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French Phonics Collection�

SSC [open o]

Artwork by: Chloé Motard

Date updated: 30/08/2022

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SSC [open o]

phonétique

Introduction

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open o

porte

Timing: 1 minute

Aim: To introduce SSC open [o]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the open [o] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”porte” 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 ”porte” and, if using, doing the gesture.

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

porte [696].�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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open o

porte

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open o

porte

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open o

porte

poste

école

personne

[person]

d’accord

[okay]

dormir

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Timing: 2 minutes

Aim: To introduce SSC open [o]

Procedure:

1. Introduce and elicit the pronunciation of the individual SSC open [o] and then the source word again ‘porte’ (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): �porte [696]; d’accord [736]; personne [84]; dormir [39]; école [477]; poste [489].�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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open o

porte

poste

personne

dormir

école

d’accord

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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open o

porte

poste

personne

dormir

école

d’accord

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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Closed or open [o]?

	open (porte)	closed (photo)
corps [body]
repos [rest]
pôle
soldat
oser [to dare]

1

2

	open (porte)	closed (photo)
complot [plot]
atmosphère
côté
chose
report

3

What do you notice about the spelling of the words containing open [o] compared to those containing closed [o]?

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10

The ‘hat’ on the letter ô is called a circumflex. You have seen it before with ê.

écouter

If the [o] is the final sound, or followed by a ‘z’ sound, or has a circumflex [ô], it is closed.

Timing: 5 minutes

Aim: Aural recognition of open and closed [o]. Awareness of spelling rules governing the pronunciation of these SSCs.

NB: The difference between these two sounds is subtle! Students might say that the only ones that really sound different to them are open [o] followed by ‘r’, and that the [o] in some other words (soldat, atmosphère, poste, personne and école) sounds closed to closed [o]. If students are unsure, try getting them to repeat the words and focus on the position of the mouth and tongue when they do. For open [o], the tongue is far from the roof of the mouth. For closed [o], the tongue touches the roof of the mouth.

Procedure:

1. Click on numbers to hear words. Student decide if [o] is open or closed.

2. Click to reveal answers.

3. Click again to reveal the question about spelling. Students consider in pairs. They might say things like ‘the sound occurs near the end’ or ‘some of the words have a ‘hat’ symbol. You could guide the students by explaining that there are three rules in total to spot.

4. Click to reveal the answers and again to reveal the rule.

5. Click to reveal the info bubble about the the circumflex.

6. Students try to say the words.

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French): �corps [561], repos [2731], pôle [3165], soldat [1098], oser [1634], complot [4569], atmosphere [2493], côté [123], chose [125], report [4406]

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

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Closed and open [o]

What do you notice about these words?

Even though the vowel in these words appears the same, they sound different!

SSC closed [o] (as in dos) is different from SSC open [o] (as in dors).

écouter

dors

[(I/you)sleep]

dos

[back]

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Closed or open [o] ?

The French [o] can be open or closed.

It is closed when it:

is the final sound in a word (trop)
is followed by a z sound (rose)
has a circumflex (hôtel)
SSC [au] and [eau] are also pronounced as a closed [o].

It is open when followed by any consonant sound other than ‘z’:

sonner (to ring), un ordinateur, un voleur (thief)

SFC!

Closed or open [o]?

phonétique

Open [o] is a short version of English “or”

Closed [o] sounds similar to English’s long o sound as in “go”

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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Phonétique

lire / parler

60

secondes

0

DÉBUT

imposer

[to enforce]

métro

tantôt

[sometimes]

médiocre

optimiste

violent

format

zéro

exploser

alors

[then, so]

support

lorsque [when]

forte [strong (f)]

confortable

pétrole

solde [sale]

révolte

or

[gold]

fantôme

Écosse

Open [o] - the tongue is far from the roof of the mouth.

Closed [o] - the tongue touches the roof of the mouth.

Timing: 5 minutes

Aim: To decide based on spelling whether [o] is open or closed, and to say the word accordingly.

Procedure:

1. Students pronounce as many words against the clock as possible.

2. Click ‘début’ to start the timer.

3. Click to check pronunciation. (NB: audio for Écosse is missing – recording in progress).

Word frequency (1 is the most frequent word in French): �exploser [2678], support [3708], fantôme [4075], médiocre [4125], imposer [469], métro [3227], optimiste [2751], pétrole [2157], or [300], lorsque [256], zéro [2274], alors [81], confortable [3964], révolte [2720], solde [4622], violent [1119], Écosse [n/a], tantôt [3031], forte [107]

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

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SSC [open o]

phonétique

Consolidation [1]

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open o

porte

Timing: 1 minute

Aim: To consolidate SSC open [o]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the open [o] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”porte” 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 ”porte” and, if using, doing the gesture.

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

porte [696].�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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open o

porte

poste

école

personne

[person]

d’accord

[okay]

dormir

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Timing: 2 minutes

Aim: To consolidate SSC open [o]

Procedure:

1. Introduce and elicit the pronunciation of the individual SSC open [o] and then the source word again ‘porte’ (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): �porte [696]; d’accord [736]; personne [84]; dormir [39]; école [477]; poste [489].�Source: Londsale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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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

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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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SSC [open o]

phonétique

Consolidation [2]

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open o

porte

Timing: 1 minute

Aim: To consolidate SSC open [o]

Procedure:�1. Present the letter(s) and say the open [o] sound first, on its own. Students repeat it with you.�2. Bring up the word ”porte” 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 ”porte” and, if using, doing the gesture.

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

porte [696].�Source: Lonsdale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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open o

porte

poste

école

personne

[person]

d’accord

[okay]

dormir

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

Timing: 1 minute

Aim: To consolidate SSC open [o]

Procedure:

1. Introduce and elicit the pronunciation of the individual SSC open [o] and then the source word again ‘porte’ (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): �porte [696]; d’accord [736]; personne [84]; dormir [39]; école [477]; poste [489].�Source: Lonsdale, D., & Le Bras, Y. (2009). A Frequency Dictionary of French: Core vocabulary for learners London: Routledge.

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Phonétique

Q	mot	en anglais	open [o]	closed [ô/o]/[au]
	au cune	[none]
	s o l	[ground]
	fant ô me	[ghost]
	c ô te	[coast]
	c o lle	[glue]
	v o leur	[thief]
	pauvre	[poor]
	r o be	[dress]

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Écoute. Les mots ont-ils la SSC open [o] ou closed [ô/o]/[au] ?

écouter

_

Open [o] and closed [ô/o]/[au] are tricky for English speakers. Try saying the source words porte (open) and photo (closed) /gauche to match with the SSC you hear.

Material licensed as CC BY-NC-SA 4.0�

Rachel Hawkes

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La crise des réfugiés*

Practise reading the open/closed [o/ô] and [au] sounds.

lire/parler

Les hôpitaux des zones de guerre offrent soins et protection même dans des circonstances difficiles.

Le nombre de réfugiés augmente en raison de la guerre en cours .

Les réfugiés doivent parfois rester à long terme dans des logements temporaires.

Leur réalité devient un cauchemar car leur vie change du jour au lendemain.

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[The number of refugees is increasing due to ongoing war.]

[Refugees sometimes have to stay in temporary accommodation on a long term basis.]

[Their reality becomes a nightmare as their life changes overnight.]

[Hospitals in war zones offer care and protection even in difficult circumstances .]

*la crise des réfugiés = the refugee crisis

Timing: 4 minutes

Aim: To practise identifying words with open [o], closed [o/ô] [(e)au] through reading/speaking.

Procedure:

Click to reveal each sentence with its translation.
Ask individual students to read a sentence, focusing on the correct pronunciation of the closed [o/ô], open [o], [au]
Click on the numbers to hear the sentences spoken by a native speaker to verify pronunciation.

Transcript:

Le nombre de réfugiés augmente en raison de la guerre en cours
Leur réalité devient un cauchemar car leur vie change du jour au lendemain

3. Les hôpitaux des zones de guerre offrent soins et protection même dans des circonstances difficiles.

4. Les réfugiés doivent parfois rester à long terme dans des logements temporaires.

Word frequency of unknown words (1 is the most frequent word in French): �nombre [249], augmenter [823], cauchemar [3689], car [176], lendemain [1258], offrir [224], circonstance [1054], logement [1849], temporaire [2885]

Word frequency of cognates (1 is the most frequent word in French): �réfugié [>5000], réalité [532], zone [860], protection [953], terme [311]