Appendix 7.2 French Story-Based Lesson “Max and the Giant Monsters” by Sylvain Rovera
This whole language lesson plan is intended for students of French 1, but could be adapted for other languages, at the university level or at the high-school level. This lesson is designed to be done over three days. It is based on the PACE model developed by Richard Donato and Bonnie Adair-Hauck at the University of Pittsburgh.
The first day is used to tell the story and to introduce the rules of adjective agreement.
The second day is a continuation of the grammar lesson (invariable adjectives) and provides an opportunity for the students to check their comprehension of the story and to share with their friends their opinions about it.
The third day is used to talk about the differences between the celebration of Halloween in France and the United States. About half the class time is used to complete the grammar lesson (irregular adjectives).
At the end of these three days, students are invited to begin construction of a Halloween monster of their own. This project should last from three to five days.
I. OBJECTIVES
1. Functional Objectives
Students are to hypothesize about the characters present in the fable knowing that the principal characters of the story are a little child and monsters.
Students demonstrate their comprehension of the story by completing tasks during
and after the story telling.
2. Performance Objectives
a. Listening:
Guided by the teacher’s visual and linguistic cues, the students demonstrate their understanding of
“Max et les monstres géants” by putting scrambled pictures related to the story line in order as the
story is being told.
The student then act out the different events which happen in the story while it is being told by the
teacher (montrer les grandes griffes”). They are asked to participate actively in the story by doing
what the characters do.
b. Speaking:
Students complete a discussion a discussion table related to the story (Appendix 2), working in
pairs to complete the questionnaire. Then, students are regrouped in fours and asked to compare
their answers in order to arrive at a group consensus. After five minutes, a spokesperson from each
group shares with other members of the class the group answer.
Students are given the opportunity to use the correct form of the adjective while playing a card game (see Extension Activity Day 2).
Students briefly summarize parts of the story for their classmates using a skeleton of it and
incorporating different adjectives into their description of what happens.
c. Reading:
Students put in order scrambled sentences on strips of paper cut from the skeleton of the story. (Appendix 1)
ich include adjectives. Some of these adjectives will be correct, others will be incorrect. Students
will first have to say is the adjective is right or wrong, if wrong they will have to correct it, using
the correct form of the adjective (Appendix 3). This activity should be done in pairs in order to
encourage mutual correction.
d. Writing:
Day 1:
Students are invited to fill in the story map (Appendix 4).
Students fill in the character web (Appendix 5)
As a project, students are asked to build their own monster. They have to describe it to the rest of
the class in 10 to 12 sentences, using adjectives. Students are put in groups of four and given a
large piece of paper on which to draw their monster using color markers. A couple of new words
could be given to the students who really want to be creative like “cicatrice” or “corne” for
example. Before these group projects are presented to the rest of the class, the teacher should lead
a quick review of the body parts.
3. Grammatical Objectives
Students are able to extrapolate the rules concerning the agreement of the adjectives and to use the
adjectives in the correct form to describe somebody or something.
Day 1:
Students are introduced to the general plot of the story. Through repetition, the teacher focuses
their attention on the adjectives used in the story.
Students demonstrate their comprehension of the general rules concerning the agreement of
adjectives.
Day 2:
Students are introduced to the notion that some adjectives are invariable in the masculine and
feminine form.
Students form irregular adjectives depending on the gender of the noun that they modify.
4. Vocabulary Objectives
Students demonstrate their comprehension of the vocabulary used in the story, ultimately using it
in their final projects (see Extension Activity).
5. Cultural Objectives
Students understand and discuss the fact that the traditional American Halloween observance
differs from the French tradition. They also learn where Halloween comes from.
In groups, students should be able to answer the following questions asked by the teacher. These
questions focus attention on the differences between the celebration of Halloween in the United
States and of La Toussaint (All Saints’ Day) in France. The teacher should explain what people do
for La Toussaint (e.g. they go to a cemetery to put flowers on the tombs, school children have two
weeks of vacation, etc.).
Where does the tradition come from?
Why do Americans have parties for Halloween?
Why is the symbol of Halloween a pumpkin?
Why do Americans use monsters instead of angels or something else to represent Halloween?
Why do people wear costumes and try to be scary?
Why do children take such an important part in the event?
Why do they ask for candy? Who started the tradition?
Do you know if another country celebrates Halloween?
II. MATERIALS
• Drawings representing the different events of the story.
• Claws
• Monster mask
• King’s crown
• A wolf mask (ears, tail)
• Index cards with adjectives on them
III. ANTICIPATORY SET
Pre-listening:
The teacher might explain a few words such as bêtise, naviguer, croc, griffe, cri, cil, odeur with
the use of props or gestures.
Ex: bêtise = c’es quand une personne fait quelque chose de mauvais, de stupide, comme jouer
avec des allumettes ou manger des médicaments si cétait des bonbons. (It is when somebody does
something bad or stupid such as playing with matched or eating medicine as if it were candy).
Ex: un cri = c’est le contraire de parler doucement. C’est parler très fort. Quand vous avez peur,
vous criez. Quand les enfents font de bétises, la maman crie, hurle. (It is the opposite of speaking
softly. It is when you speak very, very loud. When children do something stupid, their mother
yells at them.).
The teacher then tells the students that they are going to hear a story that children are told in
France for La Toussaint. After they are given a semantic map (Appendix 6), they should be invited
to guess what the subject of the story will be. Since they do not know the vocabulary yet, this
activity can be done in English, while the other teacher writes the words in French on the
blackboard.
1. Presentation
The teacher presents the story in the target language using props, gestures, and mimicry to
facilitate the understanding of the story. Students participate by acting out the events of the story
wearing the different masks and materials representing the monsters and the wolf. Depending on
the level of the classes, (e.g. if they have already learned the past tense or not), the story may be
told in the present tense, which will make it more accessible to first-year students.
Students, after hearing the story, complete a story map. They should write the title, the characters,
the setting, the problem in the story, different events which happen, and the resolution of the
problem or moral of the story.
2. Attention
With the help of an overhead transparency (Appendix 7), the teacher directs the students’ attention
to the form of the certain adjectives used in the story. The teacher then asks students if they can
see a reguaar pattern in the agreement of adjectives, considering only the masculine and feminine
forms.
General rule (day 1):
Ex: Nous allons faire u n e grand e fête; D’abord u n gran d arbre.
Il y avait un petit bateau qui attendait Max.
Il est arrivé à s a petit e maison.
Then, the teacher will take two adjectives (one masculine and one feminine) in the plural form and
make students understand that the adjectives agree with the noun they modify in both gender and
number.
Ex: Il a navigué pendant de longs jours.
Il a navigué pendant de longues semaines.
Invariable adjectives (day 2):
The students are given a copy of the story and are asked to underline all the adjectives in the story.
They should be invited to synthesize an explanation for the reason why some adjectives and with
an “e” even when the noun they modify is masculine. The teacher then explains that some
adjectives are invariable in the masculine or feminine form, and that they take only the mark of the
plural.
Ex: Les monstres géantes regardaient Max avec de terribles yeaux jaunes et ils poussaient de t e r
r i b l e s cris.
Irregular adjectives (day 3):
Using a transparency, the teacher points out the irregular forms of certain adjectives (Appendix 9).
One such special adjective should be presented. Within the context of the story, the adjective
“beau” is a good choice (Appendix 9). The teacher might also tell the students that the adjective
“nouveau” follows the same rule.
Ex: Max e enfilé s o n beau costume. U n e bell e forêt avait poussé dans sa chambre.
D’abord, un grand e t be l arbre…
Masc + consonant: beau(x)
Masc + vowel: bel(s)
Feminine: belle(s)
7. Extension Activity
Students are invited to complete tasks both cooperatively and individually within the context of
the functions related to the lesson’s themes. These activities should be initiated following the
Attention phase of the lesson.
Day 1:
Students complete the character web (group activity). Students describe Max (both how he looks
and his personality, and his good and bad actions). This activity will combine writing and
speaking skills.
In regard to the form the adjectives in the statements, students answer the “True-False” (“Vrai-Faux”) questions in Appendix 3 and make corrections where necessary. This is a paired activity.
Day 2:
Students arrange scrambled pictures in order while the teacher repeats the story (groups of four students). Students are asked to put scrambled sentences in the correct order. These sentences
should be taken from the story skeleton (groups of four students).
Students complete the discussion table (group activity). Here again, writing and listening will be
involved in the activity.
Card game: Each student is given a list of adjectives taken from the story or which are easily
understood cognates (Appendix 3 bis). A card (see Materials) marked with a different adjective is
given to each student. The teacher starts by asking the first question, for example: “Qui est petit(e)?”
The student with the index card with “petit(e)” written on it must answer “Je suis petit(e)” and
then she/he must ask the next question. Students continue the game by asking and responding to
each other until only one student whose adjective was not called is left in the classroom. Each
student checks the adjectives which have been called. The student who is not called is the winner
of the game and gets a prize (e.g. candy, extra points).
Day 3:
Students are invited to tell the story to their friends, first in a group, then to the entire class. While
working in groups, they should prepare notes to help the spokesperson. Students are asked
questions about Halloween. The class also talks about the differences in the celebration of
Halloween in the United States and France (see questions in Culture).
Finally, students working in groups draw their own monsters, and then describe them by writing a
short essay. They must describe his/her physical aspects and also give information about his/her
personality. Since this activity could take an entire week, students can work on it 10 to 15 minutes
each day. Once the drawings have been completed, the students should be invited to display their
work on the classroom wall, and one member of each group should be given the opportunity to
describe it to the rest of the class.
8. Closure
Each day, volunteers should paraphrase part of the story and be asked to summarize the grammar
rules explained in class.
9. Homework Assignment
Students must write and essay about themselves, describing their strong and weak personality
traits as well as their physical appearance.
MAX ET LES MONSTRES GEANTS
Un soir, Max a enfilé son beau costume de loup et il a fait un grosse bêtise, puis une autre, et puis une autre. “Monstre,” lui dit sa mère. “Je vais te manger,” a répondu Max, et il s’est retrouvé au lit san avoir mangé.
Mais ce soir-lá, quelque chose d’étrange s’est passé dan la chambre de Max. Une gigantesque et belle forêt a poussé dans sa chambre. D’abord un grand et bel arbre, puis deux, puis trois. De longues lianes pendaient du plafond, et au lieu de murs blancs, il y avait de grands et hauts abres verts et rouges. Au loin, Max voyait la mer. Sure le rivage, il y avait un petit bateau qui attendait Max. Max a alors décidé de s’embarquer. Il a navigué nuit et jour, il a navigué pendant de longues semaines, il a navigué pendant plus d’un an pour finalment arriver au pays des monstres géantes.
Les monstres géants regardaient Max avec de terribles yeaux jaunes, et ils poussaient de terribles cris. Ils faisaient grincer leurs terribles et longs crocs et ils dressaient vers Max de terribles et longues griffes. Max dit “Silence”. Il les regardait droit dans leurs jaunes, fixement, pas un seul de ses cils ne bougeait.
“Vous êtes terrible, vous êtes notre roi, nous allons faire une grande et épouvantable féte ont dit les monstres géants. Et ils ont dansé toute la nuit, et ils ont joué toute la journée. Les monstres géants portaient Max sur leur dos. Mais Max s’ennuyait et il dit finalment: “ça suffit, vous allez aller au lit sans manger”. Et Max, roi de monstres géants est resté seul. Il voulait être aimé terriblement. De loin, des très loin, du bout du monde lui venaient de bonnes odeurs de choses à manger. Max a alors décidé de renoncer à être roi des monstres géants.