| June 2009
Announcing a language lesson plan competition: Utensils from Around the World
Unique Utensils Used in Kitchens Today Around the World
by Sheila W. Cockey, contributing editor
The primary purpose and intent of the Culture Club website is to bring cultural information to teachers. We look at all facets of culture, from the “big C” art, music, literature to the “little C” daily life things. If you look through the different rooms of our Club House, you will find one, the Teachers’ Lounge, that has fabulous lesson plans on a wide variety of topics. The wonderful thing about them is that, even though they may not be directly applicable to your language and culture, they will certainly jog your creative juices to frame a lesson that does pertain to your students and curriculum.
This month we are introducing a series of lesson plans centered on kitchen, cooking, and eating utensils that are unique, and common, to a particular culture. This month’s unique utensil is the monillio from Mexico. Each lesson plan has a bit of history and culture, as well as how the particular utensil is used today in modern urban households.
The three lessons that are ready for posting all have a similar format and outcome. They take the student through a process of investigation, illustration, and reporting. Obviously one can adapt the style of presentation to something more technical than a poster. However, in addition to having them available in the classroom, one of the purposes of these lessons is to have self-instructional visual learning aides for posting in the hallway outside the classroom, telling the story of the utensil and thus introducing the entire student body to the wide variety of utensils and foods from around the world. Even if the students do not study the language of the poster, the images will enable some learning.
The components of each lesson, along with a brief description are as follows:
- Short introduction. A few brief paragraphs that introduce the item to be investigated. It makes connections to other places or foods. Example
- For the teacher. Guidelines for the teacher in preparing for the lesson, including process, objectives, and rubrics. Example
- What do you know about…? A pre-test for the students based on image identification and interpreting the story of an image.
Project information. Poster project directions and options. Example
- Bibliography. A few Internet resources about the particular item. The bibliography is separated into two sections: one for articles and one for photographs. Example
Now it's YOUR turn: what utensil can you teach about? Win a Culture Club prize
It is our desire to keep this going as a regular feature of the Teachers’ Lounge. Therefore, to have representation from your language, we are asking you to create your own lesson plan and submit it to us. You may use either English or the language you teach. Send it by email to either Christine
cultureclub@nclrc.org.
or to Sheila
swcockey@nclrc.org
. For prizes, see this page.
March 2009
The Francophone World as Seen Through the Eyes of Poets of the French Language
By Marcel LaVergne, Ed.D.
In this ever-shrinking world of internet communication, the opportunity for French teachers to research the French-speaking world is literally at one’s finger tips. A Google search of Writers of the French language, of French culture in the world, of the History of the French colonial empire, etc. will reveal numerous sources of information that once would have taken hours of research in a library. Having taken advantage of my leisure retirement hours to do such research, and knowing full well the pressing demands made on your time, I offer the following article to you as a way of expanding your curriculum and of satisfying the Cultures, Connections, and Communities strands of the Foreign Languages National Framework.
As a result of France having stretched its borders through exploration to the New World, its colonial empire in Africa, the Antilles, the Orient, and the Indian Ocean, French today is spoken in every country of the world and on every continent. It therefore makes sense that the French curriculum in our schools reflect that reality and that our students become aware of the history, ideas, opinions, and philosophies of those French-speakers who lived outside of France.
Because poetry is usually much shorter than prose although not necessarily easier to understand, I have chosen to focus on a few universal themes and to present them through the words of poets not of France but of the rest of the French-speaking world, hoping that you appreciate their beauty and their quality. To truly understand the sentiments expressed in these poems, I suggest that you consult the books that I reviewed and the articles that I published previously for the Culture Club about French in Africa, Louisiana, and New England.... Download entire article
August 2008
America's French Heritage Lesson Plan
By Marcel LaVergne Ed.D.
In accordance with the Foreign Languages National Standards, the following activities which complement the article America’s French Heritage focus primarily on the Connections and Communities Strands. Each activity will be identified as achievement or proficiency based.
Goals and Objectives
- Students will make a Connection to History while learning what role France played in the early years of the United States.
- Students will make a Connection to History while learning who the French explorers and the early settlers were.
- Students will make a Connection to the geography of the United States as they discover where those cities and towns with French names are located.
- Students will make a Connection to the geography of France as they locate the cities in France after which the American cities are named.
- Students will make a Connection to History as they learn which cities and towns are named after French Royal families, and other notable French people.
- Students will engage in the Communities Strand as they discover information about their community.
- Students will engage in the Communities Strand as they discover what role France played in the development of other communities in the United States.
Activity I (of six)
Using an Atlas of the United States, give each student/group of students a copy of a map of a different American state and have the student/group of students
- highlight each city or town with a French name; (achievement)
- explain the meaning of the French name; (proficiency)
- if named after a person, indicate who that person was; (achievement)
- if named after a French city, indicate where that city is in France and state 5 facts about it; (achievement)
- present the information orally to the class. (proficiency)
Download entire lesson plan
Back to top
|
