At a Glance

Discipline

  • Languages

Instructional Level

  • College & CEGEP

Course

  • Français 101

Tasks in Workflow

Social Plane(s)

  • Individual
  • Group

Type of Tasks

  • Reviewing & assessing peers
  • Revising & improving
  • Reading
  • Writing

Technical Details

Useful Technologies

  • Lab with access to computers

Class size

  • Small (20-49)

Time

  • Part of a semester (4-6 weeks)

Instructional Purpose

  • Preparation & knowledge activation
  • Application & knowledge building

Overview

In this activity students build the necessary skills to write a full “texte expressif” by providing them with the theory behind it, a case study, and then a chance to apply what they have learned in a creative way.  

Students read the theory and example at home and then in groups of 4-5 write a letter from the “espion” character to Émile after he is released from prison. Students are expected to use the format of the self-correction grid in order to construct a paragraph containing the inner dialogue of the character, showing a deeper understanding of the text and a fuller grasp of the concept.  

The instructor then collects both the text and the self-correction grid and hands it back to the students with annotations. They then make additional corrections and resubmit the paragraph for final grading.

Title: Rédaction d’un paragraphe de texte expressif = Writing a paragraph of an expressive text

Instructional Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Write a full “texte expressif” applying the correct theory
  • Relate grammatical lessons learned in class to their writing through peer-editing and two-step instructor editing

Workflow & Materials

Workflow

Activity Workflow

View on CourseFlow

Contributor's Notes

Benefits
Challenges
Tips
Benefits
  • This activity makes the theory the students read feel concrete by making them apply it in a creative and individual way 
  • This activity gives the students a higher comprehension level for fictional texts 
  • Group work allows the students to retroactively correct each others language, which prepares students for the final exam where they have to write either a text expressif or narratif (which also has this activity) 
  • Providing students with the correction grid ensures that they are applying the theory they read as they write their text since they need to have filled it out and handed it in with the text 
Challenges
  • Students in the french 101 class often have a difficult relationship with french, surmounting this mental block is a challenge when implementing an activity that requires full participation 
  • It is a challenge to always get the students to stay on topic as they are working in their groups 
  • Correcting the work is also a challenge  
Tips
  • Do the activity yourself beforehand so that you can get a feeling for the level of difficulty and the feasibility for the students completing the activity in the allotted time 
  • You may find it necessary to form the groups 
  • Stop the activity part way through at the correction stage in order to re-introduce the adjectif concept as students often have difficulty in this area 
  • In order to accommodate all learning types different students have different roles in the group, whether it is writing, idea creation, or editing

Feedback

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