French Lesson Plan on Possessive Adjectives: Les Adjectifs Possessifs for Many Different Levels
Language Level: This lesson is easily adapted to different levels, although you would not normally start off with such a complete lesson on possessive adjectives when the students have had no French at all. They should have already covered definite and indefinite articles, the idea of grammatical gender, basic sentence structure and some basic vocabulary. To match the level you teach, you can add more detailed information-such as more explanation, more examples and more exercises-as needed. Or, you might simplify the lesson. You’ll know best how much your students will need.
Grade Level: As for grade level, you should be able to use this with French classes starting in sixth or seventh grade and right through many of the French courses offered at the college level. For most French 1 courses at any grade level, this should be fine. For more advanced students, it would be a simple review, of course. For younger students, they may learn more by examples rather than by a complete lesson on all the possessive adjectives, so this might be too much information. You know your grade best. Some fourth or fifth graders might be ok!
Teacher Section
I’ve given you a Student Section (below) which you can copy to a document, so you have something to hand out to your students. Your students will be able to follow along and make notes on the page as you talk about the different parts of the lesson. This Teacher Section will have tips and suggestions (some in brackets) to share with them. It’s probably best to have them write down some of the information in their own way, so they’re more apt to remember it.
I’ve kept the format very simple to avoid too many layout issues. Paste the text into a document, and you can make the changes you’d like to make. I tend to use a lot of tabs to make my own charts in lesson plans, and to help some parts stand out, but formatting doesn’t always carry over when you paste into a new document.
Sections II and III each have a Petit Exercice, which you can include with the student section if you’d like, and then either put them on the board or do them all by speaking.
Les Adjectifs Possessifs en Français / Possessive Adjectives in French
Main lesson = possessive adjectives
Also mentioned = gender and number, indefinite and definite articles, vowels and vowel sounds (“h” words), nasal vowels, adjectives
I. General Formula for working with possessive adjectives…
1. Which group do you choose?
*Teacher:
a. How do you know? Depends on what you want to say-choose the “mon” group for my, the “ton” group for you (informal singular), etc.
b. Remember, there are two “you” groups, so be sure of the difference.
2. Which form do you choose?
*Teacher:
a. What tells you which form to choose? Look to the word the possessive adjective modifies-not the speaker or subject-you will match the noun’s gender (masculine, feminine) and number (singular, plural)
b. Remember, once you go plural, it’s plural. Gender is no longer a consideration.
3. Vowel or vowel sound? –for the first three groups
*Teacher:
a. How have we seen vowels make us change what we use? …this is only a concern for feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel (ex. mon école = my school) OR when an adjective beginning with a vowel comes between the possessive adjective and the noun (ex. mon ancienne école = my former school)
b. Note: not all words beginning with “h” will count as a vowel sound situation (Give students examples like : ex. le hamster, le haricot vert…)
II. First three possessive adjective groups.
1.Les groupes.
my : mon, ma, mes *[related to Je m’appelle]
your : ton, ta, tes (this is the singular informal your) *[related to Tu] *[related to Tu t’appelles]
his/her : son, sa, ses *[related to Il s’appelle]
*Teacher:
[Relate to the indefinite and definite articles the students have already learned; how there’s a masculine singular form, a feminine singular form and a plural form. Also, mention how you sometimes must consider a vowel, as with le and la becoming l’.]
[Remind them about the nasal vowels, as in mon.]
[Be sure you’ve talked about the two “you” groups and how they’re used.]
2. Des exemples.
a. feminine nouns (with vowel changes):
ma chaise, ma calculatrice, ma gomme, mon école (f), mon amie (note also: mon ami)
b. masculine nouns:
mon cahier, mon sac à dos, mon classeur, mon livre
c. plural nouns:
mes devoirs (m), mes stylos (m), mes gommes (f), mes affiches (f)
3. Petit Exercice : Mon, ma ou mes ? … et pourquoi ?
(1) sac à dos (2) cahier (3) mère (4) calculatrice (5) affiche (6) stylo (7) devoirs (pluriel) (8) crayons (pluriel) (9) école (10) règle
*[On the board or spoken…][You can ask why they chose the forms they chose.]
III. Second three possessive adjective groups.
1. Les groupes.
our : notre, nos * [the N is related to Nous]
your : votre, vos (this is both a singular formal your and plural your) *[related to Vous]
their : leur, leurs
*Teacher:
[Once again, remind your students of the articles, but show that the singular forms do not vary in these groups.]
[Mention why a vowel doesn’t affect the choice (the letter -r, mute -e, silent -s).]
2. Des exemples.
a. masculine & feminine nouns (no vowel changes):
notre salle de classe (f), votre bureau (m), leur livre (m), notre école (f)
b. plural nouns:
nos devoirs (m), vos stylos (m), leurs gommes (f), vos étudiants (m&f)
3. Petit Exercice : Ton, ta, tes ou votre, vos ? … et pourquoi ?
(1) ami/chambre (2) professeur/classe (3) mère/voiture (4) cousine/frères (5) professeur/étudiants (6) amie/chien (Fifi) (7) cousin/père (8) camarade de classe/devoirs (9) secrétaire/bureau (10) chien/lit
*[The first word is who you’re talking to and the second is the object.][You can ask why they chose the group they chose.]
Student Section
Les Adjectifs Possessifs en Français / Possessive Adjectives in French
I. General Formula
1. Which group?
2. Which form?
3. Vowel or vowel sound? (first three groups)
II. First three possessive adjective groups.
1. Les groupes.
my : mon, ma, mes
your : ton, ta, tes
his/her : son, sa, ses
2. Des exemples.
a. feminine nouns (some with vowels):
ma chaise, ma calculatrice, ma gomme, mon école (f), mon amie (note: mon ami)
b. masculine nouns:
mon cahier, mon sac à dos, mon classeur, mon livre
c. plural nouns:
mes devoirs (m), mes stylos (m), mes gommes (f)
III. Second three possessive adjective groups.
1. Les groupes.
our : notre, nos
your : votre, vos (this is both a singular formal your and plural your)
their : leur, leurs
2. Des exemples.
a. masculine & feminine nouns (no vowel changes):
notre salle de classe (f), votre bureau (m), leur livre (m), notre école (f)
b. plural nouns:
nos devoirs (m), vos stylos (m), leurs gommes (f), vos étudiants (m&f)
