Les Cantines du Monde by Rachel Sabre

Description

In this activity, students research photos of typical school lunches from around the world. They select five photos and upload them to VoiceThread, name the country and describe each photo. Finally, students upload a photo of their own typical lunch and describe it. They discuss what foreign lunch they like best and why, along with what changes they could make to their own lunch to make it more healthy. This is an end of unit assessment.

Three students’ presentations are highlighted in this article: Dana, Jayleen, and Anyssa.

Plan

Level/Language

French 2, but this lesson plan can be easily adapted for a variety of languages and levels.

Time frame/Location

This activity takes about 3 days. Students are given time to begin this project in class the day it is assigned but it is completed outside of class, either in the lab or at home. I anticipate one day for researching photos, one day for planning and analyzing and one day to put it all together on VoiceThread.

Assignment

Step-by-Step Description

1. Preview/warm-up: Ask students “What do you typically eat for lunch?” “Have you ever thought about how school meals might be different if you lived in another part of the world?”
2. Distribute handout which explains project:
   1. Research photos of typical school lunches around the world. Students will be directed to pre-selected websites:
      • http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2015/02/28/plateaux-repas-ecole-monde-alimentation-photos_n_6768470.html
      • http://www.toolito.com/bio/repas-type-cantines-scolaires-pays-monde/
      • http://www.maxitendance.com/2015/02/repas-ecole-enfant-monde-photos.html
   2. Select photos from 5 different countries.
   3. Upload to VoiceThread along with a picture of your own typical lunch.
   4. Describe each meal, discuss what foreign lunch you like best and why. Could your own lunch be more healthy and how?
   5. Listen to and comment on at least two of your classmates’ VoiceThreads.
3. Discuss timeline for completion and due date.

Assessment

Use a simple rubric or a checklist based on your learning goals. Here students are evaluated on fluency (full sentences), use of correct structures (partitive, expressing preferences, etc.), making cultural comparisons, etc.

SAMR Level

Redefinition level: Technology allows students to discover school meals from around the world and explore how they differ from their own. This activity would be very difficult to do without the Internet.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

I consider this a high-level activity. Students are asked to analyze and compare lunches from around the world with their own and to evaluate how they could improve the food they eat.

ACTFL Standards

• Communication (presentational): Students will be presenting information and ideas about foods eaten in various cultures.
• Communication (interpretive): Students listen to and react to their classmates’ presentation.
• Cultural comparisons: Students use the language to investigate and compare the importance of food, eating habits and nutrition between various cultures and their own.

21st Century Skills

• Communication: Students use language to present meaningful information, concepts & ideas about people’s food choices and habits around the world.
• Critical Thinking: Students analyze information about the dietary habits of people from different cultures as well as their own as they explore the issue of nutrition.
• Technology/Media Literacy: Students use technology as a tool to research, evaluate and communicate information about the eating habits of people around the world as well as their own.

21st Century Theme: Health Literacy

During this activity, students explore the global health issue of nutrition and investigate in French what a typical lunch consists of in various parts of the world. This activity addresses global health in the target language and students use materials that were written for native speakers of French. They have access to information because they can understand the language and can thus engage in discussions on health and nutrition issues.

Goals

This activity will allow students to practice the vocabulary & grammatical structures from the foods unit:

• the partitive
• verbs of preference and consumption
• expressing likes and dislikes

It will also provide students a context to explore the eating habits of people in other parts of the world and to evaluate, compare and contrast them with their own.

Tools

Tools used were:

• VoiceThread
• Students can use Powerpoint, MovieMaker, iMovie, Photostory or Wevideo
• Internet connection
• Computer with microphone