French Heritage High school curriculum 2014-­‐2015 The French heritage language high school curriculum covers 30 weeks of instruction, running from Sept 22 to June 3, taking account of days-­‐off and school holidays, and can be implemented with 2 hours of instruction a week. It is organized in 4 thematic project-­‐units + 1 year-­‐round class project (class blog) defined by students with their class. This thematic progression is made so students use and improve their French language academically through topics related to the American society and their lives as 21st century citizens: 1. Immigration and the American Dream 2. Living Together in a Global World 3. Inequalities, human rights and freedom of speech 4. Health, science, and the environment 5. Community outreach, College and Career readiness Units rely on differentiated, collaborative learning strategies. Major points of the French language are broached, with a particular focus on reinforcing reading and writing skills. Resources used in the classroom include short movies, literary texts, the press, songs, and other media, all taken from the diversity of the French-­‐speaking world and American culture. Through these activities, students create bridges between their home languages and English, and learn general academic language skills including analyzing primary resources, comparing, quoting, building arguments, developing abstract ideas, creating and organizing, that are transferable to other subjects at school. Each unit ends with a final task that constitutes the student’s portfolio project for Native Language/Foreign Language: 1. Students tell their own immigration stories, draw comparisons between their past and new lives, and write about their dreams and projects as new Americans. Portraits are adapted into video presentations and submitted for a contest. (Individual evaluation) 2. Students work on the topic of living together to create an original creative group composition in the form of a theater performance, a short movie or a musical piece. (group evaluation) 3. Students write individual compositions related to human rights, inequalities and freedom of speech, and submit them for a contest : essay, poems, rap/slam piece. (individual evaluation) 4. Students work on health and the environment to produce a collective work of art in the form of an exhibition in their own school or community center (group evaluation) 5. Students work on their resume, cover letter and scholarship applications (French and English), and define a community outreach project with their class. (individual as group evaluation) Assessment is conducted through steady attendance of participants and includes continuous evaluation throughout the various project-­‐units as well as the final presentation of the portfolio. SAT 2 and AP French exams can also be offered in schools guaranteeing their students a minimum of 3 hours of French instruction a week, with specific AP French prep class from the beginning of the school year. Page 1/3
FHLP Syllabus / Portfolio for Native or Foreign Language 1. Immigration and the American Dream (22 Sept – 27 Nov: 10 sessions) Description : Students work on various aspects of immigration in the United States studying historical data, contemporary challenges, immigrants’ stories and expound on their own personal experience as new Americans. Resources : US and French press articles, video documentaries, movie extracts, statistics, potential workshops with successful immigrant professionals in NYC, “One to World” and “I learn America”. Language : past, present tenses. Quoting from primary and secondary resources, establishing contrast and comparison, convincing. Final task for Portfolio: Students write their personal immigration stories and draw comparisons between their past and new lives. Portraits are adapted into short video presentations (including photos, songs and music, animation or powerpoint slides) and are submitted for a prize-­‐winning contest. 2. Living together in a global world(1 Dec -­‐ 30 Jan: 7 sessions) Description : Students work on a body of texts ranging from Caribbean and African folktales to more contemporary short-­‐stories films and TV series, dealing with the topic of living together, family and community relations. Resources : French-­‐speaking Literary pieces, Graphic novel Aya de Yopougon, American and French-­‐speaking movies and TV series Ma Famille and Black-­‐ish. Language: family vocabulary, genders, dialogue writing and story-­‐telling, narrative techniques. Final task for Portfolio: Students present a creative group composition in the form of a theater performance, short-­‐movie or music piece (class compositions can be presented in High school talent shows and are eligible to compete as part of the Lycée Français’s theater and short-­‐movie contests). Rehearsals: 1 Jan – 29 Jan 2015 Lycée’s theater and short movie contests: 31 Jan 2015 At this point, teachers will have identified which students could register to the SAT 2 French or AP French, according to their performance over the 1st 3 months in the French class. 3. Inequalities, human rights, and freedom of speech (2 Feb -­‐ 2 Apr : 8 sessions) Description : Starting with Black History month and the civil rights, this project will invite students to reflect on broader contemporary challenges related to human rights, social justice, and freedom of speech. Page 2/3
Resources: Photo archives, press articles, movies and documentaries, press articles and TV documentaries, March 25 Slavery Remembrance day event, African Burial Ground Museum, Workshops with UNICEF, OIF and UN education outreach program Language: past participles, passive mood, adverbial clauses, quoting from primary and secondary resources, comparing, analyzing, and connecting. Organizing and convincing Final task for Portfolio: Students write individual compositions (essay, poems, rap/slam) submitted for a prize-­‐winning contest. 4. Health, science, and the environment (13 Apr-­‐ 8 May: 4 sessions) Description : Students learn and reflect about various issues related to health and the environment, as well as the role of science in our modern society. Resources: school trips to museums and public parks, meeting with organizations dedicated to health and the environment Language: future tenses, predictions, wishes and expressions of will, critical thinking, vocabulary and scientific critical language. Final task for Portfolio: Students realize a collective work of art to be exhibited in their school or local community center (group evaluation) 5. Community outreach, College and Career readiness (8 May -­‐2 June: 4 sessions) Description : Students work on higher education in the US, college and job applications, and define a community outreach project to be conducted with their own class. Resources: Meetings with college French departments, local community centers and organizations, influential personalities and non-­‐profits. Language : rhetoric, convincing, defending and valuing one’s skills, work ethics vocabulary. Writing a resume and cover letter, email writing, job interviews, formal language related to project writing and planning. Final Task for Portfolio: Production of resume and exemplary cover letter in both French and English. Presentation of the class’s community outreach project. Presentation of Portfolio (26 May-­‐3 June): Students present their Portfolio to a jury for final evaluation. Assessment is based on realization of all 5 projects. Only complete Portfolios can be considered for presentation. Jury is composed of French teacher, program coordinator, former student in the program, and school staff. ©FHLP 2015 Benoît Le Dévédec, Coordinator French Heritage Language Program Page 3/3