Appendix

I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

Teacher: Hunter Reardon

Language and
Level / Grade
Theme/Topic

French II
Intermediate Low Intermediate Mid
(With extension into Intermediate High where
applicable)

Approximate Length
of Unit
Approximate Number
of Minutes Weekly

20-25 days (one month)

230 (1x50m + 2x90m)

Social Relationships: The Family

1. How do speakers of French describe family relationships? How is this similar and different from such
descriptions in English? (Spanish may be included in comparisons as well if many of my students were
Spanish-speakers)
2. Why is understanding diverse family structures important in the world?

Essential Questions

3. What are similarities and differences between cultural norms related to home and family of French-speaking
communities and cultural norms related to home and family of your [students] cultures?
4. What is the role of food in social relationships in French-speaking communities?
5. What linguistic structures beyond vocabulary are most appropriate for discussing family in French?

Goals (Objectives) are divided into three categories: Knowledge, Communication, and Accuracy.

Goals (Objectives)
What should learners know
and be able to do by the
end of the unit?

Knowledge

Communication

Accuracy

(1) Students will attain a basic-level

mastery of vocabulary related to the
use of adjectives to describe people,
places, animals, and family
relationships.

(4) Through reading four texts and

viewing a portion of one video in
French related to family norms in
America and French-speaking
countries (linked in the interpretive
assessment section below) as well as
through study of vocabulary and
grammatical structures related to
description of people and actions
done through the Ma Famille
presentation project, students will be
able to summarize through both

(6) Given appropriate models and

practice, students will be able to
describe people, animals, and
dwellings using adjectives in a
syntactically accurate manner,
including adjectives that do not
follow simple grammar rules (such
as beau, joli, nouveau, jeune, vieux,
petit, grand, ancien, etc).

(2) (a) Students will understand that

there exists a unique set of beliefs
and practices that is uniquely French
and that does not have a clear
equivalent in American society. (b)
Students will be able to identify the

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

(7) Students will continue their

developing understanding of

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

specific set of these beliefs and
practices that relates to the family
and compare them to as well as
contrast them with family norms in
the United States and in Sngal,
another French-speaking country.
(3) Students will be able to describe,
through whatever media they see fit,
the relationship between cultural
norms related to family and cultural
norms related to the consumption of
food.

Summative
Performance
Assessment
These tasks allow
learners to demonstrate
how well they have met
the goals of the unit.
They are integrated
throughout the unit.
The template encourages
multiple interpretive
tasks.
The interpretive tasks
inform the content of the
presentational and
interpersonal tasks.
The tasks should
incorporate 21st Century

(5) Use all existing modern French

possessive pronouns, adjectives
including those that do not follow
standard rules, and applicable
vocabulary including vocabulary
acquired from reading, students will
be able to present the members of
their own families as well as families
described to them through reading,
writing, video, and images.

grammatical gender, demonstrating

this by accurately using gendered
articles with both new vocabulary as
well as previously-learned
vocabulary brought into new
linguistic contexts.
(8) Students will be able to use all
existing modern French possessive
pronouns in syntactically and
grammatically correct ways.

Interpretive Mode
The student will, having read and visited them already, be able to summarize, describe, and ask and answer questions
about main points made in the articles and blog linked below.
Students will complete reading guides in French and/or creative activies for each article to demonstrate understanding
of main points and new vocabulary.
Students will be asked to cite both texts at least once to support their answers and use a minimum of five words from
the family vocabulary lists. This questioning model will be applied to additional texts as they are decided.

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

writing and speaking to small groups

similarities and differences between
family norms in the United States,
France, and Sngal.

Texts:
http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle1
http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle2
http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle3
http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle4

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

Skills.

Videos:
http://tinyurl.com/famillevideo1 + Transcript
ONLY from 0:00 to 2:54. The rest of the video touches on topics that are VERY inappropriate for school and I will
both not use them and go to considerable lengths to prevent students from having the needed information to watch the
rest on their own time.
http://tinyurl.com/famillevideo2
No transcript exists for this one, for I do not want to focus on vocabulary, but instead on the general ideas, and I want
students to be working toward proficiency in oral comprehension without printed scaffolds.

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

Cultures
(Sample Evidence)
Indicate the relationship
between the product,
practice, and perspective.

Connections
(Sample Evidence)

Comparisons
(Sample Evidence)

Presentational Mode

Interpersonal Mode

Students will present their household plans as an

attachment to their letters to the members of the
Assemble Nationale on video. Students will use iMovie
in the computer lab to add titles, subtitles, credits, and/or
additional information to their videos before submission.

Students will work with partners to develop a household

plan using family vocabulary from the unit list and
cultural vocabulary and understandings from the articles.
This will be a written document submitted independently
of presentational assessment submissions.

Students will write a letter to the Assemble Nationale

explaining why they should be in support of culturepreserving policies.

Students will be asked to describe their families to a

partner after constructing a booklet called Ma Famille.

Product: Students will create a household plan to add to a letter in support of a fictitious (but presented as
real) new law in the French legislature that would help families to better plan their time spent together,
something being eroded by the demands of capitalism and a crucial part of French culture.
Practice: The government makes laws, and solicits individual input with respect to those laws, that create
support systems for families and that help to maintain French cultural traditions.
Perspective: The government has an obligation to support families and to preserve traditional culture.
Therefore, this product allows for students to both steep themselves in French cultural practices and
thoroughly understand French perspectives on family time, family meals, and the role of government in
private life, and how these perspectives differ from those in the United States and in other cultures.
Making Connections

Acquiring Information and Diverse Perspectives

Students will connect individually during the

household plan assignment (inevitably
thinking of their own homes in the process) as
well as using their newly-acquired vocabulary
to describe their own families.

The chosen resources offer a variety of cultural perspectives

and linguistic approaches to discussing issues of family and
food consumption, from the informative to the ironic and
from metropolitan France to the heart of Francophone
Africa.

Language Comparisons
In the adjectives mini-lesson and
accompanying activity, students will be

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Cultural Comparisons
Students will consistently be making comparisons between

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

looking at how adjectives work in English
and how it is similar and different from
French.

norms of consuming food and interacting with and

describing family in France versus the home cultures of
students.

School and Global Communities

Lifelong Learning

The final summative activity allows for

students to make a contribution to a
lawmaking process on a topic involved
therein only due to deeply French cultural
values and beliefs. As they will be working
hard together throughout this unit and others
in groups, the community created in this
classroom will also broadly positively impact
the school community.

Students can continue to grow and expand their vocabulary

related to family and hone it in preparation for time spent
studying or traveling abroad. Another extension students
may take from this unit is briefly touched upon in the
Norman video: the use of informal French. While this unit
focuses on the use of the formal terms used to describe
family relations (particularly over food), there exists another
entire register of family words students can continue to learn
as their exposure and access to francophone culture expands
with age.

Communities
(Sample Evidence)

Connections to
Common Core

(3) English-Language Arts Standards for Technical Subjects:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1: Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make
logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions
drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4: Interpret words and phrases [in French] as they are used in a text,
including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices
shape meaning or tone.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Toolbox

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

Language Functions

Related Structures / Patterns

Vocabulary Expansion
Tier 1
Je te (vous) prsente :

Describing people, places, and things

Three tiers of vocabulary (see right)

Les verbes avoir et tre au prsent de
lindicatif
Description in French without using tre: il
a lair, il parat, il ressemble
Review of grammatical gender
Review of adjective syntax in French
Use of adjectives that dont follow the
rules

ma famille
mes enfants
mes parents**
ma mre
mon pre
mes frres
mes surs
mon fils
ma fille
ma femme
mon mari
mon oncle*
ma tante
mes demi-frres**
mes demi-surs**
mon beau-frre (beaux-frres)
mon beau-frre (beaux-frres)
mes grands-parents
ma grand-mre
ma grand-pre
mes petits-enfants
mon petit-fils*
ma petite-fille*
ma nice*
mon neveu*
ma grand-nice*
mon grand-neveu
devenir parent
le logement
la diversit
enceinte*
choisir
chercher
avoir besoin de
oh l l

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

(avoir) un copain/une copine**
(avoir) un ami/une amie**
se marier
tre mari(e)
tre fianc(e)
tre dans une relation
tre clibataire
*not in any text
**ambiguous or confusing out of context;
must explain

Tier 2

Interpreting authentic written [and spoken] text

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Three tiers of unit vocabulary (see right)

Transitions: Dailleurs, nanmoins, depuis,
marteler, souligner
Grammatical structures: direct object
pronouns, y and en
Informal/slang French: forcment,
semmerder, chiant, te faire bader, faire le
listing, mamie, une clope, un Kiri, un kif,
clef de vote, mettre le feu aux poudres

une famille biparentale*

grandir / le grandissement
vieillir / le vieillissement
les aeuls
une famille nombreuse
une petite famille*
vivre seul/avec []*
ladoption*
une mnagre
un devoir
une tche ( faire)
ritualisant
des savoir-faires
le march
des conseils
se mettre en place
se rveiller
bon apptit
souhaiter
sauvegarder
table !
lemmenagement
le dmenagement
une femme au foyer
chmer (le chmage)
la polygamie
les vieilles traditions

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

lhritage
avoir raison
avoir tort
les regions
les terroirs
lapprentissage
respecter un code prcis
une offrande

Tier 3

Presenting information orally and in writing

Three tiers of vocabulary (see right)

Transitions: Dailleurs, nanmoins, depuis,
marteler, souligner
Text structure: premirement,
deuximement, avant, aprs, puis, ensuite,
suite
Letter and video conventions in French, as
needed

Asking and responding to questions

Three tiers of vocabulary (see right)

Yes or No question structure (est-ce que)
Subject-verb inversion
Question words (qui, quand, o, comment,
pourquoi)

une famille recompose

une famille monoparentale
une famille traditionnelle
la recomposition familiale
Les modles familiaux
le baby-boom/le papy-boom
repas gastronomique
le patrimoine
Some of these were moved around after
their original color-coded categorization
in the articles themselves.

Key Learning Activities/Formative Assessments

Key Learning Activity/Formative Assessment
(representative samples from beginning to end of unit)
Into Activity: Class discussion of three questions related to essential questions:
1) La famille est-elle importante? Pourquoi?
2) Comment une famille typique franaise est-elle diffrente dune famille
typique amricaine?
3) Cest quoi la culture?
Reading of Text 1: A quoi ressemblent les familles franaises daujourdhui?
Vocabulary scaffolding at Tier 1 for all students, plus additional family vocabulary
Accompanying activity: comparing description of family in this article to the notion of
traditional or typical French families using online resources with partners and
ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

How does this activity

support the unit goals or
performance tasks?

Mode of
Communication

Interculturality
Self
Community
World

This activity serves to introduce the

theme and essential questions of the
unit.

Interpersonal,
Presentational

C, W

This activity will reinforce the

concept that there exists a concept of
a traditional French family. Because
this strong idea of la famille in

Interpretive,
Interpersonal

C, W

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

ensuing class discussion; informal formative assessment by teacher through circulation
Tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary scaffolding as necessary
Text: http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle4

Viewing of Video 1: Unesco, Le repas gastronomique des Franais as a class

Vocabulary scaffolding at Tier 1 for all students
Group activity (likely a viewing guide) where students can go back and review the
video and accompanying text
Students will generate 1 written or typed paragraph done in class responding to the
prompt, Comment changent-elles les familles franaises ?
Tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary scaffolding as necessary; students will be asked to use at
least five family words and two transition words in their writing.
Video: http://tinyurl.com/famillevideo2
Viewing of PART of video 1, from 0:00 to 2:47 ONLY.
Vocabulary scaffolding at Tier 1, plus focus on the informal French Norman uses
throughout.
Watch video more than once. Think-pair-share questions:
1) Quapprend-t-on des dners de famille en regardant ce vido ? De la culture
franaise ?
2) Dans quelle mesure Norman rvle-t-il la ralit des dners de famille
franais ? Quest-ce quil exagre ?
Tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary scaffolding as necessary.
**All reading guides serve as summative assessment, for while students can turn
them it at any time between their assignment and the end of the unit, they are only
graded once, and students understand that they are a primary means of my
assessing the comprehension of the articles themselves.
Video: http://tinyurl.com/famillevideo1
Presentation prompt:
Students can write a skit/very short play, record a video, create a poster, write a song,
or some other creative product in French in a group of 2-3 that conveys the three ideas
at right. Students work on this for all of a 45-minute class period and then present the
following day or do both planning and execution in a single 90-minute period.
Tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary scaffolding as necessary

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

France has been so strong in French

culture, social and economic factors
leading to its alteration are big
news. [Objective 2a]
(Objectives/Unit Goals have been
numbered since last submission on
pages 2-3)
All readings and videos will provide
necessary vocabulary and ideas for
the household plan project and the
Ma Famille project. [Objective 1]
This video conveys French cultural
norms related to the consumption of
food, which is an essential
prerequisite to being able to describe
the relationship of food to family.
All readings and videos will provide
necessary vocabulary and ideas for
the household plan project and the
Ma Famille project.
[Objectives 1, 2a and 3]
This video combines learning from
the previous two activities, putting
together examination of French
families and how they change and
the French conception of the
sanctified family meal (complete
with irony).

Interpretive,
Interpersonal

S, C, W

Interpretive,
Interpersonal

S, W

Interpretive,
Interpersonal,
Presentational

S, C, W

All readings and videos will provide

necessary vocabulary and ideas for
the household plan project and the
Ma Famille project.
[Objectives 1, 2a, and 3]
In their work, students must convey
that they understand (1) That while a
traditional understanding of the
French family exists, this
understanding is changing; (2) that
the French take the event of a meal
very seriously; and (3) that personal

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

interactions between family
members during meals is an
essential cultural practice.
[Objectives 1, 2a, and 3]
Reading of Text 2: La Famille Amricaine
Vocabulary support at Tier 1 for all students
Students will complete a graphic organizer (Venn diagram) with partners comparing
and contrasting American and French family traditions, taking both from the article
and independent research using google.fr on Chromebooks.
Tiers 2 and 3 vocabulary scaffolding as necessary
Text: http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle3
Reading of Text 3: La famille sngalaise:
Vocabulary support at Tier 1 for all students
Students will complete a reading guide in groups, then switch groups, moving into
partners, and begin a creative activity. The prompt is as follows: Imaginez que vous
fondez une nouvelle socit francophone. Quelle rle jouera-t-elle la famille dans
votre nouvelle socit? Incorporez des lments des 3 socits dont nous avons parl
en cours: la France, les tats-Unis, et le Sngal. A few partnerships (as few as 4 but
as many as 8, as time permits) will be given the opportunity to share their created
social orientations to family.
Text: http://tinyurl.com/famillearticle2
Modified PACE adjective review:
Students go back through articles and highlight every adjective with partners. They
will simply be asked to find patterns (des modles) in how the adjectives are used.
Students will list the adjectives, find their opposites in French using Chromebooks and
whatever resources they wish, and then make flashcards with the adjectives on one
side and the drawings on the other.
Quick review of possessive pronouns if time
HW: Students bring in a recent family picture including as many members as possible.
Ma Famille project introduction: Students work individually (though with a partner as
support as needed) in describing family members in the photo brought using
vocabulary and cultural understandings from the articles as well as their adjective
flashcards. Students will also describe in detail a meal with the family and how that is
similar to and different from meals in France and in Senegal. Students will submit this
writing at the end of the period as formative assessment.
HW: Students should find more family photospreferably, one photo for each
member described (4 minimum).
Students will use feedback received on descriptive family writing to begin assembling
their Ma Famille booklets. Students will type and print revised descriptions of
family members and be sure pictures and descriptions match closely enough (and
slightly altering text to make this work). Students may have two periods to do this,

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

Objective 2b states that students

need to be able to compare and
contrast cultural orientations toward
family in France with those of the
United States and Sngal. This
article creates a platform on which
students can do the first part of that.

Interpretive
Interpersonal (a little)

S, W

This serves as a formative

assessment of the understanding of
cultural differences with respect to
the orientations toward family
(objective 2b). As students write, I
can also circulate and check more
closely on the use of vocabulary
learned so far (objective 4).

Interpretive
Interpersonal (a little)
Presentational (last
part)

C, W

This activity serves as a review of

the vocabulary presented in the
articles, external vocabulary that is
related, and the use of adjectives that
many students will have acquired in
French I. This also prepares students
to demonstrate mastery of objective
(7) and gives them support needed to
meet objective (6), the activity for
the next day.

Interpretive

Students are demonstrating

objectives 1, 2a, 2b, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in
this project. Students are drawing
directly from their previous readings
meeting yet other objectives.

Interpretive
Interpersonal

While Objective 4 is a focus,

students are demonstrating growing
mastery of objectives 1, 2a, 2b, 5, 6,
7, and 8 in this project. This step

Interpretive
Interpersonal

S, C(?)

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

asking me (the teacher) for help with vocabulary and syntax as needed.

Students present their Ma Famille booklets to several groups that do not include
partners with whom they worked during the construction process. Students also
comment on each others presentations.
Household plan assignment introduction: Students are presented with a question in
French: Comment le rle du gouvernement dans une famille en France diffre-t-il de
celui dans une famille aux tats-Unis? Students will have 7 or so minutes with their
phones and partners to come up with an answer. It is likely that the ensuing discussion
(possibly with prodding) will arrive at an important idea: The government in France
does more for French families than the American government does for American
families (such as free childcare, free college tuition, paternity leave, longer vacations,
etc.) This will lead into the scenario of the French government wanting to help protect
the family unit and trying to get the (albeit contrived) household plan bill passed.
Students will first need create model French families using vocabulary and descriptive
skills in groups of 3-4, so that is what they will do in writing during this class. This
will be turned in as formative assessment at the end of the period.

also begins to incorporate teacher

feedback from formative assessment
and echoes first-order writing
theories championed by Peter
Elbow.
This adds a presentational level as
well as an individual connection by
students to the curriculum to the
addressing of objectives 1, 5, 6, 7,
and 8. Objective 4 is a focus here
too, however.

Objectives 1, 3a, 5, 6, 7, 8 are being

addressed here. A cultural
orientation (objective 2a) guides the
project.

Interpersonal
Presentational(?)

Interpretive
Interpersonal

S, C, W

Interpretive
Interpersonal
Presentational
(preparation)

S, C, W

Interpersonal
Presentational
(preparation)

S, C, W

Assignment Sheet: http://tinyurl.com/householdplans

After using feedback to revise family descriptions, students begin working on their
household plans and corresponding letters in support of the household plan
government support bill passed. Students will be given two days to work on these, turn
them in to me, and I will hand them back for revision. Final drafts will be assembled.

Students will prepare a video presentation of their household plans in any way they see
fit, edit it in iMovie using iPads, and send it to me both as summative assessments. 2
days.

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013

All 8 objectives are being addressed

in this third set of tasks, though 1, 2,
and 6 are the most emphasized.
Students are putting family
vocabulary and understanding of the
use of adjectives to new uses.
Objective 5: Students here are
effectively having to describe
families and the actions undertaken
by each family member (some of
whose appearances and actions were
decided by other people, very much
like real people in France who may
need to be described will appear to
students if they travel there), and so
they are practicing the use of the
vocabulary and structures acquired
from the articles in an oral fashion.

Appendix I.

Standards-Based Unit Template by Clementi & Terrill November 2013

Videos will be presented in class over French food (brought by students in each class)
on the last day of the unit.

Summative assessment ultimately of

all eight objectives, though focused
primarily on 2a, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Presentational

S, C, W

Resources

Technology Integration

YouTube, Google Drive, linked articles as built into unit, LaRousse.fr for FrenchFrench definitions of words

Google Form: http://tinyurl.com/1dinerdefamille

ACTFL Keys to Planning for Learning by Clementi & Terrill 2013