Les Grottes de Lascaux This unit of work introduces pupils to the marvellous cave art discovered in the last century on the walls of the Caves of Lascaux. Picasso, on seeing the paintings, declared that these painters were his masters. The language that pupils will practise is quite sophisticated but accessible because it is based on cognates or close cognates. In the lists below translations are only given where the meaning is not obvious. English words that have similarity to the French but are not exact equivalents are given in brackets. Nouns introduced are un bison une grotte (grotto): cave un taureau (taurus): bull un trésor : treasure le nord/ le sud/ l est/ l ouest (the 4 points of the compass) un adolescent une sorcière (sorcerer) witch un passage une beauté: beauty une église (ecclesiastic): church un animal (plural les animaux) un arc: bow (as in bow and arrow) un cerf: stag un cheval: horse (the chivlary is connected: the behaviour of knights) un daim: doe un oiseau: bird Adjectives curieux (curious) fou (foolish) ocre (ochre), orange, marron (brown), noir (black), jaune (yellow), beige (colours) intrigué sous-terrain (subterranean) grand: great préhistorique sauvage (savage): wild privé: private Verbs il a peint ( he has painted/painted/did paint) s amuser (amusement): to enjoy oneself célèbrer danser (dance) ils découvrent: they discover imaginer se promener (promenade): walk prier (pray)
rencontrer (encounter) meet représenter (here in the sense of depict ) ils sentent (sensitivity): they feel décider regarder (regard): look la décoration Non-cognates Un trou: hole ils rampent: they crawl le sol (soil): the earth la voiture: car aller: to go la peur: fear à quatre pattes: on all fours s appelle: is called jolie: good to look at Structural language used il y a: there is/is there c est: it is ils sont: they are qu est-ce-que?: what? où? where? Temporal words and phrases: Alors: Then, so En 20 000 A.C. )AC: avant Jésus Christ): 20, 000 years before Christ (Another way of writing this is 20,000 which has been used on some slides, where means minus).) Le 12 (douze) Septembre Suggested Activities Slide 2 Optional starter activity Photographs from the Grotte de Lascaux are downloaded from Google images/grotte de Lascaux. These images are then cut into four pieces as a puzzle. Pupils put them together and answer in their own words Qu est-ce-que c est? Eg: C est un cheval 4 Draw a time-line on the board/iwb
4 Draw a time-line on the board/iwb and place -20 000 years. In order for pupils to understand notion of -20 000 ask them to add 20 000 to 2009. Teacher can request this by saying: aditionne vingt mille à deux mille neuf or ask in English: Add 20,000 to 2009. Where do you think your descendants will be living (caves, houses ) and who they will be. 7 to 11 We are looking at the construction il y a, hence it is repetitive. 8 Pronunciation of i-pod (ee-pod) 13 Teacher could mime the actions to facilitate pupils understanding. 14 The You tube extract about Les Grottes de Lascaux with Cold play sound track. (See slide 15 for the address) Ask pupils to guess the meaning of à quatre pattes 15 Ask pupils to describe the cave
15 Ask pupils to describe the cave painting with animal names (also see slide 22) and colours (see slide 28) Using flashcards, or a slideshow, the following vocabulary can be revised : Singulier Pluriel Un arc Un bison Un cerf Un cheval Un daim Un homme Un oiseau Un taureau Des arcs Des bisons Des cerfs Des chevaux Des daims Des hommes Des oiseaux Des taureaux 17 Introduction of the imperfect tense: continuous past action English uses 4 different forms to show a continuous action in the past. Use whichever fits the sense best. he danced he used to dance he was dancing or (when he was young) he would dance (every day) se retrouvait: used to go (literally, he found himself ) 20 Les devoirs (homework) or
20 Les devoirs (homework) or possibility to start off in year 7. Pupils prepare a news report. Some examples are available from the blog: graysconventlanguages.typepad. com 1- Pupils tell the story in the present tense 2- They explain it using adjectives 3- Pupils demonstrate they understand the need for the use of the imperfect 21/22/23: Use the slide to tell the story 25: Brainstorm the adjectives using little white boards