Hands up if you have a pet at home! Keep your hand up if you can say its name in English. Today we are peeping into the window of une animalerie (a pet shop) in France. By the end of the lesson you will name eight common pets in French, and you will hear a short scene about a dog.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Name eight common pets in French
- Label animals in an animalerie window
- Understand a short spoken scene about a pet
Take a quick show of hands for pets at home, then ask three or four pupils what they have. Do not translate yet; the point is curiosity before the word list. If nobody has a pet, ask which animal they would most like. Mention once that in France a pet shop is called une animalerie so they hear the French setting. Keep this to five minutes so the word-table gets its full slot.
Here are today's eight pets from the animalerie window. Tap each one, listen, then say it back together. Watch which ones take le and which take la.
Drill in two chunks of four so the load sticks. First four: le chien, le chat, le lapin, le hamster. Tap each word; class repeats twice (all together, then by table). Quick English→French fire round on those four. Then the next four: le cochon d'Inde, le perroquet, la souris, la tortue. Same pattern. Before leaving the step, re-chorus the two trickier ones: le cochon d'Inde (luh ko-SHOHN dand) and le perroquet (luh peh-roh-KAY). Point at the article every time so the pair is what they hear. Pronunciation guides: le chien (luh shee-EN), le chat (luh SHA), le lapin (luh lah-PAN), le hamster (luh am-STAIR), le cochon d'Inde (luh ko-SHOHN dand), le perroquet (luh peh-roh-KAY), la souris (lah soo-REE), la tortue (lah tor-TOO). Celebrate the first full le chien from a shy pupil with a big reaction, warmth matters more than polish at this stage.
The animalerie window needs labels. Volunteers take turns matching a French word to each animal on the board. Everyone else points at the animal and whispers the full phrase (le chat, la souris) before the volunteer locks it in.
Run label-the-image on the IWB with volunteers only. Do not send pupils to devices. Each time a label is placed, the whole class says the full phrase chorally with the article: le chat, not bare chat. If a label is wrong, say the correct word together before moving on. This checks recognition of the eight pets just met. In France a pet shop is une animalerie, worth saying once more so they hear it in context.
First we say it, then we write it.
Model (say together twice):
- J'ai un chien (zhay uh(n) shee-EN) — I have a dog
- J'ai une tortue (zhay oon tor-TOO) — I have a turtle
Write in French. Open your copy and write one line like the model, swapping in a pet you have or would like: J'ai un/une ___. Keep the word-table on the board to help you.
Before any writing: put both columns on the board briefly so the le/la → un/une switch is visible: le chien → un chien; la tortue → une tortue. Explain in one line: un/une = a (used after J'ai); le/la = the (used when naming the animal on its own). We learned le chien (the dog). To say a dog after J'ai, French switches to un/une.
Choral-repeat 3–4 full sentences from today's pets, e.g. J'ai un chien, J'ai un chat, J'ai un perroquet, J'ai une souris, J'ai une tortue. Pronunciation: J'ai un (zhay uh(n)), J'ai une (zhay oon). Then a quick show-of-hands oral round: you start J'ai un… / J'ai une… and the class completes with a pet. Pair whisper the same frame once.
Then open copies. Leave the word-table on screen. Pupils write one French sentence using the model. Walk the room and check the article is un or une (not le/la) after J'ai. Do not collect these copies.
Time to listen. You will hear a short scene about a pet dog. Listen all the way through twice with the class, then answer the questions together. Your teacher can replay any line that was tricky.
Play the full audio on the class speakers twice before anyone answers. On the first play, ask pupils only to listen for pet words they recognise. Before answers, ask who spotted le chien and cheer that recognition, even one word caught is a win. On the second play, they may follow the questions. Then choose answers together as a class. Go through the answers at the end and replay any line that caused trouble. Scenario id is pet-dog.
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