Québec: A Curriculum Unit

Why build a curriculum unit around student travel?

There is nothing like an upcoming trip to bring excitement and interest to the foreign language classroom! Students want to learn about the places they will actually visit. Teachers planning a French class trip to Canada can build on this momentum by creating an entire curriculum unit on Québec. The trip itself becomes the culmination of the unit. This is language learning at its best because it is REAL!

What would be included in the Québec curriculum unit?

This unit exemplifies integrated interdisciplinary study and can include:

• the history of New France
• map study of major monuments students will see
• student research and presentations
• cultural insights about French Canada
• situations for oral practice
• practice of grammatical structures as they arise in the content material
• integration of technology
  

Objectives of the Unit:

1. Students will cite 4 major dates in the History of "La Nouvelle France":

1535 Jacques Cartier explores the Saint Lawrence River

1608 Samuel de Champlain founds a settlement

1690 The Comte de Frontenac repels Admiral Sir William Phipps

1759 Wolfe defeats Montcalm and New France falls to the British

2. Students will locate and identify major sites in "vieux Québec":

• le fleuve Saint Laurent
• la Basse Ville; la Haute Ville; les murs
• la Place Royale et l'église Notre-Dame-des-Victoires
• le Quartier Petit Champlain
• l'escalier Casse-Cou
• le Château Frontenac
• la Place d'Armes
• la rue du Trésor
• la Basilique-Cathédrale Notre Dame
• La Citadelle
• les Plaines d'Abraham
• le monument Wolfe-Montcalm

3. Students will strengthen research and presentation skills as they seek information about a person or site important in the history of "La Nouvelle France" and share that information with classmates.

4. Students will build vocabulary and practice grammatical structures in the context of their study of "La Nouvelle France".