Un samedi à Paris

Aim:  The objective of this learning experience is to provide a learner-centered, performance-based lesson in which students work cooperatively to plan a day of activities in Paris.  Using authentic resources available on the WWW, students must research, read, discuss, and negotiate a variety of resources and topics.  Each group then writes a dialogue discussing their plans, rejecting three ideas and agreeing on three.  The final revision is compiled into a written report, combine text and graphics, and presented orally to the class.

Grade level:  11-12 (Third Year French)

Core Subject Standards:

• Communications Skills:
  Listening and Speaking: Provide students with opportunities for informal discussion with teacher and peers; provide students with culturally appropriate vocabulary and nonverbal cues; oral presentations
  Reading and Writing: Provide information from short notes or messages derived from authentic material such as advertisements, newspapers, magazines, posters, etc.; provide the tools, such as dictionaries and other reference materials, that will enable students to pursue independent reading; provide opportunity to compose short reports expressing personal opinions and to write creative text;  provide a simple structure with a range of tenses
• Cultural Understanding:
  Cross-cultural: provide opportunities for students to draw comparisons with their own society and other societies; emphasize the aspects of culture most closely related to the comprehension and production of language

Core Subject Instructional Objectives:

Students will be able to:

·        Read authentic materials in the target language, such as weather forecasts, metro map, museum offerings, movie listings, etc;

·        Work cooperatively with peers to form a family, negotiate the task at hand and divide the labor; share resources and discuss in French the reasons for or against visiting three of these places on a Saturday;

·    Write a dialogue using appropriate linguistic and culturally appropriate structures, edit and revise in
consultation with group and teacher;

·    Present dialogue orally to the class; respond to questions from peers

Technology Content Standards:

• Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.

• Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

• Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

• Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.

• Students use technology resources for solving problems and making informed decisions.

Technology Instructional Objectives:

Students will be able to:
  ·  Demonstrate proficiency in using online information resources to meet needs for collaboration, research,  
           publications, communications, and productivity.
    ·   Collaborate with peers and others to contribute to a content-related knowledge base by using technology to
          compile, synthesize, produce, and disseminate information in the form of a dialogue with graphic enhancements

Materials:   Student handout

Computer Applications:  Internet access, Microsoft Word

Resources (URLS, hyperlinks):  (Included on student handout)

Activities and Strategies:    This unit takes approximately two weeks.  Students are assigned to groups based on language and technical ability.  The class alternates between the computer lab and a traditional classroom.  Working in small groups to complete their assigned task, the students are actively involved in their learning.  The teacher is the facilitator, ensuring each group is focused on the task, directing students to additional resources, and resolving technical problems that may arise. Meeting in 40 minute class periods, the students spend 5 sessions researching and taking notes, 3 sessions discussing materials and writing the dialogue, 2 sessions for meeting with the teacher and revising, 2 sessions for group presentations and question/answer period. 

Assessment / Rubric:    RUBRIC

Presentation of student work:   Oral presentation of dialogue role-played to the class;  dialogue with graphics submitted to teacher.

Extension Activities:   This activity could be extended to include a complete preparation for the trip to Paris, including transportation, airfare, currency, hotels.  With technologically-proficient students, the presentation could take the form of a multimedia presentation with PowerPoint or webpage.