Les adjectifs possessifs

Lyrics
Mon, ton, son,
Ma, ta, sa…

Mon, ton, son,

Ma, ta, sa…

Mais ça dépend de l’objet

Qui se trouve dans les mains;
Si c’est masculin, si c’est feminin…

Mon, ton, son,

Ma, ta, sa…

Mon, ton, son,

Ma, ta, sa…

Mais ça dépend de l’objet

Qui se trouve dans les mains;
Si c’est masculin, si c’est feminin…

Mon, ton, son,

Ma, ta, sa…

Mon, ton, son,

Ma, ta, sa…

Recommended Resources
• Grammar through music CD
• CD player
• Photocopies of “Adjectifs Possessifs” worksheet for each student
• Lined piece of paper, or a notebook for each student, in which they can write
• Dictionaries for each student
 Nouns and the Use of Possessive Adjectives
Introduction
• Organize students into groups of 3 or 4.
• Hand out the “Adjectifs Possessifs” worksheets to students.
• Ask students to take out a ruler.
• Hand out a lined piece of paper to each student, or have students take out their French
notebooks containing lined paper. Ask students to write their names and the date on the top
of the page. Have students underline the date with the ruler.
• Direct students’ attention to lyrics to the “Adjectifs possessifs” song.
• Play the “Adjectifs possessifs” song. Encourage students to follow along.

Lesson
• Direct students’ attention to the piece of paper or page in their notebooks on which students
have already written the date.
• Asks student to draw a line, horizontally, across the middle of the page.
• You may want to take this opportunity to review the different types of lines, such as “vertical,
parallel, perpendicular,” as well as “broken, curved, and straight.”
• Then, explain to students that you would like them to work in groups to brainstorm a list of
immediate and distant family members; clarify that you are not looking for a list of the ‘first
names’ of every students’ family member, but a list of generic family titles, for example,
“father, mother, aunt, ect…”
• Each student should write their list on the top half of the page, above the horizontal line that
they drew across the page earlier. Give students 2 or 3 minutes to complete the activity.
• Afterwards, call on students to share with the class, some examples that they have included
on their lists. Write these on the backboards as they are read out loud by students.
• Once you have compiled a comprehensive list of family members on the classroom
blackboard, encourage students to help you add an “f” for “feminin” or “m” for “masculin”
beside each name.
• Following this activity, explain to students that they must choose at least 5 family members
and write a sentence about each, that describes a hobby or interest that each enjoys. For
example: “Ma mère aime tricoté.” These sentences should be written on the bottom half of
the page, under the line they drew across the page earlier. Remind students to pay close
attention to the gender of each family member while completing the sentences. Indicate
clearly why “mon mere aime tricote,” for example, is incorrect.
• Encourage students who finish early to play the “noun-dictionary game.” To play, students
must:

1)choose a noun from the dictionary

2)determine secretly, whether the noun is “masculin” or “feminin”
3)ask other members of the group to guess at the noun’s gender.

• (If a member of the group guesses the noun’s gender correctly, it becomes that group
member’s turn to choose a noun in the dictionary and ask the other members of the group to
guess at the noun’s gender. Encourage students to keep track of their correct answers on the
back of their worksheets or on their personal chalkboards).

Conclusion
• Play the “adjectives possessifs” song one more time. Encourage students to sing along.
• Collect worksheets and / or have students place their worksheet in their Music through
Grammar duo-tangs or folders for next lesson.

Assessment
Marking
• Collect student notebooks or the paper on which students would have written the 5 sentences
about their family members. Assess whether students used the possessive adjectives correctly
in all sentences.
Anecdotal
• Teacher may also walk around the class while students are working in groups or
independently in order to assess students’ ability to work effectively in groups and on their
own.
• For the “noun-dictionary” game, teacher should also be walking around the classroom to
ensure all students are able to use the dictionary with minimal assistance.
 Using Possessive Adjectives in Context
Introduction
• Hand out “Adjectifs Possessifs” worksheets to students or have them take out their “Adjectifs
possessifs” worksheets from their “Grammar through Music” duotangs or folders.
• Direct students’ attention to the “adjectifs possessifs” lyrics.
• Play the “Adjectifs possessifs” song. Encourage students to follow and sing along with the
track.
• While students are following along with the song, teacher should draw and complete the
following timeline on the classroom blackboard, beginning with 1901 and ending with the
current year. (Note: teacher should write ALL years in between 1902 and the current year on
the timeline.

1901
1902…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………..Current year

• When the track is over and the timeline has been completely drawn on the board, read the
following part of the “adjectifs possessifs” song to students: “mais ca depend de l’objet, qui se
trouve dans les mains…”
• Ask students, “what do these lyrics mean?” Have them discuss the answer to this in groups or
in a “think, pair, share.” If students are having difficulty decoding these lyrics, pick up a pencil
and ask the following questions:

“What am I holding in my hand?” (a pencil);

“Is my pencil an object? (yes);
“Is ‘pencil’ a common noun?” (yes.);
“If ‘pencil’ is a common noun, doesn’t it follow that it must be either “masculin” or “feminin?”
(yes);
“Is it masculin or feminin?” (masculin);
“So, would I say, “mon, crayon” or “ma crayon?” (mon crayon)
“Why?” (…because the use of “mon” with an object indicates that the object is “masculin,” while
the use of “ma” with an object indicates that the object is “feminin.”

• Continue with the above activity using a number of different objects, then ask students
again, what they think “mais ca depend de l’objet, qui se trouve dans les mains…” means.

Lesson
• Direct students’ attention to question #1 on the back of the “adjectives possessifs”
worksheet.
• Read the question with students.
• Explain that they are to calculate the age of each of the author’s family members based on
the information given. Before allowing students to begin the activity, direct students’ attention
to the timeline written on the classroom blackboard. Ask students:

“What do you see on the board?” (a timeline – this is a great opportunity to introduce the concept of
number lines as they pertain to mathematics);
“In what year does the timeline begin?” (1900);
“What other years do you see on the timeline?” (students will respond accordingly)
“When does the timeline end?” (students will respond accordingly)
“Do you see the year in which you were born?” (students will respond accordingly)
“How many years do you see between your year or birth and the current year?” (students will
respond accordingly and the teacher will point out that their answer should equal their age).
 • Using the timeline on the board, complete the first question with students, which asks, “how
old is the author’s father?” Write the answer on the board.
• You may want to review terms “tôt” and “tard,” here, in reference to the timeline. To review
these terms, circle any year on the timeline, such as 1999. Then, indicate to students that
“Plus tôt que” the year 1999, would include any year before 1999, while “plus tard que” would
refer to any year after1999.
• Before asking students to complete question number 1 of the worksheet, you may want to ask
students to recopy the timeline that you drew on the board, into their notebooks. This will
allow students to complete question #1 with more ease.
• Have students complete question #1 on their worksheets.

Conclusion
• Play the “adjectives possessifs” song one more time. Encourage students to sing along.
• Collect worksheets and / or have students place their worksheet in their “Music through
Grammar” duo-tangs or folders for next lesson.

Assessment
Anecdotal
• Walk around the classroom to observe while students are completing question #1.
• Are students using the timeline to complete this question or are students completing the
calculations on their own?
Correction
• Collect “adjectifs possessifs” worksheets and correct question #1.
 Introducing more Possessive Adjectives
Introduction
• Hand out “Adjectifs Possessifs” worksheets to students or have them take their worksheets
out of their “Music through Grammar” folders or duotangs.
• Direct students’ attention to the side of the worksheet on which the lyrics to the “Adjectifs
possessifs” song are written.
• Play the “Adjectifs possessifs” song. Encourage students to follow and sing along with the
track.
• While students are following along with the song write the following 4 sentences on the board:
Sais ma grand-mère.
Ses ma grand-mère.
C’est ma grand-mère.
Sait ma grand-mère.
• Ask students which of the above sentences is correct. Have them discuss their answers in
groups (think, pair, share). Encourage students to defend their answers. They should, for
example, rule out: “sais” and “sait,” which are the present tense forms of savoir, and
“ses,” which is a possessive adjective. “C’est,” the correct answer here, can be justified by
the English translation of “it is.” Note: if students are not able to identify “sais,” or “sait”
as being the conjugated forms of “savoir” in the present tense, please review track 1 and
corresponding lesson plans with students.
• Create other sentences that incorporate either “c’est, sais, sait” or “ses” and challenge
students to get into their “think, pair, share” groups” to determine whether the sentences
have been written correctly. Use a range nouns in your sentences, both masculine and
feminin, and vary the use of your possessive adjectives.

Lesson:
• Direct students to question #2 on the back of the “adjective possessifs” worksheet.
• Have students get into groups of three to read and act out the cartoon. Encourage students to
use expression while they are reading. Teacher should read part of the dialogue in order to
explicitly communicate to students, what it means to “use expression” and to “get into
character” while reading.
• After students have had a few minutes to practice reading the cartoon, ask them to complete
the following question on their own.

Conclusion
• When most students have completed question #2, play the “adjectives possessifs” song one
more time. Encourage students to sing along.
• Collect worksheets and / or have students place their worksheet in their “Music through
Grammar” duo-tangs or folders for next lesson.

Assessment
Correction
• Collect all worksheets.
Anecdotal
• Observe and mark anecdotally while students are engaged in their work.