THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE EDUCATORS OF NEW JERSEY

I N C O L L A B O R AT I O N W I T H

THE NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

A N D

NEW JERSEY PRINCIPALS AND SUPERVISORS ASSOCIATION

PRESENTS:

TWO -PART TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP SERIES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21 , 2009A French Thematic Unit

ByMarie-Laure HoffmannWestfield High School

American Association of Teachers of French (AATF)New Jersey Chapter Co-President

Les Elections Présidentielles:

Comparing and contrasting Presidential Election Systems

in the United and France.

French Presidential ElectionsSunday April 21 and SundayMay 6, 2007

1st round: Sunday April 22, 20072d round: Sunday May 6, 2007

NICOLAS SARKOZY53.06%

SEGOLENE ROYAL46.94%

United States Presidential Elections:Tuesday November 4, 2008

BARACK OBAMAElectoral vote: 365

Popular vote: 52.9%

JOHN MC CAINElectoral Vote: 173Popular Vote: 45.7%

NJCCCS: Standard 7: Communication & Culture for the 21st CenturyAll students will be able to communicate, to understand and be

understood in real world contexts, in at least one world language in addition to English.

Students will use language to…

… understand and interpret spoken and written language (interpretive)

… engage in meaningful conversation and negotiate meaning (interpersonal), and…

… present information, concepts and ideas (presentational) as they gain understanding of the perspectives of the culture(s)…

… while experiencing its products and practices…

… make connections with other content areas…… compare the language/culture studied with

their own, and participate in home and global communities in or outside a school setting. \

Content

Strand: Interpretive Interpersonal Presentational Essential Questions: How does the US system compare with

another country? What are the differences and what conclusions do we draw from them? What is democracy?

Enduring Understanding: Our election system and its comparison to another country’s. Advantages and drawbacks of our system. The meaning of democracy.Advantages and drawbacks of our election system.

Content: Election system and democracy, social needs and priorities, personal identity, geography (Social Studies connection).

Process

Interpretive mode: Set the context: Concept Mapping to visualize the objectives of the unit. Watch French TV news clip on the US elections. Scaffolding: Build a vocabulary bank. Identify elements of the US and French electoral processes. Read, discuss, compare and contrast US and French electoral systems

from blogs, web sites (delicious) and other media sources.Interpersonal mode: Groups of students will:

Identify and choose vocabulary for the vocabulary bank. Identify and discuss elements of the electoral process in the US and France. Compare, contrast , and evaluate both systems.

Presentational mode: Present group reports on other countries/ ideal candidate (Power

Point or Voice Thread embedded into Wiki). Essays. Class discussions

Interdisciplinary/Assessment Implementation Strategies

Interdisciplinary Connections Geography: Location of countries.Social Studies and Government: How to elect a

president? What does democracy mean? Language Arts Literacy: Comprehension and

Communication strategies. Global PerspectivesExplore electoral systems from different

countriesResearch products and practices of target

cultures.

 

Final Assessments 

Interpretive: Demonstrate an understanding in oral (class discussions/ oral

questioning) and written assessments (cloze paragraphs) of the vocabulary necessary to describe and discuss the election systems in both countries.

Demonstrate an understanding in oral (class discussions) and written assessments (paragraphs/ essays) of how the US and the French electoral systems work.

Synthesize information by highlighting strengths and weaknesses in both systems, and creating a description of an ideal system/ candidate (class discussions/written comparisons entered on wiki/in-class essay writing)

Interpersonal: Q/A w/ whole class or group. Q/A using voice thread. Students share information on the Wiki (vocabulary, differences

between both systems, web site from delicious, opinion poll using Google Docs).

Presentational: Create a new page on the wiki for a group Power Point presentation,

Voice Thread presentation, or video.

Technology Integration

INTERPRETIVE: Web search (delicious.com)INTERPERSONAL:WikiGoogle DocsDoodleVoice ThreadPRESENTATIONAL:WikiDoodleVoicethreadPower Point

PROCESS:Set the context:http://bubbl.us/LES ELECTIONS/THEMATIC UNIT

Create Interest:-A funny video on You Tube:Find the video on « delicious »-View French News on the US electionson the French channel TV5