Crecia C. Swaim
Lesson Plan 1 – Pre-Test/Post-Test/Post-Post-Test - L'Argent de poche
Duration: One 50-minute class period.
Objectives: Students will establish previous knowledge of a subject (children and school in France), practice taking notes without looking at them (so focus stays on the film), form an initial understanding of a film and of the place and people it represents, write about that initial understanding, and participate in a class discussion.
Materials: Film (
L'Argent de poche
), paper, pencils, discussion and pre-test questions.
Do Now! / Faites Maintenant! Assignment: Write down everything you know, and everything you think you know, about school and children in France.
Initiation: Briefly discuss student responses to the Do Now! assignment, writing each response on chart paper with a blue marker (it is easier on the eyes than other colors, and is good to use for a quantity of writing when you want to add variety to written work). As we elicit responses, students may challenge the accuracy of the responses; if a student convinces the class that something is inaccurate, we will put a red squiggly line through it (I find squiggles less accusatory than regular strikethroughs!) If more than one student has a particular response, we will put orange stars next to the entry.
Activity Summarize what we think we know (from
Initiation
). Instruct students to watch the opening sequence of the film to gather more information. The opening sequence runs from 2:38-5:25. Tell students to watch carefully, and to take notes while
not looking
at the paper. They will have an opportunity to watch again; the focus here is on extracting information from the film, and practicing the skill of taking notes while paying attention to the thing being noted, in this case, a film. After viewing the scene, but before discussing observations, have students complete this Pre-Test writing response:
What do you learn about character and setting in the opening scene?
While students are waiting for everyone to finish, they may try to decipher and rewrite their notes, or free-write about what they have seem so far. Then I will ask questions about the opening of the film and chart student answers.
How are the children dressed? What does the town look like? What do you notice about the town? About the streets? About the children? How do the children go to school? What does the way they go to school tell you? What does each thing you notice tell you? Most things in a film are there for a reason, what do you think the reasons are?
Next, re-watch the scene, with students only taking note of something that has not yet been shared, to see if they notice other aspects of the film.
Closure: Ask each student to choose the three most important, impressive, or surprising things learned through today's observations and discussions. Have students write them down for a "ticket to leave," but share as many orally as possible (using this opportunity to check for understanding with less-talkative students.)
Lesson Plan 2 - The characters of L'Argent de Poche
Duration:
One 50-minute class period
Objectives:
Students will demonstrate comprehension of characters and plot, and will associate names with faces, character traits, and occurrences in the film.
Materials: The list of characters and defining characterstics located in Appendix C, in whole form, and divided onto index card as indicated in the "Pre-Class Preparation" section of this lesson plan, character-name index cards, character-picture cards.
Pre-Class Preparation: Using the "List of Characters and Defining Characteristics" located in Appendix C, choose the traits of each character you'd most like your students to be able to identify. On index cards, write one to two sentences, in English (or French if advanced), describing the character. Example:
I used my father's megaphone to tell my neighbors that I was hungry. They sent me food using ropes and baskets.
On another card, you could write a different fact about Sylvie, for instance:
I have two fish named Plic and Ploc
. For each card, be sure that you make a separate name card (
Sylvie
) and picture card. Picture cards can be made using film stills recorded and then loaded into a computer video-processing program, which will allow you to capture the image you want, which you can then print. Print one large (8x10) image of each character, and mount it on its own half sheet of chart paper, for the second activity. Also write each description sentence and each character name on a different self-stick removeable note sheet, split up between two different-colored pads, for the same activity.
Do Now! / Faites Maintenant! Assignment:
Name as many characters as you can from
L'Argent de poche
, and include as much information as you can about each character.
Initiation:
Ask students the following questions:
Who was your favorite character in the film? Why? Who was your least favorite character in the film? Why? Which character do you identify most with? Which character did you feel the most sympathy for?
Activity 1: On one table, spread out the name cards, on another, the picture cards. Pick a description card and read it. Toss a bean-bag animal used to choose students (mine is a
Monsieur Heureux
doll from the Mister Men book series.) The chosen student needs to find the name and picture cards that match the description. Ask the class if the student is correct (
Est-ce qu'il est correct, oui ou non?)
Once the class determines that the response is correct (or provides the correct response, as well as a fact about the character incorrectly named), the student who just answered passes
Monsieur Heureux
to a new student. The next description is read, etc.
Activity 2: After students seem confident with the previous activity, and they have had ample time to review character connections, we will move to a more active and competitive version of the activity. Hang the half sheets of chart paper with the character pictures on the board. Students will form two teams, and will line up in an order determined by the members of each team. Each team has its own description pad. Students always begin with the description pad face-down, and must place it face down before going to the board (students will be directed back to the pad if it is knocked down or haphazardly placed.) I will count to
trois
, and then the competing member of each team turns the pad over, tears his/her sheet off, places the pad face down again, goes to the board, sticks the sheet to the corresponding character picture, and returns to his/her team as quickly as possible, slapping hands with the next teammate before that teammate can begin his/her turn. When one team completes its entire pad, play stops, the other team gives its uncompleted pad to the teacher. Each team gets one point for a correctly-placed sheet, loses one point for an incorrectly-placed sheet. Whatever sheets remain from the team that didn't finish become "lightening round" questions. Beginning with the next person in line on the team that didn't finish (named
Alain
here), ask one of the questions and wait five seconds for a response (worth one point). If
Alain
answers correctly, the next question goes to the next team, for five points; if
Alain
does not answer correctly, the other team has three seconds to respond to his question, for one point. If that person gets it correct, his/her team gets the next question, if not, then the next question goes to the next player on
Alain's
team. Whichever team has the most points after the lightening round is the winning team, and gets five points to add to any quiz grade (or two points for any test, or one homework assignment credit).
Closure: Ask students the following question, substituting different character's names:
What can you tell me about X?
Lesson Plan 3 – Culminating Project/Café Conversations - Education in L'Argent de Poche and L'Enfant Sauvage
Duration:
One 50-minute class period
Objectives:
Students will demonstrate understanding of plot and themes of both films studied, and will communicate a critical stance on the topic of education, using experiences from the films and from their own lives.
Materials:
Tablecloths, menu board, waitress apron and order pad, Orangina™, Coca-cola™, plain croissants, some pain au chocolat, some ham croissants, paper plates, cups, flatware, and napkins, discussion questions, timer.
Pre-Class Preparation:
In addition to buying the items listed above, the desks will need to be organized into different clusters – one four-person cluster, and several two- and three- person clusters. Tables will be covered with tablecloths, and any other decoration you choose to add to make the scene more café-like will need to be attended to.
Do Now! / Faites Maintenant! Assignment:
Find a seat at any table you choose. From the menu board (and based on what you already told me you'd want) write down the food and beverage you will order, so that you are ready when the
serveuse
comes around. Café conversation may be of a personal nature until all your classmates are served. Remember, café-goers want to hear their own conversation, not yours!
Initiation:
I will play
serveuse
and ask students what they would like, recycling old French café vocabulary. When everyone is served I will announce the procedure for the conversations, which follows.
Activity: A question will be asked, and each table will have seven minutes to discuss the different viewpoints each member has on the question, trying to persuade each other while still
listening
to and respecting each other! Students will switch tables twice, so that each student will have sat with three different people or groups. At every bell, each student will quickly find a table where there is at least one person that he/she has not yet spoken with. Each student may sit at the four-person table only once.
Each set of tables will have a button at one seat; the person sitting there will be the person who initiates the conversation. This activity may prove difficult, and will probably get off to a rough start. At the middle school level, some students have a hard time speaking up, others have a hard time letting others speak, and some have a hard time allowing for alternate points of view. Let them work it out, and be there to guide them. I will be "clearing tables" at this point, and so will be able to stay and listen in without hovering over them. When necessary, I will guide students to have a more equal discussion, or to get back to the task. Resistant students should be prompted to participate, and very resistant students should be pulled from the activity to either clear tables and then write a letter explaining the reasons behind the resistance or to just write the letter.
Closure: Ask students what they thought about the process - what worked and why, what could have worked better, and why.