First Term is winding down and this is a reminder for all students. There are a few things that will be turned in and graded for first term. Check Pinnacle and make sure you aren't missing any assignments.
First Vocabulary Test and Re-Take (if needed)
Chapter 1a Spanish or Chapter 2 (French) pre-quiz on quia.com
Any other re-takes for previous quizzes
Study Diaries (50 points homework grade)
Writing quiz make-ups or re-takes
Glog Assessment (summative grade)
Today we had a town hall meeting with the WHS Principal and Counselor. They emphasized the rigor that students will experience in High School and reminded students to study nightly and to challenge themselves. Your foreign language class is a High School level course, for High School credit. The expectation is that students will use time at home to try to learn and make connections between the new information I present, and the things they already know. To this end, I have provided NUMEROUS types of activities for them: music, drawing, glogs, powerpoints, games, writing, singing, recording, etc.... students can easily find a mode of practice that appeals to them! If you are having trouble finding a way to make connections, or need some help in other ways PLEASE don't wait- contact me asap!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Homework and Quiz Updates
All classes are doing a glog.(Scroll down on my blog to see two examples of glogs I have created.) It will be counted as a test grade and will be graded and put on the first term grade. This glog and all assignments from first term will must be turned in by October 29th to be counted as part of first term.
All three Spanish classes have taken their vocabulary spelling tests. These will be handed back by Monday and retakes will be on Thursday during tutoring. French students will be taking their French spelling tests tomorrow (Friday) and Monday. They will get their tests back on Tuesday and Wednesday and will be able to retake them on Thursday or Friday during tutoring or during lunch.
Please check the assignment/quiz/test calendars on my blog (wmsforeignlanguage.blogspot.com) on a daily or weekly basis to make sure you are up to date on the current items due.
My A-day French class did a wonderful job in their visit to the Social Studies class- they acted as French soldiers and fielded questions from the Americans. The soldiers and translators were super!
All of my classes continue to make me happy to come to work every day and I hope they continue to work hard throughout the year. All of my classes are a high-school level curriculum. It's very important to email or call me if you have an concerns or questions on your child's behalf.
All three Spanish classes have taken their vocabulary spelling tests. These will be handed back by Monday and retakes will be on Thursday during tutoring. French students will be taking their French spelling tests tomorrow (Friday) and Monday. They will get their tests back on Tuesday and Wednesday and will be able to retake them on Thursday or Friday during tutoring or during lunch.
Please check the assignment/quiz/test calendars on my blog (wmsforeignlanguage.blogspot.com) on a daily or weekly basis to make sure you are up to date on the current items due.
My A-day French class did a wonderful job in their visit to the Social Studies class- they acted as French soldiers and fielded questions from the Americans. The soldiers and translators were super!
All of my classes continue to make me happy to come to work every day and I hope they continue to work hard throughout the year. All of my classes are a high-school level curriculum. It's very important to email or call me if you have an concerns or questions on your child's behalf.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Fun with Foreign Language
Mr. Haines has taught me how to use Glogster and I am now in the process of making my first glogs. These are prototypes of what I will want the kids to be doing in a week or so. I've scheduled time in the computer lab for us to work on them. Students will be making their first glog about their likes and dislikes.
You can scroll down to see my glog in French below. I will upload the Spanish one as soon as I tweek it a little bit more.
I created a cartoon using www.xtranormal.com - it's amazing. If you can type, you can make a movie!! And you can do it in many different languages. What a great opportunity for a student to practice his or her vocabulary by making their own cartoon/movie. Please check out the site and, if you feel comfortable, your child is welcome to make a movie/cartoon as one of their study diary assignments. Keep in mind that there may be some movies on the site that would be objectionable to you and don't let your student go on the site if you are not comfortable with it. I didn't see anything offensive when I was on the site- but I didn't look. Basically, if students don't search for anything, they won't find anything and I think it is an amazing tool for them to play and have fun while learning French or Spanish.
I had to use www.movavi.com to convert the video so that glogster could post it in my glog- so there were multiple steps to this. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and I just couldn't wait to share with my students.
You can scroll down to see my glog in French below. I will upload the Spanish one as soon as I tweek it a little bit more.
I created a cartoon using www.xtranormal.com - it's amazing. If you can type, you can make a movie!! And you can do it in many different languages. What a great opportunity for a student to practice his or her vocabulary by making their own cartoon/movie. Please check out the site and, if you feel comfortable, your child is welcome to make a movie/cartoon as one of their study diary assignments. Keep in mind that there may be some movies on the site that would be objectionable to you and don't let your student go on the site if you are not comfortable with it. I didn't see anything offensive when I was on the site- but I didn't look. Basically, if students don't search for anything, they won't find anything and I think it is an amazing tool for them to play and have fun while learning French or Spanish.
I had to use www.movavi.com to convert the video so that glogster could post it in my glog- so there were multiple steps to this. Regardless, it was a lot of fun and I just couldn't wait to share with my students.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Upcoming quizzes and assignments
Please check the calendar at the bottom of the blog for information on due dates. We have study diaries due, vocabulary quizzes, and unit quiz re-takes next week starting on Thursday and Friday.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Study Diary - Blog Post
Use two of your vocabulary words to respond to the following question as an anonymous blog comment:
In French: Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire?
In Spanish: Que te gusta hacer?
(Please excuse my lack of accents. I'm not sure how to make them in blogger.)
In French: Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire?
In Spanish: Que te gusta hacer?
(Please excuse my lack of accents. I'm not sure how to make them in blogger.)
New this week...
Students have finished their Chapter 1 test in French and the Para Empezar Chapter test in Spanish. Any student who made less than an 80% is being scheduled for re-testing and a re-take during tutoring. Initial grades will be posted tomorrow and re-takes will be scheduled by the end of next week for all students.
In all classes we have started a new unit about our likes and dislikes. Students have self-selected a new vocabulary list from the chapter and will be tested on that in about two weeks. Please check the calendars on this blog for specific dates. We will be going to the computer lab this week for practice and to take a pre-quiz to assess where students are with recognition of their vocabulary.
French students are finishing up their writing text on Tuesday and Wednesday- they need to be prepared to write four sentences (3 statements and 1 question) without the use of any notes or a textbook. They need to give their name, age, and make a statement about our classroom, then ask a question (not Ca va?).
In all classes we have started a new unit about our likes and dislikes. Students have self-selected a new vocabulary list from the chapter and will be tested on that in about two weeks. Please check the calendars on this blog for specific dates. We will be going to the computer lab this week for practice and to take a pre-quiz to assess where students are with recognition of their vocabulary.
French students are finishing up their writing text on Tuesday and Wednesday- they need to be prepared to write four sentences (3 statements and 1 question) without the use of any notes or a textbook. They need to give their name, age, and make a statement about our classroom, then ask a question (not Ca va?).
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
New Vocabulary
New Vocabulary Lists and Homework Assignments are going home today and tomorrow. (Thursday for 7th graders). Please take a moment to check your child's homework folder and agenda to see what they are bringing home and don't forget to sign their homework contract! Thanks! Gracias! Merci!
Pêche, pomme, poire, abricot - French Children's Songs - France - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World
Pêche, pomme, poire, abricot - French Children's Songs - France - Mama Lisa's World: Children's Songs and Rhymes from Around the World
The Lyrics are a bit different from the version that I learned and teach in class- much like our song "Patty Cake" or others, there are regional differences. Also, the spelling of the lyrics on the website is phonetic, and I spelled them correctly for the students in class.
Pomme, Poire, Peche, Abricot
Il y en a une
Il y en a une
Pomme, Poire, Peche, Abricot,
Il y en a une de trop.
The Lyrics are a bit different from the version that I learned and teach in class- much like our song "Patty Cake" or others, there are regional differences. Also, the spelling of the lyrics on the website is phonetic, and I spelled them correctly for the students in class.
Pomme, Poire, Peche, Abricot
Il y en a une
Il y en a une
Pomme, Poire, Peche, Abricot,
Il y en a une de trop.
Monday, October 4, 2010
How to Remember Things.....
I want to remind all of my students that learning French or Spanish requires you to make a connection between what you already know (English or another language) and what you are trying to remember (the new language).
You can do this in many ways, but making effective connections is unique to each learner. Some people make connections through images, others need words, and some need actions, songs, or the act of writing. The other part that is individualized is the background knowledge each of us uses to "hang" our new facts on. It takes some time and thought, but each student has to experiment with what helps cement new facts into their memory.
Today in class, my students explored a couple of ways to make this happen. We are preparing for their chapter tests tomorrow and Wednesday. As part of that review, we used acrostic poems, drawing pictures, and making up songs- or listening to songs that come along with our textbook. Students can access these songs through their online textbooks.
One of the Spanish acrostic poems was for the season of winter. Here's the poem.
wInter
sNow
Very cold
skiIng
icE
Reindeer
wiNd
snOwdays
You can do this in many ways, but making effective connections is unique to each learner. Some people make connections through images, others need words, and some need actions, songs, or the act of writing. The other part that is individualized is the background knowledge each of us uses to "hang" our new facts on. It takes some time and thought, but each student has to experiment with what helps cement new facts into their memory.
Today in class, my students explored a couple of ways to make this happen. We are preparing for their chapter tests tomorrow and Wednesday. As part of that review, we used acrostic poems, drawing pictures, and making up songs- or listening to songs that come along with our textbook. Students can access these songs through their online textbooks.
One of the Spanish acrostic poems was for the season of winter. Here's the poem.
wInter
sNow
Very cold
skiIng
icE
Reindeer
wiNd
snOwdays
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