French: Battleship - Numbers + School Vocabulary

About this resource

What's inside this resource

French: Battleship - Numbers + School Vocabulary is an engaging game for students to practice French numbers and common school terms. Learners can play this printable battleship game in small groups or as a whole class activity. This teaching resource includes game boards and playing pieces that students can cut out and assemble. Complete instructions are provided to explain the classic battleship gameplay. By calling out different number and vocabulary combinations, students will reinforce their knowledge of essential French words and phrases. This interactive game transforms vocabulary review into a fun competition that keeps students interested and immersed in the language. Battleship is an adaptable resource that makes learning French numbers and school concepts enjoyable. Teachers can easily incorporate this game into lessons on numbers, school supplies, classes, and more.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Say a French number word and a French school-supply word together to call a square on the grid
Respond in French with Touché, Raté or Coulé according to the outcome of an opponent's call
Recognise the French names for the six vessels — porte-avions, croiseur, sous-marin and torpilleur — and place each at its stated length
Keep a written record of calls made and outcomes received on a second grid

Teaching tips

Pair students back to back so neither can see the other's placement grid; both grids a player needs sit on the same sheet, so one sheet per player is enough
Rehearse Touché, Raté and Coulé before play starts — the English glosses are printed beside them, so a pair who fall back into English can be pointed at the sheet rather than corrected verbally
Insist that the call names both words in full rather than pointing; the whole vocabulary benefit of the game sits in that spoken pairing
The ship lengths are printed in French with the squares given as cases, which is a small extra vocabulary win worth drawing attention to before the first game

Skills covered

French vocabulary recall under pressure — a player must produce a number word and a school-supply word together to take a turn, so the words are used rather than translated.
Game French — Touché, Raté and Coulé are printed with their English equivalents and used as the running responses throughout play.
Naval vocabulary in French — porte-avions, croiseur, sous-marin and torpilleur are each named with their length in cases.
Grid reading and record keeping — one grid holds the player's own fleet drawn as circles, the second logs every call and its outcome against the opponent.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

How does a player call a shot?

By naming two words rather than a coordinate. The board direction is to match one of the words down the left with one of the words along the top, said in correct French, so each turn is a spoken vocabulary pairing. The opponent answers with the printed responses — Touché, Raté or Coulé — which appear with their English glosses on both sides of the board.

What fleet does each player hide, and how is it placed?

Six ships of four types, placed by drawing circles rather than cutting out pieces: one porte-avions covering five squares, one croiseur covering four, two sous-marins covering three each and two torpilleurs covering two each. The direction is to place them at random on the grid by drawing the corresponding number of circles on the squares.