Montréal: 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 Montréal. 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 Montréal 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
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Objectives of the unit:
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1. Students will cite 4 major
dates in the History of Montréal:
- 1535 Jacques Cartier names city "Mont
Royal"
- 1603 Samuel de Champlain visits
- 1642 Paul de Chomedey Sieur de Maisonneuve
founds a new settlement
- 1760 Montréal surrenders to the British
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2. Students will locate and identify major
sites in Montréal:
- La Place d'Armes
- La Basilique de Notre-Dame
- Place Jacques Cartier
- L'Hôtel de Ville
- Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours
- Le Marché Bonsecours
- La Place Royale et la Vieille Douane
- Le Parc du Mont-Royal
- l'Ile Sainte Hélène, l'Ile Notre-Dame
- Le Parc Olympique
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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".
