FRENCH IV AP LANGUAGE SYLLABUS
Objectives
The students should be able to understand native speakers of French from a variety of francophone cultures.
They should be able to read with understanding a variety of texts including magazines, newspapers, and literary texts.
In their writing and oral expression they should be able to make themselves understood by a native French speaker.
The students should develop an appreciation for and a knowledge of francophone cultures.
By meeting the above objectives the students are prepared to be successful on the AP Language Exam.
Course Overview
In the French IV AP Language Course the students further develop and hone their skills of reading , writing, listening, and speaking. Through exposure to authentic resources the students are immersed in the French and francophone cultures. Having taught in a Cameroonian secondary school from 1984 to 1989 it is my aim to give the students an appreciation for how widely French is spoken in the world.
The course is conducted entirely in French. The second day of class the students sign a language contract which commits them to speaking only French. They must ask for permission [ in French ] to speak English. The situations are usually limited to questions and answers regarding grammar explanations.
The main resource is the textbook Sur le vif by Hannelore Jarausch and Clare Tufts [ Thomson and Heinle, 2006 ]. We do all the reading, writing, speaking, DVD viewing, and comprehension activities in the text and workbook through chapter four. Additional resources enhance and expand the topics covered in the text.
Resources
Sur le vif. Hannelore Jarausch and Clare Tufts. Thomson and Heinle. 2006
Sur le vif. Cahier d’exercices écrits et de laboratoire. 2006
AP French Preparing for the Language Examination. Richard Ladd and Colette Girard. Pearson and Prentice Hall. 1998.
Troisième Livre. Eli Blume. AMSCO. 1980.
Hugo le Terrible. Maryse Condé. Editions Sépia. 1991.
Le Petit Nicolas et les copains. Sempé et Goscinny. Editions Denoel. 1963.
A French City Speaks. Bernard le Petit. Video and transcripts.
Chez nous. Scholastic Magazines. 2006/2007.
La Gloire de mon père. FilmArobics.
Le Château de ma mère. FilmArobics.
« You Africa ». California Newsreel.
www.paroles.net
September Le français dans le monde
Content
In this introductory chapter the students look at stereotypes that the French Canadians and the French have of each other. The song “Les maudits Français” by Lynda Lemay presents a humorous introduction to stereotypes.
Activities
The students express their stereotypes of the French and French Canadians that they imagine through their previous study of French. They also imagine stereotypes that the francophone world has of Americans. Pair interviews are revealing activities.
Assessment
Grammar quizzes cover parce que, a cause de, and the irregular verbs found in the song. Short oral exposes on stereotypes are evaluated on the quality of the grammar, pronunciation, and organization. The students keep a journal and the first entry is made on the validity of stereotypes.
September [ continued ] Les études
Content
In this first chapter the vocabulary relevant to the educational system in France is learned which leads to timely activities involving the rentrée scolaire. Through the video series “A French City Speaks” we visit Nogent-le-Rotrou where students and educators are interviewed about the educational system in France. The grammar points reviewed are the verbs payer and s’ennuyer, the present indicative, infinitives, imperatives, and faire causitif. In addition, we review some of the idiomatic expressions with faire.
Activities
The students watch the video interviews mentioned above and take notes. The students summarize their notes orally and answer questions on the content. I then give them the transcript of the interviews as a reading assignment and they can check the accuracy of their notes. We watch the video a second time after the reading which increases comprehension. Using the vocabulary acquired students talk about their classes, classmates, teachers, and feelings about the rentrée. For variety we read an article in the Chez nous magazine.
Assessment
Vocabulary and grammar points are covered in quizzes. A second entry is made in their journal comparing the French and American educational systems. The chapter test covers the vocabulary points mentioned above and every chapter test has a listening comprehension activity, a dictée, a reading, and a writing activity. I give each student an individual oral test during which they talk about the rentrée. The quality of the pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and organization is graded.
October Les études
Content
In this second chapter the vocabulary includes expressions about the body, personality, clothing, and pastimes. The grammar points covered are a review of décrire, s’asseoir, descriptive adjectives, comparative and superlative adjectives, tout, interrogatives, and Il/Elle est vs. C’est. In addition, the subjunctive is reviewed.
Activities
Students describe themselves and others. Movie stars, politicians, and athletes are good categories for guessing games. A cloze activity is done for three songs relating to the chapter topic, “Une chanson africaine” by Daouda, “Le village endormi” by Yves Duteil, and “Pour que tu m’aimes encore” by Céline Dion. All the songs in the course are done as cloze activities. The songs are sung twice.
Assessment
Each student has an out of class interview with me about a family member [ grading the same as September’s interview ]. Along with vocabulary and quizzes and the chapter test there is a test on the subjunctive. The students write their first in class essay which is graded according to the AP essay scale. The topic is La mode. Because each year some of the students take the SAT II with listening test we do practice activities as preparation. A journal entry is made on uniforms in schools.
November Les immigrés
Content
The students learn about the life of immigrants in France as well as the plight of the homeless. This lends to discussions and comparisons of these issues in our country. Students have a chance to do pair work on volunteer experiences with shelters and food pantries. The subject is timely because of the November 2005 uprisings in France which began in northern Paris and the issue of the Contrat Première Embauche. The students read several internet articles in French on the CPE. The grammatical points covered are the verbs accueillir, mourir, the passé composé, the imparfait, the plus-que-parfait, past infinitives, and le mot juste: manquer a; render, partir, sortir, and quitter.
Activities
We return to the video to view segments on minorities and work opportunities in Nogent-le-Rotrou. In addition to the songs in the text we listen to and sing “Metis[se]” by Yannick Noah and “ Coup de boule” about Zinedine Zidane’s head butt incident. The students view the on-line music video of “ Coup de boule”. The students do a family tree project covering four generations. They describe a person from each generation including age, personality, work, physical characteristics, and where the person lives or lived.
Assessment
In addition to the grammar points and vocabulary covered the si clauses are reviewed and tested. The oral presentation of the geneology project is graded as previous oral activities. The fall term exam covers the first three chapters. We review and the exam contains an essay question on immigration which is graded according to AP guidelines. A journal entry is made about the family tree presentations.
December Debate and AP review [ three weeks ]
Content
As a culminating activity on immigration, the students are divided into teams of four or five for a debate. The topic is: Tous les sans-papiers doivent être renvoyés à leurs pays d’origine. Time is also devoted to activities in the AP workbook : the one-word fill-ins, the verb fill-ins, reading passages,and listening activities. Some idiomatic expressions with the verb avoir are reviewed.
Activities
The debate is a three-day activity. Time is devoted to team preparation, opening statements, presentation of arguments, rebuttal, and closing statements. Students vote on the winning team. An article from the magazine Chez nous is read before moving on to the grammar and listening activities in the AP workbook.
Assessment
All aspects of the student’s participation are graded. After correcting some of the AP activities, several are done as quizzes. Grammatical points are reviewed during the correcting process. The idiomatic expressions with avoir are tested and, after discussing strategies, the students make their first recording following the AP guidelines.
January Interlude and En route
Content
In the short interlude chapter we meet the group Zebda and read their song “Je crois que ça va pas être possible” which is a concluding activity for the previous chapter on Les immigrés. We return to Nogent-le-Rotrou for several segments on students’ attitudes towards drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. The students begin the fourth chapter, En route. The grammar points covered are the verbs conduire and mettre as well as articles, object pronouns y and en, order of pronouns, disjunctive pronouns, and le mot juste: se moquer de.
Activities
In addition to the above song, we do a cloze activity on Zebda’s song “Motive-é-s”. The students discuss and do pair work on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco using the vocabulary in the video. We watch “La gloire de mon père” for enjoyment and comprehension. Chapter four on driving lends itself easily to discussion and question and answer sessions.
Assessment
There are vocabulary and comprehension quizzes on the video. Students write daily summaries on their viewing of “La gloire de mon père”. The students write an out of class essay comparing the class struggles in “La Marseillaise” and “Motivé-e-s”. We begin a warm-up activity where two students per day have a minute to tell what they did the night before using the imparfait and the passé compose. Timed warm-up activities are done until the end of the year. The students write the chapter four test and do a second recording following the AP guidelines.
February Hugo le Terrible by Maryse Condé
Content
We read this novel about a young boy and his family’s experiences before, during, and following hurricane Hugo and its devastation of Guadeloupe in 1989.
Activities
Daily discussions of the reading assignments, individual oral reading, and summaries given by the students make up the bulk of the reading activities. A short video on Guadeloupe and listening to the song “Rété” from Guadeloupe by the group Kassav serve as cultural activities.
Assessments
There are frequent comprehension and vocabulary quizzes and there are two comprehensive tests covering the first half and the second half of the novel. A journal entry is made on a storm the student has experienced. The students write an in-class essay on the principal character in the novel. A third recording is made following the AP guidelines. The reading is completed at the end of February leaving one and a half weeks before spring break.
March
Content
The students do review listening, fill-in, and reading activities in the AP workbook. They also do the previous year’s National French Contest as practice for this year’s contest.
Activities
We change warm-up activities to those found in the AP workbook answer manual. A student draws a numbered question and a classmate will read the question. The first student has twenty seconds to respond. Two students answer one question each daily. I will comment on vocabulary or grammar points in the questions as needed. An article from Chez nous is read for additional reading practice.
Assessment
Some fill-in, verb, and reading activities are done as quizzes. The students make their fourth recording and a journal entry on what they plan on doing over the spring break which reviews the future tense.
April Le Petit Nicolas et les copains
Content
In addition to reading three stories in the above book the students are required to complete and check, outside of class, eight specified one-word fill-in, verb fill-in, and reading activities in the AP workbook. For comprehension and enjoyment we watch “Le Château de ma mère”.
Activities
The viewing of the film is punctuated by activities from the viewing manual as well as questions on the story and the characters. The oral reading of a Petit Nicolas story is a humorous activity.
Assessment
There are comprehension quizzes on the film as well as vocabulary and idiom quizzes on the Petit Nicolas stories. The students do a fifth recording and an in-class essay on a random topic.
May Le Petit Nicolas et les copains and « You Africa »
Content
Prior to the AP exam several class periods are devoted to additional grammar review of the compound verb tenses, relative pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns. Following the AP exam and before our final exams we read a fourth Petit Nicolas story and watch the film “You Africa” which is in French with subtitles and is about Youssou N’Dour the Senegalese singer.
Activities
The students make a final journal entry on a humorous family incident. The film lends itself to a review of the West African countries mentioned in the film and discussions on the importance of music in a country’s culture. The grammar review done before the AP exam serves as preparation for the final exam which is a shortened version of the AP exam.
Assessment
A final oral interview is counted as part of the final exam and the subject is music. The spring term exam takes place during an exam period which marks the end of the school year.
