This unit covers not only the French Revolution but also the geography of France, famous people and inventions, superlatives and comparatives and can be combined with the Beethoven and Monet art units.
Learning aims
Activity 1
Firstly, you are going to find out all about France. This should take you at least two sessions so take your time.
Here are some great websites to help you with your research and a video. Print out and complete the notebook below using what you have learned.
Activity 2
Next, you will take a closer look at a famous French scientist, Marie Curie.
Watch this TedEd video for an introduction.
Next, watch this Corpse Talk video.
Go to this BBC Bitesize page and watch the video.
Watch 'How do X-rays work?' from Operation Ouch.
Go to Wonderopolis and research x-rays.
Here is the Periodic Table song, can you print out the periodic table and colour in Polonium and Radium?
Here is a lovely booklet that you can work through. It is long so you can pick some pages that look interesting, at least 5, and complete them or work your way through the whole book if you like puzzles and quizzes.
Activity 3
Today you are going to be revising superlatives and comparatives.
Comparatives are words that compare two nouns and superlatives more than two nouns.
Watch this BBC '6 Minute Grammar' video.
Go and complete this Wordwall quiz, don't forget you can change the game style on the right.
Print out the rule posters below.
In your book or using the France notebook sheets, write 5 sentences about France and the UK using comparative adjectives and 5 using superlative adjectives. Here are two examples to get you started.
Mont Blanc in France is higher than Ben Nevis in Scotland.
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps.
If you need inspiration for your sentences go to this page and scroll down to the section on superlatives.
Activity 4
Read the Marie Antoinette chapter.
American Independence was costly for the French who helped the Americans win.
King Louis XVI was the absolute monarch of France at the end of the eighteenth century. That meant that he had all the power and ruled France himself.
King Louis spent a lot of money fighting the American War of Independence. This was a problem because the King, clergy and nobility all lived off this money that they got by taxing the poor French people. The people of France were arranged into three estates underneath the king. The first estate was the clergy, people who worked for the church. The second estate was the nobility and the third estate was the common people. It was only the third estate that paid taxes!
Go here and scroll down to the Three Estates mini-book and print out page 2. In your neatest handwriting fill in the three missing words. Be careful, if you look at the answer page you will see a mistake. Read the information above carefully to get the labelling correct!
Categorising people in this way was not unusual in Europe in the eighteenth century and it was accepted that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Still, the situation in France was particularly bad. 97% of the people were so poor they were struggling to survive.
Go here and scroll down to the Causes of the Revolution mini-book and complete the book.
Activity 4
Read The Fall of the Bastille chapter.
In 1774, King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette became the king and queen of France. The country was already in a lot of debt, they owed a lot of money. This debt increased when King Louis helped support the Americans in their War of Independence. The King decided he needed to pay back some of this money. He did this by raising taxes and it did not work out well for him.
Watch the following videos as an introduction to the French Revolution.
Horrible Histories French Roundup.
And this more in-depth run-through from Happy Learning English.
Go here and scroll down the page to the French Revolution Timeline and print out the first timeline with all the information on it. Fold it along the dotted lines. You can use the mini-book as we work through the unit to help you organise what you have learned.
Activity 5
Bastille Day, on the 14th of July, is still celebrated today in remembrance of the storming of the Bastille and the start of the revolution.
Here is a Euronews clip of the celebrations.
Watch the History of France's Bastille Day.
Go and print out the comprehension sheets here and answer the questions in your notebook.
Go here and scroll down. Print out the board game and game cards. Have fun storming the Bastille.
Activity 6
Research Project
Go back to tinasdynamichomeschool, As you scroll down the page, you will notice a number of mini-books that you have not yet used. I want you to print them out and use the internet or your books to complete them.
This may take you a number of days to complete. Take your time, and make sure you really do understand the events and people involved in the French Revolution. Whilst you work play the audiobook, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens.
You can now place all your work together either by sticking it into your exercise book, placing it into your file or creating your own lap book.
If you are keeping a history world in Minecraft, now is the time to go and add in the French revolution. You could build the Bastille, create a storyboard or a timeline. Use signs or books to add important information. If you are keen on stop-motion Lego take a look at this video for inspiration to create your own.
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