Creating Biographies in French

Grade & Subject: Grade 9 Core French – Academic (72 mins x 3)
Lesson Topic: Creating Biographies in French
Unit Topic: Media Literacy

Overall Expectations:

·      C2 Purpose, Form, and Style identify the purpose(s), characteristics, and aspects of style of a variety of authentic and adapted text forms in French, including fictional, informational, graphic, and media forms.

·      D2 The Writing Process use the stages of the writing process – including pre-writing, producing drafts, revising, editing, and publishing – to develop and organize content, clarify ideas and expression, correct errors, and present their work effectively.

Specific Expectations:

·      C2.1 Purposes and Characteristics of Text Forms identify the purpose(s) and characteristics of a variety of text forms.

·      C2.2 Text Features and Elements of Style identify some features and stylistic elements of a variety of text forms.

·      D2.2 Drafting and Revising plan and produce drafts and revise their work using a variety of teacher-directed and independent strategies.

·      D2.3 Producing Finished Work make improvements to enhance the clarity and readability of their written work and use a few elements of effective presentation to produce a polished product for publication.

Learning Goal:

Produce a well-written biography in French while discussing gender norms and dissecting how gender and sexuality impact individual identities.

Success Criteria:

To meet the learning goal, students can…

·      Use the writing process to produce written work in French.

·      Create and revise drafts effectively.

·      Correctly use past tenses in French (passé composé and imparfait) and understand their differences.

·      Reflect on personal experiences and identity to create meaningful written work.

·      Critically analyze gender norms as well as heteronormativity in society.

·      Skillfully research and respectfully write about another individual.

Materials/Resources:

·      « Histoires du soir pour des filles rebelles » by Francesca Cavallo

·      Claude Cahun (non-binary artist) biography

·      Vincent Mousseau (non-binary activist) biography

·      Elliot Page (transgender actor) biography

·      Sam Smith (non-binary singer) biography

·      National Geographic: “12 LGBTQ+ individuals who changed the world” (en français)

·      Writing materials or digital devices for drafting and illustrating

·      Examples of stylistic devices and autobiography outlines from the text

·      Tools for creating self-portraits (art supplies or digital drawing software)

Accommodations:

·      Scaffolded grammar and vocabulary support for language learners

·      Visual aids and exemplars to support understanding of stylistic devices

·      Flexible options for self-portrait creation (hand-drawn or digital)

·      Opportunities for peer discussion and oral practice to reinforce comprehension

·      Vocabulary list for gender related terms in French

·      Sentence prompts for gender transformative based discussions in class

Lesson:

Lesson Introduction: (first class period – 72 mins)

Introduce the collection « Histoires du soir pour des filles rebelles » as well as the non-binary and LGBTQ+ French biographies and discuss the purpose of the biographies in these texts – to inspire youth by highlighting individuals who broke boundaries – and discuss how gender may have hindered/impacted their success and journey. Review and highlight key grammar structures (passé composé and imparfait) and stylistic devices found in the stories. Students will engage in oral peer discussions (either in small groups or as a class) using the 5 W’s to talk about assigned biographies with a focus on how each biography resists or reflects gender norms in society. Next, students compile unfamiliar vocabulary into mini dictionaries and incorporate the list of gender related vocabulary.

Lesson Application: (second and third class period – 135 mins)

Using the outline from the text, students will begin drafting a biography for an individual that they wish to highlight that comes from a gendered or sexuality minority (i.e. non-binary, queer, women). They must include information on their background and ensure that their identity is respectfully depicted. One key accomplishment should also be highlighted in the text. The last portion of the assignment will include an “author’s analysis” where they will reflect on their individual’s gender identity and how this may or may not have impacted their journey and why. Students must include at least 5 gender related vocabulary from their mini dictionaries. Concurrently, students will create a social media account for their individual that will include artwork and posts about their journey as well as bring awareness to the gender identity barriers (the account must have at least 3 feed posts and 1 story post). This portion of the assignment will go over numerous class periods.

Lesson Conclusion: (third class period – 10 mins)

Students submit their polished final biographies after their assigned word periods are over. The teacher will compile the students' work into a collective booklet modeled after Cavallo’s book, celebrating their researched individuals. Reflective discussion (self-evaluation) on the writing process and stylistic devices will conclude the lesson to incorporate the curriculum expectation of metacognition (following the CECR model).