Group Writing Activity: "Autrefois..."

Level: Elementary through Advanced.

Immediate Application: French 101, Voilà, Leçon 12

Skills: Speaking, writing, listening and some reading.

Structures: Present tense, imperfect.

Functions: Comparing and describing.

Learning Styles:

Requires cooperation and as much perfectionsim as the groups desire.

Background:

Students have just learned imperfect verb forms. This activity may be used to reinforce the "used to" function of the imperfect already presented, or as springboard for presenting this function.

Materials Needed:

Photos or fine art reproductions (post cards, calendar pages)

Overview / Preparation:

Directions to students: [Instructions would be given verbally, in French.]

We're going to discuss how things have changed since the "good old days." Can you think of anything?
What do your parents/grandparents say?
Instructor holds up a picture. Do students know it? The artist?
Point out one aspect of the picture (carriages instead of cars, long skirts, a tranquil street...)
Instructor cues students to note what, according to the picture, people did "autrefois" and what we do today. Put a sample on the board.

Tell students they will now work in pairs (groups of three) to write a similar pair of sentences based on a new picture.

Teacher hands out postcards, one for every two / three students.

Comment on the cards as you hand them out. Do students know the painters? The style? (Students often know a lot about fine art reproductions).

Each group will write [two] sentences to compare today to past.

As soon as you have finished your sentences, write them on the board.

Students have 7 minutes to work.

Group Task:

Circulate as students write. Try to catch errors and guide self-correction.
Let students know when they have only 2 minutes left and tell them to wrap it up.
Stop them no matter how much they beg for more time--and even if one group falls a sentence short.

Whole Group Task: Presentation

Have students read their sentences while showing pictures.
Correct together.
If students are reluctant to listen to one-another, collect and redistribute pictures. Have students find the corresponding description on the board.

Learning Check:

Go over important corrections--those within the focus of this and previous chapters. Use the chalkboard.
Ask questions using the verbs students have used.
Have each student write a sentence contrasting something about daily life when s/he was in grade school, vs. today.

Expansion:

Comments:

The only danger I've found is in choosing fine art reproductions for the elementary level which contain representations of vocabulary far beyond the lexical fields studied. I try to deal with this in the overview. On the other hand, advanced-level students get a chance to see representations of words they've encountered only in reading, such as "fiacre" and "coffre."

Copyright 1998 by Cheryl Krueger
Department of French
University of Virginia