Les Téléjournaux (10)

La Critique

Milton Alan Turner
Saint Ignatius High School Cleveland, Ohio

Grades	11^th Grade through 12^th Grade
Subjects	Main Subject	Foreign Language	AP French IV, French IV
	Secondary Subject	Foreign Language	French III
	Other	Foreign Language	Spanish I

Overview

The students will produce a three to five-minute television new show and a one or two-page newspaper. The shows will be videotaped and converted to the RealVideo format for streaming over the Internet and the newspapers will be converted into Adobe Acrobat PDF format for viewing over the World Wide Web.

Time Frame
One or two days

Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

· access project web site

· read student produced newspapers and view student-produced videos

compare and critique student-produced videos

Materials

Computer lab (with Multimedia capable computers and Internet access)

A configuration of at least fifteen Pentium MMX 233 MHz or faster with color monitor, printer and 28.8 modem or faster is preferred. The Saint Ignatius High School third floor computer lab is equipped with fifteen networked Pentium II 266 MHz student computers with T1 Internet access, two printers, and one similar faculty computer connected to an LCD overhead projection unit.

· Microsoft® Software Used in this Lesson

Microsoft® Office 97 Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.01

Microsoft® Word Microsoft® Works 4.0

· Other Software Used in this Lesson

RealNetworks RealPlayer 5.0, Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0

Procedure

The students will be brought to the computer lab and will access the project web site to view the presentations and the newspapers created by the class(es). They will be asked to compare and critique the presentations by answering questions such as “Which videos/newspapers were the most effective? Why? Which were the most entertaining? Why? Which fall into both categories? How authentic were the videos? Did they more closely resemble American or French TV news shows? Why”

Evaluation

Student projects will evaluated using the criteria below.

A Demonstrates Superiority	• STRONG control of the language • Proficiency and variety in grammatical and syntactical usage • Few significant errors • Broad command of vocabulary and of idiomatic French/Spanish
B Demonstrates Competence	• GOOD control of grammatical structures • Some errors and/or awkwardness of style • Appropriate use of idioms and vocabulary • Reads smoothly overall
C Suggests Competence	• FAIR ability speak/write in French/Spanish • Correct use of simple grammatical structures or use of more complex structures allowing or a few errors • Some apt vocabulary and idioms • Occasional signs of fluency or sense of style
D Suggests Incompetence	• WEAK use of language with little control of grammatical structures • Limited vocabulary • Frequent use of anglicisms which force interpretation on the part of the teacher • Occasional redeeming features
F Demonstrates Incompetence	• CLEARLY UNACCEPTABLE from most points of view • Almost total lack of vocabulary resources • Little or no sense of idiom and/or style • Essentially gallicized English or charabia (nonsense)

Adapted from the Educational Testing Service’s Advanced Placement French Language Exam Oral and Composition Grading Rubrics

N.B.

1. A coherent and very well organized or a particularly inventive oral or essay may be awarded the grade of the category immediately higher.
2. An oral or essay that does not follow the prescribed format (e.g. and essay that is not double-spaced) will be awarded the grade of the category immediately lower.
3. An oral or essay that demonstrates an obvious failure to understand or treat the topic, or one of insufficient length, cannot receive a grade above a C-.

In simple terms, an F means the student proves he does not know what he is doing, a D means the student makes me think he does not know what he is doing but never actually proves it, a C means the student makes me think he knows what he is doing, a B means the student proves to me he knows what he is doing, and an A mean that the student has impressed me.

It should also be noted that an A does not mean perfection. As noted in the above chart, there can be errors in A work. The key here is either successfully going above and beyond the minimum requirements ("proficiency") or the appropriate use of synonymous or semantically related expressions ("variety"). For example, a student who uses several expressions requiring the subjunctive, contrasts various time frames (last week, yesterday, today, tomorrow) using the appropriate tenses, or who regularly attempts Superior[1] level activities (such as hypothesizing, stating opinions) should be given serious consideration for an A in spite of a few "minor" pronunciation or grammatical errors.

Each student will be given a two letter grades (one oral grade for the news video and one composition grade for the newspaper). Each of these will be an individual performance grade, not a group grade.

The corresponding numeric grades (using the grading scale for Saint Ignatius High School) are the following:

93-100	A
85-92	B
77-84	C
70-76	D
0-69	F

The project grades will be added to the appropriate category (Oral and Composition). At the end of the semester, the student’s final grade will be calculated as follows:

Orals 20%

Compositions 20%

Quizzes and Tests 40%

Final Exam 20%

National Standards Addressed by this Lesson

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Standards for Foreign Language Learning

Standard 1.1 Interpersonal Communication

Students work cooperatively in groups to produce newscasts

Standard 1.2 Written and Spoken Communication

Students speak, listen, read, write, and edit presentations in the language

Standard 1.3 Presentational Communication

Students perform presentations in the language

Standard 2.1 Practices of Culture

Students present news stories following the conventions of the culture studied

Standard 2.2 Products of Culture

Students analyze and mimic newscasts and newspapers

Standard 3.1 Furthering Connections

Students discuss news items on a variety of topics.

Standard 4.1 Linguistic Comparisons

Students compare and contrast language styles.

Standard 5.1 School and Community

Students use the language in and out of the classroom

Standard 5.2 Life-long Learning

Students develop insights necessary for media literacy

For additional relevant information, visit the following Web sites:

Modern Languages Web Page- Mr. Turner's Links

http://www.ignatius.edu/modlang/

Listing of newspaper, magazine, television, and radio links in French and Spanish

Milton Alan Turner's Interesting Links

http://members.aol.com/mat/page4.html

Links to French and Spanish language radio and television sites.

Saint Ignatius High School- Les Téléjournaux

http://www.ignatius.edu/turner/

Student television news videos (in RealVideo format) and newspapers (in Adobe Acrobat format).

Saint Ignatius High School- Annual Foreign Language Week Video Contest Winners

http://www.ignatius.edu/modlang/video.htm

Student videos in Spanish and French (in RealVideo format).

Author Contact Information

Name Milton Alan Turner

Mailing Address Saint Ignatius High School

Street 1911 West 30th Street

City, State/Province Postal Code or Zip Cleveland, Ohio 44113-3495

Telephone 216-651-0222

Fax 216-651-6313

E-Mail Address Mturner@ignatius.edu or MAT@aol.com

School Home Page URL http://www.ignatius.edu/

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[1] According to the 1986 American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Proficiency Guidelines, a speaker is rated in one of four major categories: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, or Superior. A Superior speaker can participate in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, professional, and abstract topics. They can explain in detail, hypothesize, and support their opinions. At this level, errors virtually never interfere with communication.