Sixth Grade French
Recommended Prerequisite: None
Grades Offered: 6th
Credit: None (one 6 weeks grade)
State Code: 0604
MNPS Course Code: FLA1066Y
Course Description
The French program for sixth grade is a basic introduction to the language and people of the French-speaking world. The course is designed to peak students’ interest in learning a foreign language and prepares them for future study in a credit course. Completion of the fifth grade course is not a prerequisite for participating in the sixth grade curriculum. This course does continue, however, to promote conversational, listening, and pronunciation skills with some instruction devoted to reading and writing skill commensurate with those of the middle school learner of a second language. Relevant culture, geography, and history are taught in tandem with the appropriate lesson.
Course of Study: Students are expected to use and understand the following topics, if this is the students’ first exposure to French
· Greetings, farewells and courtesies
o Formal and informal greetings and farewells along with answering the question “how are you?”
· French alphabet
· Cognates
· Classroom vocabulary
o Both classroom objects and classroom commands are included in this unit.
· Numbers 1-30
· Colors
· Months of the year and days of the week
· Rooms in a House
· Yes/no questions
Once the topics listed above are covered/reviewed, the following topics should be included for a 12 week rotation.
- Giving basic information about oneself including:
- Age, nationality and city/state of residence
- Weather
- Time
- Adjectives to describe oneself
- Correct agreement of adjectives with singular nouns
- Geography: French speaking countries and their capitals
- Buildings in a city
- Monuments of Paris
Cultural Topics that can be covered with these units of study:
- Classroom vocabulary: The French school system and scheduling.
- Numbers: Using the numbers, students can talk about telephone numbers in France and learn different vocabulary for phone etiquette.
- Colors: For 6th grade, art can be included with colors. A suggestion is to have students study one particular artist or movement. For example, Monet can be studied along with Impressionism.
- Months of the year: Holidays relating to French culture can be covered, including, but not limited to:
- Bastille Day
- Mardi Gras
- Fête des Rois
- Rooms in a house: The history of the Versailles Palace can be studied along with a brief outline of Louis XIV’s life.
- Body Parts: Vocabulary for going to the doctor can be included in this unit of study.
- Time: 24-hour clock
- Geography: Some traditions of French speaking countries and their connections to common practices in the United States
- Monuments of Paris: Students can learn about the Paris subway system.
Standards
Standards are based on the American Council of Teachers of French (AATF), the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) Standards, and the Tennessee Standards.
ACTFL:
http://www.actfl.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3392#standards
Tennessee standards:
http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/ciforeignlang/ciflmodern1.htm
Recommended Textbook
No MNPS purchased textbook is available.
Text Resources
Discovering French Nouveau! McDougal Littell, 2004
Internet Resources
Textbook Website: http://www.classzone.com
Versailles: http://www.chateauversailles.fr/
Discover France (includes topics such as education, pastimes, food, culture etc…): http://discoverfrance.net/
French Cognates: http://french.about.com/library/vocab/bl-vraisamis.htm
Geography: http://french.about.com/od/geography/
French Holidays- http://www.joyeuse-fete.com
Paris Monuments: http://www.paris.org/Monuments/