French II. Teacher: Rayna Gill; (734) Course website:

Transcription

1 French II Teacher: Rayna Gill; (734) Course website: This course will continue your study of the French language. You will practice speaking French in a variety of family, school and social situations. You will hear spoken French from me, from each other, from CDs, and from DVDs. You will develop your French reading and writing skills. Differences between American and Francophone cultures will also be explored. We will use the online Bien Dit books again this year. We will spend about six weeks reviewing material from French I (chapters 1-5), and then we will cover chapters In French I, you learned: How to introduce and describe yourself and others The names of classroom objects, school supplies and subjects How to talk about leisure activities like sports and music How to talk about family members How to tell time in French Vocabulary for numbers, colors, days of the week, and months of the year How to talk about seasons and the weather And a lot of French grammar, including: o How to make negative sentences o How to conjugate many verbs, like avoir, être, and regular er and re verbs o How to make plurals in French o How to make adjectives agree in number and gender with the nouns they describe o How to talk about the recent past (using venir) and the near future (using aller) In French II, you will learn: How to order food at a restaurant, and lots of food vocabulary Vocabulary for clothes and sporting equipment How to offer, ask for, and refuse help and permission, and give opinions How ask about prices and goods when shopping How to say this, that, and which How to tell you often you do things Vocabulary for rooms in a house, household furnishings and chores Traveling vocabulary (how to ask for information, directions, and buy tickets) Vocabulary for places and stores Vocabulary for countries and cities and traveling And much more grammar, including: how to make the past tense of French verbs (called the passé composé), how to use the partitive, the imperative, demonstrative adjectives, interrogative adjectives, negative expressions, inversion, prepositions with countries and cities, idioms with faire, ordinal numbers, regular -ir verbs, -yer verbs, the verbs vouloir, prendre, boire, mettre, pouvoir, devoir, dormir, sortir, partir, voir, savoir, connaître, and appeler. CLASS RULES 1. Be in your seat with materials ready when the bell rings. 2. Keep all distracting objects in your backpack. 3. Raise your hand to speak. 4. Use S.T.A.R. when others are speaking. 5. Respect the teacher, the classroom, and the other students. 1

2 CONSEQUENCES Our classroom generally runs smoothly and has a nice, respectful vibe. I do not generally have to issue many consequences. If you choose not to follow one of the classroom rules, however, you choose to receive a consequence. In order, the consequences are: 1) reminder / redo; 2) phone call home; 3) after-school detention; 4) referral to security or your assistant principal. Please also note that outside of my classroom rules above, there is an overall P- CEP Code of Conduct with standard consequences for things like bullying, harassment, skipping, dress code violations, and so on. CLASS EXPECTATIONS: BE KIND, THINK DEEPLY, WORK HARD The basic guideline in this classroom is to be kind, to think deeply, and to work hard. I will always strive to be kind, thoughtful, and hardworking as your teacher. I hope to challenge you this year to grow in all of these dimensions: in your respect for others, in your depth of inquiry, and in your commitment to scholarship. I am confident that you will leave this class with a greater sense of community at P-CEP, a broader perspective on the world, and that you will actually leave this class smarter than when you arrived, since every time you learn something new, the brain creates new connections and becomes more intelligent. I look forward to spending this year with you. INTELLECTUAL CHARACTER & HABITS OF MIND As a student, your character and attitude are vitally important. Studies have shown that strong intellectual character (habits of mind like zest, grit, self-control, social intelligence, gratitude, curiosity, optimism, and integrity) is actually a better predictor of school, college and life success than intelligence is. GRADING POLICIES 1. Assignments: Learning targets, bellwork, classwork and homework assignments are listed on our class website, raynagill.com. These will be projected on the board at the beginning of the hour. 2. Semester grades: This yearlong course is divided into two separate semesters. Each semester contains two quarters and a final exam. You will receive 0.5 credits for each semester and each semester shows up separately on your transcript. This means that, technically, you could fail first semester and then turn around and earn an A second semester. Any semester you fail needs to be retaken later in your school career. 3. Online grades for you in MISTAR: You can view my online grade book and check your progress in class by visiting MISTAR and typing in your username 2

3 (which is your student ID #) and your password. If you forget your password, you can check in the library or with the main office. 4. Online grades for your parents in MISTAR: Parents/guardians can view my online grade book and check your progress in class by visiting and typing in a username and password. Parents and guardians can call if they need help. 5. Copying: Copying won t help you learn much at all; it s basically a waste of your time. Copying including plagiarizing will result in a zero on the assignment (for both the person who copied and the owner of the original!) 6. Late work: You may turn in work one day late for ½ credit. Work that is turned in more than one day late will not be accepted. 7. Absent work: If you have an excused absence, it is YOUR responsibility to make up any work that you miss. Each time you miss, you must fill out an Excused Absence Form to make up your points. I will teach you the procedure for how to do this. So that you can get caught up if you are absent, please take a moment now to exchange phone numbers with your country group. 8. Grading system: Grades for this class carry throughout the semester (they won t reset at the quarter). It s just a big pot of points; there is no weighting and no curve. You will therefore be able to determine your grade at any given time during the semester by checking your grade on MISTAR. Your grade will include your performance on everything you do in here or for homework, which may include oral interviews, listening and comprehension exercises, pronunciation work, essays, projects, conversation activities, presentations, quizzes, and tests. This grade will be worth 85% of your final semester grade (the other 15% of your final semester grade comes from your final exam). Although we will do a good deal of written work, much of what we do is spoken; you will have to speak French in this class to receive credit! Don t worry, though; I will help you and we will try to make this a comfortable class where it s OK to make mistakes and act silly. You ll find that you enjoy speaking French in here. 9. Grading scale: Letter Percentage GPA Grade Scale Equivalent A+ 97.0% or higher 4.00 A % 4.00 A % 3.67 B % 3.33 B % 3.00 B % 2.67 C % 2.33 C % 2.00 C % 1.67 D % 1.33 D % 1.00 D %

4 Percentages cannot be rounded up; MISTAR calculates them as is. Note: If you receive less than a D- (59.9% or lower) for any given semester, you will receive no credit at all for that semester. 10. Credit: I will give you written and oral feedback on much of the work you do, and you will always be able to track your grade by checking MISTAR. However, I will assign much more work than I am able to collect and enter individually into the gradebook. Your classwork points reflect your effort in this class, whether or not your work is collected by me. Please do all that is asked of you with the expectation that it will help you to master the material; trust that what I ask you to do is valuable and for your learning. All of the work that you do in class becomes part of your weekly classwork grade. 11. A note about your weekly classwork grade (15 points/week): Everything that we do in class (bellwork, written work, repeating after me, singing French songs, conversations, activities, projects, presentations, games, and so on) counts as part of your weekly classwork grade. You automatically earn three classwork points a day for being on time, prepared, attentive, hardworking, thoughtful and respectful (basically, for exhibiting intellectual character). You can lose up to all three of these points for not being prepared, hardworking, respectful, etc. 12. A note about your weekly homework quiz/grade (10-20 points/week): You will have homework every night in this class, but you will not typically have traditional homework. Instead, each night (Monday through Thursday) you will be responsible for memorizing five French words or phrases (including their pronunciation, spelling and meaning). You will take a self-test on these words at the beginning of class each day. You will be checking these yourselves and you can use them to study. On Fridays, at the end of the hour, I will give you a quiz on four words or phrases from the past week s homework, and on one word or phrase from a previous week. This quiz will be worth 10 points. This will count as a weekly homework quiz grade. I may also periodically (anywhere from zero to four times a week) check that you are doing your homework and give you points for it. Therefore, you should ALWAYS have your word lists displayed on the upper right-hand corner of your desk as soon as the bell rings. As soon as I take attendance, I may or may not walk around to check them! In your Student Info Packet that you received on the first day of school, there is a Syllabus Signature Page on page 6. Please sign this page and ask your parent/guardian to sign it as well. Give the last page of this syllabus to your parent or guardian to keep. You should keep this syllabus in your French II folder for the remainder of the year. 4

5 STUDENTS: TEAR OFF THIS PAGE FOR YOUR PARENTS/GUARDIANS TO KEEP. BE SURE THAT BOTH YOU AND YOUR PARENTS/GUARDIANS SIGN PAGE 6 OF YOUR STUDENT INFO PACKET! September 8, 2016 Dear Parent or Guardian, Please take a look at this syllabus and sign the Syllabus Signature Page on page 6 of your student s Student Info Packet. French II is a very exciting class and I am confident that your student will enjoy becoming proficient in the French language and learning about the food, customs, art, literature, music, people, ideas, and events that have shaped the Francophone world. I very much enjoy teaching this class. The best way to reach me is by at rayna.gill@pccsk12.com. You can also call me anytime at (734) Please DO feel free to call or . I post daily classwork and homework online at You can also check your student s grades online using MISTAR at If you do not have a username or a password, call the help line at To sign up for safe text messages from me about upcoming quiz and test dates, and other useful reminders for your student, to the number This service is called Remind and it s very useful. Please use the bottom of the Syllabus Signature Page to tell me anything in particular that I can do to help your student succeed or any concerns that you have about your student s well-being or achievement this semester. Thanks, Rayna Gill 5

6 CLASSROOM PROCEDURES 1. When you walk into the classroom, please do the following FIVE things: 1. If I m standing by the door, make eye contact and say bonjour! 2. Pick up any handouts that are on the table by the door. 3. Get your French book from the book cart by the supply table (unless the cart is turned around; then you don t need a book that day). 4. Be sure to have all necessary materials on your desk when the bell rings. 5. Silently begin the bellwork assignment that is projected on the board. 2. If you get to class early, it is fine to move around, socialize, and even to have your phone out during passing time. As soon as the bell rings, however, I expect you to be in your seat with all materials ready and working on your bellwork. The two-minute bell should be your signal to get to your seat and begin to get your materials ready for class. 3. I sometimes play French music during passing time. Feel free to bring me a CD of French music if you have one; I d love to play it! 4. If you need to sharpen your pencil or need to borrow a pencil or a piece of paper, please do so before the bell rings. 5. Extra supplies: If you need to borrow a pencil, there are sharpened ones hanging on the whiteboard. All five of them need to be returned before class is dismissed. If you need anything else, feel free to go quietly to the student supply tables in the back. There are lots of staplers, tape dispensers, highlighters, calculators, and a three-hole punch. The supply table also usually has cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, lotion, Kleenex, band-aids, hair ties, safety pins, paperclips, rubber bands, and other stuff you may wish to use or borrow. There is also extra lined paper on the back table, and golf pencils (as long as they last). In the blue plastic drawers, there are scissors, rulers, and lots of art supplies. Please put back supplies when you are finished. 6. We have an expensive, swanky, awesomely fast electric pencil sharpener right underneath the regular one on the wall. To keep this in good working order, please empty it if you notice that it s getting full. Please do NOT use the electronic pencil sharpener to sharpen colored pencils or crayons; this ruined the last one we had. (I think it s because colored pencil lead is too soft.) To sharpen colored pencils, use the little plastic sharpeners on the supply table. To sharpen crayons, use one of the crayon sharpeners in the crayon drawer. 7. If you arrive to class tardy, enter the room quietly and write your name, your hour, the date, and the time you entered class on the Tardy Sign-In clipboard on my desk. If you don t sign in, you will be marked absent, since I will already have marked you as absent during attendance. If you accumulate three tardies in a semester, I will call home to discuss. Each tardy after that is an automatic 6

7 after-school detention. Tardies reset to zero at the end of the semester. If you have an excused tardy pass, just clip your pass to the clipboard (write your name if it s hard to read on the pass) and I ll excuse you. 8. If you have a permission slip, academic support center, journey, resource room, or athletic form for me to sign, please put it in the wire inbox on my desk before class starts. I will fill it out as I take attendance and give it back to you. If you do not put it in the bin at the beginning of class, I might not be able to sign it until the next day. 9. Please don t write on the board with black dry-erase marker, or erase anything written in black marker! You are welcome to use the colorful dry-erase markers, however, if you like to draw or doodle. During passing time only, please; and only use the right side of the whiteboard. 10. If you need to go the bathroom, get a drink, go to the library, see your counselor or another teacher, or do any other short errand after the bell has rung, use the big green hall pass that s hanging from the pencil sharpener at the front of the classroom. Please leave the door just slightly open when you leave, and close it after you come back. One person may use this pass at a time, and please be considerate of others who might want to use this pass; don t use it more than once or twice a month. (Ask me about free passes for running errands). 11. You may bring food and drink to class as long as it does not distract you (class rule #2) and you do not leave a mess on or around your desk. (I encourage you to bring healthy food! ) Please do NOT bring any foods that contain nuts of any kind, as some students are very allergic. There also might be other foods that other students are allergic to that we won t want to have in class; I ll let you know what those are. Please keep your desk clean, especially if you have food during class; there are cleaning supplies on the supply table if you need them. 12. If I ask you to turn in an assignment, please put it in the turn-in bin (the black stacker file on the back table by the windows), by hour. 13. After I grade and enter your work, I put it in the pass-back bin (the other black stacker file on the back table by the windows), by hour. If you have been absent, please check this file for your graded work. 14. If you forget to put your name on an assignment that we turn in, I will grade it but not enter it. Instead, I will write NO NAME on it and hang it on the blue bulletin board. If you find a paper of yours hanging on the bulletin board, please put your name on it and turn it in to the turn-in bin for your hour so that you can receive credit. 7

8 15. Since our French textbooks on the cart by the supply table are pretty new and we only have one classroom set, I want to keep them in good shape for as long as possible. I have numbered the textbooks and you will be assigned a classroom textbook. If, at the end of the year, your textbook is damaged or written in, you will be responsible for paying to replace it. In order to protect your book, please place it neatly, in numerical order, back in the book cart at the end of each class period. 16. During partner conversations, I encourage you to: 1) try to speak in French the entire time; 2) not to worry about making mistakes or sounding silly; the person you are talking to is learning French just like you are! 17. If you have been ABSENT, please fill out an excused absence form (located in the black folder on my desk). There are different forms for French and for history. I will give you an opportunity soon to practice in more detail the procedure for how to fill out this form when you are absent. 18. There are other specific procedures in this class that you will learn in more detail: how to pass out and collect materials, what to do when you have been absent, how to participate in partner conversations, how to participate in a class discussion, how to effectively work in groups, how to enter the class, work during class, and exit class (and how to give me an exit ticket), and so on. 19. There is a service called remind that I can use to text you to remind you about upcoming tests, days that we meet in the library, and so on. The sign-up directions are on the last page of this packet. 8