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Parent guide · Grade 1 French · Unit 3

Lesson 3.1 Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi

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
Say the seven days of the week in French.; Ask and answer Quel jour sommes-nous?; Mark the days on a calendar.
You need
  • A sheet of paper
  • A ruler, crayons, and stickers or a marker
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (1:37))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Say the days of the week in English. What day is it today? What day comes after it?

  2. Read aloud: The story. When God made the world, He worked six days and rested on the seventh, and He gave us the week of seven days. Long ago the Romans named the days after the moon and the planets they saw in the sky. French still keeps those old names: lundi is the moon’s day (the moon is la lune), mardi is the day of Mars, mercredi of Mercury, jeudi of Jupiter, vendredi of Venus. But samedi comes from the Sabbath, and dimanche comes from the Latin words for the Lord’s day, the day Christians worship because Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

    Read aloud: How French sounds. Almost every French day ends in di, which means day: lun-di, mar-di. The French lean on that last part: luhn-DEE. In dimanche, the an is hummed and the ch is sh: dee-MAHNSH. French days do not start with a capital letter.

    Read aloud: Say it and move. March in place and say a day with each step: lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, and on dimanche, fold your hands and rest!

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

    • lundi [luhn-DEE]: Monday
    • mardi [mar-DEE]: Tuesday
    • mercredi [mehr-kruh-DEE]: Wednesday
    • jeudi [zhuh-DEE]: Thursday
    • vendredi [vahn-druh-DEE]: Friday
    • samedi [sahm-DEE]: Saturday
    • dimanche [dee-MAHNSH]: Sunday
    • quel jour? [kel ZHOOR]: what day? (Quel jour sommes-nous? what day is it?)

  4. Show: What day comes after lundi?

    Say this: “Lundi is Monday.”

    Say this: “Tuesday comes next: mardi.”

    Answer: Mardi.

    Show: Quel jour sommes-nous? (It is Friday.)

    Say this: “Friday is vendredi.”

    Say this: “Say C’est vendredi.”

    Answer: C’est vendredi.

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

    Ask: Say Monday in French.

    Listen for: Lundi.

    Ask: Say Sunday in French.

    Listen for: Dimanche.

    Ask: What does di at the end of the days mean?

    Listen for: Day.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  6. Read aloud: Make a week calendar in French and mark each day.

    Steps:

    1. A parent draws seven boxes in a row.
    2. A parent writes a French day in each box, lundi to dimanche; trace each word.
    3. Draw a little picture in each box of something you do that day.
    4. Every morning, ask Quel jour sommes-nous? and put a sticker on today.

    Tips for you:

    • Hang it by the breakfast table.
    • Color dimanche gold.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My calendar has seven French days.
    • I can say which day it is.

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

    1. Write the seven days down the page (a parent writes, you trace). Draw a moon next to lundi and a church next to dimanche.

  8. Read aloud: In French schools, Wednesday afternoon used to be a holiday for children, and in many towns it still is a short school day.

    • Starting the days with a capital letter. In French they are small: lundi.
    • Saying the d in dimanche like an English d plus a long i. It is dee-MAHNSH.

  10. A parent says a day in French. Say the day that comes after it. Then say the day that comes before it. Speed up!

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

    Listen for: Say the seven days of the week in French.; Ask and answer Quel jour sommes-nous?; Mark the days on a calendar.

  12. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

    Psalm 90:12 (KJV)

    In the French Bible of Louis Segond (1910), this verse reads: <i lang="fr">Enseigne-nous à bien compter nos jours.</i> Moses prayed that God would teach us to count our days well, so that we would grow wise. Every day of the week is a gift to use well.

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. 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.