Unit 1:Le Train de la Vie and our Cultural Baggage(4-5 weeks)

Contexts: Contemporary Life - Ourselves and Our Activities

Family and Community - Family and Social Relationships

Wiki Pages for the unit:

This unit begins the school year.

In this overview unit students and teacherget acquainted with each other, lay the foundation of our curriculum, review major language structures (primarily the present and all past tenses as well as reflective verbs), discuss and practice helpful strategies for negotiating communication in all three modes (interpersonal, interpretive, presentational), and examine the concept of cultural perspective. After negotiating a definition of culture, initial emphasis is placed on identifying the stages of life and previewing the ways in which we will compare the stages of our lives with those of francophone counterparts throughout the coming school year. We then examine family life and social relationships through American and French lenses, analyzing ways in which society, family structures and relationships have changed over time. The reading of Perrault’s Cinderella forms the core of group discussion about the ways in which fairy tales and other forms of “story” both reflect and continue to shape our world.

Unit 1 Main Resources and Materials:

The wiki pages mentioned above house authentic readings, video clips from French newscasts (etc.), teacher created handouts and more - a variety of links to various resources that essentially comprise the materials for the unit. Sample unit resources include:

Crocker, Mary E. Coffman. 2009. Schaum’s Outlines French Grammar, 5th edition. McGraw Hill. New York. (for practice exercises done at home to review grammar points)

Culture Matters – the Peace Corps Cross Cultural Workbook

(a video clip from the French evening news depicting the ease with which stereotyping can occur)

(music video clip of the French song “U.S. Boy”, Jena Lee – example of French stereotypical ideas about Americans and students in school)

Rap Around the World – a music video with 30 raps from around the world

(Cliché – La France vue de l’étranger – humor filled animated video clip revealing French ideas about American held stereotypes of them)

The famous painting “D'Où Venons Nous/ Que Sommes Nous/ Où Allons nous” by Paul Gauguin , analyzed by students to explain how it depicts the stages of life

Le Train de la Vie – French poem set to music (in video format), suggesting the metaphor of life as a train ride

An unusual 7 minute video advertisement created by the French National Railroad in honor of its 70th anniversary. The video compiles clips from a variety of French movies

In which trains were featured in some way, serving as a reminder of the importance of this mode of transportation in French culture.

Le controleur – poem by Jacques Prévert – one of several readings in French literature illustrating the metaphor of life as a train ride

Cendrillon (Cinderella), by Charles Perrault – online text

Reading – a French diplomatic government web page about the changing structure of French families

web based reading - Les changements dans la société – un recit autobiographique by Marie Ponterio

Video from a recent French newscast – “Reconstituted “ French families on vacation

Clip from a French newscast – the sharing of household chores; who does what in the family?

Cendrillon et la publicité

Web based reading from a blog about Cinderella used as a theme in advertisement and publicity

Ohio Standards addressed in Unit1:

  1. Communication

Benchmark A (interpersonal) Grades 11 and 12: 1.Initiate, sustain and conclude conversations on a wide variety of personal, general knowledge and academic topics.

Benchmark B (interpersonal) Grades 11 and 12: Exchange, support and discuss opinions and individual perspectives with peers and/or speakers of the target language on a variety of topics dealing with contemporary or historical issues.

Benchmark G (interpretive) Grades 11 and 12: Use listening and reading strategies(e.g.,applying prior knowledge) to make inferences and draw conclusions.

Benchmark H (Presentational) : Analyze expressive products of the target culture (e.g., selections from various literary genres, fine arts).

  1. Cultures

Benchmark A, Grade 12,: Analyze social and geographic factors that affect cultural practices(e.g., family structure, political institutions, religious beliefs, climate, terrain).

Benchmark C: Experience, discuss and analyze selections from various literary genres and the fine arts of the target culture.

3. Connections Grade 12, Benchmark B : Read, view, listen to and discuss topics in popular media to analyze viewpoints of the target culture.

4. Comparisons: Grade 12 Benchmark D : Explain how actions in the target culture and students’ own culture are reflections of peoples’ beliefs and attitudes

Essential Questions:

1) How is a train ride a metaphor for life? What are the various stages of life and the major rites of passage associated with each?

2.) What is culture, and how can we overcome stereotypes?

3.) Who are we? How do we talk about our personal characteristics, our everyday activities, and our personal preferences?

4.) Who were we in the past? How do we talk about recent activities, and those we used to do when we were younger?

5.) How are families structured? What are the ways in which the roles of family members may be changing in today's global society? What challenges do families face?

6.) What universal concepts and values can be seen in Cinderella and other fairy tales, and how are variations of these tales used in publicity, films, and other contemporary media to both reflect and shape society?

Thematic vocabulary:

1)family and family structures

2)the train as a mode of transportation

3)stages of life and associated activities

4)fairy tale vocabulary

Grammatical accuracy:

1) focus on past tenses and differences in use – passé composé, imparfait, passé simple

2) reflexive verbs

3) continued review and accurate use of other previously reviewed tenses and structures

Activities

  • Review the vocabulary associated with the family and the train
  • Review the use of past tenses via oral and written interpersonal activities and via the reading of Cendrillon and associated exercises (passé simple)
  • Students get acquainted with each other and teacher while simultaneously exploring culture via interpersonal and group cultural exercises created by the Peace Corp (activities conducted in French)
  • Students view several recent French videos culled from the evening news and negotiate definitions of stereotyping and culture, brainstorming in small groups ways in which to promote greater cultural understanding and acceptance
  • After reading a short biographical essay online, students write their own short autobiographies and introduce themselves in electronic format by creating a Voki (online avatar)
  • Students interview older family members about their lives and engage in subsequent in class discussions about ways in which the world has changed since older relatives were young (fast paced society, fractured and recomposed families, technology explosion, etc.)
  • After reading, viewing and discussing several authentic texts/French video clips/songs (mentioned above) to generate conclusions about the train’s role in French culture, and analyzing a ride on a train as a metaphor for life, students present an incident in their own lives as a train ride segment in short oral presentations to the class.
  • Students view film and song clips, read about, and discuss the use of fairy tales in popular culture (advertisements, songs, etc.)
  • Students put Cinderella on trial (Should she or should she not marry her Prince) in a jigsawed group formal and informal verbal activity meant to explore the influence of personal experience on point of view, or “cultural baggage”

Sample Activities by Communicative Mode:

Interpersonal
Speaking / Interpersonal Writing / Interpretive
Listening / Interpretive
Reading / Presentational
Speaking / Presentational
Writing
Paired, small group, whole group exchanges relating to the theme of families; informal interviews and culturally themed games and activities with classmates / Students exchange personal introduction emails with the teacher and each other, sharing contact information, interests, etc. / A variety of thematic video clipsand songsused as basis to discuss culture, trains as a metaphor for life, and the evolving nature of family structures / Factual texts, internet news articles, an online autobiographical essay, and a literary fairy tale. Factual and sociological reading for topics and supporting details. Analyze individual roles an responsibilities in certain families and cultural perspectives / A formal speaking activity in which students present an incident from their life as a segment of train ride; students also present an “in character” defense/opinion during the trial of Cinderella. / A short written autobiographical essay for posting on the student wiki space

Assessments:

Summative: Written student autobiography and online Voki (avatar); group participation and contribution to the Cinderella Trial and other in class activities; recorded oral responses to teacher personal interview questions based on the themes of the unit (testing done online)

Formative: teacher monitoring and observation, homework completion, bell ringer and exit slip questions

Differentiation Used: 1) the grading of written and spoken products (somewhat more lenient for French IV than for AP students) 2) needed to draw in more grammar exercises and activities than previously planned for a couple of the students and spent more time than anticipated on whole class activities involving grammar explanations and practice. Each person in the class is at a slightly different level of proficiency and the teacher works with each individual independently.

Instructional Methods: limited whole class Direct Instruction and drills (verbal and written) for vocabulary and grammar; whole class, group and paired discussions, collaborative paired and group activities and games, directed online activities