age line carefully: French says J'ai onze ans (I have eleven years), not "I am eleven".
A French-world model (first day at collège):
Je m'appelle Amine. J'ai onze ans. J'habite à Lyon. J'aime le basket.
(My name is Amine. I am eleven. I live in Lyon. I like basketball.)
Beat 1 (about 5 minutes): Open the word-table on the IWB. Drive each tap yourself; pupils have no devices. Chorus the four core answer stems twice (whole class, then by table): Je m'appelle (zhuh mah-PELL), J'ai ... ans (zhay ... ahn), J'habite à (zhah-BEET ah), J'aime (zhem). Point out that age uses avoir, not être: English "I am eleven" becomes French "I have eleven years". Model the Amine/Lyon profile slowly, then invite the class to chorus it once.
Beat 2 (about 5 minutes): Add the four extra stems the same way: Je n'aime pas... (zhuh nem pah), Ma couleur préférée est... (mah koo-LUR pray-fay-RAY eh), Mon plat préféré est... (mon plah pray-fay-RAY eh), Mon anniversaire est le... (mon ah-nee-ver-SAIR eh luh). Keep the focus on listening and saying; do not ask pupils to invent full sentences yet. Quick win: pick one table to stand and chorus the Amine profile for a three-clap from the class.
3 - Listen for the Facts ~10 mins
Listen for a self-introduction: name, age, home and one like. Play the audio twice, then answer together.
Listen for:
- What name does the speaker give?
- What age do they say?
- Where do they live, and what do they like?
Show the three listen questions on the IWB before the first play. Run the audio on the class speakers with books closed, then a second full play before anyone answers. After both listens, take answers together and replay any clip the class missed. If a pupil spots a name, an age, a place or a like, celebrate that: those are exactly the facts they will produce next. You do not need fluent French here; the interactive carries the audio and the questions. Scenario introducing-myself stays on about-me self-profile stems, not family vocabulary.
4 - Into Your Copy ~3 mins
Open your copy and write four sentences about yourself: name, age, where you live, and one thing you like. You may copy the stems from the board and only change the personal detail. Keep every accent and the little gap after J'ai.
Support strip (stay on the board):
Stems: Je m'appelle ... · J'ai ... ans · J'habite à ... · J'aime ...
Ages: dix (10), onze (11), douze (12)
Likes you can borrow: le football, la musique, les chiens, la danse, le basket
Pause the board and leave the four core stems plus the support strip visible while they write. Before pens move, give a 30-second whisper rehearsal: each pupil quietly says their four answers to the page (hear→say still leads write). Everyone's pen should then be moving for these three minutes. Walk the room and check the age line uses J'ai plus a number plus ans, not an English-style "je suis". A bare name without Je m'appelle is incomplete. Pupils may use their own Irish place name (e.g. Cork, Galway) after J'habite à. Do not collect these copies.
5 - Four-fact Partner Profiles ~10 mins
Work with a partner. First, each of you says your four core facts aloud (name, age, home, one like). Then swap and listen. If you are ready, add one extra fact from today's stems (a dislike, a favourite colour, a favourite dish, or your birthday).
The stems stay on the board the whole time. Picture two new pupils meeting on the first day at collège.
Before pairing (about 2 minutes): Model one full profile slowly with a volunteer, Amine-style then a pupil version: Je m'appelle ..., J'ai ... ans, J'habite à ..., J'aime .... Class repeats each line once after you. Leave all eight stems visible on the IWB, not only the four they wrote.
Pair work: Pupils face each other. Partner A delivers their profile; Partner B listens, then swaps. Circulate and listen for the J'ai ... ans pattern; if someone slips into English "I am", gently redirect to the French stem. When you hear a clean J'ai ... ans, freeze that pair and get the class to give them a quick three-clap: that stem is the win today. After about five minutes, signal a second round so anyone who only listened first now speaks. Extension walk-by: invite a confident pair to add Je n'aime pas... or Ma couleur préférée est....
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