This course is the second 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 3A (Middlebury Fluency)
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 9
Vocabulary:• The arts - different syles and movements• Architecture
Grammar:• Savoir vs connaître• Comparatives / superlativesCulture:• Architecture styles of French houses
Pronunciation:• Plus and plus (when to pronounce the final s)
Unit 10
Vocabulary:• Modern technology and the Internet• The Internet, the law, and our rights
Grammar:• Relative pronouns• Tout and its various forms
Culture:• Media and social networks
Pronunciation:• Difficult letters: x, y, & z
Unit 11
Vocabulary:• The written press• Audio/visual
Grammar:• The passive voice• Present and past conditional + hypotheses
Culture:• History: WW2• La chanson de Roland (Epic poem)
Pronunciation:• Spelling and pronunciation differences
Unit 12
Vocabulary:• The medical system in France• At the doctor's office
Grammar:• Present participles and gerund• Cardinal and ordinal numbers
Culture:• Health in France
Pronunciation:• Numbers 5,6,8,and 10 pronunciation rule
Midterm Review and Test
Unit 13
Vocabulary:• The protection of our environment• Pollution
Grammar:• Subjunctive: what it is + how to form it• Subjunctive with irregular verbs
Culture:• Trash separation and disposal
Pronunciation:• S sounds in -tion, -sion, -ssion, -xion, and sc words
Unit 14
Vocabulary:• Social challenges• Immigration and racism
Grammar:• When to use the subjunctive + past subjunctive• Impersonal expressions
Culture:• Colonialism and its consequences in modern life
Pronunciation:• K, ck, ch words
Unit 15
Vocabulary:• College preparation• The importance of learning a foreign language
Grammar:• Expressions that indicate the future tense + near future• Infinitives preceded by à, de or nothing + the past infinitive
Culture:• History: May 1968• Les Grandes Ecoles (Ivy league and specialized schools)
Pronunciation:• French and francophone accents
Unit 16 (Project unit)
Vocabulary:• Looking for a job• Jobs of the future
Grammar:• Nouns that change in masculine and feminine• Simple future + anterior future
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.