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French I - IB
  

French I –IB Ab Initio

Recommended Prerequisite: None

Grades Offered:  11, 12

Credit:  ½ to 1

State Code:  3049

MNPS Course Code: FLA3049

 

Course Description

French I- IB Ab Initio is a course offered to students entering the International Baccalaureate program who have transferred to the program late.  It is also a course for IB students who have changed from one IB school to another and whose foreign language of which they were studying at the previous school is not offered at the current school. Four skills are continuously addressed in the teaching of this course:  listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  Exposure of the francophone world integrates itself into the beginning lessons of grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and current reading selections of the text.  The skills taught in French I- IB Ab Initio are in alignment with the objectives/skills as mandated by the state of Tennessee as well as ACTFL guidelines. 

The ultimate goal of the French I- IB Ab Initio student is to successfully pass the internal and external examination composed by the IBO headquarters.

 

Course of Study

Thematic vocabulary, basic grammar functions, and cultural explanation will be introduced to the students.  Students will entertain these skills taught by means of a variety of learning strategies:  dialoguing, role playing, reading and responding, written composition, listening comprehension activities, and oral interviews.  As students complete Pre-IB French I, they will be able to comprehend, speak, read, and write French at a level conducive to preparation for the study of French II.

 

Objectives: Using the target language, students will be expected to:

  • acquire listening comprehension skills with vocabulary introduced
  • execute French written proficiency with provided prompts
  • demonstrate accurate pronunciation
  • comprehend with understanding reading selections provided in the text
  • respond orally in interview situations
  • develop global awareness and tolerance of the diversity of francophone culture
  • relate French culture and loan words to history and literature studied
  • apply correct grammatical usage in speaking and writing situations

 

Thematic Vocabulary

  • daily life in the francophone world
  • the French school system
  • visiting a French city
  • young French-speaking people
  • physical conditions
  • the environment
  • customs
  • euro monetary system
  • global energy systems
  • global nationalities
  • friends
  • family
  • people and possessions
  • francophone countries
  • the French wedding
  • food
  • parties
  • celebrations
  • sports
  • buying clothes
  • the department store
  • the weekend
  • vacation
  • television and French young people
  • music and French young people
  • French restaurants and cuisine
  • the picnic

 

Grammatical Concepts:  Students will learn usage of . . .

  • the "to be" verb
  • masculine/feminine "a, an, one, any"
  • masculine/feminine/plural forms of "the"
  • "my" and "your"
  • correct order for writing the date
  • est-ce que with questions
  • ne . . . pas in negative statements
  • verbs that end in er
  • conjugated verbs plus the infinitive
  • question words
  • qu'est-ce que with questions
  • the "to do/to make" verb
  • the "to have" verb
  • pronouns replacing nouns
  • il y a plus other expressions                                                                                                             
  • masculine/feminine/plural adjectives
  • placement of adjectives/colors
  • c'est plus expressions
  • the "to go" verb
  • prepositions with definite articles
  • chez plus other expressions
  • aller plus infinitive (immediate future)
  • the "to come" verb
  • the prepositions à and de plus definite articles
  • stress pronouns
  • possession with de
  • possessive adjectives mon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur, etc.
  • ordinal numbers
  • idiomatic expressions and to be aware of problems in translating

 

Culture and Reading topics:  Students will read and study about the following:

  • French poetry and poets
  • French holidays and traditions
  • Formal and informal address
  • French speaking cities

 

Assessments: Students will be evaluated by means of the following:

  • dictations in French
  • oral readings and recitations
  • written compositions/dialogues to various writing prompts
  • oral interviews conducted by the teacher
  • selecting appropriate listening rejoinders to scripts read aloud
  • quizzes on thematic vocabulary
  • exercises to show correct application of grammatical concepts
  • standardized tests generated from the text
  • paired and group presentations
  • writing letters to French pen pals

 

Standards

Standards are based on the American Council of Teachers of French (AATF) and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) 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  

 

Textbook

Valette, Jean-Paul and Rebecca.  Discovering French Nouveau Bleu.  Illinois:  McDougal Littell, 2004.

 

Resources

All McDougal ancillary material is available with the basal text:  writing templates, standardized testing kit, compact disc listening material, teachers’ manuals, video tapes, dvd’s, overhead transparencies, workbooks, and CD Rom Discovering French Interactive Program.