French 2B

About This Course

In French 2B, students will continue to develop their communicative language skills while exploring French culture. Students will gain the skills necessary to talk about themselves, their immediate environment, and French-speaking communities. Students will learn to share some basic personal information about topics including their communities, culture, spending habits, and future career plans. This course follows the fictional journey of Les Amis, the story of three students traveling to France for an exchange program. Through this lens, students will gain insights into French culture while considering what it would be like to live in France as an exchange student. French 2B is the second semester of a two-semester course, which builds on the foundation of language skills acquired in French 1A - 2A. The class takes a proficiency-based approach which is informed by current language acquisition research and the ACTFL performance descriptors for novice language learners. A heavy focus is placed on meaningful language use, with grammar being learned implicitly through input and meaning-based activities. Prerequisites: Michigan Virtual French 1A, 1B, and 2A, or at least three semesters of introductory French

Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to...

• Discuss aspects of their everyday lives, homes, communities, and immediate surroundings in the French language
• Explain their own financial practices and how to engage in financial transactions using French
• Describe elements of French culture, such as leisure activities, tourist attractions, and differences between written and spoken French
• Determine how learning French can be beneficial in their everyday lives and for their futures
• Identify ways to continue to learn French
• Compare products, practices, and perspectives of French-speaking cultures with those of their own

Course Outline:

Unité 1: L’arrivée

Unité 2: Mes achats

Unité 3: La nature et la culture

Unité 4: Le français dans ma vie

Resources Included: Online lesson instruction and activities, opportunities to engage with a certified, online instructor and classmates, when appropriate, and online assessments to measure student performance of course objectives and readiness for subsequent academic pursuits.

Additional Costs: None

Scoring System: Michigan Virtual does not assign letter grades, grant credit for courses, nor issue transcripts or diplomas. A final score reported as a percentage of total points earned will be sent to students upon completion of a course. Your school mentor is also able to access this score within the Student Learning Portal. Schools may use this score for conversion to their own letter grading system.

Time Commitment: Semester sessions are 18-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1 or more hours per day in the course to be successful. Summer sessions are 10 weeks long: Students must be able to spend a minimum of 2 or more hours per day, or about 90 hours during the summer, for the student to be successful in any course. Trimester sessions are 12-weeks long: Students must be able to spend 1.5 or more hours per day in the course to be successful.

Technology Requirements: Students will need a computer device with headphones, a microphone, webcam, up-to-date Chrome Web Browser, and access to YouTube. NOTE: Students must possess a working microphone and webcam on their device in order to record and submit audio and video files using either the embedded recording tools within the Brightspace learning management system or another means of recording and submitting audio and video files for world language performance assessments.

Ensure that your school or district network and device administrator establishes network access permissions or exceptions for online resources relevant to the course in which you are choosing to enroll. Ref., Michigan Virtual Course Allow List

Please review the Michigan Virtual Technology Requirements.

Instructor Support System: For technical issues within your course, contact the Customer Care Center by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Instructor Contact Expectations: Students can use email or the private message system within the Student Learning Portal to access highly qualified teachers when they need instructor assistance. Students will also receive feedback on their work inside the learning management system. The Instructor Info area of their course may describe additional communication options.

Academic Support Available: In addition to access to a highly qualified, Michigan certified teacher, students have access to academic videos and outside resources verified by Michigan Virtual. For technical issues within the course, students can contact the Michigan Virtual Customer Care by email at customercare@michiganvirtual.org or by phone at (888) 889-2840.

Required Assessment: Online assessments consist of formative and summative assessments represented by computer-graded multiple choice, instructor-graded writing assignments including hands-on projects, model building, discussion-based assessments (one-on-one conversations with your teacher), and other forms of authentic assessments.

Technical Skills Needed: Basic technology skills necessary to locate and share information and files as well as interact with others in a Learning Management System (LMS), include the ability to:

• Download, edit, save, convert, and upload files
• Download and install software
• Use a messaging service similar to email
• Communicate with others in online discussion or message boards, following basic rules of netiquette
• Open attachments shared in messages
• Create, save, and submit files in commonly used word processing program formats and as a PDF
• Edit file share settings in cloud-based applications, such as Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides
• Save a file as a .pdf
• Copy and paste and format text using your mouse, keyboard, or an html editor’s toolbar menu
• Insert images or links into a file or html editor
• Search for information within a document using Ctrl+F or Command+F keyboard shortcuts
• Work in multiple browser windows and tabs simultaneously
• Activate a microphone or webcam on your device, and record and upload or link audio and/or video files
• Use presentation and graphics programs
• Follow an online pacing guide or calendar of due dates
• Use spell-check, citation editors, and tools commonly provided in word processing tool menus
• Create and maintain usernames and passwords

Additional Information: Students will require a computer device with a webcam, speakers and a microphone. Students are required to contact their instructor to schedule one or more live speaking assessments during the course.