Experiencing Local Attractions

Unit Context

This lesson is Lesson 9 of 10 in the unit "Exploring French Travel Basics" for Year 12 French students in Australia. The focus is on discussing famous French landmarks and practising describing places and activities in the past tense.

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Curriculum Alignment

Australian Curriculum: Languages (French) — Version 9

• Strand: Communicating

• Substrand: Interacting and Creating

• Content Descriptions:

  • AC9LF10C03: Evaluate and synthesise information, ideas and perspectives in a broad range of spoken, written and multimodal texts and respond appropriately to cultural context, purpose and audience.
  • AC9LF10C04: Interpret and translate non-verbal, spoken and written interactions and texts to convey meaning and intercultural understanding in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.
  • AC9LF10EU04: Reflect on and explain how identity is shaped by language(s), culture(s), beliefs, attitudes and values and how these affect ways of communicating.

• Key Skills:

  • Use past tense to describe events and experiences.
  • Describe places using appropriate vocabulary related to famous landmarks.
  • Synthesise information from various sources to form coherent descriptions and narratives.
  • Appreciate cultural significance of French landmarks and places.

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Learning Objectives

By the end of the 90-minute lesson, students will be able to:

1. Identify and discuss at least five famous French landmarks using accurate vocabulary.
2. Use the passé composé and imparfait tenses to describe past visits, events, and experiences related to these landmarks.
3. Create and deliver short spoken and written descriptions recounting past visits or imagined experiences at French local attractions.
4. Engage in a class discussion reflecting intercultural understanding and perspectives about French culture and travel.

These objectives align with the Australian Curriculum outcomes AC9LF10C03, AC9LF10C04, and AC9LF10EU04【11:AC9LF10C03.md】【14:AC9LF10C04.md】【10:AC9LF10U04.md】.

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Lesson Duration

90 minutes

Class Size

7 students

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Materials Needed

• Large map of France with landmarks marked
• Images and short video clips of French landmarks (Eiffel Tower, Mont Saint-Michel, Louvre, Château de Versailles, Notre-Dame Cathedral)
• Handouts with vocabulary lists and past tense verb conjugation charts
• Whiteboard and markers
• Audio recorder or smartphone for recording spoken activities
• Digital devices (optional) for research and presentation

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Lesson Structure

1. Warm-up and Review (10 minutes)

• Purpose: Activate prior knowledge from earlier lessons in the unit.
• Activity: Quick round-robin where each student names a French landmark they know and one French past tense verb they remember. Write these on the whiteboard.
• Curriculum link: Supports recall and use of vocabulary and grammar for interaction (AC9LF10C03).

2. Introduction to Famous Landmarks (15 minutes)

• Purpose: Introduce and revise vocabulary for famous French landmarks and related travel phrases.
• Activity: Teacher-led presentation with images/video clips of five famous landmarks. Discuss the cultural relevance briefly for each.
• Student Task: Students note key vocabulary and expressions.
• Curriculum link: Builds cultural knowledge and vocabulary foundation (AC9LF10C04).

3. Grammar Focus: Past Tense Usage (15 minutes)

• Purpose: Review and practise passé composé and imparfait tense forms for describing past actions and settings.
• Activity: Guided grammar review with conjugation charts; students complete a fill-in-the-gaps worksheet describing a past visit to a landmark.
• Curriculum link: Enhances grammatical accuracy in creating and interpreting texts (AC9LF10C03).

4. Interactive Paired Activity – Describing a Past Visit (25 minutes)

• Purpose: Practice spoken French using past tenses to describe a personal or imagined experience at a French landmark.
• Activity: Students work in pairs, taking turns to describe a past visit or create a fictional story about experiencing a landmark. They use sentence starters and vocabulary sheets as scaffolding.
• Extension: Record their dialogues for playback and self-assessment.
• Curriculum link: Promotes spoken language fluency and authentic communication (AC9LF10C03, AC9LF10C04).

5. Creative Written Task – Travel Blog Entry (20 minutes)

• Purpose: Solidify writing skills by composing an imaginative blog entry in French recounting a visit to a local attraction.
• Activity: Individually, students write a short blog post (100-150 words) describing their visit, including details about the place and activities they did, using past tense verbs and descriptive vocabulary.
• Support: Vocabulary and sentence structure handouts; peer review opportunity.
• Curriculum link: Develops informative and imaginative written communication (AC9LF10C03).

6. Class Discussion and Reflection (5 minutes)

• Purpose: Reflect on learning and cultural insights gained.
• Activity: Whole class discussion about what was learnt regarding French landmarks and how language shapes cultural experience. Students reflect on their identity shaped by the language and culture they are learning.
• Curriculum link: Addresses intercultural understanding and identity reflection (AC9LF10EU04).

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Assessment for Learning

• Formative: Observation of paired conversations and accuracy in use of past tense; feedback on blog drafts; participation in discussions.
• Summative: Completed blog entry assessed for content, correct use of past tense, vocabulary range, and cultural references.

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Differentiation and Engagement Strategies

• Scaffold learning for students needing extra support by providing verb conjugation cheat sheets and sentence frames.
• Challenge advanced students to include complex sentences with subordinate clauses describing landmarks.
• Incorporate multimedia (videos, images) to engage visual learners.
• Use peer feedback for collaborative learning and confidence building.

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Reflection and Follow-up

• Teacher notes from recorded dialogues to inform future grammar reteach.
• Use blog posts as material for a class digital portfolio showcasing learning in the unit.
• Prepare students for final unit assessment (lesson 10) by providing revision resources of past tense and cultural vocabulary.

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This lesson plan is carefully mapped to the Australian Curriculum (v9) for Year 12 French: it integrates the development of past tense usage, communicative competence, cultural understanding, and reflective learning about identity and intercultural perspectives【11:AC9LF10C03.md】【14:AC9LF10C04.md】【10:AC9LF10U04.md】.

It ensures engagement through multi-modal activities that cater to diverse learning styles, with a clear balance of receptive, productive, and reflective tasks in a scaffolded 90-minute sequence ideal for a small class.