Sample 3: Grade 7

Topic: Mystery Guest

1. Prescribed Learning Outcomes:

Communicating
It is expected that students will:

• ask for and give simple information
  
• exchange information about themselves
  
• participate in classroom activities

Aquiring Information
It is expected that students will:

• extract and retrieve specific information from French-language resources to complete authentic tasks
  
• express acquired information in oral and visual forms
  

Understanding Cultural Influences
It is expected that students will:

• identify elements of Francophone cultures present in British Columbia and Canada
  

2. Overview

This unit introduced students to a number
of famous French Canadians. The activities took place over a three-week period. Evaluation was based on:

• templates identifying classmates' French Canadian identities
  
• oral presentations
  
• oral communication during class activities (including group and partner work)
  
• question sheet on students' French Canadian identities
  

3. Planning for Assessment and Evaluation

To introduce the unit, the teacher showed a video on a famous French-Canadian figure (e.g., a news clip, interview, or historical vignette). A web site could also have been used. The class discussed the contribution that this person made to Canada and the world. After the discussion, the teacher explained to the class that at the conclusion of the unit they were going to have a masquerade with "guests" from French Canada.

• The teacher handed out a list of some famous French Canadians. Students consulted individually with the teacher to select a person from the list. During the masquerade, the students would assume this person's identity. Students were reminded not to tell other students who they were going to be.
  
• Using think-pair-share, students developed lists of information they would like to know about a famous person. Then as a class, they came up with criteria for a paragraph they would write about their chosen individuals.

Think, Pair, Share

• For practise, the class went to the computer lab and researched the home page of one of the Famous French Canadians not chosen by the class. In our case it was Daniel Lavoie. The teacher handed out a question sheet and the students used the web page to find the information. Questions students would need during the masquerade were listed on the question sheet (e.g., Où es-tu né?) Students were to answer the questions as if they were Daniel Lavoie using the pronoun "je." The class corrected the answers together, making sure they had both the correct answers and sentence structures. As a conclusion to this activity, students listened to a Daniel Lavoie song on his web page.

Question Sheet

• After students completed the Daniel Lavoie question sheet, the teacher gave them a question sheet to complete for the mystery identities they had chosen. Students researched their identity and filled in the question sheet, which the teacher collected and used to prepare the template for the Mystery Game.
  
• The teacher explained that students would attend the masquerade in character. At the masquerade, they were expected to complete three tasks in French:
  
  • answer questions about themselves in response to questions from guests
    
  • work in groups to collect information about other guests
    
  • ask questions of guests to fill in their templates
    
• Students worked in pairs. To prepare for the masquerade, students practised exchanging information about their French identities with their partners. The teacher circulated as they practised, observing and providing feedback. The teacher also explained that the mark for oral communication would be based on the extent to which they used French effectively to exchange personal information at the masquerade. The teacher gave students a copy of the rating scale that would be used. The rating scale also included self-evaluation.
  
• On the day of the masquerade, students assumed their French identities. Most students dressed up or carried props related to their identities.

Famous French Canadians Templates

• At the beginning of the masquerade, each pair of students received two partially completed templates. Each template included one piece of information about an invité that the teacher had recorded earlier (the teacher ensured they did not receive the template for their own character).
  
• Students circulated in the room and asked each other questions until they found the characters that fit the clues on their template. They then asked the invité the rest of the questions on the template. Each pair of students was responsible for recording information about and identifying two guests. While filling in the templates, students were not allowed to ask for guests' names. Students were expected to speak only French throughout the activity.
  
• Once students completed the templates, they joined with two or three other pairs to form a larger group. Using their list of Famous French Canadians and the information on the templates, the group tried to guess the identities of the mystery guests.
  
• Mystery guests then introduced themselves and presented details about their characters to the class. Students had a chance to correct their templates if needed.
  
• At the end of the activity, students handed in the completed templates from the masquerade.
  

4. Defining the Criteria

As students worked on their assignments and practised their oral presentations, the teacher outlined the requirements and discussed the following criteria.

Question Sheet
To what extent does the student:

• provide all required information
  
• use appropriate vocabulary
  
• reproduce French words and patterns in understandable form
  
• spell key words correctly

Oral Interaction
To what extent does the student:

• participate willingly
  
• use French throughout the activity
  
• make himself or herself understood
• use appropriate questions and responses
  
• speak clearly and smoothly, using approximate French pronunciation

Oral Presentation and Communication
To what extent does the student:

• attempt French pronunciation and intonation
  
• express information clearly
  
• speak with some fluidity (although presentation is likely to be memorized)
  
• use a variety of vocabulary
  
• attempt to include all required information
  
• take risks to add details to his or her presentation

Templates
To what extent is the information:

• complete
  
• accurate

5. Assessing and Evaluating Student Performance

The teacher used performance rating and holistic scales to evaluate students' work in this unit. Students were given copies of the rating scales, and discussed them in English before they began working on their assignments.

Question Sheet

Oral Presentation and Communication

Famous French Canadians Templates

Note: spelling and grammatical correctness are not the focus of this scale.

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Maintained by: International Languages Coordinator

Last Modified: February 2002