Enrichment Activities

The following activities may be used to enrich your students' study of Québec. Some provide review of grammatical structures, one is a listening comprehension exercise, others provide an opportunity to "play" with the French language. A historical figure or a site in Québec City provides the "jumping off" point for each activity and is used in the title of each activity. They may be woven into your unit as you present material for the first time, during a review session, or in another way that fits your students' needs.

The activities may be adjusted according to the level of your students' language ability. For example, an exercise which is presented here in the present tense, may be changed if your class needs to practice the future, the subjunctive or perhaps certain irregular verbs. Using content material (Québec city and its history) as the "anchor" for a multitude of activities is good pedagogical practice and will be of interest to students who know they will visit Québec soon.

Les Diamants de Jacques Cartier:

Ask students to tell the meaning and to guess why Cartier might have named the 300 foot cliffs of Québec "Cap Diamant" (Cape Diamond). Cartier, hoping to find riches in the New World, returned to France with barrels of what he thought were diamonds. They turned out to be worth-less minerals. The expression "faux comme les diamants du Canada" was coined, meaning "false as Canadian diamonds".

Students may make up other metaphors: "faux comme....", "vrai come....", "vieux comme...." etc. The metaphors could be connected to a trip theme: "Cette valise est lourde comme...." . Students might make a mini-poster of their sentence to hang in the classroom.

Haute Ville et Basse Ville:

Use the words "Haute Ville" and "Basse Ville" to review adjective placement and gender. Have students make three columns on a sheet of paper. Write the word "ville" in the center column.

Mix up the following adjectives in random order, call them out, and see if students can write them in the correct column: vieille, nouvelle, grande, petite, belle, historique, charmante, pittoresque, romantique. Make a chart out of the final result which can hang in classroom during this unit. Students may refer to it to describe Québec as "une vieille ville charmante" or "une belle ville historique", etc.

Extension: Expand the review to include masculine nouns, requiring the masculine forms of both preceding adjectives and those which follow. Use this opportunity to practice the special forms of "bel", "vieil", "nouvel" and "cet".

Notre-Dame-des-Victoires:

Use the church's name for grammatical practice: Notre Dame = our lady. Devise questions whose answers are: notre pays, notre ville, notre école, notre classe. Continue with the plural: nos familles, nos maisons, nos amis, nos professeurs.

De la Victoire becomes des Victoires when plural. Have students give the plural and the meaning if the church had been named: Notre Dame de la Montagne; Notre Dame de la Forêt. Now review the contraction of "de" + "le". Give the meaning and change to the plural: Notre Dame du Bois; Notre Dame du Lac; Notre Dame du Mont.

Extension: Have students search any local phone book for last names beginning with "Des..." which appear to be of French origin. Have them look up the meanings. They may find: Desjardins; Desrochers, Desroseaux, Deschesnes, etc.

Le Quartier Petit Champlain:

Before visiting Québec, students can guess the meanings of the names of some restaurants, shops, and streets they will see in the Quartier Petit Champlain:

Restaurants: Le Lapin Sauté, Le Cochon Dingue, Le Café du Monde,
Restaurant Sous-le-Fort (What does "sous" mean? What is the opposite?).

Shops: Le Palier (halfway down Breakneck Stairs), Le Loup de Papier, Pot-en-Ciel, Verrerie la Mailloche, Peau sur Peau, Le Fou du Roi, le Jardin de l'Argile.

Streets: rue Sous-le-fort; rue Sous-le-cap , rue du marché Champlain, rue des Traversiers, rue St. Pierre, rue St. Antoine, rue St. Jacques, rue St. Paul, rue St André (for whom were these streets named? What might you guess was important to the people who named these streets? Compare to street names in your town).

Escalier Casse-Cou:

In French there are a number of compound words formed from a verb and a noun, such as casse-cou. Have students guess the meanings: casse-tête; ouvre-boîte; chasse-neige; tue-mouches; amuse-bouche; porte-monnaie; lave-vaisselle.

Have students imagine a "new invention" which they name by combining a verb and a noun. Ex: "un fait-devoirs" (a homework doer). Students may draw their new invention and describe it in French. Put all these new inventions together to form a "catalog" (with prices in Canadian dollars) to share with other French classes in your district.

Promenade En Ville:

This activity reviews what students have learned from their map study, it kinesthetically connects students to their maps, and practices command forms of the verb. Tell students "Touche le fleuve Saint Laurent". Scan the room to see that all have a finger on the river. Now ask who was the first French explorer to navigate the river.

Continue with command forms of the verb, making sure fingers go to the requested sites: "Marche à la Place Royale. Entre dans l'église. Comment s'appelle cette église? Elle est grande? Elle est vieille? Sors de l'église et tourne à gauche dans la rue" ......etc. Make sure their fingers actually "Monte l'escalier Casse-Cou et la Côte de la Montagne".

In their imaginary walk through town, students might have to walk along the Terrasse Dufferin, pass in front of the Château Frontenac, have a rendez-vous in front of the Statue de Champlain, etc.

Variations for more advanced classes:

a. Make commands plural, make some commands negative, practice using the pronoun "y" with commands.

b. Practice verb forms by having students narrate where they are going and what they are seeing in town ex: Je vais à la Place Royale et je vois une vieille église...

c. Put verbs in the near future: Nous allons visiter Québec et nous allons voir...; or the real future: Quand nous serons à Québec, nous verrons...

d. After the imaginary walk, students tell what they did: "J'ai rencontré mon ami devant la Statue de Champlain", "J'ai acheté une petite peinture dans la rue du Trésor", "Je suis monté l'escalier Casse-Cou."

Le Château Frontenac:

Use information about the Château Frontenac as a listening activity in which students will practice number recognition. Have them record the numbers in statements read by the teacher or students:

a. Le château a été construit en 1892.
b. Quand le château a été ouvert en 1893, il y avait 170 chambres.
c. En 1924, une tour de 17 étages a été construite, et l'hôtel
avait 544 chambres.
d. Récemment, il y avait une rénovation de $60 million de dollars.
e. Il y a une piscine et 16 nouvelles chambres.
f. Le número de téléphone du Château est 692.3861

Life in "la Nouvelle France":

Download some of the beautiful paintings of life in la Nouvelle France by Cornelius Krieghoff: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Museum/4883/

Have students describe the paintings in French. Note the architectural style of the homes, the dress, modes of transportation, forms of entertain-ment, and means of obtaining food as depicted by Krieghoff.

Que veut dire "hôtel"?:

List uses in French of the word "hôtel" which go beyond the meaning of our English translation, "hotel": hôtel de ville; hôtel du Parlement; hôtel-Dieu (hospital), hôtel des Monnaies (mint) hôte - host; table d'hôte - chef's special.

Giving and Following Directions in Town:

Use a map of Québec to give students practice in following and giving directions. Start with the basic vocabulary: tourne à droite; tourne à gauche, traverse la rue, continue tout droit jusqu'à l'église, passe devant la statue, etc. Starting with fingers touching the Place Royale, give directions orally which will send them to the Statue de Champlain in the Haute Ville. Continue giving directions around the Haute Ville.

This not only practices language skills, but increases students' familiarity with the city. They will feel confident when they arrive in Québec and they can identify famous sites and know their way around. Finally, have students give directions to each other in a pair activity.

Hypothetically in Québec:

Use Québec city as the setting for practice of the imperfect and conditional tenses: "If I were in Québec, I would visit the Citadelle." "If I were in the Quartier Petit Champlain, I would dine at the Cochon Dingue", etc.

A Table!:

Have a French Canadian meal before your trip. Students can compare their work with "the real thing" when they are in Canada. Some suggestions:

Soupe aux pois (pea soup - a very old tradition in Québec, enjoyed by the habitants)

Tourtières, jambon, pommes de terre

Omelettes, Crêpes au sirop d'érable

Crème fouettée à l'érable - Beat 3/4 cup heavy cream until peaks form. Drizzle in 1/4 cup maple syrup and continue to beat until peaks can hold shape. Serve on a slice of cake, waffles, or use as a filling for crêpes.

Tarte au sirop d'érable

Recipe for tourtière: http://sunsite.auc.dk/recipes/english/o0090174.html

Recipe for tarte au sirop d'érable: http://www.masterstech-home.com/The_Kitchen/Recipes/International_Recipes/French_Recipes/
TarteAuSiropDerable.html

Ideas for Conversation Practice:

Use situations which might arise on the trip for pre-departure conversation practice:

1. Call the hotel's front desk and ask for a 6:30 AM wake-up call.

2. Go to the front desk and ask for an extra blanket or towel.

3. Order chicken for dinner.

4. Ask for directions to the Place d'Armes.

5. Ask if they sell film in this store.

6. Ask if they have this T-shirt in blue, in large.

7. Tell the tour guide thank you, today was interesting, see you tomorrow.

Make the conversations more challenging by requiring the inclusion of a complication - the restaurant doesn't have any more chicken, the front desk does not have your name on the list of registered hotel guests, etc.

Discussion Questions:

1. The Roman Catholic Church:

Discuss the importance of the church in the development of New France. In what ways did the Church have a civilizing effect on the colony? Only Catholics were allowed to settle in the new colony. Compare to religious persuasion and reason for emigration of settlers in the British colonies.

2. The Seigneurial System of land division:

Farms in New France were narrow strips running back from the river. Ask students the shape of farms in the region of the US where you live. New England farmers divided their land into large rectangles. Ask students to think of any reason why dividing farm land into strips would be advantageous.

a. Farms in strips give more landowners river access. The river was the major mode of transportation when Canada had no roads.

b. Farmers built their houses near the river. Because the land was divided into narrow strips, this meant farm houses were close together. During Canada's long and difficult winters it was important to be near one's neighbors.

3. The Separatist Movement:

Discuss the provisions of the Peace of Paris: French Canadians were allowed to retain their language, their religion and their civil law. Was it wise for England to be so tolerant towards the conquered French? Talk about the Parti Québecois and its role in Canadian politics today.

4. Mardi Gras:

Discuss how climate affects the celebration of Mardi Gras throughout the French speaking world. Québec's winter carnival attests to the fun and beauty to be enjoyed in a cold, northern setting.

http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/