Course Profile   Core French, Grade 9 applied, Public

 

Course Overview

 

Course Profiles are professional development materials designed to help teachers implement the new Grade 9 secondary school curriculum. These materials were created by writing partnerships of school boards and subject associations. The development of these resources was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education. This document reflects the views of the developers and not necessarily those of the Ministry. Permission is given to reproduce these materials for any purpose except profit. Teachers are also encouraged to amend, revise, edit, cut, paste, and otherwise adapt this material for educational purposes.

Any references in this document to particular commercial resources, learning materials, equipment, or technology reflect only the opinions of the writers of this sample Course Profile, and do not reflect any official endorsement by the Ministry of Education or by the Partnership of School Boards that supported the production of the document.

 

© Queen's Printer for Ontario

 

Acknowledgments

 

Lead Board:

Peel District School Board

Director: Harold Brathwaite

Superintendent of Program Services: Sandy Gray

 

Project Leader

Georgette Bolger

 

Course Profile Writing Team:

Georgette Bolger, Peel District School Board

Bonnie Carter, Simcoe District School Board (retired)

Rob Foster, Durham District School Board

Sara Garnick, York Region District School Board

Callie Mady, Peel District School Board

Shona McGregor, Peel District School Board

 

Course Overview

Core French, Applied, Grade 9

Identifying Information

School:

District:

Grade:  9

Department:

Development date:  July 1999

Course Title:  Grade 9 Core French Applied

Policy Document:  The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10, French as a Second Language Core Extended and Immersion, 1999

Prerequisites:  minimum of 600 hours of French instruction or equivalent

Ministry Course Code:  FSF1P

Course Type:  Applied

Credit Value:  1 credit 110 hours

Course Description

This course emphasizes the concurrent development of oral communication, reading, and writing skills using a broad-based theme such as the media. Students enhance their ability to understand and speak French through conversations, discussions, and presentations. They also read short stories, articles, poems, and songs and write brief descriptions, dialogues, and invitations.

Grade 9 Applied Expectations and Codes

The Ministry Grade 9 Applied expectations and codes are listed in Appendix A.

Aims

It is the aim of the Grade 9 Core French Applied course to develop knowledge and skills to enable students to:

·         communicate effectively;

·         understand French language and culture;

·         express their ideas clearly;

·         analyse and appreciate what they read;

·         think logically.

The ability to communicate in French, one of Canada’s two official languages, provides students with a distinct advantage in a number of careers both in Canada and internationally.

Prior Knowledge Required

The prior knowledge required for these courses is outlined in The Ontario Curriculum, French as a Second Language: Core French Grades 4-8. Teachers of Grade 9 Core French should be familiar with the expectations articulated in this document. Teachers build on students’ skills and language knowledge to provide a smooth transition for students from Grade 8 to Grade 9 Core French. The course profiles designed for Public school boards are based on prior knowledge in Grades 4-8 and a minimum of 600 hours of instruction in Grades 4-8.

Applied Course

The Core French Applied course integrates Oral Communication, Reading, and Writing skills, and emphasizes activities that are practical and concrete.

Course Profiles

Each of the five thematic units integrates the expectations with the three strands that correspond to the main areas of language use: Oral Communication, Reading, and Writing. The five themes selected are the result of

·         examining the four current commercial programs used  by teachers across Ontario to find common themes and

·         surveying current Grade 9 Core French students for topics of interest and relevance.

This course profile demonstrates one way to organize the expectations from the Grade 9 Core French Policy document. All overall and specific expectations are addressed in this course profile. The five themes and units are:

·         Relationships:  Je m'entends bien avec les autres

·         Television:  Une vedette est née:  créer un téléspectacle

·         Sports and Leisure:  Des sports et des loisirs: on  en parle

·         Volunteerism:  Tendre la main: j'aide ma communauté

·         Travel: En route! Visitons des villes francophones

There is a final task in each unit which focusses on one of the three strands but contains expectations from each strand. Two of the final tasks are accompanied by an evaluation rubric. Rubrics are based on the Achievement Chart as well as criteria specific to the task.

In the units the writers have suggested specific reading materials to complement the themes. Teachers are encouraged to add other selections that are available, depending on the interests and abilities of their students. Teachers also need to use relevant software that is available to enhance student learning.

Unit Titles (Sequence and Time)

Unit 1

Je m'entends bien avec les autres

20 hours

Unit 2

Une vedette est née: créér un téléspectacle

23.5 hours

Unit 3

Des sports et des loisirs: on en parle

24 hours

Unit 4

Tendre la main: j'aide ma communauté

23.5 hours

Unit 5

En Route! Visitons des villes francophones

19 hours

Unit Descriptions

Unit 1:  Je m'entends bien avec les autres

Time:  20 hours

As a final task, students write a letter to a prospective pen-pal outlining some past events, describing life in the present and expressing some plans and desires for the future.

During the unit, students review language elements from Grades 7 and 8 and use them in getting to know their classmates. They learn new vocabulary in discussing relationships with peers, teachers, and families. The teacher establishes classroom routines and assists students in setting goals for the Grade 9 school year. Language structures: irregular adjectives, passé composé of irregular verbs, interrogatives.

Unit 2:  Une vedette est née: créér un téléspectacle

Time:  23.5 hours

As a final task, students prepare and present a segment of a television program. This could be a weather report, newscast, talk show, children’s show etc.

In this unit students view and discuss video selections and identify components that are representative of certain types of television programs. Students practise their oral communication skills, use related vocabulary, and incorporate appropriate components into the segment of the television program they present.Language structures: comparative and superlative form of bon and bien, direct and indirect object pronouns (le, la, les) with affirmative and negative, passé composé with être.

Unit 3:  Des sports et des loisirs: on en parle

Time:  24 hours

As a final task, students create a brochure to advertise an ideal resort. They use information and vocabulary to entice visitors to take the vacation of their dreams. Students discuss sports and leisure activities. They use their communication skills, related vocabulary, and language structures to express preferences and share ideas about sports and leisure activities. Language structures: futur simple, disjunctive pronouns, pronoun en, relative pronouns qui and que.

Unit 4:  Tendre la main: j'aide ma communauté

Time:  23.5 hours

As a final task, students create a flyer and an audiotape to describe the benefits of and to promote volunteerism. Students express their interests and discover some of their personal strengths and weaknesses.  They use related language structures and new vocabulary to talk about volunteerism. Language structures: indirect object pronouns (lui, leur), verbs plus à and de, conjunctions et, mais, où, donc.

Unit 5:  En Route! Visitons des villes francophones

Time:  19 hours

As a final task, students give a group oral presentation describing sites of a francophone city. In this unit students use a variety of resources including information technology to research and become familiar with countries in which French is spoken. They use language structures and relevant vocabulary in real life contexts dealing with travel and tourism. Language structures: present tense reflexive verbs, pronoun y, futur simple.

Course Notes

Teachers should address school and board policies regarding physical safety, acceptable use of the Internet, and proper use of audio-visual equipment. Daily activities should reflect awareness and avoidance of bias and violence prevention within the classroom learning environment. Where appropriate, when planning, teachers of FSL should consider adults as students, co-operative education, and work experience. Before planning Unit 4, teachers should consult with the principal and be familiar with MET Program Policy Memo No. 124, which outlines the community involvement procedures and guidelines. Teachers consult with special education teachers to provide accommodations to meet their students’ needs. Collaboration and integration with other academic departments assist students in making connections to other disciplines and to the world outside the school.

Teaching/Learning Strategies

Attention has been given to providing a wide variety of teaching and learning strategies to maintain student interest and maximize learning. Information technology has been included in all units. Teaching and learning strategies address all types of learners with a balance of independent, collaborative, and teacher-directed activities. Activities are relevant and motivating and allow for student creativity. Teachers review the planning notes in each activity for optimum delivery of the material. They also ensure that resources used (Internet, video, and print) are previewed before use.

Assessment/Evaluation and Reporting

Assessment and Evaluation

Teachers should use a repertoire of assessment techniques, including both formative and summative assessment, to assess student achievement of the expectations in Core French courses. Teachers should assess what students learn and also how well they learn. Students need a variety of opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Teachers should use a variety of techniques to assess and evaluate these performance demonstrations of learning  (e.g., rubrics, tests, checklists, etc.).

Reporting Student Achievement

A final grade is recorded for each Core French course and a credit is granted for every course in which the student’s grade is 50% or higher.

The final grade is determined as follows:

·         70% of the grade is based on assessments and evaluations throughout the course,

·         30% of the grade is based on a final evaluation in the form of an examination, performance, or other method of evaluation and administered near the end of the course. The components of the final evaluation, performance or other method of evaluation should assess the three strands of Oral Communication, Reading, and Writing.

In the final mark, the weighting of the three strands of Oral Communication, Reading, and Writing should reflect the expectations in each strand, a focus on Oral Communication skills, and the levels described in the Achievement Chart.

“The development of strong oral communication skills provides the foundation for students to read and write effectively” p. 6. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 & 10 French as a Second Language.

It is suggested, therefore, that 50-60% of the final mark should measure Oral Communication skills and

40-50% measure Reading and Writing skills.

Resources

Each unit lists specific resources where applicable from the four current commercial programs and other support material.

Avec Brio. Prentice Hall Canada Ltd. ISBN 0-13-5692458 (vocabulary resource)

Destinations 3. Copp Clark Pitman Ltd., distributed by Addison-Wesley, ISBN 07730-5134-1

Entre Amis 3. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc., ISBN 0-13-287988-.

Passages 3. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 0-201-57377

Tous Ensemble: Décollage. D.C.Heath, distributed by ITP Nelson. ISBN 0-669-95367-9

Tous Ensemble: Altitude. D.C.Heath, distributed by ITP Nelson ISBN 0-669-95373-3

Tous Ensemble: Réflexions Volumes 1 and 2. D.C.Heath, distributed by ITP Nelson (reading resource)

Tribunal des Jeunes. Copp Clarke Pitman distributed by Addison-Wesley Longman.

ISBN 0-7730-5321-2

Tous Ensemble: Connaître et savoir (grammar resource)

Where Heart Meets Mind. (Cooperative learning); Educational Connections, 1991. ISBN 0-9635240-0-3

Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom. Thomas Armstrong

Getting Assessment Right Core, Extended and Immersion French, Grades 9 and 10. Data Based Directions, Barrie ON

Assess for Success. OSSTF

Together We Learn. Prentice-Hall Canada Inc. ISBN 0-13-924556-1

Web sites are also listed in the units to provide background information for both teachers and students.

Durham District School Board produced Blackline Masters – web site TBA

Course Evaluation

At the end of the course, teachers have an opportunity to assess the overall effectiveness of their programs. Teachers should review the content and the instructional and assessment strategies of the course in order to revise Core French programs to improve student achievement of the expectations. Students should also have an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the course.

OSS Policy Documents

Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10, French as a Second Language - Core, Extended and Immersion French, 1999.

Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. The Ontario Curriculum, French as a Second Language: Core French, Grades 4-8, 1998.

Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9 and 10, Program Planning and Assessment, 1999.

Choices Into Action. Ontario MET. ISBN 0777856093

MET Policy/Program Memorandum No. 124: Ontario Secondary School Diploma Requirement, Community Involvement Activities in English Language Schools

 

 

Appendix A

Coded Expectations, Core French, Grade 9, Applied

Oral Communication

Overall Expectations

OCV.01B

- listen and respond to short, structured texts;

OCV.02B

- listen and respond to a variety of short, simple, non-structured media works;

OCV.03B

- express ideas and opinions in short conversations and teacher-guided discussions;

OCV.04B

- make oral presentations on a variety of topics;

OCV.05B

- use appropriate language conventions during oral communication activities.

Specific Expectations

OCI.01P

- understand and follow specific instructions;

OCI.02P

- respond to spoken texts and media works by asking and answering questions and identifying the main ideas;

OCI.03P

- listen to spoken texts and works in order to practise correct pronunciation, intonation, and expression;

OCI.04P

- use complete sentences to produce short oral presentations (e.g., descriptions, reports, announcements);

OCI.05P

- present prepared conversations in dialogues or dramatizations (e.g., simulating an interview, a television commercial);

OCI.06P

- speak in French when working in collaborative and exploratory activities;

OCI.07P

- share information and ideas to produce an oral presentation with classmates;

OCI.08P

- prepare and give group oral presentations on topics under study, incorporating audio and visual aids;

OC2.09P

- recognize and use appropriate language structures (see language structures for Core French, Grade 9, p. 22);

OC2.10B

- use newly acquired vocabulary in conversation

OC2.11P

- recognize particular vocabulary items used in Canada that are different from those used in other French-speaking regions (e.g., le dîner/le déjeuner, l'école secondaire/ le lycée);

OC2.12P

- infer the meaning of unfamiliar words from verbal and non-verbal/visual cues (e.g., volume and tone of voice, facial expressions and gestures).

Reading

Overall Expectations

REV.06B

- read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of simple texts;

REV.07B

- read a range of simple texts to gather information and to expand their knowledge of the French language;

REV.08B

- identify and understand language conventions used in their reading materials.

Specific Expectations

REI.13P

- demonstrate an understanding of articles, short stories, and poems or lyrics (e.g., by asking and answering questions, presenting dramatizations);

REI.14P

- read materials containing a brief text (e.g., brochures, advertisements) and develop the main ideas and some supporting details in a different context (e.g., radio announcements, class posters);

REI.15P

- model ideas and formats from their reading to produce written work and oral presentations (e.g., a poster advertising an event, an interview with a historical figure).

RE2.16B

- recognize and use appropriate language structures (see language structures for Core French, Grade 9, p. 22);

RE2.17P

- use reading strategies (e.g., context clues, visual cues) to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary and expressions;

RE2.18P

- identify synonyms and antonyms of given words in written texts;

RE2.19P

- observe the rules of pronunciation (e.g., liaisons, silent letters, correct accents) as they read aloud;

RE2.20B

- read aloud with expression, changing intonation to reflect declarative, interrogative, and exclamatory sentences (e.g., Il fait très froid aujourd'hui. Comment vas-tu? Quelle réponse!);

RE2.21B

- demonstrate basic dictionary skills (e.g., recognize and understand short forms for parts of speech, pronunciation cues, abbreviations);

RE2.22B

- use French-English dictionaries to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Writing

Overall Expectations

WRV.09B

- express ideas and opinions in short written texts;

WRV.10B

- create short, simple written texts in structured and open-ended situations;

WRV.11B

- identify and use appropriate language conventions in their written work.

Specific Expectations

WR1.23P

- write a short descriptive paragraph, including an introductory sentence, development of main ideas, and a concluding sentence;

WR1.24P

- write a letter that includes a salutation and an ending;

WR1.25P

- create an invitation or a poster for an event, giving date, place, time, and other relevant details;

WR1.26P

- write short texts (e.g., want ads, “for sale” signs), choosing vocabulary to suit the purpose;

WR1.27P

- write short dialogues about a specific topic or activity;

WR1.28P

- prepare and conduct a survey to gather information, and summarize the data in short sentences.

WR2.29B

- recognize and use appropriate language structures (see language structures for Core French, Grade 9, p. 22);

WR2.30B

- write a short dictated message, using correct spelling and punctuation;

WR2.31B

- revise, edit, and proofread their writing, focusing on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and conventions of style;

WR2.32B

- incorporate newly acquired vocabulary into their written work.

 

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