French I
Course Syllabus
ROOM: D3.4
E-MAIL:
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course
provides opportunities for communication in French through the study and use of
writing, vocabulary, reading, grammar and oral practice. The main aim of the
course is communication and students will be encouraged to use the language in
everyday situations. All French courses are based on a four-skill approach –
oral communication (speaking and listening); reading; writing; and language
conventions, grammar and vocabulary. The course integrates the DODEA and
Canadian/Ontario French Second Language Standards and Curriculum preparing
AFNorth International School students for further study at the French II level
and above.
French I is an introductory course. As such, it is designed to teach the student to pronounce and discriminate between the various vowel and consonant sounds and respond to and to imitate patterns of intonation, rhythm and pronunciation. Students learn to give simple oral and written information by using appropriate learned vocabulary, word order and grammatical forms, and to read silently and aloud with comprehension. The major oral and written formation of affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences; usage of articles and adjectives to correctly modify nouns; conjunctions of various regular and irregular verbs; usage of the present tense, usage of the comparative, superlative, demonstrative and possessive adjectives; formation of possession; usage of adverbs and the usage of direct and indirect pronouns.
COURSE
GOALS/OBJECTIVES/EXPECTATIONS:
By the end of
this course students will:
§ Listen
to and talk about simple oral texts in structured and open-ended situations;
§ Express
ideas, feelings, and opinions in conversations and discussions, using learned
language structures and a variety of vocabulary
and expressions;
§ Read a variety of
simple materials 150 to 200 words long, and demonstrate understanding;
§ Write in a variety
of forms, adjusting to suit the audience;
SCOPE AND SEQUENCE: The French I course includes 9 Units of
thematic work and 36 detailed lessons from the Discovering French Bleu program,
scheduled over the course of the academic year. (see Teacher’s guide for
complete details)
COURSE
STANDARDS:
DoDEA's performance standards for foreign languages
are based on the five National Goals of the American Council for Teachers of
Foreign Language:
Communication: Communicate in Languages Other Than English
·
Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information,
express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
·
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a
variety of topics.
·
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of
listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
·
Cultures: Gain Knowledge and Understanding of Other Cultures
·
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
practices and perspectives of the culture studied.
·
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the
products and perspectives of the culture studied.
·
Connections: Connect with Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
·
Standard 3.1:
Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the
foreign language.
·
Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints
that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.
·
Comparisons: Develop Insight Into the Nature of Language and Cultures
·
Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through
comparisons of the language studied and their own.
·
Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through
comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
·
Communities: Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and Around the World.
·
Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
·
Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the
language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.
I. PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES
Upon
completion of the beginning level Year I course, the student should be able to:
·
Greet and
respond to greetings
·
Introduce self
and others and respond to introductions
·
Engage in
conversations about personal topics
·
Express likes
and dislikes
·
Make requests
·
Provide
information
·
Obtain
information from a variety of sources
·
Present
information in interpersonal scenarios
·
Identify
cultural celebrations
·
Build a
speaking vocabulary
·
Use basic
sentence patterns
·
Use correct
pronunciation in speech and in reading aloud
·
Use the target
language in common situations of everyday life
·
Participate in
guided conversations
·
Create
dialogues using everyday situations
·
Use idiomatic
expressions
·
Respond
appropriately to commands or questions
·
Engage in
simple conversations relevant to suggested content areas
·
Engage in
communicative partner activities to practice proficiency
· Identify basic sounds in listening to discrimination exercises
II.
LEVEL I
SKILL DEVELOPMENT
A.
Interpersonal
Skills:
1.
Make a
reservation, appointment, or date
2.
Greet
acquaintances and strangers appropriately
3.
Ask questions
about health, weather, and other topics
4.
Answer
questions about personal information
B.
Interpretive
Skills:
1.
Read a
telephone message
2.
Read authentic
documentation to obtain information (e.g., labels, advertisements, maps,
travel instructions, functional texts, etc.)
3.
Interpret main
ideas using listening skills and context clues
4.
Understand a
variety of speakers and accents
C.
Presentational
Skills:
1.
Recite or
perform from memory a short text, rap, or song
2.
Write and
explain a short list of interactions, recipe, or bill
3.
Read aloud comprehensibly
COURSE GRADING/ASSESSMENT:
Student progress will be evaluated
regularly. Assessment/Evaluation may
take the form of tests, quizzes, writing, discussions, end-of-unit projects,
dialogue presentations, listening comprehension tests etc. Assignments will be
checked for completion, collected and graded, or rubric scored. Performance expectations will be measured
using:
Language Strands (oral communication, reading,
writing, grammar, language conventions and vocabulary)
Achievement Levels (1-4)
Categories (Communication, Comprehension,
Organization of ideas and Application of language knowledge).
Grade Calculations:
Oral Communication 40%
Reading
20%
Writing
20%
Grammar,
Language Conventions, and Vocabulary 20%
Marks are recorded on a
regular and ongoing basis and grading is cumulative.
Term work will be weighed at
80% of the final grade.
The end of year evaluation
(culminating assignment and examination) is worth 20% of the final grade.
CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS/CONSEQUENCES:
Students
are expected to come to class following the school’s dress code.
Students
in this class are expected to participate in all aspects of the course (written
assignments, oral presentations, etc.)
Since
everyone has the right to learn, unsolicited or inappropriate interruptions to
the class will not be tolerated. In
such case the student will receive a fair warning and if the behavior continues
further disciplinary actions will be taken. Students are expected to come to
class on time, prepared with their textbook, workbook, homework assignment,
notebooks, pen/pencil, eraser and paper.
Failure to do so will result in a tardy detention. A notebook is required for the course.
Students must keep all graded assignments, tests and quizzes until the end of
the year. Group work is essential in
the foreign language classroom to practice and master conversation in the
target language. During group time, all
students are required to stay on task in the target language. Students who interrupt
the learning process will be referred to the school administration and a
conference may be held with their teacher, counsellors, and administrator to
discuss the problem.
TEXTBOOKS:
Discovering
French Bleu (DC Heath) and "On y va! 1" (Addison Wesley)
SUPPLIES (REQUIRED/RECOMMENDED)
§ French/English dictionary
§ Lined paper (in a binder)
§ Pens, pencils, erasers
§ Ruler
§ Pencil crayons
HOMEWORK POLICY:
Students should review after every class session. If there is homework or a project, students are expected to have their work completed before entering the classroom. Work that is not ready to be turned in at the beginning of class of the date due may not be accepted. If there are exceptional circumstances, work may be handed later after discussion with the teacher. It is the students’ responsibility to come to see the teacher for an arrangement and to hand in work after returning to school after an absence. If a test or quiz was missed, the student may take it during class or seminar. Exercises and activities assigned during class and not completed are considered homework. When we correct this work in class it is considered formative evaluation. This is work that the student is doing to monitor his or her progress. The student is expected to complete work, and to make corrections when we take it up. This is part of the students’ responsibility to make use of feed back for improvement. He/she should then ask for help with anything that is not clear so that results of summative assessment (tests, quizzes, projects….) are as strong as possible. If students use the time in class and seminars effectively, they might not bring home French homework very often.
MAKE-UP WORK POLICY:
In
the case of an absence you are responsible to find out what you have
missed and make arrangements with the teacher in order to make up the work or
exam promptly. If you know that you
will be away you should make the arrangements prior to your
absence.
AFNORTH
International Middle/High School’s CSP (Continuous School Progress) goal one
is, “All students will improve their reading comprehension skills across the
curriculum.” Goal two is, “All students will improve skills
in mathematical computation.” Standardized assessments, such as the OSSLT,
PSAT and Terra Nova will be used to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses
and to assess growth as we continue to strive towards continued academic
improvement. Success of all students requires that instructional strategies to
improve reading comprehension and mathematical computation become a consistent
and integral component of each course taught at AFNORTH International
Middle/High School.
6
Traits + 1 Writing Rubric: The 6 Traits + 1 is the model selected to improve school-wide writing
in all subject areas. The 6 Traits + 1 writing framework is a powerful way to
learn and use a common language to refer to characteristics of writing as well
as establish a common vision of what “strong” writing looks like.
The six particular traits will be implemented in the
following manner:
Ideas: students will determine
validity of ideas through debate and research and incorporate them into
appropriate document format
Organization:
students will
learn how to organize ideas in proper sequence and incorporate them into appropriate document format
Voice: students will learn to
differentiate between formal, common and slang terms incorporate them as required into appropriate document format
Word Choice: students will engage in extensive
vocabulary building to allow them to implement proper terminology for
appropriate document format and settings
Sentence
Fluency:
students will study a variety of sentence structures and their implementation
into appropriate document format
Conventions:
students will study conventions of language that pertain to research, formal
debate and proper document format
PARENTS
/ SPONSORS: A word about COMMUNICATION
The
ability to communicate is an essential skill in today’s world. French is one of the official languages of
the United Nations, NATO, The European Union, The African Union, The Olympic
Games, La Francophonie, The International Postal Union and of course, Canada. It is also widely used around the world,
being spoken by upwards of 300 million people and being a main language of
communication in over 40 countries or states. Through learning of a second
language, students can strengthen their first-language skills and enhance their
critical and creative thinking abilities. Students who are able to communicate
in another language have a distinct advantage in a number of careers, both in
North America and internationally. Finally, French is a beautiful language and
can be fun to speak.
Communication in the classroom will be directed in French and students
are expected, as often as possible, to express themselves in French. Efforts to
use French in their daily lives, both inside and outside the classroom will be
recognized and rewarded.
You can help by
making sure that you son/daughter completes his/her homework. You may want to quiz them on weekly
vocabulary words. Students, who
carefully complete all homework assignments, score much higher on tests and
exams and a much faster rate of language fluency. When traveling in a French
speaking country, encourage your child to use the French language. It is a great motivating force. The student
should use the target language outside the classroom, whenever possible,
watching French TV, videos and DVD; listening to French music; reading French
language magazines or just conversing with a friend or native French speaker.