Glen Ridge Public Schools –

World Language Curriculum

Course Title: French I-A

Subject: World Language

Grade Level: 9-11th grade

Duration: 1 Year

Prerequisite: none

Elective or Required: Elective

World Language Mission Statement:

The mission of the World Language Department is to prepare students linguistically and culturally to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and the world. We, in the World Language Department, believe every individual in our schools is capable of acquiring a second language to the best of their ability. In our endeavor to develop passionate, confident, lifelong learners, we are emphasizing the five national standards: Communicate in Languages Other Than English; Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures; Connect With Other Disciplines and Acquire Information; Develop Insight into the Nature of Language and Culture; and Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and Around the World. These standarads are presented within the four basic areas of language learning: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Students will be expected to take an active role in the learning of the target language since true communication is an active process.

Course Description:

The High School World Language Program is designed with interdisciplinary units combining communicative, interpersonal, and presentational activities to maximize each student’s individual potential. The French I-A program includes a comprehensive introduction to culture and language usage at a basic level to have a more global view in an increasingly interconnected global world. Real world media such as music, Internet research, webquests, podcasts, DVD, newspapers and magazines are used in the target language for motivation and oral and aural proficiency. The students will be able to read, write, listen and speak at a basic communicative level in the present and near future and have an appreciation and awareness of our cross cultural connections.

Author: Jennifer L. Chiang

Date Submitted: Summer 2010

World Languages – Curriculum Standards – 2010

7.1 World Languages:

All students will be able to use a world language in addition to English to engage in meaningful conversation, to understand and interpret spoken and written language, and to present information, concepts, and ideas, while also gaining an understanding of the perspectives of other cultures. Through language study, they will make connections with other content area, compare the language and culture studied with their own, and participate in home and global communities.

  1. Interpretive Mode

Interpretive Mode: The mode of communication in which students demonstrate understanding of spoken and written communication within the appropriate cultural context. Examples of “one-way” reading or listening include cultural interpretations of print, video, and online texts, movies, radio and television broadcasts, and speeches. Interpretation beyond the Novice level differs from comprehension because it implies the ability to read or listen “between the lines” and “beyond the lines.”

  1. Interpersonal Mode

Interpersonal Mode: The mode of communication in which students engage in direct oral and/or written communication with others (e.g. conversing face-to-face, participating in online discussions or videoconferences, instant messaging and text messaging, exchanging personal letters or e-mail messages).

  1. Presentational Mode

Presentational Mode: The mode of communication in which students present, through oral and/or written communications, information, concepts and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers with whom there is no immediate interaction. Examples of this “one-to-many” mode of communication are making a presentation to a group, posting an online video or webpage, creating and posting a podcast or videocast, and writing an article for a newspaper.

Topic/Unit: #1 Getting Acquainted

Approximate # of Weeks: 8

Essential Questions:

  1. How do I get acquainted at a basic level with a French speaker?
  2. Why is studying French important?
  3. What is school and family life like in francophone countries?
  4. Where in the world do people speak French?
  5. How do I count in French?
  6. How can I learn to imitate the sounds in French?

Unit Learning Targets:

Upon completion of this unit students will be able to:

CPI# / Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
7.1.IL.C.4 / Compare and contrast age- and level-appropriate culturally authentic materials orally and in writing.
7.1.IL.B.1 / Use digital tools to participate in short conversations and to exchange information related to targeted themes.
7.1.IL.B.2 / Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age- and level-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
7.1.IL.B.3 / Use appropriate gestures, intonation, and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture(s)/language in familiar situations
7.1.IL.A.2 / Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.
7.1.IL.C.5 / Demonstrate comprehension of conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
7.1.IL.A.3 / Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette (i.e., the use of gestures, intonation, and cultural practices) in the target culture(s) and in one’s own culture.
7.1.IL.A.4 / Use the target language to describe people, places, objects, and daily activities learned about through oral or written descriptions.
8.1.8.A.5 / Select and use appropriate tools and digital resources to accomplish a variety of tasks to solve problems.
3.1.8.B / Choose appropriate tools and information resources to support research and solve real world problems including but not limited to:
On-line resources and data bases
Search engines and subject directories
6.1.P.D.4 / Learn about and respect other cultures within the classroom and community.
6.1.4.A.14 / Describe how the world is divided into many nations that have their own governments, languages, customs and laws.

Activities – including 21st Century Technologies:

  • Listen to audio clips
  • Student conversations
  • On-line text
  • On-line workbook
  • Classzone.com
  • Powerpoint presentations on DVD
  • Take home tutor
  • Virtual sharing
  • Museum tours online
  • Listening to songs/ TV5.org
  • Talk about current events in France and other francophone countries
  • Language Lab
  • Using varied language conversation with the Lab
  • Prepared Q/A activities with the Lab
  • Introduce yourself and say where you are from, how old you are, and your age.
  • Speaking and Listening to student’s recordings (self assessment)
  • Act out a simple conversation, greeting one another.
  • Know the pronunciation of the alphabet in French.
  • Count from 1 to 100.
  • Compare French and American names.
  • Discuss and identify where francophone countries are on the map.
  • Discuss reasons for studying French.
  • Prepare a brochure of one of the francophone countries.
  • Play number Bingo.
  • Be able to use mathematics in French.
  • Bring in family photos and give a brief description of family members in French. (including pets)
  • Discuss pets and how they are treated in France and in the United States.
  • Do an internet search for information on Quebec and Martinique.
  • See a DVD on Quebec and La Martinique.
  • DVD activities
  • Internet homework and activities via Teacher Webpage.
  • Native speaker conversation
  • Picture stories using the Lab
  • House tours on DVD (instructional DVD)
  • Online newspapers and magazines
  • Field trips (online)
  • Record MP3 Samplings for accent practice.

Methods of Assessments/Evaluation:

  • Student responses
  • Tests and quizzes
  • Oral evaluation
  • Act out skits and conversations
  • Present brochures
  • Power point Presentations
  • Writing samples
  • Workbook exercises
  • Activities pour Tous workbook
  • Video activities
  • Listening comprehension exercises on the Lab
  • Speaking with partner – oral testing on the Lab
  • Homework
  • Map fill-in Speaking, writing and reading proficiency tests
  • Cultural awareness quizzes

Text, Resources, and/or Literature

  • Discovering French Nouveau
  • Image 1 – reader
  • Workbook – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Activites pour Tous – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Warm-up Activities – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Tete-a-Tete Activities – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Powerpoint presentations on DVD – discovering French Nouveau

Online Resources:

  • Teacher webpage
  • Online textbook resources, online workbook, take home tutor, powerpoint presentations
  • Classzone.com
  • Take home tutor
  • TV5.org, france.net, Canada.com, Canada.org, la Martinique. Org

Topic/Unit #2: Everyday life in Paris

Approximate # of Weeks: 8

Essential Questions:

  1. When I travel how will I order at a French café or a restaurant?
  2. What is the weather today in francophone countries and here?
  3. What is the difference between French and American foods, fast-foods, and restaurants?
  4. What is the European currency and why did it change from Francs?
  5. How do I tell time?
  6. Why is learning about French music necessary?
  7. How do different types of music effect us?
  8. How do I express my likes and dislikes?

Unit Learning Targets

CPI# / Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
7.1.IL.A.3 / Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette (i.e., the use of gestures, intonation, and cultural practices) in the target culture(s) and in one’s own culture.
7.1.IL.B.1 / Use digital tools to participate in short conversations and to exchange information related to targeted themes.
7.1.IL.B.3 / Use appropriate gestures, intonation, and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture(s)/language in familiar situations
7.1.IL.C.1 / Use knowledge about cultural products and cultural practices to create a multimedia-rich presentation on targeted themes to be shared virtually with a target language audience.
8.1.8.A.5 / Select and use appropriate tools and digital resources to accomplish a variety of tasks and to solve problems.
6.1.P.D.3 / Express individuality and cultural diversity (e.g., through dramatic play)
6.1.P.D.4 / Learn about and respect other cultures within the classroom and community.
3.3 / All students will speak in clear, concise, organized language that varies in content and form for different audiences and purposes.
3.4 / All students will listen actively to information from a variety of sources in a variety of situations.

Activities – Including 21st Century Technologies:

  • Listen to audio clips (21st Century Tech)
  • Student conversations, asking and answering time, date, weather.
  • Bi-weekly language lab use
  • Act out a scene at a café
  • Create a virtual café
  • Create a simple menu
  • On-line investigation – French coins and bills
  • Research current weather conditions in francophone countries
  • TPR storytelling – puppets at a café
  • Create a personal calendar in French on the computer
  • Converse on the lab with random partners with question and answer format.
  • Learn to see “Alouette.”
  • Ask and answer simple questions about likes and dislikes.
  • Order from a menu.
  • Learn the national anthem of Canada.
  • Present research findings about Quebec- province
  • Try a croque-monsieur
  • Watch a DVD about the lesson and answer listening comprehension questions.

Methods of Assessments/Evaluation:

  • Student responses
  • Tests and quizzes
  • Oral evaluation
  • Language Lab
  • Self correct after digital recordings on the lab.
  • Writing portfolios.
  • Presentation on Quebec.
  • Workbook exercises.
  • Activites pour tous exercises
  • Listening comprehension quizzes
  • Online tutor
  • Internet research homework
  • Daily assignments
  • Singing songs and filling in missing words
  • Listening, speaking, and writing performance tests.
  • Skits
  • Classroom conversations

Text, Resources, and/or Literature

  • Discovering French Nouveau text
  • Images 1 – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Activites pour tous – Discovering French Nouveau
  • Warm-up activities- Discovering French Nouveau

Online Resources:

  • Teacher webpage
  • Online textbook resources
  • Classzone.org
  • Powerpoint presentations on DVD
  • Take home tutor –DVD
  • Online workbook
  • Canadianmusic.com, insidemusicworld.com, paris.org, mamalisa.com/fr/france.html, tv5.org

Topic/Unit: #3 Daily Activities

Approximate # of Weeks: 7

Essential Questions:

  1. How do I use the telephone in France?
  2. How do I form a question using simple –er verbs?
  3. How do I answer a question while using simple –er verbs?
  4. What other countries speak French?
  5. What do I know about Senegal?
  6. How do I accept an invitation?
  7. How do I decline or turn down an invitation?
  8. Do French teenagers use the internet? How is it like American teenagers?

Unit Learning Targets:

Upon completion of this unit students will be able to:

CPI# / Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
7.1.IL.B.1 / Use digital tools to participate in short conversations and to exchange information related to targeted themes.
7.1.IL.B.2 / Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age- and level-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
7.1.IL.B.5 / Engage in short conversations about personal experiences or events and/or topics studied in other content areas.
7.1.IL.C.2 / Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories, or reports.
7.1.IL.C.3 / Use language creatively to respond in writing to a variety of oral or visual prompts.
7.1.IL.C.5 / Compare and contrast cultural products and cultural practices associated with the target culture(s) and one’s own culture, orally, in writing, or through simulation.
7.1.IL.A.5 / Demonstrate comprehension of conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
7.1.IL.A.2 / Demonstrate comprehension of oral and written instructions connected to daily activities through appropriate responses.
7.1.IL.A.3 / Compare and contrast the use of verbal and non-verbal etiquette (i.e., the use of gestures, intonation, and cultural practices) in the target culture(s) and in one’s own culture.
6.1.P.D.4 / Learn about and respect other cultures within the classroom and community.
6.1.P.D.3 / Express individuality and cultural diversity (e.g. through dramatic play).
8.1.8.A.5 / Select and use appropriate tools and digital resources to accomplish a variety of tasks and to solve problems.

Activities – including 21st Century Technologies:

  • Listen to audio clips (21st Century Tech)
  • Student conversations
  • Write a rhyming poem with –er verbs
  • Do an internet research project on Senegal, discover weather, people, politics, history, music and art of the century.
  • Charades- guess the word
  • TPR storytelling
  • Question and answer with –er verbs
  • Participate in a simple conversation about likes and dislikes.
  • Practice a simple phone conversation with partner and with the lab.
  • Use the verb “etre” to describe people and things.
  • Identify important cities in France.
  • Use question words to design an interview and interview fellow students and your parents, also random partners on the lab.
  • Research African art, drums, and masks.
  • Learn to use the internet vocabulary in French.
  • Compare your internet use to the internet of those in francophone countries.
  • Write a simple letter and send to a class in another francophone country.
  • Use verbs with infinitives.
  • Use regular – er verbs in affirmative, negative sentences and questions.
  • Use the verb “faire” to discuss things you do orally and written.
  • Use the verb “etre” with correct subject pronouns.

Methods of Assessments/ Evaluation:

  • Student responses
  • Tests and quizzes
  • Oral evaluation
  • Oral comprehension and speaking with the language lab
  • Online tutor
  • Skits
  • Portfolio assessment, written and oral
  • Cultural awareness quizzes
  • Listening, speaking, writing and reading performance tests
  • Singing songs
  • Internet research
  • Homework
  • Internet homework
  • Simple speeches
  • Webquest on Senegal and other French speaking countries in Africa

Text, Resources, and/or Literature

  • Discovering French Nouveau Bleu
  • Workbook, Discovering French Nouveau Bleu
  • Powerpoint Presentations on DVD
  • Language lab
  • Take home tutor on DVD
  • Images 1, reader

Online Resources:

  • Teacher webpage
  • Online textbook resources
  • Classzone.com
  • Online workbook
  • Online practice quizzes and flash cards

Topic/Unit #4: People and possessions

Approximate # of Weeks: 7

Essential Questions:

  1. How do I write an introductory letter to a pen pal in France?
  2. What are the differences and similarities between French and American schools, their daily schedule, and homework?
  3. How do I use a French search engine?
  4. What are the expressions used in the classroom to ask and answer totally in French? (ex. Listen, sit down)
  5. How well can I point to and identify each item in a typical classroom?
  6. To what degree am I knowledgeable about the culture in Haiti?
  7. What do I know about the cars made in France?
  8. How can I describe simple things in French using adjectives?
  9. What are the characteristics of friends in France?

Unit Learning Targets:

Upon completion of this unit students will be able to:

CPI# / Cumulative Progress Indicator (CPI)
7.1.IL.A.1 / Identify the main idea and most supporting details contained in culturally authentic materials using electronic information sources related to targeted themes.
7.1.IL.A.4 / Use the target language to describe people, places, objects, and daily activities learned about through oral or written descriptions.
7.1.IL.A.5 / Demonstrate comprehension of conversations and written information on a variety of topics.
7.1.IL.A.8 / Compare and contrast unique linguistic elements in English and the target language.
7.1.IL.B.3 / Use appropriate gestures, intonation, and common idiomatic expressions of the target culture(s)/language in familiar situations.
7.1.IL.B.2 / Give and follow a series of oral and written directions, commands, and requests for participating in age- and level-appropriate classroom and cultural activities.
7.1.IL.C.2 / Present student-created and/or authentic short plays, skits, poems, songs, stories, or reports.
7.1.IL.C.3 / Use language creatively to respond in writing to a variety of oral or visual prompts.
7.1.IL.C.5 / Compare and contrast cultural products and cultural practices associated with the target culture(s) and one’s own culture, orally, in writing, or through simulation.
8.1.8.A.5 / Select and use appropriate tools and digital resources to accomplish a variety of tasks and to solve problems.
6.1.P.D.4 / Learn about and respect other cultures within the classroom and community.
6.1.P.D.1 / Describe characteristics of oneself, one’s family and others.
1.2.12.A.1 / Determine how dance, music, theatre and visual art have influenced world cultures throughout history.

Activities – Included 21st Century Technologies:

  • Make a booklet about your family using adjectives – can be made as a powerpoint or a video.
  • Perform a skit – a conversation with family members.
  • Converse on the Language lab with random partners.
  • Research on the internet – French cars and compare them to American cars as a short oral report.
  • Identify colors when describing items.
  • Tape and review yourself on the Language Lab.
  • Practice replacement and rejoinder exercises using new adjectives and verbs.
  • Have a simple phone conversation.
  • Create a picture of your own home and describe items in the room.
  • Design a rap song using colors, adjectives and/or nouns or a combination.
  • Use expressions with the verb “avoir.”
  • Research Haiti – fill –in a map. How did Haiti recuperate from the recent disaster?
  • See a video on Haiti.
  • Do a virtual tour of Haiti.
  • Design your own artistic interpretation of Haitian art.
  • Discuss the use of the computer in France and in the United States using correct computer vocabulary.
  • See a video for each lesson and compare friends & family life in the United States and in francophone countries including Haiti.

Methods of Assessment/Evaluation: