This semester will have gone by much faster than the fall one, it seems. But we have been able to keep moving forward with our somewhat traditional plans for French 4, with some modifications.
When we were in person, the third quarter was usually where we spent time watching movies about World War II German Occupation and French Resistance stories. We would either watch them all together as a class, or split the viewing into groups who would then report back to the class about the movie they watched. Because of the lag, and due to the drastically minimized time together in class, I chose to just give them the titles and summaries of the stories in Compass and if by chance they have the opportunity to watch them, one day, I hope they will think back on other things they learned about that timeframe in our remote setting. The movie titles were L'armee des Ombres, Lucie Aubrac, Le Dernier Metro, Le Silence et la Mer, La Mer a l'Aube, Sac de Billes, and Lucien Lacombe. Each of these movies gives a perspective of what occurred, and portrayed one side or another, or both in some cases. They help students see what daily life was like, how families were affected, what happened in prison or interrogations, how identities were changed, etc.
In addition to the movies, each student or a small group of students would select areas of interest to research and present to the class (political figures, engaged art, daily life, camps, etc.) and at the end of the quarter, the students would be split into two groups to create two different newspapers - one from the perspective of the Occupant, and one from the perspective of the Resistant, and then they would share their articles with their peers.
This year, I kept the research projects to the end of the quarter, but had them work on it from the start and they presented them last week. We also read an article about a former Nazi guard who was on trial for his involvement in camps, and had some conversations about that in groups and in written responses. I am hoping that between what we were able to do, and what they have learned in history classes, they have a broader sense of that past to define their actions for the future.
A lighter activity we have had during 3rd quarter and that will continue into 4th is reading Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Little Prince. The students have had opportunities in Compass Discussion boards to comment and react to certain quotes I have asked them to respond to; and they have been creating a document of new and interesting words in each chapter, and then finding a synonym equivalent in meaning in that context, and then rewriting the original sentence with that synonym. This helps them increase their vocabulary, think carefully about what the word means and whether the synonym will match it, and sometimes, they also need to modify the sentence if their synonym does not match in gender or number.
For 4th quarter, we will continue reading Le Petit Prince, and have some more "quotes discussions" and "vocab building" activities. We will dive into one more thematic unit (tbd Global Challenges - tolerance human rights health, OR Leisure time/Quality of Life - teens and sleep and screen time, friends, activities).
I also have a challenge project for them to help them reflect on this past year - perhaps a group book where each student submits a chapter in 3 parts (the person I was, the person I am, the person I will be) as a way of looking back at what this pandemic has meant to them and how it might have changed them; or a 'docudrama' if that is the right word, where they can mix video and audio to share what they have learned about themselves this past year (health, technology, family, aspirations, passions, etc.) Doing this in French would allow them to continue their journey with the language, work on something that is deeply relevant to them, and have something tangible to take away as they wrap up 4 years of French at Uni.
When we come back from Spring Break, we will be participating, once again, in the National French Contest, and then in the International Poetry Competition Poesie en liberte - https://www.poesie-en-liberte.fr/ressources/concours-2021/
That will ease us back into class mode after a week off.
I have truly enjoyed working with your students, getting to know them a little better by having them for a second consecutive year, and hope that they come away from this experience with new perspectives on life, a sense of what matters and how to make a difference. I do need to share that several weeks ago, I felt like life was weighing on them, so we just put the brakes on class work and used the time to have each person share a challenge or a celebration with their peers. Every single of one of them impressed me with their wisdom, their caring, their compassion for one another, and their listening skills. I will miss not having them in class next year, but I truly hope we can be in the school building together and can physically cross paths.
When we were in person, the third quarter was usually where we spent time watching movies about World War II German Occupation and French Resistance stories. We would either watch them all together as a class, or split the viewing into groups who would then report back to the class about the movie they watched. Because of the lag, and due to the drastically minimized time together in class, I chose to just give them the titles and summaries of the stories in Compass and if by chance they have the opportunity to watch them, one day, I hope they will think back on other things they learned about that timeframe in our remote setting. The movie titles were L'armee des Ombres, Lucie Aubrac, Le Dernier Metro, Le Silence et la Mer, La Mer a l'Aube, Sac de Billes, and Lucien Lacombe. Each of these movies gives a perspective of what occurred, and portrayed one side or another, or both in some cases. They help students see what daily life was like, how families were affected, what happened in prison or interrogations, how identities were changed, etc.
In addition to the movies, each student or a small group of students would select areas of interest to research and present to the class (political figures, engaged art, daily life, camps, etc.) and at the end of the quarter, the students would be split into two groups to create two different newspapers - one from the perspective of the Occupant, and one from the perspective of the Resistant, and then they would share their articles with their peers.
This year, I kept the research projects to the end of the quarter, but had them work on it from the start and they presented them last week. We also read an article about a former Nazi guard who was on trial for his involvement in camps, and had some conversations about that in groups and in written responses. I am hoping that between what we were able to do, and what they have learned in history classes, they have a broader sense of that past to define their actions for the future.
A lighter activity we have had during 3rd quarter and that will continue into 4th is reading Antoine de Saint-Exupery's Little Prince. The students have had opportunities in Compass Discussion boards to comment and react to certain quotes I have asked them to respond to; and they have been creating a document of new and interesting words in each chapter, and then finding a synonym equivalent in meaning in that context, and then rewriting the original sentence with that synonym. This helps them increase their vocabulary, think carefully about what the word means and whether the synonym will match it, and sometimes, they also need to modify the sentence if their synonym does not match in gender or number.
For 4th quarter, we will continue reading Le Petit Prince, and have some more "quotes discussions" and "vocab building" activities. We will dive into one more thematic unit (tbd Global Challenges - tolerance human rights health, OR Leisure time/Quality of Life - teens and sleep and screen time, friends, activities).
I also have a challenge project for them to help them reflect on this past year - perhaps a group book where each student submits a chapter in 3 parts (the person I was, the person I am, the person I will be) as a way of looking back at what this pandemic has meant to them and how it might have changed them; or a 'docudrama' if that is the right word, where they can mix video and audio to share what they have learned about themselves this past year (health, technology, family, aspirations, passions, etc.) Doing this in French would allow them to continue their journey with the language, work on something that is deeply relevant to them, and have something tangible to take away as they wrap up 4 years of French at Uni.
When we come back from Spring Break, we will be participating, once again, in the National French Contest, and then in the International Poetry Competition Poesie en liberte - https://www.poesie-en-liberte.fr/ressources/concours-2021/
That will ease us back into class mode after a week off.
I have truly enjoyed working with your students, getting to know them a little better by having them for a second consecutive year, and hope that they come away from this experience with new perspectives on life, a sense of what matters and how to make a difference. I do need to share that several weeks ago, I felt like life was weighing on them, so we just put the brakes on class work and used the time to have each person share a challenge or a celebration with their peers. Every single of one of them impressed me with their wisdom, their caring, their compassion for one another, and their listening skills. I will miss not having them in class next year, but I truly hope we can be in the school building together and can physically cross paths.