Les 18 lieux qu'il faut avoir vus en Franais 400

General Objectives: 1) Each student will write a description (200-250 words) with a photo and practical information of their hometown (or a landmark near their hometown) in the style of Les 1000 lieux qu'il faut avoir vus en France (Flammarion, 2008). These descriptions will be assembled into a book "Les 18 lieux qu'il faut avoir vus en franais 0400." 2) Students will acquire cultural knowledge of France by reading a series of travel descriptions. Linguistic Objectives: 1) Persuasive Description 2) Analysis of the narrative strategy to convince 3) Vocabulary of place and ambiance. 4) Anecdotal Narration. General Description: In this unit, students will enrich their cultural knowledge of France through the reading of short travel descriptions. In the first class, after having studied these texts over the weekend, the students, in groups, will closely study how the author persuades his readers that this is a place worth visiting. They will compare and contrast different types of "lieux" (city, landmark, street, quartier, monument, etc...) and how the author presents each one. We will have discussion of places they would like to visit and why. During the second half of the course, in groups the students will create a travel description of "un lieu qu'il faut avoir vu Brown". I will distribute six travel descriptions, which the students will closely analyze. In the second class, in groups, the students will work together to identify structures (hook, picture, narration, description) common to each description they have been given. After having done this initial preparatory work, students will form peer-review committees (groups of 3). I will reveal to students that their assignment is to individually write a description la 1000 lieux of their city, a monument, or landmark from their home. They are to imagine that they have been selected by the tourism office of their hometown to write a travel description that will appeal to a French audience. The first step will be to brainstorm and present an outline of their individual text to their group. They will write a draft of their description and include an image and post this onto a discussion section on our blog site, which the other students must read before class. The final course will be devoted to peer-review (in groups of 3). The students will spend 15 minutes on each description giving advice on strengthening each essay and correcting each others grammar and style. We will conclude with a general discussion about travel and places they might want to visit when they spend a semester in France after 0600! After the peer-review session, students will send their finalized texts to me. I will then compile them into a class book entitled "Les 18

lieux qu'il faut avoir vus en Franais 400". This final writing assignment will count for 50 points as a contrle. Timeline: Homework: After their oral exam, distribute photocopies of (10) selected travel descriptions from Les 1000 lieux qu'il faut avoir vus en France for students to read during the weekend. Monday 3 (Introduction and Content) 1st half: Class Discussion (Group Activities focused on cultural knowledge acquired through reading the texts). 2nd half of the course: Groups will work on a short text: "un lieu qu'il faut avoir vu Brown (Providence?)". Homework: Distribute individual assignments: Students will be assigned a specific description to analyze and present in group discussion. Each group will thus have one description (6 descriptions to create 6 groups of 3). Wednesday 5 (Form) 1st half of course devoted to specific analysis of the form (Persuasive Description, Organization, Images, Language, Vocabulary). Groups will work toward a synthesis of their respective description and we will do a "mise en commun" in which each group presents their text. 2nd half of the course. "You have been selected by your hometown bureau of tourism to contribute to a volume similar to the 1000 lieux. Your group will constitute a peerreview committee." Brainstorming and presentation of the outlines of an individual description to the "peer-review committee". Homework: Students will write a first draft of their text complete with a picture, title, and hook. They will post their document to the group blog by 6 PM Thursday. The other students will read their classmates' texts before class on Friday. Friday 7-"Comit de Rdaction" - Peer Critique and Review Homework: Students email me a final version and I will grade them and compile the class book. Grille Form - 10 Content- 10 Participation - 10 Grammar- 10 Complexit (including relative pronouns)- 10

Samples from final projects