Saskatchewan · Grade 9
Core French 9
Saskatchewan’s Grade 9 French course, from Communication Skills to Culture.
- Units
- 4
- Lessons
- 7
- Skills
- 15
- Provincial exam
- None
- Official curriculum
- curriculum.gov.sk.ca
Unit by unit
Every skill in the course, with its official code.
Unit 1 · 4 skills
Communication Skills
Understanding Spoken & Written French
Understanding oral French presentations
I can find the main idea of a spoken French presentation and the specific details that support it.
Official code: 9.CS.1
Reading multi-paragraph French texts
I can read a 140–160 word French text and identify its main idea and key supporting details.
Official code: 9.CS.3
Speaking & Writing
Discussing in French
I can hold a French discussion — asking, answering, and presenting on familiar topics.
Official code: 9.CS.2
Writing multi-paragraph texts
I can write my own 100–120 word French text in four different modes — or a script.
Official code: 9.CS.4
The official wording · 4 outcomes
- 9.CS.1
- Demonstrate understanding of the main idea and specific details related to the main idea in oral French multi-sentence presentations
- 9.CS.3
- Demonstrate understanding of the main idea and specific details in a variety of adapted or authentic 140 - 160 word multi-paragraph texts.
- 9.CS.2
- Discuss a variety of information on familiar topics through oral expression
- 9.CS.4
- 100 - 120 word expository, narrative, procedural or persuasive multi-paragraph text or script.
Key ideas
The main idea (l'idée principale) is what the whole presentation is about — one sentence that covers everything; specific details (les détails) are the facts that support it.
Discussion is two-way: interview classmates with theme-related questions, answer theirs, and keep a group conversation moving with sentence stems (Je pense… Je suggère… Voici mes conseils…).
Semi-guided means you work with light support: familiar topics, some vocabulary preloaded — but the finding is yours: listen once for the big picture, again for details.
Semi-guided speaking uses modeled phrases as a launchpad — the frame is given, the content is yours.
Level 9 reading is multi-paragraph and can be AUTHENTIC — real French written for French speakers, not just adapted classroom text.
Watch out for
- Trying to understand every word — comprehension at this level means main idea + key details, not full transcription.
- Waiting until a sentence is perfect before saying it — discussion rewards keeping the exchange alive; repair as you go.
- Mistaking the first sentence for the main idea — the main idea covers the WHOLE presentation and may never be said outright.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 2 · 4 skills
General Language Strategies
Strategies for Listening & Reading
Listening and viewing strategies
I can choose and use the right strategies before, during, and after listening or viewing French.
Official code: 9.GL.1
Reading strategies
I can run a full strategy cycle on a French text — and repair my own comprehension when it breaks.
Official code: 9.GL.3
Strategies for Speaking & Writing
Speaking strategies
I can prepare, deliver, and improve my French speaking using the strategy ladder from modeled to independent.
Official code: 9.GL.2
The writing process
I can take a French text through the full writing process, from idea to published copy.
Official code: 9.GL.4
The official wording · 4 outcomes
- 9.GL.1
- Select listening or viewing strategies
- 9.GL.3
- Select reading strategies in semi-structured situations.
- 9.GL.2
- Select speaking strategies in semi-structured situations
- 9.GL.4
- Implement stages of the writing process in guided situations, including: idea generation, drafting, editing, revising, publishing.
Key ideas
Before: set a purpose, make predictions, activate what you know (Je sais que… On peut voir la tour Eiffel à Paris.), connect to your own experience.
The ladder: modeled language → shared practice → guided practice → independent practice; before speaking you identify the intention (informer, inciter, amuser) and divide the task (introduction, idée n°1, idée n°2, conclusion).
During: use aids (vocabulary lists, visuals), catch cognates and key theme words, read intonation and body language, ignore unknown words. After: summarize, answer qui/quoi/quand/où/comment/pourquoi, verify your predictions (vrai/faux), and self-evaluate.
During: expressive techniques (intonation, gestures, pace), memory aids chosen by intention (notes, outlines, slides), and integrating corrective feedback mid-conversation. After: self-evaluate and set the next goal from a rubric.
Before: predict with stems (Je pense que… Il me semble que…), question the text (Quel est le titre? Quels sont les mots-clés?), set a purpose (Je vais trouver l'idée principale.).
Watch out for
- Thinking strategies are training wheels to outgrow — SELECTING the right one per situation is the level-9 skill itself.
- Memorizing a speech word-for-word — strategy is structure plus flexible phrases, so a lost word doesn't sink you.
- Panicking at unknown words — ignoring them and riding context is a listed strategy, not a failure.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 3 · 5 skills
Language Knowledge
Le passé composé
Passé composé of regular verbs
I can build the passé composé of regular verbs, choosing correctly between avoir and être.
Official code: 9.LK.1
Passé composé of irregular verbs
I can talk about my own past using the six key irregular verbs in the passé composé.
Official code: 9.LK.1
Precision Tools
Adjective agreement
I can make any adjective agree with its noun in gender and number.
Official code: 9.LK.1
Numbers to 1 000 000
I can read, say, and write French numbers all the way to a million.
Official code: 9.LK.1
Negation with de, que/qui, and vous
I can negate correctly with de, connect ideas with que and qui, and choose vous for the right people.
Official code: 9.LK.1
The official wording · 5 outcomes
- 9.LK.1
- passé composé of regular verbs with avoir and être
- 9.LK.1
- first person singular form of the passé composé of irregular verbs
- 9.LK.1
- adjective agreement with gender and number
- 9.LK.1
- numbers to 1 000 000
- 9.LK.1
- partitive article with negation (je n’ai pas de)
Key ideas
Two-part recipe: auxiliary (avoir or être in the present) + past participle — J'ai travaillé (I worked); parler→parlé, finir→fini, vendre→vendu.
French adjectives change to match their noun: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural — un film intéressant, une histoire intéressante, des légendes intéressantes.
Most verbs take avoir; the movement/change verbs take être (the MRS VANDERTRAMP set) — and with être the participle agrees: Elle est arrivée, Ils sont partis.
Some patterns shift sound and spelling: -eux→-euse (courageux/courageuse), -if→-ive (sportif/sportive), and some don't change at all when they already end in -e (riche).
Irregular participles must be learned as words: avoir→eu, être→été, faire→fait, prendre→pris, voir→vu, naître→né.
Watch out for
- Using avoir for everything — Elle a arrivée is wrong; arrival is an être verb: Elle est arrivée.
- Leaving adjectives frozen like English — 'the tall girls' needs THREE agreements in French: les grandes filles.
- Forgetting agreement with être — the participle matches the subject in gender and number.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Unit 4 · 2 skills
Culture
Cultures & Events That Shaped Canada
Cultural influences, then and now
I can trace French, French Canadian, First Nations, and Métis cultural influences from the past into today — and project them forward.
Official code: 9.C.1
Events that shaped French Canada
I can explain, in French cause-and-effect terms, how three pivotal events still shape Canada.
Official code: 9.C.1
The official wording · 2 outcomes
- 9.C.1
- Determine the effects of past and present French, French Canadian, First Nations and Métis cultures
- 9.C.1
- cultures and events on contemporary and future Canadian society.
Key ideas
Four cultures shape contemporary Canadian life in visible ways: clothing and regalia, storytelling, celebrations, food, greetings, gatherings, and decision making.
Storytelling is the throughline: oral traditions of earlier societies live on in today's films, blogs, podcasts, and digital stories — same craft, new modes.
La grande diaspora (1755): Acadians forcibly dispersed from Nova Scotia — Les Cajuns habitent en Louisiane; ils sont les descendants des premiers colons en Acadie.
Les Plaines d'Abraham (1759): after the war, the entente let the French keep their language — cela explique un peu pourquoi on parle anglais et français au Canada; and the Métis Resistance of 1885: Louis Riel's resistance led to the creation of Manitoba.
Watch out for
- Treating these cultures as history-only — the outcome says past AND present, and asks you to project influences into the FUTURE.
- Thinking culture means festivals only — the list runs through homes, careers, decision making, and everyday politeness.
- Thinking Canada's bilingualism was inevitable — it traces to a specific entente after a specific battle in 1759.
Every skill’s key ideas, worked examples and checks are in MapleMind.Practise this unit
Plan the term
Pick your term and the days you study. Each unit gets its share of the weeks and comes back a week later for a review. The last two weeks go over the whole course.
The official curriculum
This page follows Saskatchewan’s own curriculum for Core French 9.
Study it in MapleMind
MapleMind teaches Core French 9 one skill at a time. Each skill gets a short lesson, practice as you go and a check worth up to three stars. It remembers where you stopped.
Course Companion
Your year in one workbook
A fun way to keep Core French 9 organized, get to know your child better and see early when they need a hand. Fill it in on a screen, or print it.
- Pages
- 27
- Fillable fields
- 1,182
- Price
- $4.99
Questions about Core French 9
What is Core French 9?
Saskatchewan’s Grade 9 French course: 4 units and 15 skills, from Communication Skills to Culture.
What units are in Core French 9?
1. Communication Skills, 2. General Language Strategies, 3. Language Knowledge and 4. Culture.
Is there a provincial exam for Core French 9?
No. Saskatchewan gives no provincial exam for Core French 9.
Can MapleMind help with Core French 9?
Yes. MapleMind teaches every skill of Core French 9, step by step, with practice and checks, and its tutor answers questions about any of them. It’s free with daily limits, on iPhone, Android and the web.
Get ready for Core French 9
Practise every skill of Core French 9 in MapleMind, free with daily limits.
