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Parent guide · Grade 1 French · Unit 2

Lesson 2.2 Dans Ma Chambre

Written for the parent. The Read aloud parts are written to your child; read them as they are. Do this parts are for you. Answers for you are marked Listen for.

At a glance

Time
3 sessions of 15–20 minutes
Goal
Name the bedroom, the bed, the chair, the table and the lamp in French. Describe a painting of a bedroom. Say a bedtime verse.
You need
  • A shoebox lying on its side
  • Paper, crayons, glue, small boxes or blocks for furniture
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (1:53))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Go to your bedroom. What do you sleep in? What do you sit on? Today you learn the French names.

  2. Read aloud: The story. Vincent van Gogh was a painter from Holland who moved to the south of France, to a sunny town called Arles. He rented a little yellow house and got a small bedroom ready. He was so pleased with it that he painted it: a wooden bed with a red blanket, two chairs, a little table with a pitcher, pictures on the blue walls, and a window with green shutters. He wrote to his brother that he wanted the picture to feel restful, like a good night’s sleep.

    Read aloud: How French sounds. In chambre, the am is hummed through the nose: SHAHM-bruh. In lit, the t is quiet: LEE. In chaise, ch is sh again, and the s buzzes: SHEZ.

    Read aloud: Say it and move. Lie down and close your eyes: le lit! Sit down: la chaise! Pat the tabletop: la table! Click a pretend switch: la lampe! Spread your arms for the whole room: la chambre!

  3. Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

    • la chambre [lah SHAHM-bruh]: bedroom
    • le lit [luh LEE]: bed
    • la chaise [lah SHEZ]: chair
    • la table [lah TAH-bluh]: table
    • la lampe [lah LAHMP]: lamp
    • voici ma chambre [vwah-SEE mah SHAHM-bruh]: here is my bedroom
  4. A small bedroom with pale blue walls and a sloping wooden floor: a tall wooden bed with a red cover and two pillows, two straw-seated chairs, a little table with a pitcher and bowl, a mirror and framed pictures on the walls, and a half-open window with green shutters.
    The Bedroom, Vincent van Gogh, 1889. Image: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

    Do this: Look at the picture together for a quiet minute before anyone talks.

    Read aloud: Van Gogh painted his bedroom in the yellow house in Arles three times; this smaller copy he made in 1889 as a gift for his mother and sister. He used bright, flat colors, blue walls, a red blanket, yellow furniture, because he wanted the room to look calm and simple. The floor and walls tilt a little, as if you were standing in the doorway looking in.

    Point and find:

    • Find the bed. What color is the blanket?
    • How many chairs are there?
    • Find the window. Is it open or shut?
    • Count the pictures on the walls.

    Ask:

    • “What is in your bedroom that is not in this one?”
    • “Which color would you paint your bedroom walls?”

  5. Show: Where do you sleep? Say it in French.

    Say this: “We sleep in a bed.”

    Say this: “Bed is le lit.”

    Answer: Le lit.

    Show: What do you sit on at the table?

    Say this: “We sit on a chair.”

    Say this: “Chair is la chaise.”

    Answer: La chaise.

  6. Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

    Ask: Say bed in French.

    Listen for: Le lit.

    Ask: Say chair in French.

    Listen for: La chaise.

    Ask: Say lamp in French.

    Listen for: La lampe.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  7. Read aloud: Make a little bedroom in a shoebox and label each thing in French.

    Steps:

    1. Color the inside walls like Van Gogh: blue walls, a brown floor.
    2. Make a bed, a chair, a table and a lamp from paper or small boxes.
    3. A parent writes tiny labels: le lit, la chaise, la table, la lampe.
    4. Glue each label next to its piece.
    5. Show your room and say Voici ma chambre! Voici le lit!

    Tips for you:

    • Add a red blanket on the bed like Van Gogh’s.
    • Put a little window on the wall.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My shoebox room has four pieces of furniture.
    • Each piece has a French label.

  8. Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

    1. Draw your own bed, chair and lamp. A parent writes le lit, la chaise and la lampe.

  9. Read aloud: Van Gogh sold very few paintings while he lived, but today his paintings are among the most loved in the world. He wrote hundreds of letters to his brother Theo, and drew a little sketch of this bedroom in one of them.

    • Saying the t in lit. It is quiet: LEE.
    • Saying chaise with a ch as in cheese. It is sh: SHEZ.

  11. A parent calls out a piece of furniture in French: la chaise! Run and touch it. When the parent says le lit, lie down and say Bonne nuit! Take turns calling.

  12. Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Name the bedroom, the bed, the chair, the table and the lamp in French.; Describe a painting of a bedroom.; Say a bedtime verse.

  13. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

    Psalm 4:8 (KJV)

    In the French Bible of Louis Segond (1910), this verse reads: <i lang="fr">Je me couche et je m’endors en paix.</i> King David could lie down and sleep in peace because God kept him safe. When you get into le lit tonight, remember that God watches over you.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

  1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Picture study and show how.
  2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
  3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.