Submitted by Brandon Locke

Language: French Unit Cultural Theme or Academic Content Area: Social Studies Target Audience: Traditional Middle School Year of Instruction: 2 Proficiency Level: Novice Mid

Standards: Communication:    1.1, 1.2, 1.3 Cultures:    2.1, 2.2 Connections:    3.1 Comparisons:    4.1 Communities:    5.2

Unit Timeframe:

Approximately 2 weeks (45 minute class periods).

Unit Overview:

Complementing the middle school geography curriculum of teaching about the 5 Themes of Geography (place, location, region, movement, human/environment interaction), this unit focuses the students’ attention to the French-speaking island of Martinique. Students work in pairs and complete the three lessons, each consisting of two parts, a "Mission" and a "Repos." These activities are designed to give students the opportunity to explore various aspects of Martinique’s history and geography and will help prepare them to complete the unit’s summative assessment. .

Context:

This unit is designed for a second-year middle school French class (the equivalent to a beginning level high school class). Students will be familiar with auxiliary verbs (avoir, être), regular verbs in present tense as well as language structures appropriate to a beginning-level class including prepositions, adjective agreement, and gender. This unit has been written ideally for students who have already taken, or will simultaneously take a geography course focusing on the 5 Themes of Geography. Note: While this unit may be done independent of other lessons, it may be more effective if it was done as part of a larger unit focusing on Martinique.

General Unit References and Resources:

Additional Teacher Resources in English (Trackstar #136415) http://Trackstar.hprtec.org

The first lesson is teacher-guided to ensure the understanding of the routine and format of the lessons that follow. Each lesson includes a formative assessment in the form of a completed mission worksheet as well as a written electronic postcard (of Martinique!) that is sent to the teacher. One guided question per "Repos" deals with the pair’s specialized topics that will be used in the unit’s summative assessment. They will also compile information on a "special topic sheet" while completing the missions and repos to assist with the final unit assessment. The summative assessment is a class-created Powerpoint presentation.

It is highly recommended to show students the example of the Powerpoint presentation (using Switzerland and languages as a sample) so that they have a better understanding of what is expected as they take notes for their specialized topic.

Links or files for unit content:     A new window will open for each lesson.

Lesson 01 - Premiere Mission - La Martinique
Lesson 02 - Deuxième Mission - Fort-de-France 
Lesson 03 - Troisième Mission - Saint-Pierre
Unit Assessment