This course is the first in a two-course sequence. This course is targeted to students that can infer meaning from clues or from prior knowledge, voluntarily ask questions, and use higher level thinking skills. The student is intentionally presented with language they will not understand, with the specific objective of making hypotheses and inferring meaning based on what they do know—such as reading body language, facial expressions, and recognizing familiar locations and objects. This kind of discourse resembles the real world in that there is a focus on meaning, a gap in meaning exists, and there is a goal to work towards. Students will interact with partners or with groups to accomplish projects that in verb real-world communication skills in the target language. Web Quests are task-based activities where the students have to perform a task by researching different pre-selected resources. Using authentic documents (text, audio, video, images) in the target language to expose students to the language is a cornerstone in this course. Prerequisites: French 2B
Course Objectives: While completing this course, students will:
• Develop a habit of reflecting on their own learning experiences
• Infer meaning and make hypotheses about social interactions in the target language
• Participate in listening comprehension of authentic video clips
• Focus on vocabulary and grammar structures after a focus on comprehension and meaning
• Make and confirm hypotheses about target grammar structures
• Recognize, identify, and reflect on a variety of cultural products, practices, and perspectives
• Accomplish written and spoken tasks in the target language
• Complete webquests that involve real-world problem solving in the target language
Course Outline:
Unit 1
Vocabulary: • Love and Friendship• The modern family
Grammar:• Present tense regular and irregular verbs• Possessive adjectives and nouns
Culture:• Marriage in France
Pronunciation:• Liason, stress and intonation
Unit 2
Vocabulary:• Physical appearance• Personality
Grammar:• Adjectives• Asking Questions
Culture:• Importance of fashion in France
Pronunciation:• Final consonants + H aspiré (when to pronounce them)
Unit 3
Vocabulary:• Life in high school• In class
Grammar:• Imperfect• Passé composé
Culture:• High School System (comparison)• The French Revolution
Pronunciation:• e caduc
Unit 4
Vocabulary:• After school activities• Vacations
Grammar:• Passé composé negation• Expressions of time
Culture:• Summer & language camps
Pronunciation:• S vs ss
Midterm Review and Test
Unit 5
Vocabulary:• Public and private space• House chores
Grammar:• Passé composé vs imperfect• Plural of composite nouns + prepositions
Culture:• Public & private space in homes (comparison between U.S. & France)
Pronunciation:• /u/ vs /y/
Unit 6
Vocabulary:• Relationship with food• Regional cuisine
Grammar:• Articles, adverbs• Plus-que-parfait / indirect discourse
Culture:• Meal rituals in French-speaking countries• History: NapoleonPronunciation:• Open and closed vowels
Unit 7
Vocabulary:• Public space• Transportation
Grammar:• Direct and indirect object pronouns• y/en, disjunctive pronouns + order of pronouns
Culture:• The Paris subway
Pronunciation:• Nasal vowels
Unit 8 (Project Unit)
Vocabulary:• Travels• Study abroad
Grammar:• Geographical prepositions• Imperative
Final Review and Test
Resources Included:
Additional Costs: None
Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school mentor is also able to access this score within the Student Learning Portal. Schools may use this score for conversion to their own letter grading system.
Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.
Technology Requirements: This course has specific device requirements.
Middlebury (MIL) CAP course content is delivered through LTI in Brightspace and rendered for view and submission of student work within iFrames embedded in Brightspace content pages.
MIL courses are NOT supported on Chromebooks, iPads, or Android devices for access via LTI in a third-party LMS.
BROWSERS: Minimum supported, compatible browsers include:
- Chrome 66
- Firefox 58
- Safari 13 (desktop and laptop devices only; iPad or iPhone not compatible) *NOTE: Macintosh Safari 13 Browsers must have "Prevent cross-site tracking" turned OFF in order to permit sending of cookies.
- Microsoft Edge 15
PC Device Minimum Requirements for MIL courses:
- 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor
- Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
- 2 GB RAM
- Display setting 1280x1024 resolution or above; lower resolutions may require scrolling
- 128MB Graphics Memory & Sound card
- Cookies enabled
- JavaScript enabled
Macintosh (MAC) Device Minimum Requirements for MIL courses:
- Intel Core™ Duo 1.33GHz or above
- Mac OS X v10.9 or higher
- 2 GB RAM
- Display setting 1280x1024 resolution or above; lower resolutions may require scrolling
- 128MB Graphics Memory & Sound card
- Cookies enabled
- JavaScript enabled
Students will require a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube.
Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements: https://michiganvirtual.org/about/support/knowledge-base/technical-requirements/
Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.
Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at [email protected] or by phone at (888) 889-2840.
Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building and other forms of authentic assessments.
Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:
- Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
- Download and install software
- Use a messaging service similar to email
- Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
- Open attachments shared in messages
- Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
- Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
- Save a file as a .pdf
- Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
- Insert images or links into a file or html editor
- Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
- Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
- Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
- Use presentation and graphics programs
- Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
- Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
- Create and maintain usernames and passwords
Additional Information: This is a cognitively challenging course for the highly motivated student. This course has specific device requirements and restrictions. See the Technical Requirements field of this syllabus for further details.