Harriet J. Bauman
The second objective pertains to the students’ acquisition of two types of vocabulary: current or popular, and analyzing. In learning to read and enjoy this genre of literature, the students will be able to learn current or popular vocabulary in context. To reinforce the meaning of these words, the students could be asked to make displays in which the meaning of the words would be shown by selected pictures either cut out of magazines or drawn by the students. They could play
Password
using the new words. Another activity might be a Treasure Hunt in which the students match words with objects. They could also participate in a Scavenger Hunt where they search for objects to illustrate the meaning of particular vocabulary words.
Some guessing games will help reinforce the meaning of words being studied and the idea of being a detective: “I spy something in the room that is ___. Who knows what it is?” (“Je vois (Je regarde) quelque chose dans cette salle qui est ___. Qui sait ce que c’est?”); Twenty Questions; “I’m thinking of something that begins with ___ and is a(n) ___”. (“Je pense de quelque chose qui commence avec ___ et c’est un(e) ___”.); “Who (What) am I?” (“Qui (Qu’est-ce qui je suis?) suis-je?”; etc.
The analyzing vocabulary could be written in a list for the students to use throughout the reading of the stories. There would be two types of words on this list. The first would contain words like: hero (le héros), detective novel (le roman policier), detective (le détective, l’agent de la sHreté, le policier), detection (la découverte), mystery (le mystEre), mysterious (mystérieux), crime (le crime, la criminalité), to charge with a crime (accuser d’un crime), criminal (le criminel), thief (le voleur, le larron), robbery (le vol), chase (la chasse, la poursuite), police car (la voiture de la police), police wagon (le panier de salade), ploice-court (le tribunal de simple police), police inspector (l’officier de paix), ploice sergeant (le brigadier de police), police station (le commissariat (le poste) de police), policeman (l’agent de police, le gendarme, le flic), supernatural (le surnaturel), witch (la sorciEre), witchcraft (la sorcellerie, la magie noire), demon (le démon, le diable), etc. These are general terms which might appear in any of the reading material that has been selected for this unit.
The second type of analyzing vocabulary would also be listed, and would deal with terms necessary for analyzing literature, such as: author (l’auteur), plot (le complot, le trame), climax (le point culminant), foreshadowing (la préfiguration), to foreshadow (préfigurer, annoncer), flashback (le retour en arriEre), rising action (la montée de l’action), dénouement (le dénouement), theme (le thEme, le leit-motif), etc. The students will use these lists for discussion and written assignments.