SQuintin

Stephanie Quintin March 9, 2011 EDC 448 __Diverse Text Set__

**Diverse Text Set For 10th Grade French II Studying The French Revolution**


 * Context for using the text set:** This diverse text set will be used in a tenth grade French II class comprised of students with average to above average ability/reading levels. The students will be learning about the French Revolution as a way to introduce them to some of the important cultural events that shaped France as it is today. This text set will expose them to a variety of different sources that will present the material in different formats and on a range of difficulty levels. One of the sources will be in French making it much more difficult than the others, but having looked at the other sources first and developed a knowledge base on the topic, they will be able to comprehend at least some of the information presented. It will also help them to learn some new vocabulary words in French that they will be able to use for the assignment that will come after this material is covered.

· **Citation** : Horne, A. (2004). //La belle France: A short history//. New York, NY: Vintage Books · **Text Summary** : This book presents many different historical events in French history and it has a section devoted to the French Revolution. It starts off with a quote from an aristocratic woman that describes what life was like for the wealthy during this period. It then leads into a description of what life was like for the poor, and how this was the catalyst for the occurrence of the revolution. The book separates the different events of the revolution by years, which makes it easy to follow. · **Rationale** : This text was chosen to provide the students with a first-hand description from a real person who lived at this time. This will help to make the revolution concrete in their minds by basing it in reality for them. · **Use of text** : I will use this text at the beginning of the unit for the students to develop an understanding of what the revolution was and why it began. I will divide the class into small groups and pass out a few different resources for them to look at. Each group will be given a different source and they will be assigned the task of looking thorough it to find some of the important points of the revolution (things that happened, the people involved, etc.). They will be given a large sheet of paper for them to write their points on and they will share them with the class when they are done. · **Attachment:** Not attached. The students will have access to the book in class. · **Citation** : Barber, N. (2006). //The complete idiot’s guide to European history//. New York, NY: the Penguin Group · **Text Summary** : This book explains many different historical events throughout Europe over the centuries. It includes a chapter on the French Revolution in context to the other events that were happening at the same time, for example in America with the new colonies (a topic that the students will probably already have covered in their history classes). This will provide the students with some background knowledge that they can link this new information to. It also separates the different events and people involved in the revolution very clearly, and it uses bold typeface to differentiate between them. It includes quotes from people of the time as well as different vocabulary words, some of which are in French, and they are printed in separate little boxes throughout the text. · **Rationale** : This text was chosen to help students connect the new information they are being presented with to other historical events they have already learned about. It will help them to use their knowledge base of these other events to understand the revolution relative to its time period. · **Use of Text** : I will use this text as another of the resources provided to the students for the group work where they will begin to delve into the topic. · **Attachment** : Not attached. The students will have access to the book in class. · **Citation** : Lang, S. (2006). //European history for dummies//. Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd · **Text Summary** : This book explains the French Revolution without being overly wordy. It covers all of the important main events but it is not as in depth as the first two texts. This text also includes brief text boxes that explain different people who were a part of the revolution. · **Rationale** : This text was chosen because it is more appropriate for the students that don’t have as advanced of a reading/ability level. It still thoroughly covers the topic at hand but it presents the material more directly. · **Use of Text** : This book will be used as a resource for the in class group activity, and it will be given to the group of students that are less advanced, without singling them out. · **Attachment:** Not attached. The students will have access to the book in class. · **Citation:** Grams, E. (1997-1999). //The French revolution//. Retrieved February 21, 2011 from Discover France website at [] · **Text Summary** : This website was chosen because it explains the history of the French Revolution, its causes, the course of it, and the consequences. It is to the point and easy to comprehend. · **Use of Text** : This website will be used as a handout that the students will be able to keep and use as a reference for their assignment later on. They can also use the website at home to do further research on the topic or on the people involved. · **Attachment** : Not attached. The website is included in the citation, and a printout of the information will be passed out in class. · **Citation:** n.a. (2000). //La France à la veille de 1789.// Retrieved on February 21, 2011 from Révolution française: 1789-1799 at: [] · **Text Summary:** This website describes the French Revolution but this time in French. It is talks about the causes of the revolution and the different groups involved very thoroughly. · **Rationale:** This website is definitely a challenging read to present to the students, but it will help them to greatly expand their vocabulary. They should also be able to understand a decent amount of the material after having read and developed a knowledge base from the resources in English. · **Use of Text:** This website text will be presented at the end of the unit as a handout for the students to mark up with questions, things they find important, as well as the vocabulary words they needed to look up. The class will spend a decent amount of time working with this text seeing that it is written in the target language of the class. · **Attachment:** Not Attached. The website is included in the citation, and it will be passed out in class as a handout. · **Citation:** n.a. (2011). //Causes of the French revolution web diagram.// Retrieved on March 9, 2011 from Squidoo at: [] · **Text Summary:** This is a web diagram that maps out the causes of the French Revolution. · **Rationale:** This web diagram shows the students the causes of the revolution in simple terms that they can follow along with and see how the relate to each other. · **Use of Text:** This diagram will be passed out to the students as a handout for them to keep. It will be gone over together as a class at the beginning of the unit as a way of explaining what “started it all”. · **Attachment:** Attached.
 * A. Print Resources:**
 * Text #1:**
 * Text #2:**
 * Text #3:**
 * Text #4:**
 * Text #5:**
 * Text #6:**

· **Citation** : Erichowe. (2010, March 8). //French revolution// [video file]//.// Retrieved March 9, 2011 from Teacher Tube at: [] · **Text Summary** : This is a video that presents different images of people and events from the French Revolution set to the song //Viva la vida// by Coldplay. · **Rationale:** This video will be a great way to engage the students and grab their attention to the topic. · **Use of text:** This video will be the first item presented to the students on the topic. They know the song, which will grab their attention and hold it for the duration of the video. It will be used to get them thinking about the revolution and conjure up any possible background knowledge they might already have. It will also help to create questions in their minds that will drive them to search for the answers. · **Attachment:** The link for the video is included in the citation. · **Citation** : TwoMunchuTwo. (2009, July 23). //The French revolution history channel #1-10// [video file]. Retrieved February 21, 2011 from neoK12 at: [] · **Text Summary:** This online resource provides ten sequential videos on the French Revolution. They are narrated and contain captivating images that will hold the students attention. · **Rationale:** These videos will present the information in a different format than the written texts, which will help to ensure that the students understand the material. It will also help to put faces to the names of some of the important people involved, such as King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. · **Use of Text:** These videos will be presented before the written texts as a way of frontloading. This will give the students some visual images that are concrete that they can use to visualize while reading later on. · **Attachment:** The link for the videos is included in the citation.
 * B. Media Resources**
 * Text #7:**
 * Text #8:**

· **Citation:** n.a. (2011). //Label the French revolution timeline.// Retrieved February 21, 2011 from neoK12 at: [] · **Text Summary:** This website provides the students with a blank timeline and a short list of events that occurred during the revolution. The students need to place each event on its correct space on the timeline. · **Rationale:** This interactive activity will help the students to organize the different events relative to each other. · **Use of text:** I would use this activity after the students have researched the topic a little bit to further solidify the information in their minds. · **Attachment:** The link for the activity is included in the citation. · **Citation:** n.a. (2010, July 14). //Bastille day and the French revolution (1789).// Retrieved March 9, 2011 from bastilleday.com at [] · **Text Summary:** This website allows students to explore biographies of different historical figures from the French Revolution. · **Rationale:** This website will help students to understand the lives of these historical figures and to try to assume what life would have been like back then. · **Use of the text:** This website will be used as the last resource presented to the students to help prepare them for the main assignment on the topic. This assignment will be for the students to write a journal entry assuming the character of one of the historical figures of the time, for example an aristocrat, a peasant, the king, the queen, etc. · **Attachment:** The link for the website is included in the citation.
 * C. Online Interactive Resources**
 * Text #9:**
 * Text #10:**

· **Citation:** Eckert, J. (2004, December 10). //French revolution unit plan.// Retrieved March 9, 2011 from library.ubc.ca at: [] · **Text Summary:** This is a very detailed unit plan on the French Revolution. It is in depth and provides activities and handouts that could be given to the students. · **Rationale:** This unit plan is another teacher’s point of view on how to teach this topic. It is from the perspective of a history teacher and it can be modified to suite the particular class’s needs. · **Use of text:** This unit plan will be used to gather further ideas and approaches to teaching the topic of the French Revolution. · **Attachment:** Not attached. A link to the website is included in the citation.
 * D. Instructional Resources**
 * Text #11:**

These texts are all related to one another. They present the same material in different formats and on a range of ability/reading levels. All of the students will not use all of the resources. At the beginning of the unit, all of the students will view the first video, text #7. After that has been shown, text # 6 will be passed out and discussed as a class. Then the students will be divided into groups and each group will be given one of the books listed, texts # 1,2, and 3, depending on their ability/reading level. They will use these texts to explore the topic in depth, and they will make lists of the information and people they believe to be important. Afterwards, they will share the findings with the class and they will be given text #4 to look over at home. For the next part of the unit, the students will be shown the videos from text # 8. They will then be asked to use the interactive websites, texts # 9 and 10 to practice with what they have learned and to decide which historical figure they are going to use for their written assignment. All of these texts tie in together and work off of each other nicely.
 * Using these texts together in the classroom:**

**Standards:** **Core Standard #3:** Students will decide what the main ideas of the text are and summarize them. **Core Standard #5:** Students will relate the events from the text to each other and the time period in which they occur. **Core Standard #11:** Students will decipher a web diagram to further their understanding of the topic. **Core Standard #16:** Students will use their prior knowledge of the topic or similar topics to deepen their comprehension of the new material.

**Foreign Language Standards:** **3.2** Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures **4.2** Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

**Learning Objective:** Students will learn about the French Revolution as a means of understanding the history and culture of France and how it shaped the country, as we know it today. They will use their prior knowledge of related topics or events to help them comprehend this major historical event. **Reading Objective:** Students will use a variety of sources and media to learn about the French Revolution and how it has affected the lives of people all over the world, including their own, since it occurred.

COMMENT BY ANKE 3/31/11: THIS SEEMS LIKE A WELL ROUNDED COLLECTION OF TEXTS. I LOVE THE IDEA THAT STUDENTS WOULD GET SO MANY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, ESPECIALLY PERSONAL ONES. IT SEEMS LIKE A GREAT HISTORY LESSON ON FRANCE. I AM SURE STUDENTS WOULD BE MOTIVATED. THE IDEA TO INTRODUCE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTS TO GET THE IDEAS ACROSS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY THE FRENCH TEXTS IS INTERESTING.