Crecia C. Swaim
We will begin by looking at printed color copies of the six-page
Guide alimentaire canadien
while the same images are displayed and navigated online through an LCD projector. Page one has different food group items streaming down different colors of the rainbow. I will point to items students know and ask questions like
Qu'est-ce que c'est?
and
C'est un X ou un Y?
For items students do not know in French, I will say
C'est un X
or
Ce sont des Ys.
I will ask students to repeat vocabulary and I will stress cognate relations. I will model appropriate use of definite and indefinite articles. Next we will look at the page labeled
¿ quoi correspond une portion du Guide alimentaire?
It has pictures and names of different food items that fall within each food group. We will use the same technique listed above, as well as manipulatives in the form of actual items representing the pictures. I will pull the items out of a bag when students need extra support deciding what an item is, or to validate decisions. Then we will flip between this page and the one entitled
Nombre de portions du Guide alimentaire recommandé chaque jour,
to declare the name of each food group and examples of items that fall within that group. We will decide how many servings of each group students in the class should eat (the guidelines are listed under
filles et garçons 9-13
for this class.) I will review using the verb
aimer
in order to ask students if they like individual food items from the guide. Students will answer either
Oui, j'aime X
or
Non, je déteste X
. Then they will each make a list of five items from the guide and ask partners if they like the items. Each student will have a grid in which can be written each of the five items interviewed about, as well as names of students and their responses. After a decided-upon amount of time (which will be determined based on how much time is needed for the previous introduction) students will report findings back to the class, so that they will have used first person singular in their own responses, second person singular in their questions, and third person singular in their report back. I will use the findings to begin sentences using third person plural, and use those questions to challenge higher-level students. For items that all students like, I will ask questions using second person plural, and if I like them also I will use first person plural. I will save the results to compare with a unit closure activity, to see if students change any likes by the end of the unit.
Gender Identification and Nutritional Information
Students will research nutritional information for many different food items. They will use the guide called
Valeur nutritive de quelques aliments usuels
. It can be found at the Santé Canada website. Type the guide's title into the
recherche
box to locate it easily. The specific web address is also listed in the resources section of this unit. It is a fifty-six page guide. For this lesson, I will take my class to our technology center. Students will be asked to navigate between three windows during their search: the nutritional information guide listed above, the
guide alimentaire
used for the unit introduction, and the language dictionary website www.wordreference.com. They need the dictionary site to determine meanings of unidentifiable food item vocabulary as well as to determine gender of items (foods are listed in both guides without gender identifiers); they need the
guide alimentaire
for food groupings and extra support.
Students will be required to keep index cards on each food item they research. The cards will be color-coded, stored on a ring, and separated by food group indicator cards, as described below.
Vert: Légumes et fruits.
(Green: Vegetables and fruits)
Jaune: Produits céréaliers.
(Yellow: Grain Products)
Bleu: Lait et substituts.
(Blue: Milk and substitutes)
Rouge: Viandes et substituts.
(Red: Meats and substitutes)
Blanc: Huiles et autres matières grasses.
(White: Oils and other Fatty substances)
Violet: Boissons.
(Purple: Drinks)
These category names and distinctions come from the Canadian
Guide alimentaire
recommendations. The names of categories and the servings suggested are slightly different in the French Nutrition Guide. The unit will begin with and center around using the Canadian information, as it is simpler to use. For example, it refers to grain products with the cognate phrase
produits céréaliers
as opposed to the unguessable
féculents
, and it gives exact serving recommendations per age group, as opposed to the more general French guidelines. After we are very familiar with the Canadian guidelines and terminology, we will look at the French information in order to compare and contrast. Canada is closer to us, and it will serve as a good bridge to the French nutritional documents (although there are many more similarities among the documents than differences). The data collected below will be collected from the Canadian information.
Students will be required to research at least ten items from each group, with the exception of fruits and vegetables, where they will choose ten fruits AND ten vegetables. Students will be required to list the following information on each card (provide a template so that students don't bunch all the information up as in the following list!):
Nom
(Name),
Genre
(gender),
Article défini
(Definite article - le/la/l'/les),
Article indéfini
(Indefinite article - un/une/des),
Groupe Alimentaire
(food group),
Couleur
(color),
Une Portion
(one serving),
Portions récommandées par jour
(servings recommended per day),
Exemples de portions par jour
(examples of servings per day),
Calories, Lipides Totales
(Total Fats),
Lipides saturés
(Saturated fats),
Lipides+trans
(Trans Fats),
Cholestérol, Sodium, Glucides-Fibres
(Fiber),
Glucides-Sucres
(Sugars)
, Protéines, Autres eléments nutritifs notables - Vitamines, minéraux, etc.)
(Other notable nutritive elements - Vitamins, minerals, etc),
J'aime/J'adore/Je déteste/Je ne connais pas. . . cette nourriture. [Cercler-un]
(I like/I love/I detest/I don't know. . . this food [Circle one]. Students will glue or draw a picture of each item on one side of the card.
At this stage, I have not explicitly addressed the specific meanings of each of these nutritional categories. I want students to activate prior knowledge as they navigate the sites and decipher meanings as they go. That will afford them the opportunity for many aha! moments when I
do
address them later. Be sure to take the opportunities as they arise to discuss the difference between processed and unprocessed versions of each food type. Whenever applicable, urge students to distinguish between different sources of an item, as in fruit jelly versus fresh fruit, and frosted cake versus whole grain bread.
The Relationship Between Definite and Indefinite Articles
The following is a list that can be given to students to help them learn and remember when they should use definite articles, indefinite articles, or expressions of quantity, according to the -er verb practiced. Other verbs may be used and added to this list, which only serves as a foundational aid. Following the list is a more detailed description of situations for use, to guide instructional planning and practice.
-
Articles Définis:
aimer, adorer, détester, manger
(généralement)
, augmenter, limiter, comparer
-
Articles Indéfinis: recycling
vouloir
phrases,
cuisiner, préparer, manger
(spécifiquement)
-
Expressions de Quantité:
consommer, recommander
I like to teach students that definite articles are so named because they identify a definite, particular item as opposed to any old one of those items, for which you use the indefinite article. I provide the following example to illustrate this difference:
Donne-moi un stylo
versus
Donne-moi le stylo
or
Give me
a
pen (where any old pen will do) versus
Give me
the
pen (where there is a particular pen to which I am referring). That usually works well, but here we need to broaden our scope.
In this unit I will introduce the concept that, when you refer to items in general, you need to use an article, in contrast to English where we use no article (
I like apples
is
J'aime les pommes
and not
J'aime pommes
). If they apply the previously explained rule, students may think that they should use the indefinite article, arguing that they like any apple, not a particular one. I will address that although this argument makes sense according to our previous knowledge, in practice it turns out not to be correct. Students need to understand that sometimes rules don't apply across the board, but that that does not negate the value of thinking in a critical way. I will explain that sometimes we are just speaking in general terms, sometimes it is not a matter of a particular item or any old item, as in our previous rule example, but sometimes it is just a matter of the item in general, as in
I like apples.
In that case, we use the definite article because it is tied very closely to the noun. However, if I am eating
an
apple, then
Je mange
une
pomme. If it helps, students can think of it as an expression of quantity, I am eating one apple or some (several) carrots. I will ask students to chart the intricacies in using definite and indefinite articles with the verb
manger,
and then I will have them share their charts. I will also create one as another option for students. Even if they don't like their own chart, if perhaps it isn't as accurate as another one, that's fine. Students will be encouraged to copy the chart they like, so that each student feels he or she has a reliable reference tool.
Another way to approach the issue is this. In French, nouns are always used with the definite article, as opposed to English where they are not. Nouns are listed without them in dictionaries because it wouldn't make sense to list all nouns by
le, la, l'
or
les
. And they are not listed in charts and tables (like the nutrition guides we will use in this unit) for simplicity's sake. So many "le"s and "la"s would detract from the clarity of the tables and clutter them up. So they are omitted. But the general rule of thumb is to never use a noun without a definite article, unless you are replacing it with an indefinite article or a particular quantity. So when you speak in general terms, you use the definite article.
We will use both types of articles in many different ways throughout the unit. Each function will be clearly and purposefully introduced with whether one uses the definite or indefinite article, and I will avoid examples that blur the general rules indicated any more than this basic and necessary difference might, so that students may develop a natural sense of when to choose a definite or an indefinite article.
Students will be asked to use definite articles when discussing likes, with the verbs
aimer, adorer,
and
détester
, and then indefinite articles when discussing wants, as they recycle the phrases
Qu'est-ce que tu veux?
(What do you want?)
and
Je voudrais
(I would like). This practice will be explicit and repetitive, to get students familiar with the food item vocabulary at the same time as they begin to develop a feel for definite and indefinite article usage.
This will lead to asking and stating what foods people eat, where students will use definite articles, as in
Tu manges le fromage?
or
Je mange les pommes.
(Do you eat cheese? I eat apples.) After we study the nutritive values of different foods, we will progress to statements describing and questions concerning why we eat certain foods, such as
Je mange les oranges pour la Vitamine C
and
Elle mange le pain pour le calcium ou pour les fibres?
(I eat oranges for Vitamin C. Does she eat bread for calcium or fiber?)
To make this practice more meaningful, I will create a mini-dialogue or scenario around inviting someone over for a particular meal, asking them what they want to eat for that meal, what foods they do or don't eat and why (1). I will model the scenario orally several times with hand puppets, and then will ask students to use their own hands as props to get comfortable with the scenario. Ultimately, I will have students act the scenario out on their own, first acting from prompts, and then offering personal choice in the specific details of their skit.
We will use the verbs
consommer
and
recommander
to discuss recommended servings per day, so they will be followed by quantities, as in
Je consomme quatre portions de lait chaque jour
and
On recommande six portions de produits céréaliers par jour.
(I consume four servings of milk each day. Six servings of grain products are recommended each day.) Based on these serving recommendations, we will use the verbs
augmenter
and
limiter
to discuss foods we need to increase or limit and the relationship between those recommendations and foods or nutritional elements that we need to increase or limit. These verbs will be followed by definite articles, as in
Il augmente les fibres qu'il mange quand il mange le pain complet
and
Nous limitons le sodium que nous mangeons, donc nous mangeons peu au fast-food.
(He increases the fiber he eats when he eats whole grain bread. We limit the sodium we eat, so we eat fast food infrequently.) This will then lead to using the verb
comparer
to compare the nutritionals of two foods, as in the directive
Comparez les lipides dans le lait entier et le lait écrémé.
(Compare the fats in whole and skim milk.) In these instances definite articles will be used.
Students will choose recipes according to health benefits. They will state what meal they are cooking or preparing with the use of indefinite articles, as in
Je cuisine des pâtes avec des tomates pour les fibres et la vitamine C
and
Ma mère prépare une salade avec des poivrons rouges et des épinards pour le fer et les vitamines A et C.
(I cook some pasta with tomatoes for fiber and vitamin C; My mother prepares a salad with red peppers and spinach for iron and vitamins A and C.)