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French Phonics Collection�

SSC [closed o/ô]

Artwork by: Chloé Motard

Date updated: 19/02/21

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SSC [closed o/ô]

phonétique

Introduction

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closed o/ô

photo

Timing: 1 minute

Aim: To introduce SSC closed [o/ô]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the [o/ô] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”photo” on its own, say it, students repeat it, so that they have the opportunity to focus all of their attention on the connection between the written word and its sound.

3. A possible gesture for this would be to mime opening and closing a door.�4. Roll back the animations and work through 1-3 again, but this time, dropping your voice completely to listen carefully to the students saying the [o] sound, pronouncing ”photo” and, if using, doing the gesture.

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French):

photo [1412]�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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closed o/ô

photo

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closed o/ô

photo

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closed o/ô

photo

hôpital

mot

chose

[thing]

drôle

contrôle

[word]

[test]

[funny]

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Timing: 2 minutes

Aim: To introduce/consolidate SSC closed [o/ô]

Procedure:

1. Introduce and elicit the pronunciation of the individual SSC [o/ô] and then the source word again ‘photo’ (with gesture, if using).�2. Then present and elicit the pronunciation of the five cluster words.

�The cluster words have been chosen for their high-frequency, from a range of word classes, with the SSC (where possible) positioned within a variety of syllables within the words (e.g. initial, 2^nd, final etc.). Additionally, we have tried to use words that build cumulatively on previously taught SSCs (see the Phonics Teaching Sequence document) and do not include new SSCs. Where new SSCs are used, they are often consonants which have a similar symbol-sound correspondence in English.�

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French): �photo [1412], mot [220], hôpital [1310], chose [125], contrôle [662], drôle [2166]�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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closed o/ô

photo

hôpital

mot

chose

drôle

contrôle

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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closed o/ô

photo

hôpital

mot

chose

drôle

contrôle

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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Phonétique

Combien de mots contiennent la SSC [o/ô] ?

écouter

trop

report

[to put]

[to import]

[back]

[rest]

[tax]

[beef]

10

[too]

[soon]

[job]

poser

combien

poisson

position

boulot

moule

atmosphère

dos

héros

bœuf

rose

importer

bientôt

repos

impôt

Timing: 3 minutes

�Aim: Aural recognition of SSC [o/ô] from a pool of words containing the letter ‘o’, to raise awareness of the different SSC patterns into which this letter can entre.

�Procedure: �1. Click on the words to hear them said aloud.

2. Students tally how many words they hear that contain the SSC. Note that in the case of position and boulot, there are two examples of letter ‘o’, only one of which represents the SSC.

3. Answers and total revealed on click.

4. Click on report, atmosphère and importer again to demonstrate the difference between closed and open [o] (open [o] will be the focus of next week’s lesson).��Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French): �poser [218], position [383], repos [2731], bientôt [1208], dos [1672], poisson [1616], trop [195], boulot [2929], report [4406], combien [800], héros [1883], impôt [1241], atmosphère [2493], bœuf [3914], importer [354], rose [2671]

Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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Closed [o] et [au/eau]

What do you notice about these words?

Even though these words are spelled differently, they sound exactly the same!

SSC closed [o] is the same sound as SSC [au/eau], which you already know.

écouter

peau

[skin]

pot

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au

[au/eau]

gauche

Timing: 2 minutes for two slides

Aim: To introduce/consolidate SSC [au]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the [au] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”gauche” on its own, say it, students repeat it, so that they have the opportunity to focus all of their attention on the connection between the written word and its sound.

3. A possible gesture for this would be to point to the students’ left (teacher’s right!) to indicate this direction.�4. Roll back the animations and work through 1-3 again, but this time, dropping your voice completely to listen carefully to the students saying the [au] sound, pronouncing ”gauche” and, if using, doing the gesture.

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French):

gauche [607].

Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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au

[au/eau]

gauche

faux

beau

aussi

eau

bateau

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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Phonétique

coin	dispositif	chaud	bougie	ancien	chose
sauter	clôture	croissant	cerveau	idiot	tournant
onze	écran	oser	fantôme	bureau	sombre
chaos	pendant	troupe	aussitôt	moitié	chaussure
propos	erreur	texto	manteau	réponse	confiance
cerveau	plutôt	source	champion	toit	symptôme

[device]

[to jump]

[closing]

parler

a

b

c

d

e

f

Say only the words which contain a closed [o] sound.

[candle]

[brain]

[corner]

[screen]

[to dare]

[gloomy]

[group]

[instantly]

[half]

[shoe]

[statements]

[text message]

[coat]

[confidence]

[brain]

[rather]

[roof]

[corner]

Timing: 5 minutes

Aim: written recognition and pronunciation of letter combinations pronounced like SSC closed [o]. Students’ knowledge of patterns which are pronounced this is strengthened by recognising them from a pool of distractors, learning to disregard options which contain the letters ‘o’ and ‘a’ as part of other SSCs ([oi], [on], [ou], and [an]).

Procedure:

1. Students take turns read their line of words and take it in turns to say aloud ONLY the ones containing a closed ‘o’.

Optional – click to underline closed ‘o’ sound to help students. (otherwise, use this function to reveal answers).

2. Click on the letters to check pronunciation.

3. Challenge – encourage students to speed up as they get more confident

4. Swap roles and repeat/

Transcript and word frequency:

coin [1793], dispositif [2248], chaud [1852], bougie [>5000], ancien [392], chose [125]
sauter [2114], clôture [2839], croissant [2069], cerveau [1990], idiot [3556], tournant [2406]
onze [2447], écran [2421], oser [1634], fantôme [4075], bureau [273], sombre [2348]
chaos [3266], pendant [89], troupe [1282], aussitôt [2362], moitié [470], chaussure [3638]
propos [505], erreur [612], texto [>5000], manteau [3746], réponse [456], confiance [435]
cerveau [1990], plutôt [272], source [817], champion [2443], toit [2894], symptôme [4095]

Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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SSC [closed o/ô]

phonétique

Consolidation [1]

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Phonétique

English	French	Oui	Non
water - word	eau - mot
high - vote	haute - vote
sport - okay	sport - d’accord
bowl - sheet metal	bol - taule
thing - pause	chose - pause
clock - trough	horloge - auge
side - subtracted	côté - ôté
funny - willow	drôle - saule

1

2

3

4

5

7

8

Pierre veut écrire un poème, mais il ne peut pas faire des rimes ! �Écoute et coche « oui » ou « non » pour chaque rime.

lire / parler

6

Timing: 5 minutes

Aim: Aural recognition of closed [o] and open [o].

Procedure:

1. Click on the numbers to play audio.

2. Students listen and tick “oui” if the two words rhyme, or “non” if they don’t.

3. Click to reveal French and allow students to check their answers by looking at the spellings.

4. Click to reveal answers. Draw attention to the different letter combinations representing the open [o] sound ([o], [ô], [au] and [eau].)

5. Students say the words aloud.

Transcript:

1) eau/mot

2) haute/vote

3) sport/d’accord

4) bol/taule

5) chose/pause

6) horloge/auge

7) côté/ôté

8) drôle/saule

Word frequency of unknown words used(1 is the most frequent word in French):

vote [1046], bol [>5000], taule [>5000], pause [2647], horloge [>5000], auge [>5000], ôté [>5000], saule [>5000], rime [>5000]

Source: Lonsdale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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closed o/ô

photo

Timing: 1 minute [2 slides]

Aim: To consolidate SSC closed [o/ô]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the closed [o/ô] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”photo” on its own, say it, students repeat it, so that they have the opportunity to focus all of their attention on the connection between the written word and its sound.

3. A possible gesture for this would be to mime opening and closing a door.�4. Roll back the animations and work through 1-3 again, but this time, dropping your voice completely to listen carefully to the students saying the closed [o/ô] sound, pronouncing ”photo” and, if using, doing the gesture.

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French):

photo [1412]�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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closed o/ô

photo

hôpital

mot

chose

[thing]

drôle

contrôle

[word]

[test]

[funny]

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Procedure:

1. Introduce and elicit the pronunciation of the individual SSC closed [o/ô] and then the source word again ‘photo’ (with gesture, if using).�2. Then present and elicit the pronunciation of the five cluster words.

�The cluster words have been chosen for their high-frequency, from a range of word classes, with the SSC (where possible) positioned within a variety of syllables within the words (e.g. initial, 2^nd, final etc.). Additionally, we have tried to use words that build cumulatively on previously taught SSCs (see the Phonics Teaching Sequence document) and do not include new SSCs. Where new SSCs are used, they are often consonants which have a similar symbol-sound correspondence in English.�

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French): �photo [1412], mot [220], hôpital [1310], chose [125], contrôle [662], drôle [2166]�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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Phonétique

Dans le café au lait

Il a tourné

Il a bu le café au lait

Et il a reposé la tasse

Il a fait des ronds

Son chapeau sur sa tête

Son manteau de pluie

Sous la pluie

Which lines from the poem contain the SSC closed [o]?

Read each one to your partner to help you decide.

lire / parler