Introduction
– Ask students what they know about migration – what have they seen in the media? Do they know anything about migration in the French context?
– Ask students if they can name any Francophone African countries. What do they know about them?
– Introduce the book A Vol d’Oiseau and its Ivorian author, Veronique Tadjo. Explain a bit about Cote D’Ivoire, and about Tadjo’s migration experiences.
Task 1: Reading comprehension
– Share the selected extracts from A Vol d’Oiseau with students (Resource 1 – link).
– Give students time to read through the extracts themselves and look up words they are unsure of (a glossary is provided to help). Ask a few students to read the (3) extracts aloud.
– Invite them to discuss with a partner/as a small group to aid comprehension, then ask students to share thoughts on the extracts as a whole group. What do they think these passages are about? What sort of text do they think these passages come from? What does the title A Vol d’Oiseau mean?
– Elicit ‘as the crow flies’ and ‘birds eye view’ – discuss what these mean.
– Discuss ideas around journeys, migration, creating a sense of place.
Task 2: Aural comprehension
– Give the students the gap fill sheet (link – Resource 2a). Explain that this is a fourth extract from the book, but this time with missing words.
– Teacher to read the full extract (link – Resource 2b) aloud a couple of times. Students listen the first time, then complete the passage the second time. (Alternatively, students can do this as a reading comprehension rather than aural comprehension task, link – Resource 2c).
– As a whole class, check and then discuss the passage.
Extension: Ask students to continue the passage with a sentence of their own.
Task 3: Speaking / Writing
Explain to students that they will present their own ‘bird’s eye view’ narrative of a journey they take (e.g. to school/college) in French. Refer back to the extracts and pick out a few key features that Tadjo uses to create a sense of journey and place (specific location markers, sights, sounds, smells, etc).
Differentiation: Depending on confidence and ability of the group, this can be done as a whole class, sharing ideas verbally in French that the teacher writes up and can be collaboratively corrected/edited, or with students working individually/in pairs & presenting.