The students will:
Students may wish to discuss how technology has assisted with emergency situations. Include discussion on what emergency measures are taken when there is nº 911 number available. (TL) Students should also realize the importance of the 911 number, how it saves lives and the manner in which the number is often abused. (PSVS) When students are given emergency situations to think about, have them decide what steps they believe should be taken to assist in the emergency (CCT)
It is important to note that not all students may have access to a telephone in their homes. In this case, some of the activities in the unit would have to be modified. Students should however, understand the proper use of the telephone and the impact that the telephone has made on society.
In the case of a recent tragedy, discussing accidents or emergencies may be a sensitive issue. Although the experiential goal of making a telephone call could still be done, the theme of an emergency or accident could be changed.
The following vocabulary and linguistic content is included throughout the unit. The teacher and the students should decide what elements will be included in the experiential goal.
Experiential Goal: Students will present a telephone conversation describing an accident or an emergency.
1. Discuss the many uses of the telephone.
Activities
| 1.1 | Have the students estimate approximately how many times all of the students in the class have used the telephone in the past 24 hours. Tally the actual number of times that the phone was used by the students and multiply by 365. This will give the students an idea of the number of calls that they make in one year. |
| 1.2 | Calculate the number of minutes that all of the students have spent on the phone in the past 24 hours. Multiply this number by 365 to give the students an idea of how many minutes (hours, days) per year the class spends using the telephone. |
| 1.3 | Have the students list the many places where they have seen or used a telephone. (e.g. la cuisine, la salle de bain, le salon, la salle de récréation, le bureau du médecin, le supermarché, le centre d'achats, la voiture, le camion, l'autobus, l'école, le théâtre, la rue, etc.) |
| 1.4 | 7.3 Annex 1 Have the students look at the different categories of telephone calls. Have them add additional categories if necessary. Working in pairs, have the students read the statements and note to what category of calls the statements belong. There may be more than one answer. Add additional statements if possible. |
| 1.5 | 7.3 Annex 2 Have the students think of the people who call their homes. A sample list is given. Add or delete names to the list. Include the frequency with which these people call. Share the list with a partner. |
2. Discuss telephone usage.
Activities
| 2.1 | Survey the students to determine who frequently uses the phone. "Qui parle beaucoup au téléphone?" Students who speak more than thirty minutes per day may answer, "Je parle beaucoup au téléphone". Those who do not may answer, "Je ne parle pas beacoup au téléphone". Students should then choose a family member and make the same statements. e.g. "Mon frère parle beaucoup au téléphone." |
| 2.2 | 7.3 Annex 3 Have the students graph the types of calls in their homes (both incoming and outgoing calls) and also who uses the phone during a 24 hour period. A sample list of family members is given. Have them personalize the list as well as add to the list of reasons for the calls. Share the information with a partner. |
3. Discuss the experiential goal and the possible steps to achieve the goal.
Activities
| 3.1 | Discuss the different methods of presenting the telephone conversation. (e.g. video, audio cassette, roleplay, etc). |
| 3.2 | Discuss the possible themes of the call. (e.g. an emergency, an accident - car, pedestrian, bicycle, airplane, household, etc.) |
4. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having a telephone.
Activities
| 4.1 | 7.3 Annex 4 Have the students look at a list to determine if each statement is an advantage or a disadvantage for having a telephone. If possible,students should add to the list. |
5. Identify common expressions and phrases that are used when talking to someone on the telephone.
Activities
| 5.1 | 7.3 Annex 5 Using the expressions in the annex or other appropriate expressions, roleplay a variety of mini-dialogues typical of phone conversations. |
| 5.2 | 7.3 Annex 6 Working in partners, have the students continue to use telephone expressions and phrases from 7.3 Annex 5 to create short dialogues, focusing this time on taking messages over the phone. |
6. Discuss the urgency of certain telephone calls.
Activities
| 6.1 | 7.3 Annex 7 The students look at a number of situations and decide if the telephone is urgently needed. |
| 6.2 | Survey students to see who has ever used the telephone in an emergency and whom they have called. |
| 6.3 | Survey parents to see who has ever used the telephone in an emergency and whom they have called. |
7. Identify possible emergency or accident situations.
Activities
| 7.1 | 7.3 Annex 8 Look at the list of the many places where accidents may occur and add to the list. Have the students make a check mark beside the places where they have either seen or heard of an accident taking place. |
| 7.2 | Look through the newspaper for a week and graph the types of accidents that occur. |
| 7.3 | List the phone numbers of places to be called in an emergency e.g. police, hospital, etc. |
8. Determine the situations when 911 or 0 would be used.
Activities
| 8.1 | Survey the students to see if they or someone they know has ever called 911 or the operator in an emergency. |
| 8.2 | 7.3 Annex 9 Have the students read the statements and decide whether the situation would necessitate calling 911 or another emergency number. |
9. Determine what information must be given in a 911 situation.
Activities
| 9.1 | 7.3 Annex 10 Have the students read a number of questions and decide which ones may be asked by an emergency operator. |
10. Examine different types of emotional states that people are in when they make emergency calls.
Activities
| 10.1 | 7.3 Annex 11 Have students look at the list of emotions and choose the emotions that people may feel when making an emergency call. Add to the list if possible. |
| 10.2 | 7.3 Annex 12 Students are given a situation and they are to match the emotions that the caller may feel with the situation. The students may wish to act out these dialogues. |
| 10.3 | 7.3 Annex 13 Students do a short role-play of a pre-determined dialogue using one of the different emotions described in the above activity. Both students may wish to use the same emotion when doing the dialogue or they may wish to use two different emotions. |
| 10.4 | 7.3 Annex 14 Students listen to particular dialogues and decide who is being called. Students may also wish to create additional dialogues to present to the class. |
11. Describe an accident or an emergency in detail.
Activities
| 11.1 |
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| 11.2 | Optional: The students' memories are tested when a teacher or student or principal enters the room unannounced, enacts a situation and leaves. In small groups, the students try to remember what they saw and what they heard. |
12. Prepare and present a telephone conversation describing an accident or an emergency to the rest of the class.
13. Reflect on the unit. Have the students learned something about emergency situations? Are they aware of the importance of the technology of the telephone? Did they have trouble reading some of the situations in the annexes? What did they do if they found a word that they did not know? What else could they do in a similar situation in the future?