Individuals in a culture share knowledge of the same people. When I listen to a podcast or read a book, there are references to real people who it is understood that the listener or reader will know. In Novice French I want to introduce my students to people world-wide who speak the language they are learning, so I have found this reader to be helpful. The purpose of my post is to share with you one way this reader could be incorporated into your students’ learning.
The can-do statement for intercultural communication is: I can describe famous people who speak French.
You might want to start with a video of why people around the world speak French. This EdPuzzle of a video from 1jour1actu could be a good start. Then move on to a Quizlet that introduces high frequency verbs in the first person. These phrases appear again and again in the readings and teaching them up front will support your students. Next, have the students do the short one-page readings on the different personalities. After the students read, ask them to communicate five facts about the person to a partner, then have them share these facts as a whole class.
At this point get students to talk without having the text in front of them. Show the students a picture of the person. During your class discussion, ask students to say any detail about the picture, the person or who the person is. Then, after the class discussion, write a paragraph together to collect all the ideas that were shared. The teacher can write on the white board while the students say sentences. Once a paragraph has been completed, read the paragraph back to the students or have them read it with you. As a final step, erase the board and ask students to write three sentences about the person in their journals. For a challenge, ask students to add in one original sentence, for example what they think of the person.
The reader is very accessible to novice learning and provides them with entry-level information. At the end of the lesson, extend their learning with an authentic document. For example, here are three EdPuzzles for your students:
- Django Reinhardt, from the trailer of the film about his life
- Olympe de Goudes
- Mohed Altrad
.I hope you will find these materials useful with your own students!
mmemoghtader.com 