Subject Area and Grade Level

French III - Grade 11

Description of Lesson
After a formal class on narration and an introduction to the various types of
narratives (folk legends, fairy tales, fables, etc.), students will be exposed to their
first media assignment in French that deals with the central theme of the unit:
storytelling. Students will watch the film La Princesse et la Grenouille , which is
the French version of the Disney film The Princess and the Frog. Students should
already be familiar with the narrative in English, so their task will be to reflect on
the layers of culture, gender, language, and storytelling (in French!) that appear
within the film. La Princesse et la Grenouille is a significant film for the scope of
this class, as it takes place in French-speaking New Orleans and unravels the
journey of the first African American Disney princess.
Objectives
Students will be able to
identify and express (after watching the film) the following in French:
the protagonists and antagonists
the primary conflict and resolution
three major recurring themes
explore, analyze, assess, and critique the following in French:
the role, depth, and breadth of culture as it is portrayed in the film
gender roles, both within the specific context of early 20th-century
New Orleans and within the general Disney context.
language as a vehicle for cultural transmission
Materials
Film: La Princesse et la Grenouille
Projector or Television
Film Organizer (attached)
Anticipatory Set
Do-Now
: Avec un partenaire, dcrivez la princesse Disney typique. Quel ge
a-t-elle ? Quels sont ses traits physiques distincts ? Quelle est la couleur de sa peau ?
De ses cheveux ?
(
With a partner, describe the typical Disney princess. How old is she? What
are some of her distinct physical traits? What color is her skin? Her hair?
)
Activities
Students will complete the Do-Now activity with a partner. It should take them
roughly 5 minutes to reflect on and answer the questions. We will then have a

larger discussion for about 10 minutes, which will address the idea that a majority
of the Disney princesses are white, blonde, and beautiful. We will talk about the
implications of this film, as the protagonist is an African American princess. We
will then transition into the culture of New Orleans in the 1900s, with a specific
emphasis placed on gender. As students watch the film, they should keep the New
Orleans context in mind but still critically assess and evaluate gender roles and
relations as they are typically portrayed overall in Disney films.
Students will complete the attached graphic organizer as they watch the film. The
film will be shown over three class periods.
On the final day of the week, students will re-arrange the desks in a circle and
engage in a class discussion (primarily in French, but using English to talk about
complex ideas or to express vocabulary that they have not quite learned yet) based
on the notes that they took during the exhibition of the film.
The instructor will serve as a discussion facilitator, ensuring that all students
contribute to the discussion in a productive way, that no one student
dominates the discussion, and that all essential themes, topics and ideas are
addressed with clarity and in a purposeful manner.
Assessment
Informal Formative Assessment
: At the end of each class, students will hand in
the graphic organizer so that I can see how much progress theyve made. Students
will receive three grades for their note-taking, one after each class. The idea is that
students should be building, adding to, and strengthening their graphic organizer
during each class period. The rubric will be as follows:
+ Active engagement: thorough notes
Adequate engagement: some notes
- Complete disengagement: few to no notes
Formal Formative Assessment
: The class discussion will serve as the formal
formative assessment for this lesson. Effectively, students will be assessed not only
on their participation, but on the critical points that are raised, their
responsiveness to their peers, and their use of French to express themselves. The
following checklist will be used to assess student performance:
Did the student speak at least twice? Yes ______ No ______
Did the student reflect on the film in a thoughtful way? Yes ______ No ______
Did the student respond to his/her peers? Yes _______ No _______
Did the student use French to express him/herself? Yes _______ No ______
Extensions and Modifications
Film with subtitles for the auditory impaired, and a scaffolding device for students
to better understand the spoken French.
A more detailed graphic organizer (for students with learning challenges), that
would ask students to select appropriate responses from those already given. For
example (on the themes section), I would provide 5 or 6 possible themes to
choose from, and students would select the three that best correspond to this
particular film.

Nom: ______________________________________________

Date: ________________

La Princesse et La Grenouille
Directions
: As you watch the film, take some notes in the following graphic organizer
about the setting and some of the main narrative aspects of the film. Specific topics have
been provided to guide you as you watch the movie. We will have a group discussion
following the film, which means that you should take great notes to use during the
discussion!
Part One
: For this part, analyze the
setting of the film, including the culture (New Orleans,
Louisiana, early 1900s) presented within the movie, the gender dynamics at play, and the
ways in which language is used in the film.
Le Genre
(Gender
)

La Culture

Le Langage

Part Two
: For this part, analyze the narrative aspects of the film. Reference the
Powerpoint that we went over at the beginning of the unit to introduce the theme of
storytelling.
Personnages
Protagoniste(s)
:

Lintrigue (
Plot
)
Conflit
:

Thmes Importants

Antagoniste(s)
:

Rsolution
: