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Parent guide · Grade 2 French · Unit 4

Lesson 4.2 Les Animaux de la Mer

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 five sea animals in French. Sing a short song about the whale. Hear that God created the great whales.
You need
  • A shoebox or a sheet of blue paper
  • Paper, crayons, scissors, string or tape
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (1:11))

Steps

  1. Do this together: What lives in the sea? Name as many sea animals as you can in English. Today you learn them in French.

  2. Read aloud: The story. On the fifth day of creation, God filled the seas with living things. The Bible says, God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly. The blue whale is the biggest animal that has ever lived, longer than two school buses, yet it eats tiny creatures smaller than your fingernail. Dolphins leap and play, crabs walk sideways, and the octopus has eight arms. God saw all of it, and it was good.

    Read aloud: How French sounds. In poisson, the double s says s: pwah-SOHN. Be careful: with one s, poison means poison! In dauphin, au says oh and in is hummed: doh-FAN. In baleine, ei says eh: bah-LEN.

    Read aloud: Say it and move. Spout water like la baleine! Swim with your hands together like le poisson! Leap up high like le dauphin! Walk sideways like le crabe! Wiggle eight arms like la pieuvre!

  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 mer [lah MEHR]: sea
    • la baleine [lah bah-LEN]: whale
    • le poisson [luh pwah-SOHN]: fish
    • le dauphin [luh doh-FAN]: dolphin
    • le crabe [luh KRAHB]: crab
    • la pieuvre [lah PYUHVR]: octopus

  4. Show: What is the biggest sea animal? Say it in French.

    Say this: “The biggest is the whale.”

    Say this: “Whale is la baleine.”

    Answer: La baleine.

    Show: Is it poisson or poison for fish?

    Say this: “Fish has a double s.”

    Answer: Poisson.

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

    Ask: Say whale in French.

    Listen for: La baleine.

    Ask: Say fish in French.

    Listen for: Le poisson.

    Ask: Say sea in French.

    Listen for: La mer.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  6. Read aloud: Make a little ocean scene with sea animals labeled in French.

    Steps:

    1. Color the inside of the box blue like the sea.
    2. Draw and cut out a whale, fish, a dolphin, a crab and an octopus.
    3. A parent writes the French names on them.
    4. Hang them with string or tape them inside.
    5. Give a tour: Voici la baleine!

    Tips for you:

    • Add sand or shells for the sea floor.
    • Make the whale the biggest of all.

    Done when your child can say:

    • My ocean has five sea animals with French names.
    • I can name each one.

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

    1. Draw a sea with a whale, a fish, a dolphin, a crab and an octopus. Label each one in French. Write la mer at the top.

  8. Read aloud: For hundreds of years, the oldest son of the king of France was called the Dauphin, the Dolphin. The title came from a region called the Dauphiné, whose lords had a dolphin on their coat of arms, and the prince’s arms showed a dolphin too.

    • Saying poisson with a z sound. Double s says s; poison (one s) means poison.
    • Saying the n in dauphin. It is hummed: doh-FAN.

  10. Draw sea animals on paper fish with a paper clip on each. Fish with a magnet on a string. Say the French name of every animal you catch!

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

    Listen for: Name five sea animals in French.; Sing a short song about the whale.; Hear that God created the great whales.

  12. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

    Genesis 1:21 (KJV)

    In the French Bible of Louis Segond (1910), this verse reads: <i lang="fr">Dieu créa les grands poissons.</i> God created the great whales and every creature in the sea, and He saw that it was good.

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.