Lesson 3.2 Les Formes

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Look around the room. Can you find a circle? A square? A triangle? Today you learn shape names in French.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. Look again at Monet’s cathedral. High on the front of Gothic churches there is often a great round window called a rose window, made of hundreds of pieces of colored glass held together with strips of lead. The glassmakers cut circles, squares, triangles, diamonds and stars and fit them together like a puzzle. When the sun shines through, the church fills with colored light. The Bible says that God, in His wisdom, set a compass upon the face of the deep: He drew a circle! All the shapes we use come from the order He put in creation.

   Read aloud: Shapes. le cercle (circle), le carré (square), le rectangle, le triangle, l’étoile (star), le cœur (heart), le losange (diamond), l’ovale (oval).

   Read aloud: Shapes with colors. The color still comes after: un cercle rouge, un carré vert, une étoile jaune. For two or more, add an s to both: deux triangles bleus.

3. New words

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

   • la forme [lah FORM]: shape
   • le cercle [luh SEHRKL]: circle
   • le carré [luh kah-RAY]: square
   • le rectangle [luh rek-TAHNGL]: rectangle
   • le triangle [luh tree-AHNGL]: triangle
   • l’étoile [lay-TWAHL]: star
   • le cœur [luh KUHR]: heart
   • le losange [luh loh-ZAHNZH]: diamond
   • l’ovale [loh-VAHL]: oval
   • le vitrail [luh vee-TRAI]: stained-glass window
   • la fenêtre [lah fuh-NETR]: window
4. Show how

   Show: Say a green square.

   Say this: “Square is le carré.”

   Say this: “Green comes after: vert.”

   Answer: Un carré vert.

   Show: Say three red stars.

   Say this: “Star is l’étoile (a la word).”

   Say this: “Plural: étoiles rouges.”

   Answer: Trois étoiles rouges.

5. Practice together

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

   Ask: Say circle in French.

   Listen for: Le cercle.

   Ask: Say square in French.

   Listen for: Le carré.

   Ask: Say heart in French.

   Listen for: Le cœur.

   3 more on the lesson page.

6. Project: Paper stained glass

   Read aloud: Make a stained-glass window from colored shapes and describe it in French.

   Steps:

   1. Fold the black paper and cut out shapes to make window openings (a parent helps).
   2. Glue colored tissue paper behind each opening.
   3. Tape it to a sunny window.
   4. Describe it in French: Il y a un cercle rouge, trois triangles bleus et une étoile jaune.

   Tips for you:

   • Make a round rose window with a star in the middle.
   • Count every shape in French.

   Done when your child can say:

   • My window has at least five shapes.
   • I described it in French with colors.
7. Sketchbook

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

   1. Draw six shapes in your French notebook, each a different color. Label each: un cercle rouge, un carré vert…
8. From history

   Read aloud: The cathedral of Chartres, near Paris, still has most of its stained glass from about eight hundred years ago, with three great rose windows.

9. Watch for
   • Forgetting the s on the color with plurals: deux cercles rouges.
   • Saying carré without the accent. é says ay: kah-RAY.
10. Game: Shape detective

    Set a timer for two minutes. Walk around the house and find as many shapes as you can, saying each in French: un cercle! (a plate), un rectangle! (a door). Count your finds in French.

11. Narration

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

    Listen for: Name six shapes in French.; Describe shapes with colors: un triangle bleu.; Make a stained-glass window of shapes.

12. Scripture

    When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

    In the Louis Segond Bible (1910): <i lang="fr">Lorsqu’il traça un cercle à la surface de l’abîme</i> Wisdom tells how God set a compass, drawing a circle, on the face of the deep. Shapes and order come from the mind of the Creator.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 20–30 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.