Subject Area and Grade Level

French III - Grade 11

Description of Lesson
In this lesson, students will be exposed to an African folk legend from Burkina Faso
entitled, Lhomme, la femme, et les animaux (The man, woman, and animals).
The purpose of this assignment is to broaden students exposure to literary
products from the French-speaking world (outside of Metropolitan France) and to
further develop the theme on storytelling as a way in which to transmit culture.
The main literacy targets of this assignment are:
cultural literacy and
critical
literacy
. Students will explore an African folk legend and analyze the gender,
cultural, and social commentaries hidden within the subtext of the narration.
This particular reading assignment is told utilizing the
imparfait and
pass
compos
tenses, so students will be able to inductively work on their grammar
acquisition in this lesson.
N.B. This reading was assigned as a homework assignment. Students were
expected to read the story for homework and answer 5 comprehension questions.
The activities in this lesson are based on that assignment.
Objectives
Students will be able to
Read a Burkinab legend and
extrapolate the main idea from the text;
infer difficult word meanings from context;
characterize each character based on his/her actions and dialogue;
analyze specific literary and cultural elements presented within the
text with an eye specifically geared toward the social and political
contexts of the target culture;
identify the gender binaries and power relations at play within the
subtext of the story;
pinpoint ways in which narration is heavily influenced by culture.
correctly distinguish the imperfect tense from the pass compos.
Materials

Handout (see attached)

5x7 index cards.
Poster board paper, crayons, markers, and colored pencils.
Yellow highlighter and orange highlighter.

Anticipatory Set
Students will be asked to come up to the white board and contribute to the
following chart by adding words and/or short phrases in French to demonstrate
their understanding of and sentiments about the text that they read for homework:

Les mots qui dcrivent

cette histoire burkinabe
(
Words that describe this
Burkinab story
)

lments cls de
lintrigue de cette histoire
(
Key elements to the plot in
the story
)

Sentiments ressentis par

vous, le lectorat, en lisant
le texte
(
Feelings felt by you, the
readers of the text, while
reading
)

Activities
Do-Now
: 3 minutes for completion; 2 minutes for collective review of ideas
Group Work Part One
: Students will spend the first 25 minutes of class completing
the four activities on the attached worksheet. Students will be broken up into
heterogeneous groups.
Group Work Part Two
: For the last 15 minutes of class, we will reconvene as an
entire class and
1. A volunteer from each group will read out loud the paragraph-summary in
French of Lhomme, la femme, et les animaux .
2. A different volunteer from each group will present the groups illustration.
3. We will have a formal guided discussion of the three questions that students
had to analyze in part 4 of the group activities assignment.
Assessment
Collection of Homework
: I will collect the 5 comprehension questions that
students should have answered for homework. I will grade them for completion
rather than for mastery, as students might need more scaffolding to be able to
adequately understand the text.
Informal Formative Assessment
: Students will receive an individual
participation grade as they complete their group assignments. I will be circulating
the room and evaluating participation and engagement with the following rubric:
+ Full participation and active engagement

Partial participation and adequate engagement
Inactive participation and complete disengagement
Formal Formative Assessment
: All group work will be collected and graded.
Students will receive a maximum of 5 points for completion of each activity, for a
total of 20 points to be factored into their participation grade.
Extensions and Modifications
Additional word bank and summary of story in English
Copy of story with all imperfect conjugations underlined
Handout containing explicit instructions on how to conjugate the imperfect
in French, as an accompanying guide to the reading.

Nom: _____________________________________________

Date: ________________________

Lhomme, la femme et les animaux

Un homme trs riche habitait dans la brousse1 avec sa femme. Il possdait un bracelet
que Wende2 lui avait donn, disant : Conserve-le bien. Tant que tu lauras, tu seras riche. Un
jour il sest disput avec sa femme, celle-ci a vol le bracelet et la cach en haut dune petite
case3 leve, troite, solide et sans porte quelle a construite dans la brousse.
Bientt, les biens du mari ont commenc disparatre : ses troupeaux sont morts, ses
richesses se sont perdues. Bref, il est devenu pauvre. Lhomme cherchait partout son bracelet,
mais ne le retrouvait pas. Un jour, il a rencontr un chien : Que fais-tu l ? a demand le chien.
Je cherche un bracelet auquel je tiens beaucoup.
Si tu me rcompenses, dit le chien, je taiderai.
Si tu le trouves, je te donnerai tout ce que tu veux, a promis lhomme. Le chien, qui flairait4
bien, a cherch partout avec son nez. Il a fini par trouver la case construite par la femme et,
comme il ne pouvait pas entrer, il a appel lhomme.
Ton bracelet est l, a-t-il dit, mais je ne peux pas entrer. Comment allons-nous faire ?
Que faites-vous ici ? a demand le chat qui passait. Le chien et lhomme ont expliqu leur
embarras.
Je peux faire un trou, a dit le chat, mais que me donneras-tu ?
Si tu vois seulement mon bracelet, a rpondu lhomme, je te donnerai tout ce que tu voudras.
Le chat a fait un trou, est entr dans la case et a vu le bracelet attach en haut de celle-ci. Il est
sorti pour dire lhomme et au chien que le bracelet tait bien l, mais quil ne pouvait pas
lattraper. La souris est arrive et a dit : Ce ne sera quun jeu pour moi de faire tomber le
bracelet. O homme, si je le fais, quest-ce que tu vas me donner ?
Tout ce que tu voudras, a rpondu lhomme. La souris est entre dans la case, a grimp5 en
haut et a fait tomber le bracelet. Puis elle est sortie :
Jai fait tomber le bracelet par terre, mais je ne peux pas le sortir de la case parce quil est trop
lourd pour moi.
mon tour ! a dit le chien. Et il a rapport le bracelet. Ds que lhomme a eu son bracelet en
main il est redevenu riche. Les troupeaux arrivaient de tous cts. Les richesses affluaient6 .
Lhomme est retourn sa case, emmenant avec lui le chien, le chat et la souris. Depuis
1

outback
Dieu africain
3

hut
4

pick up the scent of something

5

grimper = to climb
6

affluer = to come together

2

ce temps-l, le chien ne vit plus dans la brousse, mais chez lhomme qui lui donne de la viande.
Le chat ne vit plus dans la brousse, mais chez lhomme qui lui donne du lait ; la souris ne vit
plus dans la brousse, mais chez lhomme qui lui donne des arachides7 et tous sont heureux !
except la femme, car depuis ce temps-l, lhomme a perdu confiance en elle.

Activits en Groupes
Directions
: In your small groups, complete the following tasks. Be prepared to participate
in a full-group discussion during the second half of the period.
1. Rsum du texte !
Spend a few minutes discussing the story. On the 5x7 index card
provided, write a one-paragraph summary in French, focusing on the main
characters and the main idea of the story. Each group member should contribute 1-2
sentences. Check each others work!
2. Faites-moi une illustration !
Using the poster board, crayons, markers, and colored
pencils provided, draw an illustration of the main events that take place in the story.
Keep the
target culture in mind as you draw. (What do the main characters look like?
What are they wearing? What does the surrounding environment look like?) Be
prepared to present your drawing to the whole class.
3. Attention la grammaire ! Take your yellow highlighter and go through the story,
highlighting all instances in which
limparfait is used. Then, take your orange
highlighter and go through the story once again, highlighting all instances in which
le
pass compos
is used.
4. Discussion. Parlons du rcit
! Discuss and answer the following questions - we will
reconvene together as a class in order to share input and insights.
a. What are some cultural aspects of this folklore that might be unique to Burkina
Faso? Would this folklore have been able to take place in France? Explain.
b. Read the last sentence of the story. What is the role of the woman in this
story? Is she portrayed in a positive light? What might this say about the roles
of women in Burkina Faso at the time this legend was written?
c. The man speaks to the animals using the vous form, while the animals
address him using the tu form. What might this signify? What types of
power relations are at play here? In what way might this linguistic feature
reflect a sort of caste system or social hierarchy?

arachides = cacahutes = peanuts