Guideline

A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
Guideline
Dear professors,
The Alliance Française de Melbourne pedagogical kit is a tool to prepare a visit to the NGV
Monet exhibition. However it can also be used to widen your students’ knowledge about this
famous artist while learning French.
We have chosen 5 main themes: colors, the garden, painting and gardening, the weather, and
the portrait. Each comes with a series of activities, a cultural point, and
suggestions for a visit to the museum.
To help you teach specific vocabulary, this guide offers flashcards that we encourage you to use
in order to introduce some activities.
So as to adjust this kit as much as possible to the level of your class, you can:
• choose to use all of the activities or not.
• tweak the activities in order to fit your purposes.
This guideline will indicate:
• the learning outcome of each series of activities
• suggestions on how to implement them in class
• suggestions on how to implement them at the museum should you decide to organize a visit
to the exhibition.
À la découverte de Monet.
Discovering Monet.
These activities will help you introduce Monet and his favorite landscape, the garden.
Learning outcome
Grammaire
Vocabulaire
• AIMER + NOM 
Exemple: j’aime la poésie
• ADORER + NOM J J J
Exemple: j’adore la grammaire
• AIMER/ADORER + VERBE à l’infinitif
Exemple: j’aime lire/ j’adore écrire.
• NE PAS AIMER:   
Exemple: Je n’aime pas les mathématiques.
• DETESTER: L L 
Exemple: Je déteste les sciences physiques.
les matières scolaires:
• Le français, le japonais,
le mandarin …
• La littérature, la géographie,
la philosophie …
• L’anglais, l’espagnol, l’histoire …
• Les mathématiques, les sciences
naturelles, les arts plastiques …
The “culture” box allows you to give basic information about Monet, and comes with a picture
of Monet and two of the paintings that will be exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria.
“Monet et toi” is an oral activity. It introduces school subjects and the expression of likes and
dislikes.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
Une explosion de couleurs.
An explosion of colours.
Learning outcome
Grammaire
• C’EST + ADJECTIF
Exemple: c’est bleu
Vocabulaire
Les couleurs: jaune, vert, bleu, rouge, orange,
violet, rose, marron, noir, indigo.
Un arc-en-ciel.
Couleur chaude/couleur froide.
Activity 1 introduces colours in French. It can be group work or individual work.
You can:
• proceed to a general conversation activity by asking the students what their favourite
colour is.
• decide to introduce the question « quelle est ta couleur préférée? » and let them
ask each other.
• ask them to circle warm colours and bring up the artistic concept of « couleur chaude » /
« couleur froide » that will be developed in the “culture” box.
Activity 2: the students will reuse the colours and the idea of « couleur chaude » / « couleur
froide ».
You can end activity 2 by asking them what painting they prefer.
Activity 3: the students write down the name of the colours they can see on the palettes. You
can then ask them to match one palette with a painting by Monet.
“Visite au musée”: while you are visiting the exhibition, you can ask the students
to look for and write down the name of one painting with warm colours and another one with
cool colours.
Activity 4: there is a grid in which the names of rainbow colours are hidden.
After they have found the words, you can ask the students to colour up the boxes
with the corresponding colours.
Activity 5 consists in two colourings with numbers. There are two levels: an easy one and a
more difficult one.
You can:
• use it as a reward after the lesson.
• give it as homework.
• use it to keep the faster students busy while others are finishing off an exercise.
As a final general conversation activity, you could project a painting by Monet on the board.
One student comes to the front. You can ask him or her to show you a particular colour, telling
him or her: « montre-moi du bleu / du jaune / du vert … ».
To make it even more engaging, the students can eventually ask each other.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
Dans le jardin.
In the garden.
Learning outcome
Grammaire
• C’EST + un / une + NOM
Exemple: c’est un nénuphar.
• IL Y A + un / une + NOM
Exemple: il y a un saule pleureur.
• Conjugaison de certains verbes à
la troisième personne du singulier.
(ratisser, planter, arroser, cueillir, offrir).
Exemple: il arrose les fleurs.
Vocabulaire
• Le jardin de Monet: un étang, un
nénuphar, un pont japonais, un saule
pleureur, un roseau.
• Les animaux de l’étang:
un têtard, un crapaud, un canard, un
oiseau, un poisson, un moustique. une
grenouille, une libellule.
• Le jardinage: ratisser, planter, arroser,
cueillir, offrir.
The “culture” box introduces Monet and his artistic relationship to his garden.
Before studying “le paysage” and activity 1, make sure you introduce the vocabulary of
Monet’s garden with the flashcards. You can decide to remove some vocabulary according
to the level of your students.
Activity 1 allows the students to get more familiar with this vocabulary. You can ask the
students to cut and paste the images above the corresponding words.
In activity 2, the students will have to find out the elements of Monet’s garden within a
painting and write them down.
The “visite au musée” box will help you involve the students in the exhibition. They will
have to look for paintings including waterlilies, and paintings including a Japanese bridge.
Then they will have to give their opinion about them by choosing their favourite one.
Before studying “les animaux de l’étang” and activity 1, make sure you introduce the
vocabulary of the pond animals with the flashcards. You can decide to remove some
vocabulary according to the level of your students.
You can then proceed to activity 1, where the students need to recognize the vocabulary
and match images with the corresponding words.
Activity 2 allows the students to reuse this vocabulary by writing it down in a grid.
The “culture” box about “Le jardinage” is a great way to engage the students in the study
of Monet’s relationship to his garden. Indeed, they can identify with Monet’s children who
helped the painter take care of his garden.
Activity 1 introduces the different steps of planting and gathering flowers. The students
will put the actions in chronological order.
In activity 2, the students will learn the different verbs involved and write them down in
sentences.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
Activity 3 gives another glimpse of Monet’s garden to the students. It is a means to revise
colours. You can ask the students to answer the question by using the structure “IL Y A DU”.
(“Il y a du bleu / du rouge / du jaune…”)
Qui est Monet: un peintre ou un jardinier?
Who is Monet: a painter or a gardener?
Learning outcome
Grammaire
• AVOIR: IL + A + un / une + nom
Exemple: il a un pinceau / il a une pelle.
• TU + AS + un / une + nom
Exemple: tu as une brouette / un râteau.
ETRE: IL + EST + profession
Exemple: il est jardinier.
• TU + ES + profession
Exemple: tu es jardinier.
Vocabulaire
• Les couleurs
• Les outils du peintre: un pinceau, une
palette, un chevalet, un tube de peinture.
• Les outils du jardinier: un râteau, un
arrosoir, une pelle, une brouette.
Before doing activity 1, you can use the flashcards to familiarize the students with the
vocabulary. You can decide to remove some vocabulary according to the level of your students.
Activity 1 both presents the vocabulary of the painter’s and the gardener’s tools and
reintroduces the colours.
In activity 2, the students will appropriate the vocabulary. They will have to differentiate the
gardener’s from the painter’s tools and write them down in the table.
Activity 3 is an oral exercise that will help the students reuse the vocabulary of the gardener’s
and the painter’s tools. Each student chooses a profession: painter or gardener. They will then
converse in pairs in order to find out what their neighbour’s profession is. They will ask each
other what tools they possess in order to discover what their occupations are. For example: “tu
as une brouette?”
Activity 4 focuses on Monet as a painter. The students define Monet as a painter and justify
their answer by writing down the name of his tools.
The “culture” box will allow you to explain that Monet was both a painter and a gardener, and
that his gardens, especially in Giverny, were a major inspiration for his paintings.
The “visite au musée” box will help the students get involved in the exhibition. They will look
for paintings depicting weeping willows and a Japanese bridge.
In activity 5 there is a picture of Monet in his garden with gardening and painting tools
scattered around. You can ask the students to write down the names of the tools they can see.
They will then find the odd tool.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
As a final activity, you can ask the students to do an exercise inspired by activity 4 in pairs.
• Each student prepares a list of gardening and/or painting tools. (For example: “une pelle,
trois râteaux, deux arrosoirs, un chevalet …”)
• He or she will then dictate the list to his or her neighbour, who will draw a picture of Monet
in his garden including all these elements.
Qu’il pleuve ou qu’il vente.
Come rain or shine.
Learning outcome
Grammaire
• C’EST + le / l’ + saison
Exemple: c’est le printemps / c’est
l’hiver…
• IL FAIT + temps
Exemple: il fait chaud / il fait froid
Il fait beau / il fait mauvais.
• IL Y A + de la / du + intempérie
Exemple: il y a du soleil / il y a de la
neige…
Vocabulaire
• Les saisons: le printemps, l’été, l’automne,
l’hiver.
• Le temps:
le vent, le brouillard, le nuage, le soleil, le gel.
la pluie, la neige, la grêle.
l’orage.
il fait beau, il fait mauvais, il fait chaud, il fait
froid.
As an introduction to these activities about the weather and all the vocabulary involved you can:
• Use the flashcards
• Play bingo. You can easily create a bingo game with weather images by going on the
following website: http://www.toolsforeducators.com/bingo/.
Activity 1 deals with the seasons. The students look at Monet’s paintings and associate the
right season to each landscape.
The “culture” box will allow you to explain why Monet often paints the same landscapes
several times. He is interested in the shifting of weather conditions and the way they modify
the landscape.
In activity 2, the students will reuse the vocabulary of the weather. You can ask them to
associate different weather conditions with several images representing cold, warm, good and
bad weather.
In activity 3, the students will stand in Monet’s shoes. They will draw a particular landscape
in a different season. You can then ask them to describe their new landscape to their neighbour
who will have to guess what season it is. The students will thus reuse the vocabulary of the
weather, but also of colours.
The “visite au musée” box will turn the students into aspiring weathermen. You can ask them
to choose a painting and determine the weather in which the landscape is depicted. They will
then present the weather conditions of the landscape they chose.
If you are not going to the exhibition, you can project the paintings on the board in class and
implement the same activity with the students.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
Le portrait.
The portrait.
Learning outcome
Grammaire
• ETRE: ILS + SONT + couleur
Exemple: ses cheveux sont blonds.
• AVOIR: IL + A
Exemple: mon monstre a deux oreilles.
Vocabulaire
• Les parties du visage:
le menton, le nez, le front.
la bouche, la joue.
l’oreille, l’œil.
les cheveux
• Les couleurs
• Les chiffres (1 à 5)
The “culture” box introduces another aspect of Monet’s works, his portraits. The students
discover portraits of Monet’s two sons, Jean and Michel.
The “visite au musée” box will help you strike a conversation at the museum: how many
portraits are there in the exhibition? Which is your favourite? You can then ask the students
to draw their favourite portrait.
In activity 1, the students write down the names of the facial features they can see on Monet’s
portrait of his son Jean. You can remove or add vocabulary according to the level of your
students (“les sourcils, les narines, les lèvres, le cou …”)
You can them ask them about the colours of certain features, such as Jean’s hair and his eyes.
In activity 2 the students will reuse the names of facial features they have learned, and
numbers as well. The first step is to ask them to draw the portrait of a monster. They will
then describe their monster to their neighbour using the following phrase: “mon monstre a …”.
For example: “mon monstre a deux bouches. Mon monstre a trois oreilles …”. Their neighbour
will then draw the portrait of the monster that is being described. In the end, the two
students compare their portraits.
Pour aller plus loin …
To go further …
Here is an activity which can be implemented after your visit to the NGV.
The students will reuse some vocabulary from several themes (the colours, the garden, and the
weather) and use the numbers. You can add or remove some elements according to the themes
you have chosen to study in class.
In a), the students must draw a landscape including specific elements related to Monet’s
landscape in different colours.
In b), they describe their drawing to their neighbour.
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
All works © Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris © Bridgeman-Giraudon / Presse unless otherwise indicated
Nadar
Portrait of Claude Monet 1901
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Claude Monet
Waterloo Bridge (1899–1901)
Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
Photo: Jenni Carter
Claude Monet
Yellow irises (Iris jaunes) (1924–25)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5095)
Claude Monet
The garden at Giverny
(Le Jardin à Giverny) (1922–26)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5102)
Claude Monet
Waterlilies (Nymphéas) (1903)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5163)
Claude Monet
Waterlilies (Nymphéas) (1916–19)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5164)
Claude Monet
The bridge over the waterlily pond 1900
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Mr and Mrs Lewis Larned Coburn Memorial
Collection, 1923 (inv. 33.441)
Photo: Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
Unknown
Claude Monet in his garden at Giverny c.1925
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Unknown
Claude Monet outside his house at Giverny 1921
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
© Patrice Schmidt /Musée d’Orsay distribution
RMN
A French Education Kit for Teachers and Primary School Students
All works © Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris © Bridgeman-Giraudon / Presse unless otherwise indicated
Henri Manuel
Claude Monet with his waterlily paintings c.1920
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Claude Monet
Roses (Les Roses) (1925–26)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5096)
Claude Monet
Rough weather at Étretat
(Gros temps à Étretat) (1883)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1913 (582-2)
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Claude Monet
The path under the rose arches, Giverny
(L’Allée des rosiers, Giverny) (1920–22)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5089)
Claude Monet
Norway, the red houses at Bjørnegaard (Norvège,
les maisons rouges à Bjørnegaard) (1895)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5170)
Claude Monet
Taking a walk near Argenteuil
(En promenade près d’Argenteuil) (1875)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Mrs Nelly Sergeant-Duhem, 1985 (inv. 5332)
Claude Monet
Portrait of Jean Monet
(Portrait de Jean Monet) 1880
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5021)
Claude Monet
Portrait of Michel wearing a hat with a pompom
(Portrait de Michel en bonnet à pompon) (1880)
Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris
Gift of Michel Monet, 1966 (inv. 5018)