French

User Guide
Bienvenue à Twinkl Planit français!
(Welcome to Twinkl PlanIt French)
This is our scheme of work for the 2014 National Curriculum
for French.
To help you save time we have put together complete unit packs for the National
Curriculum. These packs have been developed by teachers and designed by our
creative team to provide you with everything a non-specialist will need in one
handy download.
Learning another language gives children a new perspective on the world,
encouraging them to understand their own cultures and those of others. It
extends their knowledge of how language works and helps them to develop
communication skills, including the key skills of speaking and listening.
Each of the four main learning aims and the twelve content points for the
Key Stage 2 National Curriculum for Languages are revisited throughout the
four-year scheme, ensuring that your pupils have every opportunity to make
progress in their:
• knowledge about language;
• language-learning strategies;
• functional knowledge and use of grammar and spelling;
• intercultural understanding;
• speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

Each unit pack includes six detailed lesson plans containing a lesson
presentation, creative differentiated lesson activities and resources, two home
learning tasks, challenge cards, fact cards, an eye-catching display pack and
key vocabulary cards.
This overview is your guide to Twinkl PlanIt French and should cover any
questions you have. If there is something you need help with, please get in touch.
How to Use a PlanIt French Pack
What does the National Curriculum say about Languages?

“Learning a foreign language is a liberation from insularity and provides an opening to other cultures. A
high-quality languages education should foster pupils’ curiosity and deepen their understanding of the
world. The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in another language and to
understand and respond to its speakers, both in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities
for them to communicate for practical purposes, learn new ways of thinking and read great literature in
the original language. Language teaching should provide the foundation for learning further languages,
equipping pupils to study and work in other countries.”1

The Learning Sequence

PlanIt French has been designed with non-specialists in mind: it will help
to scaffold your languages curriculum and make teaching and learning
French an easy, fun experience for pupils and teachers alike. The units
are written to be taught in a linear fashion, beginning in Y3 and following
through to Y6, so that language points already taught are referenced,
reinforced and recapped while you build new knowledge and skills.

Whilst the National Curriculum does not stipulate specific expectations

for each Key Stage 2 year group for Languages, we have divided the
Languages aims so that they are covered in progressive difficulty from
the expected outcomes in Year 3 units to more demanding language
expectations by the end of the four Year 6 units. This way, PlanIt French
can be selected as you see fit to suit your school’s current French
language experience.

'The units are written to be taught in a linear fashion'

1
Purpose of Study, KS2 Languages Programme of Study: DfE 2013

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What Is in a PlanIt French Unit Pack?
Each unit pack includes six detailed lesson plans containing a lesson
presentation, creative and differentiated lesson activities and resources,
two home learning tasks, challenge cards, fact cards, an eye-catching
display pack and key vocabulary cards. These resources centre round a
central theme e.g. Getting to Know You. Throughout each unit, whenever
new language is presented, children are given repeated opportunities
to practise and produce the target language. Those points will then be
recapped in later lessons and units.
Six Lesson Packs

each containing...

French
Our School

Year One
French | Year 3 | Our School | What’s in your Pencil Case | Lesson 2

Lesson Presentation Lesson Plan Success Criteria Grids Activity Sheets

and sometimes....

Two Home Learning Tasks Assessment Pack Flash Cards, Photo Adult Guidance
Packs & Games

• Display Banner
• Display Lettering
• Display Borders
• Display Posters & Photos
• Word Cards
• Word Mat
• Page Borders & Writing Frames
• Word Search (differentiated)

Additional Resources Pack

Fact Cards Word Grid Challenge Cards

Challenge Cards
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What Goes into a PlanIt French Lesson Plan?
Each lesson pack contains a lesson plan as a pdf document. Text can be copied from the plan to your own planning
format. The lesson plan is split into four main sections to help with your planning.

Unit Name Lesson Name Resources: Any resources you Preparation: Here you will find
need will be listed here. everything that needs preparing
before the lesson.

Aim: The text in red is the 2014

NC aim. The purple text puts it
into the context of the lesson
and the green text gives you a You'll find Twinkl resources in
child friendly aim for the lesson. blue and bold, hyperlinks are
also underlined.

Learning Sequence:
Takes you through the Prior Learning: Anything that
lesson step by step. would be helpful for the children
to have already learnt will be
noted here.
These titles in bold match the
relevant slides in the lesson
presentation.. French words are written
in orange, and the English
Our icons tell you the type of translation will appear in purple.
activity involved for each part
of the lesson. You can find out Differentiation is indicated by 1,
more about these at the bottom 2 or 3 stars.
of the page.
The egg timers tell you how
long that part of the lesson
Taskit: This section gives
should last; short, medium or
you additional ideas as
long. If you don’t have time for
well as cross-curricular
the full lesson, this might help
links that you could use
you select individual parts.
to extend the lesson, to
challenge individuals or
plan another lesson.

Language Notes: This section gives extra detail to

support your own knowledge, such as how certain words
are pronounced, cultural links or a background for certain
expressions. Sometimes linguistic quirks of French are
explained, for example the gender of nouns and how this
impacts on other words in a sentence.
Footer: This tells you which unit the lesson comes from and where
the lesson comes within the unit. All footers follow this pattern:
Subject | Key Stage | Unit Name | Lesson Name | Lesson Number

Lesson Plan Icons

Short Medium Long
Individual Talk Partners
Duration of Activity

Mental & Oral Starter

Pairs
Low Medium High (Math units only)
Differentiation
Group Work Teacher Led

Or look for green text in

Assessment Whole Class
the learning sequence.

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 What Goes into a PlanIt French Lesson Presentation?
Each lesson pack has a lesson presentation. The presentation frames the learning sequence as outlined on the lesson
plan, providing information, posing questions and setting tasks.
Each presentation has the same 3 slides at the beginning;

Aim
• I can read, listen and respond to vocabulary.
• I can ask/answer questions (in short phrases).

French
Our School Success Criteria
• I can say the names of objects around the classroom.
• I can follow instructions to identify classroom objects.
• I can use the phras Il/Elle est là or Ils/Elles sont là.
• I can ask my partner a question.

Year One
French | Year 3 | Our School | What’s in your Pencil Case | Lesson 2

Slide One: PlanIt title slide with the Slide Two: Child-friendly title slide. Slide Three: Child-friendly aim and
subject and the unit title. The footer You might choose to start your lesson success criteria.
of the slide will match the lesson plan. with this slide.
Slide titles in the lesson presentation You'll find the corresponding icon in the top right-
correspond with the bold titles in the hand corner. There is a key to the icons at the
learning sequence in the lesson plan. bottom of the page.

Aim
• I can read, listen and respond to vocabulary.

Où sont • I can ask/answer questions (in short phrases).

(Where are?)
Success Criteria
• I can say the names of objects around the classroom.
Où sont les Elles sont • I can follow instructions to identify classroom objects.
lumières ? là. • I can use the phras Il/Elle est là or Ils/Elles sont là.
• I can ask my partner a question.

les lumières ?

Every presentation will repeat the success

criteria slide at the end of the presentation to
facilitate the children's assessment.

Every word or phrase in French that is needed to teach the lesson has an individual sound file (recorded by a native speaker)
embedded within the presentation which can be played repeatedly via the on-screen icons, without advancing to the next
slide until you want to. These are also available independently in the sound files folder in each pack. This allows any teacher
to feel confident in presenting the lesson even if they are unsure about pronunciation.

Lesson Presentation Icons

Individual Group Work Talk Partners Assessment

Mental & Oral Starter

Pairs Whole Class
(Math units only)

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 Our Activity Sheets
Our activity sheets are provided in .pdf format and .doc format.

This box is for the lesson aim.

An editable version where you
Differentiation is indicated by the can add your own aim is also
star system. provided. The three circles
are for optional self or teacher
assessment.
e.g. traffic light colours or
shading 1, 2 or 3.

Activity Sheet Icons Feminine and masculine words

will be indicated by a blue and
Low Medium High pink colour code system. Blue for
masculine and pink for feminine.

The footer will let you know

which area and lesson the
activity sheet is from.

Home Learning
For each curriculum aim, home learning activities are provided.

What’s in an Additional Resources Pack?

Each unit features a PlanIt French additional resources pack,
which has everything you need to teach a range of language
skills for that unit. Each pack contains different resources
ideal for the year group concerned. This pack also includes a
wide range of vocabulary cards and posters to create an eye-
catching display in your classroom.

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Teaching Languages to Children
Top Tips for Non-Specialists:

You don’t have to know everything! If you are new to French or feel anxious about your own skill level, tell the
children that you are going to learn alongside them. Although most children naturally love learning languages,
for some it can be a cause of panic; realising that the teacher doesn’t know everything can be very empowering
for learners!

Teaching Languages little and often can be more rewarding than a whole day once a term. If you can’t manage
a whole hour’s language session per week in your timetable, instead, break the lesson down: half an hour of initial
presentation and practice, then five minutes here and there each day to keep it going.

Use the Internet to find traditional French songs and rhymes, then sing along – research shows that many people
find it easier to learn and retain information when it is presented and practised musically. Some suggestions are
given within PlanIt French.

Make it active – encourage pupils to invent actions for new vocabulary items. When you practise by saying,
seeing and ‘doing’ the new word or phrase, that’s three chances for the brain to remember!

Most of all, enjoy exploring and playing with the language and try to use it as often as possible in your day-
to-day classroom routines. That way, your pupils will come to see it as a completely natural practice to speak the
language in any circumstances, not just in their French lessons.

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Meet the Teacher Team Behind PlanIt French
Helen
From an inner city school in London to a village
school in Yorkshire, Helen is a former SENCo who
has enjoyed 13 years teaching 6 to 11 year olds,
focusing on a creative, cross curricular approach.
Delphine
Delphine has 20 years’ experience as a Secondary
MFL teacher and then Head of Languages
in a large Comprehensive school. She loves
sharing her passion for languages by creating fun
and engaging resources for learners.
Liz
Liz has 20 years’ experience teaching 5-11 year
olds in a variety of settings. She loves inspiring
children to be enthusiastic about new languages.
Dawn
Before retiring from teaching after 34 years,
Dawn's final role was associate headteacher
of a multicultural school. She loves bringing
fun into the classroom, especially through games
and role play.
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If you need us, just get in touch - contact info@twinkl.co.uk.

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