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C. Reading / D. Writing · Reading and Writing in French: Media, Stories and Communities

Reading and Writing in French: Media, Stories and Communities: Unit Review

C1 C2 C3 D1 D2 D3About 40 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use reading strategies and critical questions to understand news, blogs, advice columns, posters, stories, quizzes, journals, interviews, guides and argumentative texts.
  • I can use the pronouns y, en, lui, leur and the relative pronouns où and dont.
  • I can use the plus-que-parfait, the conditionnel with si, reflexive verbs in the past and reported speech.
  • I can plan, draft, revise, edit and publish texts for different readers, and choose the right register.
  • I can describe aspects of francophone and Indigenous communities in Canada from what I read.

Words to know

y / en
J'y vais. (there) · J'en ai deux. (of them)
lui / leur
to him or her / to them: Je lui parle.
où / dont
la ville où j'habite · le livre dont je parle
le plus-que-parfait
j'avais fini = I had finished
le conditionnel
je voyagerais = I would travel
le discours rapporté
Elle a dit qu'elle était fatiguée.

Ready for high school French!

This review covers all eleven lessons of the unit. You read a news article, a blog, an advice column, a campaign poster, a mystery, a magazine quiz, a travel journal, an interview, a tourist guide and an argumentative text, and you wrote your own versions, ending with a yearbook page.

Answer the questions for each lesson. If a section feels hard, go back to that lesson before the quiz. The two diagrams below sum up the grammar of the year.

Les petits mots de la 8e annéele, la, lesobjet directJe la remplis.lui, leurà + personneJe lui parle.ylieu, à + choseJ'y vais.ende + chose, quantitéJ'en ai trois.oùlieu, momentla ville où j'habitedontremplace de + ...le livre dont je parlePronoms compléments : avant le verbe · Pronoms relatifs : après le nom
All the small but mighty words of Grade 8. Object pronouns go before the verb; relative pronouns come right after the noun they describe.
Les temps que tu connaisplus-que-parfaitj'avais mangéavant le passéimparfaitpassé composé /j'ai mangé /je mangeaisle passéprésentje mangemaintenantfuturje mangeraiplus tardconditionnel (hors du temps) : je mangerais
The tenses you used this year, from furthest in the past to the future. The passé composé and the imparfait share the same time: one tells events, the other describes. The conditionnel sits apart: it talks about what would happen.

Lire un article : Reading a News Report and Using y and en

1

Replace with a pronoun: Nous allons à Sudbury.

2

Replace with a pronoun: J'ai acheté deux tourtières.

3

Which part of a news article answers qui, quoi, où, quand first?

4

On what date is Franco-Ontarian Day celebrated?

Le blogue : Reading a Blog and Using Negative Expressions

1

Make negative with jamais: Je bois du café.

2

Make negative with personne: J'ai vu quelqu'un.

3

Translate: Il ne joue plus.

4

Name two features of a blog post.

Le courrier des conseils : Reading an Advice Column and Using lui and leur

1

Replace with a pronoun: Je parle à mes cousins.

2

Je (le / lui) vois. (mon frère) Choose and explain.

3

Positive command with a pronoun: (Écrire) à ta grand-mère !

Les textes médiatiques : Reading a Campaign Poster and Giving Commands with Pronouns

1

Make negative: Achète-les !

2

Write the command with y: Va au gymnase !

3

Name the four critical questions to ask about a media text.

Le plus-que-parfait : Reading and Writing a Mystery Story

1

Give the plus-que-parfait: nous (finir)

2

Give the plus-que-parfait: elles (arriver)

3

Complete: Quand je suis arrivé, le film ___ déjà ___ (commencer).

4

Who ate the maple cake in the mystery?

Et si... ? Reading a Magazine Quiz and Writing with the Conditionnel

1

Complete: Si j'avais un chalet, j'y ___ (aller) chaque été.

2

Complete: S'il fait beau demain, nous ___ (faire) du vélo.

3

Fix the mistake: Si je serais riche...

Le journal de voyage : Reading About Québec City and Using Reflexive Verbs in the Past

1

Put in the passé composé: Elle se couche tard.

2

Make negative: Nous nous sommes perdus.

3

What is Wendake?

L'entrevue : Reading an Interview and Reporting What Someone Said

1

Report: Léo : « Je suis content. »

2

Report: Ana : « J'irai à Ottawa. »

3

Report the question: « Est-ce que tu as faim ? » (Maman à moi)

Le guide touristique : Discovering Saint-Boniface and Using où and dont

1

Complete: C'est l'endroit ___ les deux rivières se rencontrent.

2

Complete: C'est une fête ___ les gens sont fiers.

3

Complete: Voici le roman ___ j'ai lu.

4

Name one place in Saint-Boniface from the guide and say why it is important.

Le texte argumentatif : Evaluating Evidence and Writing a Persuasive Essay

1

What is a rebuttal (réfutation)?

2

Which is stronger evidence: Mon ami dit que... or Selon les Directives canadiennes...? Why?

3

Complete with a connecting word: Certains pensent que c'est cher. ___, c'est utile pendant des années.

Le processus d'écriture : Writing a Grade 8 Yearbook Page

1

Put the stages in order: publier, réviser, planifier, corriger, rédiger.

2

Tu or vous to thank the principal?

3

Write one sentence with the imparfait and one with the futur about yourself.

Just for fun

Why did the pronoun y pack a suitcase?

Because it always needs a place to go: J'y vais ! (And en came along, because it never travels without some snacks: J'en ai trois !)

How to use this review

  1. Do one section at a time without looking back at the lesson.
  2. Check your answers. If you get more than one wrong in a section, reread that lesson's explanation and examples.
  3. Use the two diagrams above as a quick memory map before the quiz.
  4. Take the quiz. For each mistake, find the lesson it comes from (see the notes for parents).
  5. Finish by rereading your best piece of writing from this unit and fixing one more thing: that's what real writers do!
Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Tu vas au parc ? — Oui, j'___ vais.

2.

Combien de frères as-tu ? — J'___ ai deux.

3.

Je n'ai ___ vu. (nothing)

4.

Tes parents ? Téléphone-___ !

5.

Quand nous sommes arrivés, le train ___ .

6.

Si j'avais le temps, je ___ le piano.

7.

Elles se sont ___ tard.

8.

« Je partirai. » → Il a dit qu'il ___ .

9.

C'est le film ___ tout le monde parle.

10.

Which stage of the writing process fixes accents and verb endings?

For parents and teachers

How to use the results: each quiz question matches a lesson. If your child misses:

  • Q1 or Q2 (y, en): revisit Lesson 1, Lire un article.
  • Q3 (negatives): revisit Lesson 2, Le blogue.
  • Q4 (lui, leur): revisit Lesson 3, Le courrier des conseils, and Lesson 4 for commands with pronouns.
  • Q5 (plus-que-parfait): revisit Lesson 5, Le mystère du gâteau.
  • Q6 (si + conditionnel): revisit Lesson 6, Et si... ?
  • Q7 (reflexive verbs in the past): revisit Lesson 7, Le journal de voyage.
  • Q8 (reported speech): revisit Lesson 8, L'entrevue.
  • Q9 (où, dont): revisit Lesson 9, Le guide touristique.
  • Q10 (writing process): revisit Lesson 11, L'album des finissants; for argument structure and sources, Lesson 10.

Reading mistakes (missing main ideas or details) usually mean your child needs to slow down: preview the title and pictures, read once for the gist, then scan for details and use the glossary.

Writing: look at one finished piece together and celebrate what improved since September. Grade 8 French prepares your child for high school French courses, where they will keep building on these tenses and pronouns.