CARLA
Mission Martinique
Lesson 01 - Premiere Mission - La Martinique

Submitted by Brandon Locke

Objectives:

Content:
Students will...

  • Identify Martinique’s location on a map
  • Demonstrate understanding of the features of Martinique’s landscape (in general and by region)
  • Identify Martinique’s highest point (Mont Pelée)
  • Demonstrate understanding of Martinique’s size, climate, and natural geography
  • Identify at least three natural landmarks (rivers, bays, mountains) of Martinique
  • Demonstrate knowledge (location, landscape, geography) about the island of Martinique through various readings and websites and by recording information on several worksheets

Cultural:

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...

  • Demonstrate understanding of the following verbs (infinitive and/or imperative) when completing mission activities using the Internet or on their worksheets: cliquer, décourvir, lire, décrire, choisir, remplir
  • Use the following proper nouns when describing the geography of the island of Martinique: la Martinique, les Antilles, la Caraïbe, la Mer des Caraïbes, l’Océan Atlantique, Fort-de-France, Mont Pelée
  • Use the third person singular and third person plural of the verbs être (to be) and avoir (to have) in the present tense to help describe Martinique’s geography
  • Use the following nouns to describe Martinique’s landscape: les cocotiers, l’île, les presqu’îles, la terre, le point culminant, le volcan, le paysage, une superficie, la longueur, la largeur, le terrain, le littorel, la forêt tropicale
  • Correctly use the expression il y a to describe Martinique’s landscape (ex. Au sud de l’île il y a des plages de sable blanc.)
  • Use the second person plural of the verb apprendre (to learn) in the past tense to summarize their general understanding of the Martinique (following a model; ex. Aujourd’hui nous avons visité l’île de la Martinique. Quelque chose que nous avons appris de l’île c’est que c’est dans la Mer des Caraïbes.)
  • Learn and use the French idiomatic expression Je donne ma langue au chat (meaning "I give up" when submitting their guess card)

Language: Content Compatible
Students will...

  • Demonstrate understanding of the following nouns when the geography of Martinique is described: l’archipel, l’océan, le climat, la mer, la montagne, la chaleur, la baie, la plage, le sable, Département d’Outre-mer (DOM)
  • Demonstrate understanding of the following verbs when completing mission activities using the Internet or on their worksheets: visiter, répondre, penser, commencer, trouver, s’élèver
  • Demonstrate understanding of the present participle of the verb utiliser (to use) when reading directions on mission worksheets (ex. en utilisant des phrases complètes)
  • Demonstrate understanding of the structure "après avoir + past participle" when reading directions on mission worksheets (ex. après avoir visité les six zones…)

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...

  • Monitor their focus on particular tasks and ignore distractions
  • Use prior knowledge to help them complete the task
  • Make guesses based on their prior knowledge
  • Use images and context to help them decipher meaning of unfamiliar French words
  • Focus on key words, phrases, and ideas
  • Write down important words and concepts
  • Work cooperatively to complete the task, build confidence, and give and receive feedback
  • Create a written summary of information by completing electronic postcards and special topic sheet

Time Frame:

One-two 45-minute class periods

Materials Needed:

  • Lesson 1 Indices (see resources)
  • Guess Card (see resources)
  • Lesson 1 Mission Worksheet (see resources)
  • Lesson 1 Repos Worksheet (see resources)
  • Specialized Topic Sheet (see resources)
  • Internet access (Trackstar sites; see resources)
  • Overhead projector and transparencies of clues and worksheets (Mission and Repos)

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Note to teacher: Prior to teaching the lessons in this unit, it is advised to pre-teach (or review) some key geographical information to activate students’ prior knowledge, such as names of oceans and seas in French, as well as names of different French-speaking islands. Remember that you do not want to give away too much information since the lesson clues are designed to be a game for the students.

Pre:

  1. This first lesson is teacher-led, demonstrating how to navigate around the various web sites and complete the worksheets and electronic postcards. While modeling this lesson, the teacher should be overt about incorporating both the content-obligatory and content-compatible language structure objectives. For example, cliquer is a verb that will obviously be used when navigating web sites. The teacher should exaggerate its pronunciation to make sure students understand its meaning.
  2. The teacher should make an overhead transparency of the "Indices" for this (and all future lessons) as well as the first mission worksheet and repos worksheet.
  3. The teacher divides the class into pairs and explains that they will be working within these groups for the duration of this unit. Also, each pair of students will be assigned a "specialized topic" from the list provided in the Summative Assessment. (The teacher may assign these to each pair, or they may choose, or they may pick randomly. This is up to the teacher).
  4. The teacher provides an overview of the unit explaining that the class will be exploring a country within the French-speaking world in depth through a series of web sites, worksheets, note-taking, and finally by creating a class-wide final project. It is also important to explain that this first lesson will be primarily directed by the teacher to provide enough examples and scaffolds for the students to successfully complete the rest of the unit lessons.
  5. The teacher projects the transparency of the "Indices" for the entire class to see, making sure to cover the second and third clues, as well as the "guess card" and Trackstar site at the bottom.
  6. Each pair should be given one paper copy of the "guess card" to submit to the teacher.
  7. Reading the first clue aloud, the students are instructed to make a guess (working only with their partner) as to where in the world they are. If they know, they should complete their guess card and submit it to the teacher.
  8. The teacher continues by providing the second, and later the third, clues to the students. By the third clue most students should know that the answer is Martinique. Each pair should complete and submit their guess card, and the teacher then provides the class with the appropriate Trackstar site (#136038). The teacher should clearly model how to complete the guess card using appropriate language so students are able to have an example for future reference.
  9. The teacher distributes copies of this lesson’s worksheet (Première Mission) to each student and projects the transparency copy onto the screen.

During:

  1. The teacher directs the students to the specific Trackstar site (#136038).
  2. The teacher demonstrates how to navigate the site and asks for students to assist with reading directions, providing examples, or providing responses.
  3. Students follow along and complete their worksheets while the teacher completes one using the overhead projector. The teacher should be sure to provide appropriate examples as needed.
  4. Upon completion of this worksheet, the teacher distributes part 2 of the lesson, Le Repos. Students should be instructed to complete this worksheet with their partner; it is not necessary for the teacher to lead this portion, except to fully explain and provide an example for the electronic postcard (#3). The teacher explains how to complete the postcards by thinking aloud with the students while doing it. This shows students how to glean information from read text and then putting it into writing.

Post:

  1. Working with their partner, students should write an electronic postcard that will be sent to their teacher, explaining a little about what they learned about Martinique. It will be important for the teacher to provide an appropriate example and ask students to write a similar postcard using the teacher’s as a model. It is also advised to give students a copy of the postcard scoring rubric so they are aware of what is expected of them in their writing.
    Note to teacher: A more concrete model with specific instructions is found on the "Repos" worksheet. When writing their postcards students should briefly (1-2 sentences) write about each of the sub-topics on the "Repos" worksheet, including: the island, the culture, the history, the geography, and "our presentation subject."
  2. Students should be given the opportunity to return to Trackstar site #136038 and fully explore it to take adequate notes regarding their specialized topic. The teacher should distribute the "Specialized Topic Sheet" and provide several examples of what type of notes should be taken and why (to prepare the students to write the text for their Powerpoint slides).
  3. The teacher should collect the Mission worksheet as well as the Specialized Topic Sheet that will be returned the next day so students can continue their note-taking.

Assessment:

Because this lesson is primarily teacher-led, the teacher will informally observe students to check for comprehension. The assessments for this lesson will include the completion of the Mission Worksheet as well as the electronic postcard submitted to the teacher via E-mail. The teacher should also verify that each pair of students has begun to take notes appropriate to their specialized topic using their "Specialized Topic" sheet complete the "Première Mission Checklist/Rubric" for each pair (see below for checklist/rubric).

References and Resources:

Additional Resources for teacher (Trackstar Site ID#136415)  http://trackstar.4teachers.org/

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota