Over the past week, I have reworked my curriculum maps for French 1-3 in order to support student proficiency in all modes of communication, and with the goal of the French 3 students consistently reaching Intermediate Low. I have requested AAPPL testing for each level next year: writing for French 1; reading/listening for French 2; full 4 part test for French 3. Our hopes are that some of the French 3 students may reach Intermediate High and be awarded the Seal of Biliteracy. While the target level for Year 3 in Ohio is Intermediate Low, there are usually some high achieving students with strong skills who can function at higher levels, and as we do not offer a French 4 or 5, we are hoping that this will give those strong French 3 students the chance for the Seal.
I didn't have to do much to my existing curriculum maps to make sure that they were AAPPL ready - one minor tweak in French 1, trimmed down French 2 to give more time to develop, and shift/trim down French 3. I'm including the AAPPL topics, my new maps, and brief commentary about changes with the French 1 & 3. (Level 2 earned its own blog post!)
Unit numbers correspond with chapter number in Français interactif
1.Personal and Public Identities: Education and Career Connections and Choices
2. Families and Communities
3. Weather, Seasons and Geography; Contemporary Life/Activities
4. Beauty & Aesthetics – Describing the Self and Other – Physical appearance, Characteristics, Clothing**
5. Food and Drink
6. Community
**This was my only tweak. I had previously treated CLOTHING as optional in French 1, because it falls in my French 2 curriculum based on the Français interactif sequence. However, since I see it appears in the Novice topics for AAPPL, I thought it best to make sure we include it in French 1, as well as in French 2. One can never be too well-dressed, n'est-ce pas?
FRENCH 2 MAP (Ohio target: Novice High)
- Review – Review of key topics and functions from Level 1 (include Unit 6/Ch 6) - Francais Interactif Ch 1-6
- Families and Communities – Holidays, Rites and Customs - Francais interactif Ch 7
- Contemporary Life - Housing - Francais interactif Ch 8
- Daily Life – Clothing & Health - Francais Interactif Ch 10
- Contemporary Life – Schooling/Education* (May be mini-unit dependent on time) - Francais interactif Ch 11
- Future Plans - Career Connections & Social relationships – Professions, Love & Money -Francais interactif Ch 12 & 13
FRENCH 3 MAP (Ohio target: Intermediate Low)
1.Personal and Public Identities
2.Communities and Social Relationships
3.Global Issues and Challenges (STEM/Interdisciplinary): Climate, Geography, Nature, Environment
4.STEM/Interdisciplinary: Body & Mind: Health/care, Fitness, Nutrition
5.Contemporary Life: Housing, Daily Life
6. Global Citizenship: Travel
I trimmed down from 8 planned units on the previous map (which I could never possibly have completed!) to these 6, which spiral from French 1, through French 2, and expand into some interdisciplinary work. I will have students in French 3 who will enter very low - students who received Ds in French 2, or haven't had French for several years - so the spiraling should help pull them up and support them as we move towards Intermediate. The themes were ones I already had in place, and should provide a broad preparation for AAPPL testing at the end of the year.
REFLECTION
While I see many of my #langchat colleagues doing more current event based units (or TPRS, but it's a whole different conversation about why I cannot do that), and while I do foresee adding in elements as we move through the year, I need the structure and redundancy that this spiraling curriculum map provides. It works well for me with my health limitations to have a foundation to build on (rather than constantly building brand new units with 5 preps a year, so much work with so little rest), and it works well for my many students who require a great deal of support. It is much less anxiety-producing to shift away from the "we need to COVER so much to be rigorous" and towards the "let's build comfort and proficiency, one level at a time". At the end of the year, I will examine AAPPL and classroom assessment
data to decide if the maps - and the proficiency destinations - need to be changed for the following year. It will be an interesting journey!