FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE SYALLABUS
Lycée Haltom
2015-2016
Professeur: Dr. Kindra Santamaria
E-Mail: kindra.santamaria@birdvilleschools.net
Téléphone: W: 817-547-6000 x 6263
Salle de Classe: A222
Conference: By Appointment Only
Flexible Scheduling
Tutoring: By Appointment Only
After School
Objectif:
The AP French course focuses on applying the target language via the practice of interpersonal,
interpretive, presentational communicative skills, as defined in the standards of Foreign Language
Learning in the 21st Century. These skills will be used in a study of the 6 AP themes: beauty and
aesthetics, global challenges, families and communities, personal and public identities, science and
technology, contemporary life. For each theme, the student will be expected to conduct research on target
language sites and present written and oral presentations in the target language. Students will demonstrate
an understanding of the culture, incorporate interdisciplinary topics (connections), make comparisons
between the native language and the target language and between cultures (comparisons), and use the
target language in real-life settings (communities). The course will include a review of grammar and
vocabulary from the previous three years. Teacher and students are expected to use French almost
exclusively in all modes of communication. Course materials will include several primary textbooks,
films, songs, literary texts and other authentic materials and resources from francophone websites and
publications. Students are expected to take the AP French Language and Culture Exam at the end of this
course.
Course Materials
Primary textbooks:
Dietike, Simone Renaud and van Hooff, Dominique. En bonne forme. Houghton Mifflin Company,
2001.
Ladd, Richard. AP French: Preparing for the Language and Culture Examination. Pearson, 2012.
Ladd, Richard, and Colette Girard. AP French: Preparing for the Language Examination. Pearson,
1998.
Kurbegov, Elaine, and Weiss, Edward. Barron’s AP French Language and Culture with Audio CDs.
Barron’s Educational Series, 2013.
During the first semester, we will spend 2-3 weeks on each theme. During this time, students will
actively participate in activities similar to the AP exam. After each theme, students will do a presentation
in groups where they use description and narration to talk about their own experiences concerning the
topic. Then, they will make a comparison to something they’ve learned about the French-speaking world
in relation to the topic. This presentation will be a test grade. During the second semester, we will
review these themes and take practice tests to prepare for the exam.
1
Theme 1: Global Challenges This unit will include many or all of the following sub-themes: diversity
issues, economic issues, environmental issues, health issues, human rights, nutrition and food safety, and
war and peace.
Theme 2: Science and Technology This unit will include many or all of the following sub-themes: the
new media, the social impact of technology, ethnical questions associated with technology, and future
technologies.
Theme 3: Contemporary Life This unit will include many or all of the following sub-themes:
advertising and marketing, education, holidays and celebrations, housing, leisure and sports, professions
and work, rites of passage, and travel.
Theme 4: Personal and Public Identities This unit will include many or all of the following sub-themes:
alienation and assimilation, beliefs and values, language and identity, multiculturalism and immigration,
and nationalism and patriotism. Immigration, language and identity and alienation and assimilation,
especially, will be the focus of in-depth treatment.
Theme 5: Families and Communities This unit will include many or all of the following sub-themes:
age and class, childhood and adolescence, customs and ceremonies, family structures, and friendship and
love.
Theme 6: Beauty and Aesthetics This unit will include the following sub-theme: French contributions
to world artistic heritage, especially the visual arts.
Assessments throughout the year








Students will complete homework practicing vocabulary and grammar.
Students will periodically research a current events article on a theme of their choice from the six
themes to summarize and analyze for the class, relating it to information we have covered in
class.
Students will record themselves speaking in practice situational dialogues in the format of
interpersonal speaking section of the test using exercises from the new Ladd book.
Students will write essays (sometimes just on their opinion or experience, other times using
speaking and/or audio as sources to cite) on topics related to the themes such as: Plusieurs
éléments peuvent indiquer la richesse. Quand on est riche, est-on obliger de partager meme une
partie de ses biens et de ses avoirs avec ceux qui n’ont rien? (written presentational
communication)
Students will periodically be graded on practice <e-mail replies> like the ones on the AP.
There will be a grammar and vocabulary test for each unit above. Each test will include a
listening and speaking section. In addition, AP students will have quizzes covering topics
including supplementary vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and transition words.
Students are graded on participation and on use of French in class.
The first semester exam is based on released AP exams and the second semester exam is projectbased
2
Site Web du Professeur:
Please consult my website often. In addition to the syllabus, this site will contain important information
such as rubrics, PowerPoint presentations from class, and websites to visit for additional
activities/resources.
Comportement En Classe:
BE PRESENT (starting class on-time)
1. Before class, be sure you have taken care of all personal business. No exceptions.
2. Before class, be sure you have placed your purses and belongings in the appropriate location
where it will remain untouched until the end of class.
3. Before the bell rings, place your homework or missed work in the baskets by the door. Check
your own file for missing work.
Should you miss class, make up work must be turned in the first week back in order to receive
credit.
4. When the bell rings, you should be in your seat, ready to work with all necessary writing
materials on your desk.
FOCUS ON FRENCH (during class)
1. Remain seated unless directed otherwise.
2. If you have a question, raise your hand and wait silently to be addressed by the teacher.
3. Work and participate as directed/instructed.
4. Focus on working, not on socializing.
5. Follow all directions given by the teacher.
6. Drinks are permitted as long as they do not inhibit your work. No food, candy or gum.
7. Electronics are generally prohibited EXCEPT when directed to use them for specific
purposes. The use of online translators is strictly prohibited. Work submitted with translated
material will receive no credit.
FOLLOW ALL DIRECTIONS (starting class, during class, & ending class)
1. Follow all directions – from the district, from the school, from the teacher – be they
verbal or in writing.
2. The teacher dismisses the class, not the bell.
3. When you are released, you need to: (a) clean up around your desk and throw all trash
away, (b) retrieve your belongings, and (c) always leave a room cleaner than you found it.
3
Règles pour la Classe de Français / French Classroom Rules :
I expect all of my students to be...
Courteous
- in what they say
- in how they speak
- in what they do
- in how they act
- in not disobeying rules
Respectful
Committed
- to working as directed
Responsible
- to studying
- to giving 100%
- to academic excellence
- to achieving their best
- in how they work
- to doing their own work
- to trying their best
- to independent study at home
- to being there (mentally & physically)
- in action, word, and deed
- of all rules1 & procedures
- of all others & their feelings
- of all property (of person/school)
- in dress, comportment, speech, &
demeanor
- for self
- for own studies & work
- for seeking assistance if needed
- for coming to class prepared
- for performing own tasks2
- for submitting work on time3
- for taking care of personal business
during personal time4
- for being in their seats ready to
work when the bell rings5
Discipline:
All discipline will be handled in the following manner:
1st Offense:
2nd Offense:
3rd Offense:
4th Offense:
5th Offense:
Verbal warning
30 second conference after the bell
20 minute D-hall and student contacts coach/director
20 minute D-hall and student contacts parent
Automatic Referral
*Please Note that there are certain instances in which Referrals will be automatically issued without
the previous steps having been taken. These are as follows:
- intimidation
- insubordination
- harrassment/bullying
- fighting
- classroom disruption
- defiance, disrespect, or insubordination
- vulgar, obscene, or profane language or gestures
- other serious offenses (described in the Student Code of
Conduct)
1
district, school, & classroom rules. Dress Code, Tardies, Behavior, Everything.
cheating or copying = automatic Zero
3
late work will not be accepted = automatic Zero
4
RR, H2O, RN, & Socialization = during passing periods and lunch & before and after school
5
This means that students will have already taken care of personal business, will have already secured all purses &
bookbags in the appropriate location, & having placed only necessary materials on their desks.
2
4