If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that bringing important conversations into the world language classroom in comprehensible, relevant, and thoughtful ways has been a long-standing part of my work.

You have probably seen this particular photograph of the protests happening in France. It is such a powerful and rich visual that I decided to use it as the anchor for a class discussion about the protests. I scaffolded the lesson so we would make predictions, describe the photograph, generate questions, understand what the protesters are asking for, and finally analyze the many powerful symbols on the photograph.

My Novice range 8th grade students generated some impressive observations, connections, and questions, and we were even able to connect the graffiti to our current class novel, Zeinixx by Theresa Marrama.

I am really excited to share this resource with you! You can use it in one lesson if you keep it all oral, or you can easily extend it over 2-3 lessons by incorporating some shared or individual writing. The resource is also adaptable for Novice and Intermediate learners.

I hope you will have many fruitful conversations with your own students. Feel free to ask any question in the comments and to let me know how everything goes!

Access the full resource HERE.