Chris Weiss

Unit Rationale
February 2016
This unit entitled Say Bonjour to France is meant to introduce sixth
grade social studies students to important French people and important
concepts from France. A large part of this unit involves incorporating art and
art history into a social studies classroom. Compared to the typical style of
lessons in this classroom, Say Bonjour to France allows students to express
their ideas more creatively, involving opportunities to draw, sketch, learn
about famous French artists, and use yarn. This unit primarily focuses on the
key players in the French Revolution (Marie Antoinette and Napoleon
Bonaparte), the French artistic community (Seurat, Rodin, Monet), and
characteristics of modern French society.
This unit will be taught with the help of BrainPop videos, literature
based lessons, fill in the blank notes, PowerPoint presentations, lessons rich
in writing, cut and assemble notes, and artistic activities to review concepts
that students are learning about. Students also have the chance to be
interactive with the content itself and with other students. The teacher has
also made sure to make many of his lessons story-based, where students can
see the type of information that they will need to apply to the authentic
assessment at the end of the unit, which will include designing a Famous
Person wheel for a famous Frenchmen.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education State Approved Standards

7.3.6.A, 8.1.6.A, 8.4.6.A, 8.4.6.B, and 8.4.6.D address the main contents of
this unit. These standards involve describing the human and cultural features
of a place, analyzing context and change over an extended period of time,
and discussing the importance of people and places to World History, with
this unit covering all of these areas in context of the history of France.
When this unit has been completed, the students will be able to
discuss the differences between Old World France and New World France,
understand the importance of the Lascaux Cave paintings, comprehend the
reign and life of Marie Antoinette, analyze the takeover and reign of
Napoleon Bonaparte, and identify the importance of George Seurat, Auguste
Rodin, Christian Dior and other important French figures.