Creating Verbal Images: In-Class Peer-Editing Activity

Level: Intermediate

Immediate Application: French 201, Ensuite, Chapitre 2

Skills: reading, listening, critical thinking, writing, some speaking

Structures / Vocabulary:

present tense verbs, adjectives describing physical appearance and personality, adjective agreement

Functions: narration, imagery, organization

Learning Styles:

A cooperative exercise. Incorporates a wide variety of skills. Allows students to participate actively in the process of critiquing a composition.

Background:

Students have already practiced describing personality traits and physical features of various types of people. They have reviewed the present tense of verbs. In addition, they have read the exerpt from Annie Ernaux's La Place in Chapter 2, and they have already written a one page composition describing an imaginary self-photo. This activity is conducted entirely in French.

Materials Needed: textbook, students' compositions, blackboard

Instructions:

"We will discuss the reading La Place today and how the author uses words to create pictures. Afterwards, we will revisit our compositions to see how you have also created imagery in your descriptive essays."

Overview / Preparation:

Students are asked to look over the comprehension questions regarding La Place. Students are told that a woman narrates certain memories of her childhood
and students are asked to recall a childhood experience.

Whole Group Task:

Students are selected to read sections of La Place out loud.
Next, the class discusses the comprehension questions. As the questions are discussed, the class looks at what images the author creates.
The teacher (or a student) draws pictures on the blackboard, evoked by the images described in the text. As the discussion of the text continues, it centers more and more on the imagery.

Transition:

The teacher guides the class from discussing imagery in the text to pointing out that overall goal of their compositions to create verbal images that together describe an imaginary self-photo.
The teacher then refers to the writing workshop page at the end of chapter 2 which outlines different ways of organizing these images.
On the board, the teacher writes (or draws out representative symbols) of these three ways:

from exterior to interior description
from general to specific detail
from specific to general detail

Small Group Task :

Students are then asked to exchange essays in pairs and to critique them. They are asked to comment on two qualities of the paper they read:

write «bonne image» each time you see an image created by words
write at the top of the composition how it is organized overall (according to the three possibilities we just discussed)

Learning Check:

Whole class: Several students are asked to read out loud the description of an image that they «saw» in the composition they critiqued.
Students are then asked how the composition was organized and a vote is taken to see which type(s) of organization was/were the most popular.

Expansion:

Students could critique the compositions looking for other qualities, as long as each type of evaluation is modeled.

Comments:

The students wrote encouraging comments on the compositions, and they seemed very pleased to receive positive reinforcement from their peers. The activity also seemed to build their self-confidence.

Submitted by Barbara Brousseau
University of Virginia