Submitted by Written by Pam Wesely. Updated by Laurent Cammarata and Diane J. Tedick, with additional updates by Pam Wesely.
Time Frame:
At least two class periods (ideally in a computer lab to facilitate students’ Internet search for material and resources) as well as homework for at least three nights.
Materials Needed:
Word processor with French spellcheck
Description of Task:
Overview of the final project:
The final project will consist of a 10-minute oral presentation conducted with the support of multimedia (done with PowerPoint or other software with such capabilities) which will be comprised of a minimum of 9 slides. Another reason for requiring learners to make use of technology is to give them a first exposure to (or: an opportunity to begin to develop) professional/academic presentational skills. Students will be asked to be creative in their use of technology and utilize whatever media they see fit (digital sound/videos, graphics, effects, etc.) to support their presentation. Such use of multimedia will need to be well thought out and not impede the actual message delivery. To ensure that learners are actually developing appropriate presentational skills using such tools, the teacher will provide them with particular guidelines to assist them through the process. The students will be given a guide sheet and a formal explanation in class (see Directions pour l'exposé final in "Attachments" below).Content of the final oral/multimedia presentation:
The presentation will require students to teach others via oral presentation what they have learned during the course of the unit regarding the course of the unit. Students will be assessed on the content as well as the language covered during the course of the unit. Their presentation will need to follow the guidelines below:1. Introduction: The students will begin with a definition of stereotypes and the three categories it can fall under (introduced in Lesson 2): cultural myths, generalizations, and realities.
2. First section: The students must give an example of a cultural myth about the French. The students will then refer to an instance in American culture where he/she has seen this cultural myth. Finally, they will explain its relationship to French culture.
3. Second section: The students must give an example of a generalization about the French. The students will then refer to an instance in American culture where he/she has seen this generalization. Finally, they will explain its relationship to French culture.
4. Third section: The students must give an example of a cultural truth about the French. The students will then refer to an instance in American culture where he/she has seen this cultural reality. Finally, they will explain its relationship to French culture.
5. Conclusion: In the conclusion, the students will describe what they have learned about stereotypes during this lesson, explaining if he/she feels that stereotypes have any importance or value in cultural connections.
Grading:
The final grade of this unit will be based on individual grades from each of the four lessons, and the final presentation that will be graded as a group project. Groups of three to 4 will be created and each student will be assigned a particular responsibility that will need to be made clear when the final handout of the presentation will be submitted for grading.The grade for the final presentation project will cover the following:
- oral presentation
- the PowerPoint slideshow accompanying the presentation which will require students to use enhanced multimedia capabilities to deliver their presentations with more impact than it would be possible otherwise. To complete this slideshow, students will be required to search the Internet for resources to use to support their presentation (pictures/graphics, sounds, videos, written articles that match their topic, etc.)
- the written commentary of the presentation (the script) which will need to accompany each slide of the PowerPoint presentation briefly describing its content and particular use of multimedia selected to enhance the presentation.
Students will be encouraged to use two features of PowerPoint in order to facilitate the production of the written output of the presentation.
- First students will be asked to use the ability given by the PowerPoint software to add comments to each slides while developing them in order to rehearse presentation at a later time. Students will write out their script under each slide.
- Second, they will also be asked to provide a printed output of their slideshow in an outline mode which provides space next to slides to add particular comments. In this space, students will be required to identify who has worked on this section and explain the decisions made during production (explaining why certain graphics, sound, video were included or why a certain outline mode was considered effective…).
References and Resources:
Short, D. (1993). Assessing Integrated Language and Content Instruction. TESOL Quarterly. 27(4), 627-647.
Attachments:
NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)Directions - L'exposé final - student directions for the final project
Final Project Rubric - evaluation for the final project
Multimedia Presentation Rubric - evaluation for the multimedia presentation project using PowerPoint or other similar application