Les vacances du Petit Nicolas Comprehension tasks What do you already know? 1. Read the text in French and highlight all the words that you recognise with a highlighter pen or coloured pencil. 2. How many times are meals mentioned (e.g. breakfast, lunch, dinner)? 3. How many reflexive verbs can you find (e.g. on se lève)?
Now answer the following questions in English. 1. What time does Nicolas get up in the morning? ............................................................................................................. 2. What is the first thing he does after this? ............................................................................................................. 3. Whilst getting washed, what mischief does he get up to with his friends? ............................................................................................................. 4. What does he eat for breakfast and what does he think of it? ............................................................................................................. 5. What activities take place before lunch? ............................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................. 6. When and where do they sing? ............................................................................................................. Creative writing Write a short description of a similar school trip or day away with your friends/family. Aim to write a minimum of 100 words and include the following information: a. Using the past tense, say what time you got up, got dressed etc.(your routine). b. Include what you ate and drank. c. Give your opinion of the day/trip and reasons why. d. Use connectives such as puis (then), ensuite (next) and après (after) to link your sentences. e. Use a dictionary wisely to look up other words and expressions which will make your story more creative and varied.
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Les vacances du Petit Nicolas Teaching notes This resource is based on the opening paragraphs of chapter 12 (‘La Baignade) of Les Vacances du Petit Nicholas by Sempé-Goscinny, 1995. For copyright reasons we are not able to reproduce the text here, but it is freely available online via the link below – simply paste into Word (from the start of the chapter, ‘Dans le camp où je passé mes vacances’, to ‘quelquefois autour d’un grand feu.’) and copy for your students. Before tackling the comprehension tasks, you may like to read the story to your class, and check for understanding sentence by sentence. You could also project the text or part of the text and play ‘find the French’ where students race to touch the French equivalent of the English phrase you say. roble.pntic.mec.es/apadilla/autourdufrancais/contenus/coursdefrancais/4ESO/Litteratu re/Le%20petit%20Nicolas/la_baignade.html
Answers Meals mentioned: le petit déjeuner, le déjeuner, le dîner. Reflexive verbs: on se lève, s’habiller, on s’amuse bien, se jetant, se dépêchent. Comprehension questions: 1. 8.00. 2. Get dressed. 3. They throw water in each other’s faces. 4. Really good – he eats ‘tartines’ (bread and jam or chocolate spread). 5. Exercises, assembly, making the beds, cleaning, swimming at the beach. 6. They sing after lunch, and again after dinner, sometimes around the big fire.
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