Dictee – JSS1 French Lesson Note (First Term)

Dictée (dictation) is a French exercise in which the teacher reads words aloud and students write them correctly. It practises two skills: spelling a word letter by letter (épeler un mot) and writing a word that someone else has spelled (écrire un mot épelé). This note gives the Week 9 word list.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. say the names of the letters of the French alphabet;
2. spell aloud a French word from the list;
3. write a French word that is spelled out to them;
4. write correctly the words that the teacher dictates, with the right accents;
5. spell greetings and common words such as Bonjour, Merci and Au revoir.

What words are used for dictée in Week 9?

The teacher dictates words from this list, and students spell each word aloud and write it down.

1. Bonjour
2. Camarade
3. Saluer
4. Classe
5. Jour
6. Applaudissez
7. Ça va
8. Faire
9. Au revoir
10. Attention
11. Est
12. Habite
13. Viens
14. Je m’appelle
15. Ici
16. Elle est
17. Regarder
18. Belle
19. Écoute
20. Nous
21. Avoir
22. Avons
23. Lundi
24. Une voiture
25. À demain
26. Aller
27. Maman
28. Merci
29. Fois
30. Enchanté
31. Arriver
32. Que
33. À bientôt
34. Quel
35. Mot
36. Quoi
37. Français
38. Parents
39. Togolais
40. École
41. Sénégalais
42. Amie
43. Jouer
44. Amicale
45. Habiter
46. Jolis
47. Grand
48. Grosse
49. Fort
50. Bon
51. Bien
52. Écrivez
53. Tableau
54. Table

What do the Week 9 words mean?

The words fall into six groups, and knowing the meaning helps students remember the spelling.

Greetings and polite phrases

People, places and things

Verbs (action words)

Verb forms and classroom commands

Question words and small words

Describing words and nationalities

What are the names of the letters in French?

The French alphabet has the same 26 letters as English, but each letter is named differently.

What are the French accents and how are they said?

An accent is a mark on a letter that changes how it sounds and how the word is spelled.

• Accent aigu (é): slants up to the right, as in École, Écoute and Enchanté.
• Accent grave (à): slants down to the right, as in À demain.
• Accent circonflexe (ô): a small hat, as in À bientôt.
• Cédille (ç): a small tail under c, as in Ça va and Français.

A missing accent is a spelling mistake, so write every accent when you write the word.

How do you spell a French word aloud?

To spell a word aloud, say the French name of each letter in order and name any accent after its letter.

1. Look at the word and say it once.
2. Say the name of the first letter.
3. Continue letter by letter, in order.
4. Say the accent after the letter, for example “e accent aigu”.
5. Say the whole word again at the end.

• Merci: emme, eu, erre, cé, i.
• Bonjour: bé, o, enne, ji, o, u, erre.
• École: e accent aigu, cé, o, elle, eu.

How is a dictée done in class?

A dictée follows a fixed order so that every student can hear each word clearly.

1. The teacher says the word slowly.
2. The teacher says it again at normal speed.
3. Students write the word in their exercise books.
4. The teacher says the word a third time for students to check.
5. The teacher spells the word aloud, or a student does, and everyone corrects their work.
6. Students rewrite any wrong word correctly.

Useful classroom phrases

• Écoutez: Listen.
• Écrivez: Write.
• Épelez le mot, s’il vous plaît: Spell the word, please.
• Comment ça s’écrit ?: How is it written?
• Répétez, s’il vous plaît: Repeat, please.

How can you avoid mistakes in dictée?

Most dictée mistakes come from accents, double letters and silent letters.

• Accents: check À demain, École, Écrivez, Enchanté, Ça va and À bientôt.
• Double letters: note the double l in Belle, Quel and Elle est, and the double s in Grosse and Classe.
• Double letters in other words: Applaudissez, Attention, Aller, Arriver and Appelle each have a double consonant.
• Silent final letters: the last letter is often not heard in Grand, Fort, Nous, Avons, Jolis, Parents and Français.
• Silent h: the h is not pronounced in Habite and Habiter, but it must be written.
• Apostrophe: write Je m’appelle with an apostrophe after m.
• Two-word items: leave a space in Au revoir, Ça va and Une voiture.
• Days of the week: they take a small letter inside a sentence, for example lundi.

Evaluation

1. Spell aloud five words from the list.
2. Write the words that your teacher dictates to you.
3. Write the French word for each greeting you hear (for example Bonjour, Au revoir, À demain).
4. Spell the word Français letter by letter.

Assignment

Choose ten words from the list. Write each word three times, then practise spelling it aloud for your next dictée.