Big Ideas
Big Ideas
Listening and viewing with intent supports our acquisition and understanding of French.
We can have meaningful conversations in French about things that are important to us.
We can share our experiences and perspectives through stories
Stories are narrative texts that can be oral, written, or visual. Stories can be simple or complex and may be derived from real or imagined experiences. They can be used to seek and impart knowledge, entertain, share history, and strengthen a sense of identity. Examples are indigenous oral histories, personal stories, skits, series of pictures, songs, student-created stories.
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Francophone creative works
works of artistic expression that represent the experience of the people from whose culture they are drawn (e.g., architecture, dance, filmmaking, musical composition, painting, poetry and prose, sculpture, theatre).
are expressions of Francophone cultures.
Acquiring French provides opportunities to explore our own cultural identity from a new perspective.
Content
Learning Standards
Content
French letter patterns
such as groupings of letters that make the same sound (e.g., au, aux, eau, ô, os), rhyming words, letter patterns that have consistent pronunciations (e.g., ai, gn, -ille, -ment, oi, th, -tion, ui)
commonly used vocabulary and sentence structures for communication in past, present, and future
Students should know that sentences change according to when events occur (i.e., a change in time frame requires a change in wording); for example, J’ai étudié pour mon test hier soir; Elles ne sont pas à l’école aujourd’hui; Nous allons regarder un film demain.
time frames:- various types of questions
- intonated questions (e.g., Tu as faim?)
- Est-ce que questions (e.g., Est-ce que tu as faim?)
- inversion questions (e.g., As-tu faim?)
- questions using different interrogative words, (e.g., Comment…?; Où…?; Pourquoi…?)
- descriptions of items, people, places, and personal interests
- comparisons and contrastsusing expressions such as aussi, mais, plus que, aussi que, moins que, plus de, autant de, moins de
- sequencesusing words that indicate sequence (e.g., premièrement, deuxièmement, après, ensuite, troisièmement, finalement)of events
- simple needs
- opinions about familiar topics
- cultural aspectsfor example, activities, celebrations, clothing, dance, First Peoples regalia, festivals, food, history, land, music, practices, protocol, rituals, traditionsof communities
elements of common types of texts
for example, format (letter versus email message), language, context, audience, register (formal versus informal), purpose
common elements of stories
for example, place, characters, setting, plot, problem and resolution
traditions and other cultural practices
relating to celebrations, holidays, festivals, and other events (e.g., Le Tour de France, Noël, le Mardig gras, le poisson d’avril, la St-Jean Baptiste) and the idiomatic use of language
in various Francophone regions
ethics of cultural appropriation
use of a cultural motif, theme, “voice,” image, knowledge, story, song, or drama, shared without permission or without appropriate context or in a way that may misrepresent the real experience of the people from whose culture it is drawn
and plagiarism
Curricular Competency
Learning Standards
Curricular Competency
Thinking and communicating
Recognize the relationships between French letter patterns and pronunciation
Identify, predict, and pronounce groupings of letters that make the same sound (e.g., au, aux, eau, ô, os), rhyming words, letter patterns that have consistent pronunciations (e.g., ai, gn, -ille, -ment, oi, th, -tion, ui), silent letters, les liaisons and les élisions.
Derive meaning
understand key elements, supporting details, time, place
from a variety of texts “Text” refers to all forms of oral, written, visual, and digital communication, including authentic or adapted texts (e.g., advertisements, articles, biographies, blogs, brochures, cartoons, charts, conversations, diagrams, emails, essays, films, forms, graphs, indigenous oral histories, instructions, interviews, invitations, letters, narratives, news reports, novels, nursery rhymes, online profiles, paintings, photographs, picture books, poems, presentations, songs, speeches, stories, surveys, text messages).
Use a range of strategies to support communication
- include strategies to comprehend and express meaning
- will vary depending on the context and the individual student
- for example, interpreting body language; listening to intonation and expression; paraphrasing, reformulating, reiterating, and repeating; substituting words; using cognates, context, images, parts of speech, prior knowledge, reference tools, similar words in first language, and text features
Seek clarification
using a variety of statements and questions (e.g., Je ne comprends pas; Répétez, s’il vous plaît; Répète, s’il te plaît; Peux-tu répéter?; Que veut dire…?; Comment dit-on…?; Comment écrit-on…?)
of meaning
Engage in conversations
virtual, online, and/or face-to-face; with peers, teachers, and members of the wider community
about familiar topics can include personal, local, regional, national, and global topics of interest
Exchange ideas and information using complete sentences, both orally and in writing
Narrate
using common expressions of time and transitional words to show logical progression using past, present, and future time frames
stories
Personal and social awareness
Explore and share information about connections between indigenous communities and the French language
- for example, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities where French is spoken, in Canada (e.g., Huron Wendake Nation, Innu Nation, Micmac Nation, and Mohawk Nation in Quebec; Métis communities in Baie St. Paul, MB, Fort Nelson, BC, and Île-à-la-Crosse, SK); indigenous communities where French is spoken, around the world (e.g., communities in Gabonese Republic, Guiana, and Republic of Côte d’Ivoire)
- Discussion could include the fact that First Peoples writers in Quebec, such as those from the Innu Nation, have used the French language through prose and poetry to bring attention to the negative effects of colonization on their families and communities.
Explore ways in which Francophone cultures are expressed through creative works
Explore cultural practices and traditions in various Francophone regions, and their role in identity
Describe similarities and differences
including the purpose of activities, celebrations, customs, holidays, and traditions
between their own cultural practices and traditions and those of Francophone communities in various regions
Explore the importance of story
Stories are an important way to seek and impart knowledge, beliefs, customs, perspectives, traditions, values, and worldviews. In doing so, they can share history and strengthen a sense of identity.
in personal, family, and community identity
Engage
through, for example, blogs, classroom and school visits (including virtual/online visits), clubs, concerts, courses, exchanges, festivals, films, pen-pal letters, magazines, newspapers, plays, social media and other online resources, stores/restaurants with service in French
in experiences with Francophone communities and people