AP French

AP FRENCH LANGUAGE SYLLABUS
COURSE OVERVIEW- 2009-10
Name of Course: AP French Language (fourth year French)
Course Description and Objectives:
The course will be conducted in the target language and students are expected to speak in
French at all times. Students will strengthen their knowledge in all five language skills:
speaking, writing, listening comprehension, reading and cultural awareness. The purpose of
this course is to prepare students for the College Board Advanced Placement French
Language exam in May and there will be a strong emphasis on improving fluency and
accuracy of both oral and written expression. Advanced French grammar is a major
component of this course. Students will write compositions, essays, journals, original
poems, reactions, discussion questions, and free-writes and give oral presentations in the
target language. Students will gain an even deeper knowledge and understanding of the
history, geography, and culture of the French speaking worlds. The desired outcome is to
generate an enthusiasm towards the goal of achieving linguistic proficiency in French, as well
as appreciating and understanding many aspects of the francophone world. Students are
expected to narrate and describe in present, past and future tenses and will be able to
express opinions, confirm obtained information, express wants and intention, state reason,
use numbers, prices, times in common situations and request assistance. They are also
expected to extend, accept and reject invitations, make appointments/ reservations , give
and understand directions and ask a variety of questions. In addition, fourth year students
are expected to hypothesize about different situations and conjecture using the subjunctive
tense and si clauses. Authentic texts, such as newspaper and magazine articles, radio and
TV ads, short stories, books, internet web sites, videos, films and songs will expose
students to contemporary cultures as well as provide a historical perspective.
Class will equip students with lifelong skills such as mental discipline, communication skills,
knowledge, understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. Students will gain an
awareness of language-related job opportunities in areas of translation, public service,
teaching, travel and tourism, foreign trade and international business. Students will be better
prepared for college and for using foreign language as a tool in the job market.
Length of Course: One Year
Grading Method: Letter
Prerequisites: French 1, French 2, French 3

AP FRENCH LANGUAGE COURSE PLANNER
There is no one text for AP French , but materials will be pulled from a variety of sources,
including the web. Themes, culture, grammar studies and vocabulary will be taken primarily
from the following texts:
Discovering French Rouge-2007 (with all components)
Jean-Paul Valette / Rebecca M. Valette
McDougal Littell
Trésors du Temps - 2005 (with all components)
Yvone Lenard
Glencoe / McGraw-Hill
French Three Years Workbook- Second Edition 2006
Eli Blume - Gail Stein
Amsco School Publications, Inc.
Please refer to the bibliography for other sources. Evaluations will include quizzes and tests
on grammar, vocabulary and comprehension, essays and other weekly writings, oral
presentations and in-class oral evaluations and cultural projects. Once a week, students can
expect to write a composition or original writing, in some format to be kept in a portfolio.
This will include regularly writing a summary of or responding to a news article or current
event from a French web site. In preparation for the AP exam in May, practice tests will be
given starting at the second semester, along with released College Board AP French
Language tests (1998-2004).
FIRST SEMESTER
THEMES DF Rouge TRESORS FR.III YRS
__________________________________________________________________
*Connaître et se U. 3/ 8 Première étape Parts of ch 1-5
connaître La France, ses -présent
provinces et ses -p.c et impératif
*Les introductions départements -imparfait
*Les vacances
*La nature et l’environnement
*La ville et la campagne Ch. 7-8
-le futur
-le conditionnel
Film study: La Gloire de mon Père #1

__________________________________________________________________
*Le shopping U. 4 Quatrième étape Parts of ch. 18 &19
*Demander une service La Farce de Maître Articles / Nouns
Pathelin
-Partitif
*La Nourriture/ les boissons Révision-pronoms Ch. 28
d’objets directs et -Exclamations
indirects
-Interrogatives
Film study : La Gloire de mon Père #2
Ch. 25
-Comparisons
__________________________________________________________________
*La famille et les U. 1 / 9 Troisième étape Ch. 11
rapports humains Tristan et Yseut -Reflexive verbs
Ch. 24
-Adj. and Adverbs
Ch. 29
-Possession
Ch. 22
-Relative pronouns
Film study: La Gloire de mon Père - final
__________________________________________________________________
*Les voyages U. 5 / 6 Troisième étape Ch. 21
La grammaire-
-Object Pronouns
*Les moyens de transport le passé -Double Object
pronouns
*La douane
Cinquième étape
La Renaissance-Pantagruel Ch. 29
*L’Hôtel François Rabelais -Possessive Adj.
Ch. 17
Film study: Au Revoir Les Enfants #1 -Negation
Interrog. pronouns
__________________________________________________________________
*Les médias U. 10 Sixième étape Ch. 13,14,15
-la presse Le dix-septième siècle -le subjonctif
-la télévision Le Grand Siècle ou (présent et passé)
-la radio
L‚Age Classique
-la vie professionnelle L’Ecole des Femmes Ch. 10
Molière
-Present participle
Film study: Au Revoir... #2

__________________________________________________________________
*Les actualités U. 8 Huitième étape Ch. 9
-la politique -La Révolution -Plus-que-parfait
-l’immigration -le participe présent -Future Perfect
-le racisme
-Past Conditional
-la guerre -Souvenirs - si clauses
-divers Mme. Vigée Lebrun - hypotheticals
-les opinions
(Marie-Antoinette à Versailles)
*Les arts
-l’architecture
-les perspectives
-la ville et la campagne
Film study : Au Revoir... - final
__________________________________________________________________
SECOND SEMESTER
THEMES DF Rouge TRESORS FR. III YRS.
*La carrière U. 10 / 6 Onzième étape Ch. 13,14,15
-l’économie le 19ème siècle -Le subjonctif
-le logement
-les métiers
Les Misérables
-l’argent Victor Hugo Ch. 30
-faire une concession
-Demonstratives
-le subjonctif avec les conjonctions
*Les tribulations de la vie
quotidienne
-les pronoms relatifs
Film study: L’Argent de Poche #1
__________________________________________________________________
*La maison / les vêtements
-les ordinateurs Douzième étape
-la cuisine Le vingtième siècle: Ch. 22 /review
-les adverbes
Age de grand progrès
-les pronoms démonstratifs
-le comparatif / superlatif Extraits de : grammar review
*Les loisirs
-les sports et le cinéma
Camus, Prévert, Duras, Bâ
-si clauses
-voix passive
Film study: L’Argent de Poche #2

__________________________________________________________________
Vocabulary / Idiomatic expressions / Released AP exams 1998-2004- all parts will be
practiced throughout the second semester, including tape recordings of picture sequences.
Film study : L’Argent de Poche- final
Lecture: Le Petit Prince- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (after AP exam)
Speaking:
TEACHING STRATEGIES:
Speaking, reading, writing , listening and comprehension activities are integrally incorporated
into the lessons in DF Rouge and Trésors du Temps. There are many paired activities and
role plays that accompany the lessons. Additionally, each day the class will start out with an
oral communication task of some sort. It may be a “pratique orale” where students circulate
around the room and ask each other or their partners questions (either prepared in general
for them to formulate on a grid or written specifically to practice a grammar point we are
learning). Sometimes it will be a group interview, where they have to ask specific
information. We later debrief orally. Sometimes I will have them read a short biography of a
famous French person (author, sports figure, historical figure, singer, etc) in partners and
then they role play. One of them poses as a journalist, the other is the famous person. The
journalist asks questions to evoke answers that were mentioned in the reading.
Sometimes I have them play password with their vocabulary. They each have a list of
words and they describe them or define them to each other in French until their partner
guesses the word. These words can come right from the lesson vocabulary. list. This is a
great practice for circumlocution. I have a huge supply of pictures that I have cut out of
magazines and sometimes I give the students a picture and they describe it to their partner
in detail, even making up a little story. This can be done in groups as well. I use the Deux à
Deux paired activities for students to do in partners . I have other tête-à-tête activities
where students need to get information from their partners by asking questions. Sometimes
I give them mini-dialogues to act out with their partners and include a few comprehension
questions as well. I also use situation cards that I give students randomly and they role play
the situations in French. When we study the provinces of France I have students chose a
province to explore in depth and provide them with a scoring guide for an oral presentation.
They have to search more in depth for information on the province (web sites, books , etc.)
and present the information orally to the class. They must include the location in France, the
geography and natural beauty of the region, historic monuments, museums, fun things to
do in the area, major tourist attractions, cultural events, main sports or festivals of the region,
main cities, climate, best time to visit and why, famous people from the region, economy,
regional dialects, foods of the province etc. They prepare the information outside of class
and present orally . It’s a good way for others to learn about the area too! Occasionally I
just use a transparency and have students talk about what’s going on. It’s a good way of
reviewing lots of topics and helps to develop thoughts for picture sequences that come
later. I eventually give the students the picture sequences too and have them discuss it with
a partner. To start, we work together on how to go about tackling the task. There are other
activities where each partner has a series of pictures, but out of order. The other partner has
the pictures in order and has to describe to his partner how the story is sequenced. This can
spiral into a writing activity too, as students write about what is happening.
Starting second semester, students will familiarize themselves with the speaking part of the
AP test and start practicing on tape recorders in class once every other week.

Writing:
Writing is an integral part of this course and students will be given many opportunities to
write with a purpose. Not all writing will be graded. Each student will keep a portfolio of
their writing throughout the course of the year. There will be in-class, on demand writing
where they write a reaction to a story, an article or write about what they did last weekend. I
give them 5 minutes to do a free write . Before we read a poem or learn the words to a
song, I may give them the title and they predict what will happen. Students will have a lot
of vocabulary words to learn over the year so I have them write sentences with their words
or incorporate their words into a little story or a poem to encourage original writing. I may
have them write a metaphor or a simile that compares two items. (ie: la cuisine française / la
cuisine américaine). Students can write a brief résumé of the day’s discussion and write
some questions for the next class. I may give them 5 words and have them come up with a
little story, incorporating the words. They may write a thesis statement to parallel the
assigned reading or class discussion. Each week they are required to go to a French web
site and read a current event (actualité). They must write a brief summary of this as well.
Sometimes we share these orally. I may give them a French proverb and have them react
to it with a personal experience in writing. They may write a want ad or a letter for advice or
a note to their friend. There will be a variety of entries into their portfolio. Many will parallel
our topics of study.
We will also work together on strategies for writing a good essay. We will go over the AP
scoring guides together carefully and look at examples from previous years. We will
analyze good and bad writing. It is essential that the students know the rubrics and what
contributes to a good essay:
1) Clearly understanding the topic
2) Organization of ideas
3) Good use of vocabulary
4) Grammar and syntax
5) Fluency and ease of expression
Writing will be a process. We will discuss strategies, linking terms, framework and the
importance of having a plan. We will do some semantic mapping and outlining together.
From this , students will formulate the framework of the essay using the MP3 system (as
demonstrated by Davara Potel in Solon, Ohio)
M: Maîtriser la question (master the question)
P: Planifier la réponse ( plan the response- make a quick outline- main points, ideas for
details and appropriate vocabulary and structures)
3: Trois idées ( brief introduction / develop 3 main ideas with supporting details and
examples)
Students will do an essay on a given topic one time per month. With the time constraints
that we have, only one per quarter will be timed and done in class. The other essays will
be done outside of class . All essays will have a first draft and be reviewed by peers and
by me. I will make suggestions and the final essay will be graded according to the AP
scoring guide. (1-9)
9=100%
8=95%
7=88%

6=85%
5=78%
4=70%
3=65%
2=40%
1=20%
Reading comprehension:
Reading is an integral part of this course and is done in almost every class period and
expected to be done outside of class. Texts come from various sources including literature,
magazines, newspapers ,the textbooks, practice paragraphs, the internet and former AP
tests.
Listening comprehension:
Students must speak only French in the classroom and this is tied to their class participation
grade. Listening to me and others speak French helps build comprehension. Students are
exposed to many recorded materials (DVD’s that accompany text, TV5 programs , audio
CD’s, movies and movie clips chosen to enhance the curriculum, internet programming,
news segments, commercials and Radio Magazine tapes (En Voyage). They are always
accompanied by discussion and comprehension checks. Outside of class, students often
participate in French cultural events in our community ( ie: International Film Festival ) where
they hear French spoken by some people around them and view the French movies. I try
to arrange for a French guest speaker to come to our class also.
Assessment:
Students will be evaluated equally in four different categories:
Reading comprehension-25%,
Writing- 25%
Listening Comprehension- 25%
Speaking.- 25%
Reading: Reading comprehension will be assessed through multiple choice tests, short
answer responses to literature or other short reading passages or through vocabulary
tests.Students are also given short reading passages followed by a variety of questions in
various styles ( ie:matching , true/false , fill-in , free response)
Writing: Writing proficiency will be assessed through multiple -choice and free- response
grammar tests, fill-ins, writing assignments such as sentences, paragraphs, and a variety of
essays (expository, narrative, persuasive, etc. ) The longer essay writings (once a month)
will be graded using the AP 9 point rubric. Students will earn points for completing their
daily writing in their writing portfolios.
Listening Comprehension: Listening skills and comprehension will be assessed
through multiple choice exams, fill-ins , cloze activities and other oral and written activities
based on CD’s, recordings, songs, movies, radio and TV broadcasts, films that we listen to
and view in class.
Speaking: Oral skills are assessed daily. Students receive weekly points for participating
in daily speaking activities. In addition, they receive points for their oral presentations made
to the class, for graded class discussions and debates and for their cassette tape

ecordings of their picture sequences. Occasionally they will have a poem, a passage or a
fable to memorize and present or just record.
Technology in the Classroom
We do not have a language lab, but we have easy access to a computer lab and the
internet is a valuable tool for all students. Most all students have personal computers at
home as well. Many students already have a French friend on Facebook or My Space that
they communicate with regularly. The internet will be used for independent research and
cultural projects prepared outside of class and for grammar, comprehension, speaking and
reading practice. Our texts have web sites with great resources and I provide the students
a list of great web sites for extra practice and reinforcement. I have TV5 in my classroom
and have the ability to record programs for later viewing and discussion. It builds
comprehension and I create activities to enhance our curriculum. I have many French music
CD’s that students enjoy and I prepare Cloze activities for songs that boost
comprehension. We view French commercials as well and I sometimes assign students to
make their own commercials and record it for others to view. Interviews on all kinds of topics
are readily available on the net and I use these to enhance comprehension. Students can
easily do this at home.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE- AP FRANCAIS
TRESORS DU TEMPS- 2005 ( and all components)
Yvone Lenard
Glencoe/ McGraw-Hill
DISCOVERING FRENCH - ROUGE- 2007
Valette - Valette
McDougal Littell
FRENCH THREE YEARS- Workbook - Second Edition-2006
Eli Blume - Gail Stein
Amsco School Publications, Inc.
AP FRENCH- A guide for the Language Course
Richard Ladd - Colette Girard
Prentice Hall - Web at PHSchool.com
EN VOYAGE- 1998
Conrad J. Schmitt - Katia Brillié Lutz
Glencoe / McGraw-Hill
Mainly used for reading excerpts and listening comprehension- Radio Magazine tapes and
comprehension activities
BRAVO - Fifth edition 2005 (and all components)
Judith A. Muyskens - Linda H. Harlow - Michèle Vialet - Jean-François Brière
Thomson - Heinle

FRENCH FOUR YEARS WITH AP COMPONENT- 2006
Françoise Shein
Amsco School Publications, Inc.
Mainly used for composition topics and picture sequences to generate oral practice
EN BONNE FORME- Eighth edition - 2007
Simone Renaud -Dominique van Hooff
Supplementary readings / exercises
UNE FOIS POUR TOUTES- Une révision des structures essentielles de la langue
française- 2004
Hale Sturges II -Linda Cregg - Henry L. Herbst
Pearson / Prentice Hall
Supplementary practice of grammar concepts
REPRISE - A Complete Review Workbook for Grammar, Communication and Culture-
1997
McGraw-Hill / National Textbook Company
Supplementary grammar activities
EN D’AUTRES TERMES-Le français tel qu’’on le parle -Second edition - 1995
Renee White
Wayside Publishing
For building vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, communication skills
DEUX A DEUX -Situations et Intentions Communicatives- 1991
Dreke-Lind-Mahnert
Langenscheidt -New York
Paired oral partner practice / Communication activities
TRIANGLE - Carolyn Demaray - Josette Smith - 1998
Wayside Publishing
Only used for picture sequences, readings and essay topics
501 -FRENCH VERBS
Barron's Educational series, New York
L'ART DE CONJUGUER
Bescherelle, Hatier-Didier
FRANCE-AMERIQUE
(French newspaper for Francophiles in America)
Current events articles
L'EXPRESS / PARIS MATCH - les revues françaises
PLUSIEURS CHANSONS FRANCAISES
Several French songs by various French artists - Brel, Moustaki, Badi, Vian, Bruel, Cabrel,
Cali, Kase, Montand, Piaff , Rose etc.

FILMS/ MEDIA (vary year to year)
Au Revoir Les Enfants
L'Argent de Poche
Manon des Sources
Jean de Florette
La Gloire de Mon Père
Le Huitième Jour
L’Avenue Montaigne
Paris Je T’Aime
Les Choristes
Les Publicités Télévisées ( TV commercials)
Les Nouvelles Enregistrées
TV 5 - PROGRAMMES ET EMISSIONS- French TV programming
news stories, documentaries, TV5 music videos- used without subtitles to enhance oral
comprehension
FILM AROBICS
www.filmarobics.com
Activities from Lesson Plans provided by the company (Au Revoir... / L’Argent de Poche)
TRANSPARENCES ET IMAGES
Transparencies and pictures
LES EXTRAITS DES LIVRES (reading excerpts from books) / LES CONTES ( Short
stories)/ POEMES (poems)
excerpts - Le Petit Prince - St. Exupéry
excerpts -Les Misérables- Hugo
excerpts- Pierre et Jean - Maupassant
Les Fables de la Fontaine
Various short stories- Petit Nicolas , stories from Maupassant, etc.
Various poems by Jacques Prévert, René Philombe , Paul Verlaine, Elouard etc.
excerpts from plays by Molière, Ionesco, etc.
excerpts of African literature
A L'ECOUTE DE ...PUBLICITE RADIO FRANCE -French Radio in the Classroom
Jay Siskin
The Olivia and Hill Press
Radio advertising tapes used for oral comprehension
PLUSIEURS EXAMENS DE AP DES ANNEES PRECEDENTES
Several released AP exams from preceding years (1998-2004)
AP WORKSHOP MATERIALS -numerous handouts and resources
BARRON’S HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE AP FRENCH - Second Edition- 2004
Laila Amiry
Barron’s Educational Series , Inc.

PLUSIEURS SITES DE L'INTERNET
Several internet web sites: for additional speaking, reading, comprehension and listening
activities:
French media:
www.le monde.fr
www.lefigaro.fr
www.liberation.fr
www.rfi.fr (Radio France Internationale)
http://www.france-amerique.com (see „Actualité)
www.tv5.org
www.tv1.org
http://videos.tf1.fr/video
Culture:
www.france.com
www.cortland.edu/flteach/civ
Music:
www.paroles.net
www.chantefrance.net
Grammar practice:
http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~hgezundh/grammaire/
http://babelnet.sbg.ac.at/
canalreve/jeux/tempsludiques/accueil.html
www.lepointdufle.net/index.html
www.french.about.com
Resource and links to other great web sites:
http://mail.avon.k12.ct.us/~crose/Trésors%20Du%20Temps%20link (Trésors du Temps)
http://mail.avon.k12.ct.us/~crose/
www.classzone.com (click on World Languages- Discovering French Rouge)
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/frenchlanguage
http://bravo.heinle.com (to accompany Bravo text)
http://glencoe.com (World Languages- Trésors du Temps-2005)