PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Interpersonal – Interpretive – Presentational

Assessment Unit: La Mission Digestive

Standards: It goes without

}
1.1 Interpersonal Communication saying… No, that
1.2 Interpretive Communication can’t be right.
1.3 Presentational Communication

2.1, 2.2 Students understand the relationship between the products and
practices of a culture and its perspectives. (French comic, Lesson 4 Act. 9;
a product that reveals a practice we share with the French, which allows
us to mention 4.2, below)

3.1 Connections. Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines
through the foreign language. Math, Science, Health and a touch of music

4.1 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of language through

comparisons of the language studied and their own. With such extended and repetitious
exposure to familiar material, they will very likely begin to make comparisons; although
those comparisons may not come to the surface.

4.2 Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons

of the cultures studied and their own. Discovering a practice we share with the French
helps us understand what culture is. For many, this will be the first time they understand
the afternoon snack or the parent present at homework as a cultural practice.

5.2 Community. Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the
language for personal enjoyment and enrichment, as evidenced through their shining
smiles as they sing “La mission digestive” again and again.

Theme: Digestion and Nutrition

Objectives: This thematic unit has three integrated sets of objectives. The science,
mathematics, and health content provide a meaningful purpose for the French language
objectives, and the two combine to create several opportunities to instruct, practice, and
sharpen some learning strategies and adaptations that will improve student achievement
across the curriculum. Objectives are organized, below, as shown:
 Content Objectives: Math, Language Objectives Educational strategies,
Science, Health adaptations, and emphases
Students will know the six Students will classify vocabulary words Use of song and motions to
steps of digestion that lead to as nouns or verbs, use vocabulary to facilitate memorization of
the delivery of nutrients to the describe the process of chewing, and vocabulary
cells of the body. perform a song (with motions) that
describes the six stages of digestion that The cut/paste sequencing
are of interest to us in this thematic unit. activity allows students to
Students will define Students will demonstrate listening and reading physically separate, move,
the purpose of comprehension through: and glue text in a sequence
digestion as  physical actions such as selecting correct image, that matches content still
breaking food standing, sitting, raising hands displayed on a diagram.
down into nutrients  selecting the correct word from list
suitable for cell  cut and paste stages of digestion in correct Food lab: a multi-modal,
absorption. sequence multi-sensory activity
 label images with vocabulary words from a word including touch, taste, smell,
bank texture, sight; combined with
Students will identify 3 roles Students will use new vocabulary to art sketch assignment.
of cells: support growth, explain the six steps of digestion that
protect from illness, and heal. lead to cell absorption of nutrients. For partner discussion, coach
Understand rela- Students will follow and participate in discussions of: how to start over when
tionship between  digestive processes, teacher approaches so she can
cell function, nu-  the nature, diversity, and roles of cells see how you are doing.
trition, and  the purpose of nutrition: specific cells, specific roles,
health: Specific 5c Each student performance
specific needs
cells do specific  taking personal responsibility for nutrition is a model for you to learn
jobs that give from. List together what we
 the natural consequences of neglecting nutritional can learn from watching our
them specific needs
needs for specific  how to “read” your body (interpret how you feel, in classmates. Listen well: you
nutrients  may be next.
relation to how you eat)
Multi-modal comparison of
song lyrics and sequencing
Students will know how to Interpret symbolism in a drama as an worksheet: look and listen;
“listen to their bodies” and analogy depicting the relationship reinforce vocabulary.
interpret physical conditions between eating habits and nutritional
or symptoms as messages health. 2.8 A familiar situation (bistro
regarding nutritional needs. skit) helps students relate
Students will evaluate their Students will examine and collect behaviors to their realistic
breakfast habits and set information from charts, record their outcomes. Kinesthetic “tying
personal goals by using the food choices on charts, and record together” activity follows,
food pyramid to target personal breakfast goals in a chart or matching food types to
specific nutritional needs. form. images depicting weak and
Students will assign point Students will connect food names to strong.
values for breakfast foods and images on food pyramid, and connect
use their collective results to body system names to the parts of the 2.10 It takes information and
find mean, median, mode, and food pyramid that target the specific practice, over time, to form
range. nutritional needs of those systems.
Students will use statistical
findings to identify eating
trends among their peers, and
develop a sense of mission
that will motivate them to
share their knowledge and
encourage others to form
better habits.
Require less writing, use of fill-in
formats with one- or two-word
answers in FL
2.4 active, participatory review
process maintains engagement
2.11-12 See relationships between
work, energy, and nutrition.
more Educational
strategies, adaptations,
and emphases
2.13 Students demonstrate motions
and use props that that provide
visual, kinesthetic vocabulary
«glue»
2.15-20 study yourself before
setting goals.
2.21 addition strategy: counting on
GOOD habits.
1.11 Direct instruction: use
to mark words used, do not
scribble, on cloze worksheet.
Discuss why it’s important to
still be able to see the words.
Strategy: keywords help us
form ideas that stick.
Remind students to refer to
vocab. list on display. Help
yourself whenever possible.
Sequential homework-
checking routine ensures
fairness : circle, score,
correct, collect

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES

Science Content: Students will be individually assessed on the stages of the digestive
process by ordering six cards with images that represent each stage (bouche, estomac,
intestins, foie, sang, cellules), then explaining them to the teacher in the correct sequence.
Vocabulary will be visible, but not in direct correlation to images. Questions will
progress from the physical process of digestion to the motivational aspects of nutrition.

Students will extend their personal goal-setting to the realm of public service and
citizenship by sending Breakfast Logs to a middle school French class. The completed
logs will be used to generate individual reports (1:1 personalized) that recommend
specific steps toward better nutrition. Data from the Middle School student forms may be
used in culminating assessment activities for the Mathematical/Statistics component of
the thematic unit.

Students will present the Big Ideas in a video production.

1. The smallest things need the smallest forms of nutrition
2. Cells absorb nutrients from food
3. Digestion changes food
4. Three things cells do for us
5. Specific nutrients for specific cells and body systems
 PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT
Interpersonal – Interpretive – Presentational

I have designed two performance assessments for this unit. Teaching the unit to a
classroom full of real students may make it evident to me which of these is the better
choice for a particular group.

I. Les Cellules font les courses

 Interpretive : Assign groups of three students each an identity as a cell type
(muscular, skin, or nerve). Each one will independently list the foods they need
from all 8 food groups, referencing the charts from class and the food pyramids.
 Interpersonal : In the group discussion, in addition to planning their lists,
students will explain to each other where they are found in the body and why they
are important.
 For this activity, the teacher may set up a tri-fold with all the charts,
images, and Assessment Task Sheet so that students can clearly see and
quickly find what they need during their conversation.
 Presentational : Each student is responsible to find items on the list that fall into
2 or 3 food groups. Splitting the list gives them a reason to interact about what
they need : « What can I get for you in the dairy aisle, peau ? »

Students will work together in a class discussion to develop a rubric for evaluating their
performance :
1. Teacher will begin with computer display of Assessment Task Sheet,
explaining the task step-by-step, guiding students to connect items to the
resources in their FL folders, and taking questions as needed.
2. Then, using the “save as” command, the teacher will open same as a new
document and have students read aloud the tasks in the text of the document one
at a time, indicating where one ends and a new one begins.
3. By hitting the Enter key, the teacher will reformat the Task Sheet into a list of
tasks (optionally, teacher may allow students to take turns clicking and hitting
Enter)
4. Then select all and click the Table icon, which puts them in a one-column
table.
5. Clicking the Draw button, teacher will add 5 columns and set them as wide as
possible at fixed widths.
6. Clicking into another Word document on the task bar, teacher will copy
performance standard samples and paste them into the table as seen in the
document grocery rubric.
7. Students will examine sample performance standards and work with teacher
as a class to create standards to measure the remaining criteria.
8. Teacher will provide copies to all students to help them prepare for
Assessment Task.
II. Video Design Project
 Interpretive: Students will send a modified breakfast survey to a French I or II
class at the middle school (just a single day, not an entire week), then score them
and write recommendations for specific goals those students might set to better
meet their nutritional needs.
 Interpersonal: After evaluating and responding to surveys, students discuss how
the things they know about nutrition and digestion relate to the specific responses
they saw on the surveys from the middle school.
 Class considers how else they might encourage middle school students to form
good, informed habits about what they eat : a brochure, newsletter, website, or
video – either a documentary or a skit. (The teacher, thinking that the middle
school teacher will probably prefer something other than fourth-grade French
writing to present to her class, will steer the class towards choosing a video
presentation.)
 Class brainstorms what content to include (teacher has Topics
comprehensive list of content objectives handy), and sets
up a rubric to help plan and self-evaluate before submitting digestion – mouth to intestines
scripts. digestion – blood to liver to cells
 Students then work in teams (interpersonal) to design
cells – what they do for us (3 roles)
(presentational) their assigned part of the video about one cells – what we do for them :
specific part of the digestive process or nutrition, personal connecting their needs to our
responsibility, choices, etc. food choices
 Students follow an adapted version of the sequence
choices – using what we know
recommended by Lee & Van Patten (p. 278, Teacher’s
Handbook) to design and write a short segment of the video finale: la mission digestive song
production through a set of structured tasks :

1. Generating Content : groups will brainstorm as many ideas as possible that

relate to their assigned topic. Then they will search materials in their FL folders
for more.

2. Consider the audience. Together, class will list the characteristics of Middle
School students. Their music, entertainment, activities, and especially their eating
habits. Where, when, what and why do Middle School students eat ? If they do
not eat a good breakfast, is there a reason why ? What time do MS students get up
and go to school ? Who do MS students really listen to for advice on lifestyle
decisions ? Who are their heroes, their counselors ? Teacher will take notes on
overhead and provide copies to students.

3. A. Planning. Each group has an assigned topic (see yellow box), a list of ideas,
and an informed view of the audience. Now they will generate a list of contexts in
which to present their content. Will they play the parts of the digestive system’s
members, or the nutrients traveling therein? They might represent the liver as a
drive-thru carwash, or make a TV commercial for a travel agency or a juicer.
They could pilot the short version of Extreme Makeover : Nutrient Edition (food
becomes nutrients). They might promote Cell Appreciation Day, or they might
film cells celebrating Food Appreciation Day. Groups may brainstorm, then report
 to class, where further brainstorming may take place as ideas begin to flow.
Finally, teacher will consider and assign a context for each topic.

B. Organizing. In light of assigned audience/purpose, teams will :

1. Summarize plot of skit (1 sentence)
2. Make decisions about Props
3. Decide about Costuming
4. Assign Roles
Teams will record these onto 4 index cards. Teacher collects sets of cards and
assesses them based on whether they meet the requirements of the assignment,
and plans support/suggestion strategies for next session.
nom: nom:
C. Students will draft outlines in French for homework based on
the “beginning, middle, end” framework. Groups will review
outlines the following day, in a structured Peer Review:
papers are passed around in a circle. Each student records
their feedback, ideas, or questions on a worksheet (see right, nom: mon scénario:
Feuille de révision de pairs) for each of their 3 partners, and
uses the fourth section to write down their teammates’
suggestions about their own script. Peers evaluate content
only (not language). Students will apply changes.

4. Composing.
A. Students are re-grouped with members of other groups, as
heterogeneously as possible (topic-wise), for a second peer-review session of
their outlines.
B. Groups will reconvene to share results of outside peer review. Discuss
suggestions, (each member should have comments from 3 people to share,
with some overlap possible). Mark changes on outlines. Hand in outlines
together for final teacher review before scriptwriting begins. Teacher
feedback (content-related) will guide brief editing activity in class next day,
in which groups will draft a final outline that combines the best parts of all
their individual outlines.
D. Finalize Plan and Begin Scriptwriting. Teams receive their outlines with
feedback from teacher. Final changes are noted on outlines, which students
take home to begin script writing. For homework, each student writes a
«scénario» following the outline, writing only on front of paper.
E. Follow-up : Next day, groups do peer review, checking content only.

5. Drafting: (same day) Using feedback worksheet and scripts, students assemble a
sequence of events. Students choose elements from each of the four scripts to
include in their final product. They cut them out and assemble them, using
gluestick, onto a new piece of paper (or more than one), leaving space between
each. Students hand this in to teacher along with peer review worksheets. Teacher
provides feedback via compliments, comments, and suggestions on it before
photocopying it for each group member.
6. Correction and Completion. Students apply teacher feedback to improve scripts
individually for homework (teacher does quick visual check), then regroup to
share results and make final decisions. The work of rewriting the entire script is
divided into four equal shares and completed independently as homework, then
assembled and submitted the following day as a four-page document in the correct
order. The teacher has a final opportunity to approve the script, then photocopies
it for students, providing each a complete script for rehearsal.

7. Rehearsal. Students will rehearse skits during class (assessed for participation:
engagement, effort, teamwork).

8. Performance. Students will perform skits in class for each other, as well as on
video, which will be compiled into a documentary of about 15 minutes’ length,
with the entire class singing La mission digestive with all the motions as their
grand finale (of course). Video is copied and sent to the Middle School as a
follow-up to encourage students to act on the nutrition recommendations made by
the 4th graders.