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Pre-AP Strategies for Writing in the French Classroom
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by Eliane Kurbegov
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Dade County, Florida
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| | Learning to Write While Learning to Speak
In my experience, many young students of French prefer practicing the sounds of the French language to writing it. Visual stimulus in our technological world is very varied and sophisticated; this may make our textbooks and worksheets dull in comparison.
However, it is important that young and beginning learners of French practice writing along with speaking. The written and verbal forms of communication are equally important. Copying vocabulary words and doing traditional exercises have their place in the writing process, but should be followed up by more creative and project-oriented tasks.
The following are examples of such writing projects; they may be done by students individually, in pairs, or in groups. Examples of rubrics to guide students in creating the projects and to help the teacher evaluate and grade the projects are also included.
Art Projects that Involve Writing
Making posters to present parts of the body, colors, clothing, and so on, is an easy activity for beginners. The best posters can be put up in the classroom. They will make their creators proud and can be used by the teacher for teaching and reviewing purposes. Posters that advertise products or announce new movies or lost pets will encompass the use of visuals as well as more advanced writing skills. These projects should be integrated into the curriculum and tied in with vocabulary or structures currently being studied or previously studied. Students must receive very clear instructions for these projects and understand how they will be evaluated.
Making coloring books is fun and useful. Second-year students can make these on a certain topic, e.g., animals, family, sports/outdoor activities, holidays, etc. Each black-and-white page should feature a large picture and a caption in both French and English. My French Honor Society students select their favorite coloring books from the ones produced by French classes; copies are made, pages are bound courtesy of our graphics department, and the FHS members distribute the finished books to elementary schools in our feeder pattern. The students who produced the selected coloring books win a prize offered by our school's FHS.
Making catalogs, whether focused on fashion, beauty, health, toys, or books, requires attractive visuals and requires students to demonstrate organizational skills as well as correct spelling of otherwise long and boring lists of words. This project can be assigned to first-year students as there is very little need for structures and grammar.
At a more advanced level (third or fourth year), when students have a good grasp of basic structures such as verb conjugations, they may take the previous task to a higher level by creating fashion, beauty, or sports magazines. This type of project requires short descriptions and articles; students must be able to produce coherent sentences. It also requires organizing the magazine into sections with appropriate titles, working with page layout and design, and creating an attractive cover page.
Menus, Forms, and Resumés
Making menus and cookbooks, filling out professional forms, and writing resumés are other ways of bringing vocabulary to life.
French language textbooks devote a minimum of one chapter to French menus and eating out. While a first-year student may be limited to making restaurant menus with names of foods, dishes, and beverages, second- to fifth-year students will manage to write out recipes with the help of the teacher. In classes where students have diverse origins, they can each write out the recipe for a traditional dish from their country (let's avoid copying a French recipe from the Internet).
Filling out a job application form makes students write out birth dates, addresses, level of education, occupation of parents, days and time of availability, previous experience (real or imagined), etc. This is a fairly simple task. A more challenging one would be to write a letter applying for a job or writing a complete resumé (models should be provided).
Early Creative Writing
Creative writing should be encouraged at all levels of the study of French. It can start in the first year.
Present one picture or a series of pictures to students and ask them to imagine a story by writing two to five sentences inspired by the pictures. I have a picture of Bart Simpson wearing a striped sailor shirt and a beret, which always elicits some good responses, e.g., "Il prend le bateau. Il va en France. Il visite la Tour Eiffel . . ."
Second-year students can write captions for a comic strip in which captions or text within the bubbles have been whited out.
Students at any level can write short poems if you give them a model and select the poem so that it is at their level. Jacques Prévert's poems are easy to find; poems like "Déjeuner du matin" or "Le cancre" are easy to adapt.
Starting in their second year, students can write journals as long as the teacher guides them. After the second year, students are able to write more freely using dictionaries. I collect journals on a regular basis and return them with positive comments. I do not correct every mistake; this would take too long and I do not want to hinder the student's creativity.
Advanced students can write poems, short stories, and plays to be published in their school's French Honor Society's newsletter or to be shared with other classes.
Internet-Based Activities
The Web provides other ways to foster written communication as suggested by Jayne Abrate on the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) Web site:
- Chercher une page Web personnelle dédiée à une ville, région, ou pays francophone quelconque et contacter le créateur de ce site. Faire une interview par courrier électronique avec cette personne, et écrire une courte dissertation basée sur les réponses.
- Créer une page Web pour votre classe de français dans laquelle vous présentez votre école et votre ville en anglais et en français.
- Consulter un site Web pour trouver des actualités du monde francophone et présenter à la classe un flash quotidien sur ce qui se passe.
- Créer un journal, une émission de radio, ou un flash sur la page Web de la classe à partir des informations que vous trouvez sur le Web.
- Examiner dans la presse ou dans les médias françaises la version d'un événement qui s'est passé aux Etats-Unis.
Example of a Catalog Rubric for French Level 1
Topic: Clothing
Your four catalog pages must include a total of 20 different items.
Use a color and one of the following descriptive phrases for your items:
à carreaux/à rayures/à pois/à manches courtes/à manches longues/en velours/en soie/en coton/en lin/en cuir
Each item must be:
| Tasks that match students' skills and levels of understanding |
_____/20 pts |
| Correctly spelled |
_____/20 pts |
| Accompanied by the correct article |
_____/20 pts |
| Accompanied by a color and an appropriate descriptive
phrase from the list above |
_____/20 pts |
| Priced reasonably in euros (do not spell out numbers) |
_____/20 pts |
Example of a Poster Project Rubric for French Level 3
Movie Advertisement
Your advertisement should be 10 sentences long and must include the type of movie, mention of its Oscar awards and reviews, and movie showtimes. You may also include the movie's actors, theaters where it is playing, and so on.
| Illustration |
_____/5 pts |
| Type of movie clearly stated |
_____/5 pts |
| Reviews/Oscars mentioned |
_____/5 pts |
| Creative and professional presentation of poster board |
_____/5 pts |
| Synopsis of movie includes 10 sentences. Each sentence: |
| Is complete (subject, verb, complement) |
_____/10 pts |
| Presents a different verb |
_____/10 pts |
| Has a correctly conjugated verb |
_____/20 pts |
| Includes a variety of vocabulary |
_____/20 pts |
| Demonstrates correct spelling and usage of words |
_____/20 pts |
Eliane Kurbegov has been teaching for the last 23 years at the Miami-Dade Public School System, where she has taught all levels of French, including AP French Language and French Literature. National Board Certified and vice-president of the American Association of Teachers of French, she has authored numerous workshops at the local, state, and national levels, has served at the Reading in AP French for many years, and is currently a member of the Development Committee.
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