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An advanced level timeline info gap task - WW2

The summer begins to wind down. We have been moving home to London (yep, it is a bit stressful), entertaining friends at our French house, plus... I have been writing material for the A-level book I am working on with Steve Glover. An idea I came up with (I doubt very muh it is original) is a timeline information gap task. I've shared an example below which I posted on frenchteacher.net.

You could apply the same principle to various topics: women's emancipation, the reunification of Germany, the Alagerian War, and so on. These dates and notes can be instantly prodiced by Chat GPT, so there is minimal prep, barring a check of the facts, since Chat GPT is better at language generation than facts. (Though, on the whole, I find it to be pretty good.)

Here is the example - key dates in the Second World war from the French perspective.

Les dates clés de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale du point de vue de la France


Instructions 

Students work in pairs. Each partner has a list of 6 important dates concerning an important historical development, all in note form (see below). The dates are mixed up. Between them, the pair must establish the right order of all 12 dates. They might begin: “Quelle est ta première date? Qu’est-ce qu’il s’est passé?” The students take notes as they go along.

In grammatical terms, either the present tense could be used (the so-called historical present) or perfect tense In both cases there will be many instances of the passive voice.

Maybe model this first.

The correct order of events is:

1. 1er septembre 1939 : Invasion de la Pologne par l'Allemagne, début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

2. 3 septembre 1939 : La France déclare la guerre à l'Allemagne.

3. 10 mai 1940 : Offensive allemande sur le front occidental, début de la bataille de France.

4. 14 juin 1940 : Paris est occupé par les troupes allemandes.

5. 22 juin 1940 : Signature de l'armistice franco-allemand à Rethondes.

6. 10 juillet 1940 : Instauration du régime de Vichy sous le maréchal Pétain.

7. 18 juin 1940 : Appel du Général de Gaulle depuis Londres à poursuivre la lutte contre l'Allemagne (Appel du 18 juin).

8. 24 octobre 1940 : Rencontre de Montoire entre Pétain et Hitler, début officiel de la collaboration.

9. 11 novembre 1942 : Occupation de la zone libre par les troupes allemandes (Opération Anton).

10. 6 juin 1944 : Débarquement allié en Normandie (D-Day).

11. 25 août 1944 : Libération de Paris par les Forces françaises de l'intérieur (FFI) et les Alliés.

12. 8 mai 1945 : Capitulation de l'Allemagne, fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en Europe.


This is what the students get

Partenaire A

14 juin 1940 : Paris est occupé par les troupes allemandes.

18 juin 1940 : Appel du Général de Gaulle depuis Londres à poursuivre la lutte contre l'Allemagne (Appel du 18 juin).

25 août 1944 : Libération de Paris par les Forces françaises de l'intérieur (FFI) et les Alliés.

1er septembre 1939 : Invasion de la Pologne par l'Allemagne, début de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

22 juin 1940 : Signature de l'armistice franco-allemand à Rethondes.

11 novembre 1942 : Occupation de la zone libre par les troupes allemandes (Opération Anton).

 

"……………………………………………………………………………………………….

 

Partenaire B

24 octobre 1940 : Rencontre de Montoire entre Pétain et Hitler, début officiel de la collaboration.

8 mai 1945 : Capitulation de l'Allemagne, fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en Europe.

3 septembre 1939 : La France déclare la guerre à l'Allemagne.

10 juillet 1940 : Instauration du régime de Vichy sous le maréchal Pétain.

6 juin 1944 : Débarquement allié en Normandie (D-Day).

14 juin 1940 : Paris est occupé par les troupes allemandes.

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