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Knowledge & Skills

The Knowledge and Skills overviews show the specific language content students will learn in each unit of study throughout the year. These documents outline both the substantive knowledge (vocabulary, grammar, and cultural information) and the disciplinary skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) that students will develop. Each unit is broken down to clearly identify what students need to know and what they should be able to do upon completion. Through the systematic development of both knowledge and skills, students build linguistic competence, cultural awareness, and communicative confidence appropriate to their stage of learning.

Vive les vacances ! (Holidays) 

Unit Progress Criteria
Knowledge Skills

Vocabulary
 Holiday destinations:
  au bord de la mer, à la montagne, en Espagne, aux États-Unis, au Maroc
 Holiday activities (perfect tense):
  J’ai joué, J’ai mangé, J’ai nagé, J’ai regardé, J’ai fait, J’ai vu, J’ai pris, J’ai bu
 Opinions:
  C’était trop marrant, assez intéressant, complètement nul, vraiment génial
 Transport:  en avion, en train, en bateau, en voiture
 Sequencers: d’abord, puis, ensuite, finalement
 Negative phrases:  Je n’ai pas…, On n’est pas allé(e)s…, parce que c’était…
 Asking questions: Tu as… ? Où? Avec qui? Comment? Qu’est-ce que…?

Grammar
 The verbs avoir and être (present tense)
 Perfect tense (past tense) with: avoir (J’ai joué)
   être (Je suis allé(e)) — remember to agree with gender!
   Irregular past participles: vu, pris, fait, bu, lu
 Negatives in the perfect tense:  Je n’ai pas + past participle
 Using sequencers: d’abord, puis, ensuite…
 Asking questions in the perfect tense
 Saying ‘to/in’ a country: en, au, à, aux

Phonics Focus
 Liaisons: nous avons, je suis allé
 Nasal sounds: en, an, on, ain (en vacances, montagne, avion, train)
 é / ai sounds: J’ai joué, nagé
 gn sound: montagne
 qu: Qu’est-ce que
 u: bu, vu
 ou: beaucoup, tous
 Silent final consonants: photos
 Soft g: nagé

Listening
 Understand and pick out key words or opinions about holidays.
 Understand when people talk about where they went and what they did.
 Recognise the perfect tense and opinions like c’était / ce n’était pas.
 Transcribe words or short sentences with increasing accuracy.
 Identify key points and details about past holidays.

Speaking
 Say where you went, how you travelled, and what you did.
 Give your opinion about your holiday using c’était / ce n’était pas.
 Use regular and irregular verbs in the perfect tense.
 Ask and answer simple questions about holidays.

Reading
 Read short texts about holidays, transport and activities.
 Pick out important information from reading passages.
 Translate short sentences about holidays from French into English.
 Recognise and infer meaning from context and cognates.

Writing
 Write sentences about where you went and what you did.
 Give opinions with reasons using parce que / car.
 Translate simple sentences about holidays from English into French.
 Use time phrases and c’était / ce n’était pas with adjectives.

Cultural Capital
School holidays in French-speaking countries
 Popular theme parks: Parc Astérix, Futuroscope
 Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours by Jules Verne (Phileas Fogg’s travels)
 Francophone destinations (e.g. Vanuatu)

J’adore le fêtes 

Unit Progress Criteria
Knowledge Skills

Vocabulary
Festivals & Celebrations: Noël, mon anniversaire, Pâques, l’Aïd, le Nouvel An, la fête de la musique, carnaval
Opinions & Reasons: j’adore, j’aime (beaucoup), je préfère, je n’aime pas (tellement), parce que c’est (trop)…
Activities: danser, chanter, manger, choisir des cadeaux, rendre visite à…
Market & Food: un melon, du fromage, du jambon, de la salade
Quantities: 200 grammes de…, un kilo de…, un morceau de…
Transactional Phrases: Vous désirez? Je voudrais…, s’il vous plaît. Et avec ça? 
Describing Photos: Il y a…, ils/elles, dansent, portent des vêtements…
Future Plans: Je vais…, On va…, visiter, acheter, goûter, manger, passer
Time Phrases: Le 3 décembre, demain, l’année prochaine, en ce moment
New Year’s Resolutions: Je finis…, je n’aide pas…, je vais être…, je vais faire…

Grammar
•    Present tense of –er, –ir, –re verbs
•    Perfect tense (J’ai + past participle, Je suis allé(e))
•    Irregular past participles: vu, pris, fait, bu
•    Negatives in perfect tense: Je n’ai pas…
•    de after quantities
•    Partitive article: du, de la, des
•    Near future tense: aller + infinitive
•    Questions in near future tense: Où est-ce que…? Quand…? 
•    Using present and near future tenses together

Phonics 
•    Silent final consonants: marrant, tout, cadeaux, elles marchent
•    -ent ending silent: elles dansent
•    eu, œu, eau sounds: euros, œufs, morceau
•    Closed o: kilo
•    Soft c: morceau
•    Nasal sounds: em, en, an, on, in, ain (décembre, maison)
•    s-liaison: je vais aller

Listening
 Understand and pick out key words or opinions about festivals and food.
 Understand when people talk about celebrations and what they eat.
 Recognise quantities, partitive articles, and opinions.
 Transcribe words or short sentences with increasing accuracy.
 Identify key points and details about food and festivals.

Speaking
 Say what you like and don’t like about festivals and food.
 Give your opinion about food and traditions.
 Use vouloir to ask for things politely.
 Ask and answer simple questions about food and festivals.

Reading
 Read short texts about festivals, food and markets.
 Pick out important information from reading passages.
 Translate short sentences about food and celebrations from French into English.
 Recognise and infer meaning from context and cognates.

Writing
 Write sentences about festivals and what you like to eat.
 Give opinions with reasons using parce que / car.
 Translate simple sentences about festivals and food from English into French.
 Use vouloir and the near future tense.
and c’était / ce n’était pas with adjectives.

Cultural Capital
•    Key French-speaking world festivals: 
•    Popular market food items in France
•    Regional dishes: salade niçoise, pain d’épices, choucroute
•    Christmas markets in Alsace
•    La fête des Rois (Epiphany and galette des Rois tradition)
•    Famous French regions (Alsace, Guadeloupe, Nice)

Leisure Activities
 

Unit Progress Criteria
Knowledge Skills

1. Vocabulary
- Celebrity descriptions and personality adjectives (arrogant, sérieux, drôle)
- TV programs and genres (les comédies, les dessins animés)
- Digital technology and viewing habits vocabulary
- Cinema-related vocabulary (film types, booking tickets)
- Leisure activities and frequency expressions
- Time expressions (hier, le weekend dernier, le weekend prochain)
- Numbers 20-100
- Question words (quand, où, comment, avec qui)

2. Grammar
- Singular and plural adjective agreement
- Question formation with est-ce que
- The near future tense (aller + infinitive)
- Negatives (ne...pas, ne...jamais, ne...rien)
- Perfect tense with avoir and être
- Present tense of irregular verbs (lire, prendre)
- Using three tenses together (present, perfect, near future)
- Possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes)

3. Phonics
- Key sound patterns: ô, -euille, silent final e
- Nasal sounds: en, em, ain, an
- Common pronunciation patterns: eu, ou, qu, ille
- Liaison rules with s and n

Cutlural capital:
- Learning about French media and entertainment
- Understanding leisure activities in French-speaking African countries
- Exploring French cinema culture

Listening
 Understand and pick out key words or opinions about leisure activities.
 Understand conversations about cinema plans Recognise time expressions in context
 Transcribe words or short sentences with increasing accuracy.
 Identify key points and details about TV shows and celebrities

Speaking
 Say wheat activities you did/do/will do
 Give your opinion about leisure activities with justifications
 Use regular and irregular verbs in the perfect tense.
 Ask and answer simple questions about leisure activities
Making arrangements to go out

Reading
 Read short texts about about leisure activities, TV & cinema
 Pick out important information from reading passages.
 Translate short sentences about leisure activities from French into English.
 Recognise and infer meaning from context and cognates.

Writing
 Write sentences about celebrities and TV shows using varied time frames
 Give opinions with reasons using parce que / car.
 Translate simple sentences about leisure activities from English into French.
 Use time phrases and negatives