Explanation of Discussion Board
When I decided to integrate technology into the French 5 curriculum, setting up
a discussion board for my students was one of the first things I wished to do.
Thanks
to the MCIU and the availability of eSchool Builder, I was able to do this relatively
easily. As outlined in the Online Activities handout, each
student must post one personal response to the prompt given and then read and respond
to three of their peers' posts. As of the creation of this presentation, my
students have completed 13 discussions on a variety of topics, as outlined below. The topics are based on
curricular material as well as personal interest.
For the purposes of this presentation, I have created a generic account so that viewers can
log in and see first-hand the discussions that have been completed by my students.
Follow the instructions below to log into eSchool Builder and view the online French 5 course.
Implications for Learning
The French 5 students are...
- participating in personalized and meaningful writing practice.
- writing for communication, not just isolated sentences.
- reading and comprehending French written by their peers.
- involved in an online conversation with their peers.
- learning how to type in French and how to create accent marks electronically.
- using the French they have learned throughout their school 'careers' in a real-world context.
Assignments
As with the epal assignments, the discussion board prompts are written in French. Although you can
view the individual discussion topics by following the instructions above, I've outlined them
briefly in English:
- Discussion #1: Bienvenue à Francais 5!- Welcome to French 5! Personal description, interests, family, etc.
- Discussion #2: Les Etats-Unis ne sont pas la France- The United States are not France. A cultural discussion based on curricular material about the differences
between the two countries in relation to salutations, topics of conversation, introductions, and so forth.
- Discussion #3: Mon Epal- My Epal. A description of their epals.
- Discussion #4: La France Divisée- France Divided. A discussion based on a DVD of the same name that the students viewed about the occupation of France by the Germans during World War II.
- Discussion #5: Un Voyage de Reve- A Dream Trip. What would be the ideal vacation for a 12 year old girl? This was based on a story the students read in their textbooks in which the girl did not have a good trip with her father.
- Discussion #6: Halloween- What is your favorite Halloween memory? What was your favorite costume? How has Halloween changed for you now that you are older?
- Discussion #7: Les Repas- Les Etats-Unis et la France- Meals- the U.S.
and France. A discussion based on a cultural reading in their textbook about
similarities and differences in eating habits and table manners
- Discussion #8: Les Fetes de Decembre- December Holidays. What do you celebrate? How and with whom do you celebrate?
- Discussion #9: Vos Etudes- Your Studies. What is your attitude about school and your studies?
How does this relate to your future? How do you think your attitude will change once you are in college?
- Discussion #10: Ma Famille- My Family. Who are the members of your family? Why is your family unique? What do you like to do with your family? How has your family changed throughout the years?
- Discussion #11: Devinez!- Guess!. This disussion was based on vocabulary the students were learning. They each had to post a description of an object and a person, without revealing the answer. Then they had to read and respond to their peers by guessing as many as they could.
- Discussion #12: La Personne que j'admire le plus- The person I admire the most. Who is the person? Describe him/her and why you admire them.
- Discussion #13: Le Petit Prince- Find a quote from the book and explain it's importance and why you chose it. Describe your opinion of the book, backing it up with examples from the text.
Continue to Internet Activities
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