Our School: What’s in Your Pencil Case?

Aim Key/New Words Resources

Write phrases from memory, and adapt Le/un crayon (m) [pencil], le/un stylo Lesson Pack
these to create new sentences, to express (m) [pen], le/ un crayon de couleur (m)
Mini whiteboards and pens – optional
ideas clearly in the context of describing [coloured pencil], le/un taille-crayon (m)
the contents of a pencil case. To describe [pencil sharpener], la/une trousse (f) [pencil
the contents of my pencil case. case], la/une gomme (f) [rubber], la/une
règle (f) [ruler], J’ai un/une… dans ma
trousse [I have… in my pencil case].
Success Criteria Additional Useful Vocabulary Preparation
I can name a range of objects in a pencil Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans ta trousse ? [What’s Differentiated What’s in Your Pencil Case?
case. in your pencil case?], qu’est-ce que c’est ? Activity Sheets – one per child
[What is it?], et [and].
I can convert ‘le’ to ‘un’ and ‘la’ to ‘une’. What’s in Your Pencil Case? Loop Cards –
one set per group
I can adapt the sentence ‘J’ai un/une… dans
ma trousse’ to make new sentences.

Prior Learning It will be helpful if children have previously seen the questions Qu’est-ce qu’il y a… ? [What is there?], and Qu’est-ce que
c’est ? [What is it?].

Learning Sequence
Qu’est-ce que c’est ? [What Is It?]: Follow the Lesson Presentation to introduce seven pencil case items. Children
can repeat each item of vocabulary to consolidate the meaning and practise their pronunciation. Then, check 10
understanding by allowing children to see the partial image for a few seconds in order to guess which pencil case mins
item it is. Once the answer is revealed, children listen to the modelled pronunciation and repeat. Can they name a
range of objects in a pencil case?.

La grammaire [Grammar]: Use the Lesson Presentation to show that each pencil case item has either le or la
before it, which means ‘the’. Explain that le is masculine and la is feminine. Can they remember whether the pencil 10
case items have le or la before them? Introduce un and une, which mean ‘a’ and practise converting le and la to un mins
and une. Can children convert ‘le’ to ‘un’ and ‘la’ to ‘une’?

Ma trousse My Pencil Case]: Follow the Lesson Presentation to introduce the question Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans
ta trousse ? [What’s in your pencil case?]. Can the children guess what is being said? Do they know what dans [in] 15
means? Can they remember what trousse [pencil case] means? Then, model the answer structure. Are they familiar mins
with j’ai [I have]? Can they work out what dans ma trousse [in my pencil case] means? Remind them of language-
learning strategies, e.g. using visual information, looking out for familiar words and listening to intonation. Children
can then repeat each sentence in full, which adapts J’ai un/une… dans ma trousse [I have… in my pencil case] each
time, to consolidate the meaning and practise their pronunciation. Then play the game and match up the sentences
with the corresponding illustrations. Encourage children to say the sentence out loud each time. Use the quiz to
check their understanding of the sentence structure and pencil case objects. Point out that they use et [and] if they
want to say more than one item. Encourage them to put their hand up to say the correct answer (A or B) in French or
they can answer on their mini whiteboards.

Who’s Got…? In small groups, children play a game with the What’s in Your Pencil Case? Loop Cards. Divide the
cards equally among the group and one of them starts the loop by putting a card down and reading out the ‘Who 10
has…?’ request. Whoever has the matching French sentence puts their card down, reads the French sentence aloud mins
and calls out the next request and so on until the loop is complete. This could also be played as a whole class
activity where the objective is to practise as many different sentences as possible, instead of trying to complete
the loop. Children swap their cards each time they find a matching card so they can practise a different sentence
each time. Encourage children to use the target question Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans ta trousse ? [What’s in your pencil
case?] on every turn. Can they adapt the sentence ‘J’ai un/une… dans ma trousse’?

French | Year 3 | Our School | What’s in the Classroom? | Lesson 2 visit twinkl.com
Learning Sequence

Allez-y ! [Off you go!]: Using the differentiated What’s in Your Pencil Case? Activity Sheets, children demonstrate
their understanding with a writing task. Then, in pairs, they ask each other what’s in their pencil case. Can they 15
mins
describe the contents of their pencil case?

Sentences are written Children complete the Children write the

but contain a gap for the sentences using the sentences by themselves
pencil case items. Word word banks and the using the word banks.
bank with the specific initials of each word Example provided for
vocabulary needed and as a hint. Example support.
corresponding pictures provided for support.
Speaking activity can
provided for support, Speaking activity can
be completed using the
alongside an example. be completed using the
previous word banks.
Speaking activity can previous word banks.
Limited support provided.
be completed using the Sentence structure
vocabulary from the provided for reference.
previous exercise.

Taskit
Replayit: Reuse the What’s in Your Pencil Case? Loop Cards to play a dominoes/matching game with a partner. Practise using the target
question Qu’est-ce qu’il y a dans ta trousse ? [What’s in your pencil case?] and reading the answers out loud each time.
Drawit: Fill this pencil case outline ( https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resource/pencil-case-outline-t-tp-2560459 ) with pencil case items labelled
in French. Children can look up more items and add them to their drawing.

Language Notes:
• This lesson is a good opportunity to introduce/recap on the concept of masculine and feminine nouns: ‘The’ is the definite article and ‘a’ is
indefinite. It is up to you whether or not to introduce this term to the children you are teaching.
• Masculine words are preceded by le [the] or un [a/one]. Feminine words are preceded by la [the] or une [a/one].
• Le and la are shortened to l’ if they are followed by a vowel or h, e.g. l’ordinateur [computer] encountered in the previous lesson in this unit.
• Most nouns ending in -e are feminine.

French | Year 3 | Our School | What’s in the Classroom? | Lesson 2 visit twinkl.com