PGC: French Progression Ladders - Year 4

Skills and knowledge 

Example contexts and language 

Arriving in Year 4 Term 2 able to… 

Listening 

Listen, understand, and respond to an increasing number of words, short phrases containing familiar language. 

• Sing sections of a song about numbers from memory  
• Point to the correct time in a Multiple Choice activity 
• Start to respond more quickly to basic classroom instructions (with support if needed) 
• Enjoy challenging themselves to see how quickly they can recall vocabulary in listening ‘Word Pop’ 

• listen to short sentences and pick out a main point e.g. a time, a day and/or an activity. 
• respond, more confidently, to basic classroom instructions. 
• listen attentively and show understanding by joining in and responding with ‘yes or no’ answers or physical reactions. 

Speaking 

Begin to communicate with others answering one or two simple familiar questions and giving basic information using familiar very short phrases and sentences. 

• Be confident when beginning the lesson saying hello and good-bye  
• Call out a few days of the week with the image as a stimulus 
• Revisit ‘J’aime’, ‘Je n’aime pas’ and add a hobby that they like or don’t like 

• with support if required, ask and answer several simple and familiar questions with a rehearsed response. 
• express a very simple opinion. 

Reading 

Recognise, read, and understand some familiar written words and short phrases. 

Read a wider range of words and very short phrases aloud. 

Show a little awareness of sound-spelling links. 

• Read and retrieve numbers 21 to 30 using the wordsearch screen 
• Follow words displayed on the whiteboard/screen at the same time as listening to them 
• Revisit days, times and hobbies to put a comic strip into the correct order 
• Use their awareness of sound-spelling links to read out a very short phrase/sentence from their own comic strip 

• read aloud several familiar short phrases and/or sentences. 
• follow words/short phrases whilst listening and reading at the same time. 

Writing 

Write one or two short phrases and/or sentences with support or a model. 

Begin to spell some common and familiar words correctly. 

Write a few simple phrases and/or sentences from memory. 

• Use a model template to make a sentence to say when you do a certain activity 
• Use ‘Blast off’ to practise spelling time phrases 
• Give pupils the option to use phrases from Year 3 to add to their comic strip 

• use the writing activity in the ‘Quiz’ to support committing short phrases to memory. 
• start to spell some common words from memory. 
• be more accepting that mistakes will be made when attempting to write short phrases or sentences from memory. 

Grammar 

Become confident in using:  

• ‘J’aime’, ‘Je n’aime pas’ 
• the negative ‘ne…pas’ in a basic way 

Be introduced to: 

• ‘il est’ + time 
• ‘À + time’ e.g. ‘à trois heures j’aime jouer au foot’ 
• ‘le + day’ e.g. ‘le mardi je n’aime pas faire de la danse’ 
• infinitive forms of ‘jouer’, ‘faire’, ‘regarder’ and ‘écouter’ 

Understand that days of the week don’t have capital letters in French. 

• Rearrange sentences to show understanding of ‘le’ + day’/’à’ + time’ 
• Use a sentence template to say which day or time you do an activity 
• Participate in ‘I’m thinking of a time’ game to practise asking ‘Quelle heure est-il?’ and giving a time 
• Translate times from English to French and vice versa 
• Choose different infinitives from a template to use in a cartoon strip 

• include a negative sentence in writing or speaking. 
• give a very simple opinion e.g. I like/don’t like to play… 

Phonics 

Be introduced to the patterns, sounds and phonemes of language to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation. 

• Explore the phonics pairs ‘I/OI’ and ‘CH/J’ 
• Begin to read one or two unfamiliar words on the phonics screen before listening to the audio 

• begin to pick out some familiar words that contain the phonics pairs ‘I/OI’ and ‘CH/J 
• pick out some familiar words that contain the phonics pairs UN/ON. EU/AU, É/È, OU/U and AN/IN 
• recall some of the mouth movements needed to make the sounds for the phonics pairs from this year 

Culture 

Start to identify similarities and differences in one’s own culture to that of another in the francophone world. 

Continue to learn about celebrations in the francophone world and about daily life in other countries where French is spoken. 

• Learn about how holiday seasons are celebrated in the French speaking areas of Canada 

• talk about a celebration in France and a Canadian French speaking area 

Skills and knowledge 

Example contexts and language 

Arriving in Year 4 Term 3 able to… 

Listening 

Listen, understand, and respond to an increasing number of short phrases made up of a wider range of familiar vocabulary.  

• Point to the correct part of the face when they hear the French 
• Move to the correct corner of the classroom to show understanding of a basic description 

• pick out colours and face parts from a song. 
• understand a very short description of a person (alien).  
• respond, more confidently, to more basic classroom instructions.  
• listen attentively and show understanding by joining in and responding with occasional short answers. 

Speaking 

Confidence improves in communicating with others answering a few simple familiar questions and giving basic information using familiar short phrases and sentences. 

• A pupil takes on the teacher role for ‘Jacques a dit’ saying ‘J’ai + part of face’ 
• Pupils work in pairs to play ‘Guess Who?’ 
• Use the template ‘How I look’ to describe themselves 
• Class sing ‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ with actions 

• with support if required, ask and answer at least two simple familiar questions about how someone is, name, age, family, birthday, and pets. 

Reading 

Recognise, read, and understand some familiar written words and phrases. 

Read a wider range of words and sentences aloud. 

Show increasing awareness of sound-spelling links. 

• Revisit zoo animals to introduce colours and match sentences to pictures 
• Drag the word to the correct part of the face 
• Use the Reading ‘Word Pop’ to match the English with French descriptions 

• read aloud several familiar short phrases and/or sentences.  
• follow a very short text at the same time as listening to it. 

Writing 

Write more short phrases and/or sentences with support or a model. 

Begin to spell more common and familiar words correctly. 

Write more simple phrases and/or sentences from memory. 

• Write a colour on a post-it from memory and stick it on an item of that colour in the classroom  
• Draw a silly face and label in French, use vocabulary support sheet if appropriate 
• Write a short description of a person or alien (with support if required from the How I look template) 

• write a few short phrases or sentences from memory which may include greetings, numbers, months, family members, pets, zoo animals, times, days, hobbies, colours, parts of the face, body parts, simple descriptions. 
• be more accepting that mistakes will be made when attempting to write short phrases or sentences from memory. 

Grammar 

Become confident in using: 

• ‘J’ai’, ‘Je suis’ 
• ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ in 3rd person singular 
• ‘Je porte’, ‘Je ne porte pas’ 

Be introduced to: 

• the position of adjectives 
• adjectival agreements 

• More confident pupils notice the order of adjectives and colours in the song 
• Use language detective skills to work out the rules for adjectives 
• Ask more confident pupils to spot any errors in the ‘Aliens’ game 
• Read and understand a short description of an alien using the 3rd person singular 

• identify key parts of the verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’. 
• use a limited range of adjectives. 
• pick out a feminine adjective ending. 

Phonics 

Be aware of the patterns, sounds and phonemes of language to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation. 

• Revise the phonics pairs ‘UN/ON’ 
• Revisit all phonics covered and play the ‘Guac-a-Mole’ game to identify which phonic sounds are the strongest for the pupil 

• pick out some words that contain the phonics pairs ‘EU/AU’, ‘É/È’, ‘OU/U’, ‘AN/IN’, ‘I/OI’ and ‘CH/J’ 
• recall some of the mouth movements needed to make the sounds for the phonics pairs from this year 

Culture 

Start to identify similarities and differences in one’s own culture to that of another in the francophone speaking world. 

Continue to learn about celebrations in the francophone world and about daily life in other countries where French is spoken. 

• Learn about how Easter is celebrated in France 
• Describe a historical figure from the francophone speaking world 

• recall a little information about how Easter is celebrated in France. 

Skills and knowledge 

Example contexts and language 

Arriving in Year 5 Term 1 able to… 

Listening 

Listen, understand, and respond to an increasing number of short phrases and sentences containing familiar language. 

• Play ‘Lotto’, ‘Splat’ and ‘Beat the Teacher’ with items of food and drink and colours  
• Begin to listen to a few familiar sounds and phrases without seeing the words e.g. a description of an alien 
• Respond, more confidently, to audios in a variety of ways e.g. Stand up if it applies to you when talking about healthy/unhealthy eating 

• have a go at picking out some familiar words and phrases without seeing the transcript. 
• listen attentively and show understanding by joining in and responding in a variety of ways. 

Speaking 

Communicate with others answering simple familiar questions and giving basic information using familiar short phrases and sentences which have been rehearsed. 

• Basic interactions at the beginning and ending of lessons are routinely embedded with most pupils. Some pupils offer more information. 
• Revisit opinion phrases to say what food and drink they like and dislike 
• Use the sentence builder to write a short paragraph on food and drink and add previously taught vocab from memory 
• Play ‘Talking Tennis Ball’ to give a sentence about what you like for a particular meal – more confident pupils give more sentences 
• Present menus with a short presentation giving opinions 

• join in speaking activities willingly and more confidently. 
• ask and answer several simple and familiar questions with a rehearsed response. 
• use familiar vocabulary to produce simple sentences giving a variety of information (using a language scaffold if needed). 

Reading 

Recognise, read, and understand some familiar written words and phrases. 

Read a wider range of words and sentences aloud. 

Show more awareness of sound-spelling links. 

• Pupils easily match pictures of food and drink to French words  
• Regular recall and matching up of previously taught words and phrases support pupils to commit these to long term memory 
• Organize a food list into categories  

• read aloud and show understanding of several more familiar short phrases and/or sentences.  
• read a simple menu in French. 

Writing 

Write several short phrases and/or sentences with support or a model. 

Spell several common and familiar words correctly. 

Write several simple phrases and/or sentences from memory. 

• Create sentences to say what they have for a particular meal using a sentence builder with English added. Intensive simple translation work will allow more confident pupils to use the sentence builder without English 
• Begin to translate longer sentences  
• Use the opinion pyramid (with English for support if appropriate) to write an extended paragraph on food and drink 

• write short phrases or sentences from memory. 
• be accepting that mistakes will be made when attempting to write short phrases or sentences from memory. 

Grammar 

Become confident in using:  

• Present tense of ‘je’ form of ‘manger’ (Je mange) 
• Definite articles ‘le, la, l’, les’ 
• Opinion phrases 

Be introduced to: 

• Present tense of ‘je’ form of ‘boire’ (Je bois) 
• Partitives - ‘some’ – ‘du, de la, de l’, des’ 
• Countable and uncountable nouns 

• Frequent recall of ‘je mange’ and  

‘je bois’ supports pupils to retain this in their long term memory 

• Organise food and drink according to their gender – this reinforces practice of definite articles and of the partitives ‘du, de la, de l’, des’ 

• demonstrate understanding of the position of common familiar adjectives. 
• use the correct form of the definite article and partitives according to the gender of the noun. 
• produce some positive and negative sentences with high frequency verbs.  

Phonics 

Explore the patterns, sounds and phonemes of language to help develop accurate pronunciation and intonation. 

• Revise the phonics pairs ‘EU/AU’ – working with a partner, pupils begin to apply their recalled knowledge of these sounds to pick out words from a list 
• Frequent recall of previously taught words and phrases supports pupils to apply their phonics knowledge 
• Begin to identify, but not necessarily pronounce, cognates that are pronounced differently using their knowledge of French sounds 

• pick out some familiar and occasionally unfamiliar words that contain the phonics pairs ‘EU/AU’, ‘É/È’, ‘OU/U’, ‘AN/IN’, ‘I/OI’ and ‘CH/J’. 
• recall some of the mouth movements needed to make the sounds for the phonics pairs from this year. 
• have a very basic awareness that the pronunciation of cognates is very different even if the spelling is similar. 
• begin to apply phonics knowledge to support reading and read very short phrases aloud with increasingly accurate pronunciation. 

Culture 

Start to identify similarities and differences in one’s own culture to that of another in the francophone world. 

Continue to learn about celebrations in the francophone world and about daily life in other countries where French is spoken. 

• Learn about classic French dishes in the francophone world 
• Learn about food etiquette  

• talk a little about a celebration in France or French speaking Canada. 
• give a little information about Easter in France. 
• name a few classic French dishes from the francophone speaking world.