Twelve letters of CALCULATRICE, and five other desk words

The six words on this grid name things found on a desk: CHAISE for a chair, RÈGLE for a ruler, COLLE for glue, CISEAUX for scissors, TABLETTE for a tablet, and CALCULATRICE for a calculator. Each has a picture beside it, so the meaning is given and the child's task is recognising the written French among the letters. Every object named is probably within a metre of the child doing the puzzle.

CALCULATRICE is twelve letters, far longer than anything else here, and it usually goes first because a long run has to be laid out plainly in the grid. RÈGLE has a grave accent on its first e, printed as part of the word. CISEAUX ends in an x that is never sounded, which is worth saying aloud once rather than explaining twice. CHAISE and COLLE are the short, plain ones, and children often leave them until the end.

It is a good sheet for a classroom, since every object named is in the room and can be held up. Print a set, or put it on screen for a group. A child working alone will need about ten minutes, and the six circled words can then become labels — stuck on the real chair, the real glue — for the rest of the week. Do the first word together before stepping back.