Imagine it is your first day at a French collège. Someone new turns to you. What do you say about yourself first?
Today you learn the French lines for name and where you are from, plus the friendly way to throw the question back.
Quick hook: ask two volunteers what they would say first in English on a first day (name, age, town, hobby). Keep each answer to one sentence. Then set the scene: You are new at Collège Victor Hugo and will meet classmates (use tu) and a teacher (use vous). Promise them they will leave able to run a short name-and-home exchange in French.
You are new at Collège Victor Hugo. Listen to each phrase, then say it back together.
First the you lines (name and home), then the questions you ask a classmate or a teacher.
Try this pattern:
Je m'appelle Aoife. Je viens de Galway. (My name is Aoife. I come from Galway.)
Comment t'appelles-tu ? Et toi ? (What's your name? And you?)
Board tip: tu = classmate | vous = teacher or adult you have just met
Run the word-table in two chunks so seven phrases do not blur.
Chunk 1 (you): Je m'appelle, Je viens de..., then choral repeat twice. Play with the soft zh in Je: 'like the s in measure — everyone try zhuh — yes!'
Chunk 2 (questions): Comment t'appelles-tu ?, D'où viens-tu ?, Et toi ?, then the formal pair Comment vous appelez-vous ? and Et vous ?.
After the drill, model once with a 'teacher' puppet or volunteer: greet the adult with Comment vous appelez-vous ?, then a classmate with Comment t'appelles-tu ?. Finish each mini-exchange by throwing it back with Et vous ? or Et toi ?. Leave the tu/vous tip visible on the board.
Watch the board. When a classmate finds a match, say the French phrase together.
Whole-class IWB play only: invite volunteers to the board while everyone else watches and joins the choral French on each successful match. If a pair is missed twice, pause and say the French together before continuing. Listen for the difference between Et toi ? (ay twah) and Et vous ? (ay voo), and between the two name questions. Keep energy up: 'Nice — that is the classmate line' versus 'That one is for the teacher.'
Open your copy. Copy the pattern from the board and fill in the names and places.
Je m'appelle _____.
Je viens de _____.
Look at the board for spelling — do not guess the accents.
Pause other board tools and keep the two gapped models large and visible for the whole copy moment. Everyone writes the same two lines with their own name and home place. Walk the room and check the apostrophe and double p in m'appelle and the spelling of viens. Do not collect these. Three to four minutes is enough when the frame stays on screen.
First day at Collège Victor Hugo: meet your classmate, then be ready to meet a teacher.
On the board — use this script:
A: Comment t'appelles-tu ?
B: Je m'appelle _____. Et toi ?
A: Je m'appelle _____.
A: D'où viens-tu ?
B: Je viens de _____. Et toi ?
A: Je viens de _____.
Then swap roles. Use tu with classmates. If you greet the teacher, switch to Comment vous appelez-vous ? and Et vous ?.
Keep the full A/B script large on the IWB for the whole ten minutes. Model one full exchange with a volunteer first, using Irish place names the class knows (Cork, Dublin, Galway). Then pairs face each other and run the classmate script.
After both partners have shared name and home, invite pairs to stand and greet you (or a 'professeur' chair) with the vous lines once. Finish by asking three pairs to perform for the class.
Circulate and prompt anyone stuck on Je viens de.... Warm praise: 'If you got name and home out loud, that is a real French introduction — brilliant.'
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