Ideas for Technology Use in the Montréal Unit

Research:

Students may use the world wide web to research topics they have chosen. Some websites are given in this packet, but many more are available. Many sites provide links to others dealing with the same topic. Choose a bibliographic format which students should use to document sources.

Resources are also available on CD Rom. Check your school's media center and catalogs for information on geography, history, Canada, etc. Electronic encyclopedias provide useful data.

Desktop Publishing:

Business card or advertisement: Provide students with examples of ads for Montréal restaurants, hotels, stores, and museums. Students will imagine they are the proprietors of a business in Montréal. They must design a card or advertisment with their own name listed as propriétaire. The card or ad must have a graphic, a real street address in Montréal, a phone number and something descriptive to lure customers, such as "Cuisine traditionelle"; "Vue du Saint Laurent", etc. Cards or ads are prepared on a computer. Graphics may be from a clip art collection, downloaded from the world wide web, or scanned.

Brochure: Students design and produce a brochure which showcases various aspects of Montréal. A good format is an 8-1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper folded to make a tri-fold brochure. The front may say, "Bienvenue à Montréal". The last panel might say "Je me souviens!" (the Québec motto - you will see it on license plates - the French Canadians will not forget their heritage). The inside panels might feature sites the students find interesting. Pictures or symbols may be downloaded from a website.

The brochure may also be used for practice of a grammatical structure. For example, each panel might have an exclamation starting with a form of "Quel" (Quel bel hôtel!) and a response beginning with "ce, cet, cette, ces" (Cet hôtel est le Château Frontenac). Practice of command forms of verbs also works well with brochures: Visitez....! Voyez....!, etc.

Multimedia Presentation:

After returning home, the class can put together a multimedia presentation to remember the Montréal trip. Students could work in pairs, with each pair responsible for one "card". For graphics, students might scan photos they have taken, postcards, brochures or pictures downloaded from the world wide web. Students write captions in French and record themselves reading the text. Music and other sounds can be added.

Students will improve technology and language skills while working on this project. Invite other classes, parents and administrators to view this "electronic journal" which celebrates your Visit Canada trip to Montréal!

Trip Evaluation

After your return, it is valuable to seek feedback from your students about the trip. This can be accomplished simply by asking them to record what they liked about the trip, some things they learned on the trip, and how they think the trip could be improved. One way to get students to reflect more deeply is to ask them to write on two of the following hypothetical situations:

1. The School Board is considering a no trips" policy in order to save money spent when substitute teachers are hired to cover the remaining classes of the teacher on a trip. Write to the School Board expressing your opinion of this suggestion. If you think trips should be continued, tell how they are educational.

2. A younger student in your school is considering going on the Canada trip next year. Write this student a letter stating your opinion on whether it is a worthwhile trip. Give reasons.

3. Your French class has the opportunity to travel to Paris next year. You would like to go, but need more money. Write to your kind and wealthy uncle. Tell him how educational travel can be (you know because you went on the Canada trip). Politely suggest that he might be willing to help you out financially. Support your request with specifics on what you learned in Canada and what you might learn in France.