Introducing Landmarks: Image and Icon
The foundation of this unit is student exploration of landmarks within Paris. In order to allow students the opportunity to respond intuitively, based purely on visual aesthetics and personal interests, I suggest displaying photographic print-outs of landmarks on folding presentation boards according to location category, as indicated by symbols or icons. I have gathered a collection of clip art images for denoting locations by type (museum, monument, bridge, etc.). See Appendices B + C (Arrondissments and Location Icons). Icon, pictogram, symbol, isotype — these are all more or less synonyms denoting an image that conveys or represents an idea, meaning, or category, in a clear and easily recognized way so that it may be used for communication purposes. Put another way, these images function as if they were language; in this unit the clip art selected is used to identify sites by category or type.
Each display board will represent one category or type of location, and laminated photographic images will be attached to the boards with magnets or restickable adhesive. The photo cards will be labeled with the icon for the location category and the appropriate arrondissement number graphic. Students will choose sites to explore based on the photographic image of the place and the icon, without any indication of place names, or indeed any language about the places. In this way, students will make their choices based on what they see in the pictures, perhaps inspired by the details displayed in the photographic representation, perhaps compelled to explore a particular type of place, as denoted by the basic categorical information conveyed by the icon.
About images: Before embarking on this unit, there is a lot of preparation to be done in terms of gathering, printing, labeling, and laminating the images for use. But they will be well used throughout this unit, and may be reused in other units. By laminating them, you are creating supplies that will last a long time, and I highly recommend that you set aside enough time well before the unit in order to do this properly. However, if that is not possible, I would recommend printing the images on cardstock so that they will at least hold up over the course of the unit. See "Images" in the Website Resources section for a list of recommended websites for good landmark images.
The way students will explore these sites will depend on the type of access to technology you have. In the "General Class Use" part of the Website Resources section of this unit, I have listed some websites that I found both informative and expansive in terms of landmarks they present. I have indicated whether they are French, English, or have options for both. I recommend the French sites for class exploration and the English for student reference and exploration at home. Of course, expectations must be clearly set for students so that they don't just jump to the English at every turn. I think that allowing them the option of exploring the English information at home will help them to stay in French in class since they know they will have an opportunity as part of their assigned homework to do further research. Also, following through on questions with work at home, sometimes done in English, will help build and maintain interest in the locations so that students learn far more than they would if their knowledge base were limited to what they can understand or decode from the French. They will then be more motivated to learn how to say what they want to say about the place in French and to share that with classmates and others.
If you have full class access to a computer lab or set of tablets/laptops, then everyone can work and explore at once. If you've got only a few classroom computers, then you may choose to create a "Centers" set-up, in which computer exploration would be one out of several centers. Others could be: exploration of (probably English language) classroom resource reference books and travel guides; exploration of French language printouts from resource sites; mapping activities – locating given sites on a map of Paris, following printed directions on a map; conversation prompts; classifying your sites by arrondissement; gathering all the landmarks from the presentation boards that belong in a particular arrondissement (and mapping them or not), writing and practicing a skit, creating a song/dance. With all centers work, be sure to have requirements and expectations structured so that it is an efficient and productive use of time. I find that things run most smoothly and effectively when I have an overarching organizational check-off sheet that asks students to include the date completed and list the initials of any partners for each center. In this way, students may work over the course of several class sessions without losing a sense of accountability, working at individually developmentally appropriate paces. When we are done with the centers (even if everyone hasn't completed everything), I ask students to put the completed check-off sheet on top and then put all work in order of the sheet and staple it all together. Then I have a record of their progress from which I can learn and make necessary adjustments to individual or class instruction.
Over the course of the unit, some days students will be exploring on their own, other days will be devoted to teacher-led explorations of places, and still others will provide an opportunity for students to work in pairs and small groups to map locations, share learning, and participate in communication activities. When discussing a site, we will place the building or monument in the context of its neighborhood, as well as explore notable relevant information and some details about what it looks like. This will allow us to reinforce prior language learning as well as give students more opportunities for making connections.
- SUGGESTED LOCATIONS CATEGORIES*:
- Arrondissement (District/Quarter) / Arrondissement
- Bridge / Pont
- Cemetery / Cimitière
- Entertainment / Divertissement
- Fountain / Fontaine
- Garden / Jardin
- Government building / Mairie
- Monument / Monument
- Museum / MusÉe
- Park / Parc
- Plaza/Promenade / Place/Promenade
- Church/Place of Worship / Église/Lieu de Culte
- Restaurant / Restaurant
- Shop(s) / Magasin(s)
- Train Station / Gare
- Waterway / Eau/Voie navigable
*You may want to add more categories or change these. Other locations you may particularly wish to include are hotels or schools, for example. There are two blank spots on the Location Icons graphic in Appendix C so that you may easily add others as you see fit.
Again, students may select locations based on the sheer aesthetics of a place or they may be drawn to certain types of places based on a pre-existing interest. As they explore, they may decide that they are interested in learning more about a particular neighborhood or category of location site. In offering such flexibility for interest-driven research, it is vital that information be well organized graphically, both in individual student records and note taking as well as during whole class and partner activities. Mapping on a small scale, or mini-mapping, as I like to call it, will help students to organize and synthesize their understanding of places as they build up a knowledge base.
Over the course of this unit, you will likely want students to mini-map by both neighborhood (which will include a variety of site types) and site type (which will span the whole or at least a good part of the city). For example, in mapping the neighborhood of the first arrondissement, a student could learn about and identify the locations described in the following paragraph (just as another student could come up with an entirely different focus for a 1 st arrondissement exploration). But a mapping of museums within Paris, for instance, would show and discuss maps throughout the whole of Paris, not just those within the confines of one neighborhood. (I have italicized the French place names and bolded the English category terms in the following paragraph to draw attention to the diversity of location types represented.)
The Pont Neuf — actually the oldest bridge in Paris despite its name ("the New Bridge," which was accurate in the early 1600s when it was built) — crosses over the river Seine at the southeast end of the 1 st arrondissement. To the west of it is the Louvre museum, and to the west of that, at the southwest end of the 1 st arrondissement, is the Tuilleries garden. Between the Louvre and the Tuilleries is that smaller Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel that was discussed in the unit's introduction. Just north of the Pont Neuf is Les Halles for shopping and just north of that is our beloved and also previously discussed Saint-Eustache church. Across the arrondissement from Les Halles (to the west) is the Place Vendôme, which is a plaza and also has a monument.
These mini-mapping activities will pave the way for the culminating mapping process that will be used for presentation and discussion of learning, explained in the following section.
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