Class information 2012

Phone:  240-236-4429

Email:  nissa.quill@fcps.org

Bienvenidos! Bienvenus! Welcome to the 2011- 2012 school-year at Walkersville Middle. 

Please check below for information on my French and Spanish classes. Diarios de Estudios/ Journal d'Etudes.

(Homework) My French and Spanish classes have altnernating workbook and study diary assignments every night.

Please Click on your Class below to link to the assignment calendar for that class.

The calendars to the right reflect the assignments, but if you find them difficult to read, please use the links below.

A-days French II (Violet),   Spanish I(7th grade-Verde),and French I(8th grade-Bleu)

B-days French I (7th and 8th grade) and French II (8th grade)

HOMEWORK IS ON TIME IF TURNED IN ON THE DUE DATE, OR ON THE DAY AFTER THE DUE DATE.

Helpful Links Edmodo.com webpage http://www.edmodo.com/  
This page is a networking page kind of like Facebook with a special page for each class. The class names relate to the subject taught and the color assigned to the class.  I have given each class a sticker with all the login information needed for each of the pages. For edmodo, they have a class code they use to make sure that their username is connected with the class in which I teach them. Their will be links to quia.com assignments from this page and students should turn their online work in by posting it on the edmodo page for their class.

Quia.com webpage- http://www.quia.com/profiles/nquill
 This page has games and activities relating to each chapter of the text for each class. The class names relate to the subject taught, plus the period and day (a or b) when I teach the class.  Before the first chapter test, I will provide each student with login information on this site, but they can use it without logging in.

 French textbook-   http://my.hrw.com/
This page is the login for the French I and French II online textbook "Bien Dit". All the materials in the text, audio, video, and music are available online here as well as pages from the workbook. Student were provided with a login and password. Please let me know if they need to receive the information again.

Spanish I and Spanish II textbook-   https://www.pearsonsuccessnet.com/snpapp/login/login.jsp
Students were given a special class code to use when creating their own login. All the materials in the text, audio, video, and worksheet pages are available online here. Please let me know if your student needs their login information again.

Spanish I and Spanish II music (hip hop songs)  and other resources to accompany the Realidades text. - http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=jck&wcsuffix=0001
Students can access this page without any login. I will be updating my page shortly with more details. Please email me or check back soon if you have any questions.

My Montage 5/29/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Memorial Day Parade 5/29/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

Woodsboro MD is the last town in Frederick County to have a Memorial Day Parade

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Poll - En Francais

Build television sms voting polls at Poll Everywhere

Eighth Grade Slideshow

8th grade Slideshow

Each year we enjoy watching our 8th graders mature into High School students. We love to celebrate their path and their progress. The end of the Eighth Grade year offers a special opportunity to share and celebrate with pictures and music.

We are asking each Eighth Grade student to participate in the annual Eighth Grade Slide-show by submitting  two pictures. This is a themed slide-show and the pictures must go along with the theme.

The theme is "watching you grow" and the students must submit a photo of themselves at age 6 or younger, then another present-day picture of themselves holding the first picture.

Students will view last year's slide-show at school so that they will understand what types of photos are appropriate.

There are two ways to submit photos:

1. Email the two photos as email attachments (jpeg is preferred) to Nissa Quill at nissa.quill@fcps.org. Save the photos with your child's full name and put your child's full name and the words "eighth grade slide-show pictures" in the subject line. (ex. "jane smith eighth grade slide-show pictures"). The better quality the photo, the better they will look in the slide-show.

 OR

2. Send the childhood photo to school with your child on  May 5th (Career Day) OR May 27th (Unity Day Spring Carnival)  and they will have their childhood picture scanned and the second photo will be taken of them holding the childhood picture. This will be done after the Career Day presentations on May 5th or during the Unity Day Spring Carnival celebration on May 27th.


The final product will be played for our students before/during the Eighth Grade picnic in June and will be made available online through onetruemedia.com. After the picnic, you can view, download, or purchase a dvd of the slide-show through the website.

Que Pasa? Qu'est-ce qui ce passe?

What's going on? We are preparing for CRES tests next week in French I and Spanish I. Spanish students also have to turn in their country projects.

Finally, students will take the chapter assessment in the computer lab on Wednesday or Thursday.

Please see the Agenda to the right of this page for details.

Generation T.E.X.T.O

Quebec Trip!

I am planning a meeting for next week after school to discuss the Quebec trip. We still have places open for people to come on the trip. Please email me if you want information earlier.

Meeting time: 6pm
Place: WMS Media Center
Date: Tuesday, March 1

I expect the meeting to last about 1 hour.

Conjuguemos! Let's Conjugate! Allons Conjuguer!

(Scroll down for French I info)

For Spanish I, if you need help with memorizing vocabulary or accessing current lists. There are a couple of places and the student doesn't need a password for either.

http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=jck&wcsuffix=0001

That one is a page of resources that go with the textbook, go to chapter 2b and you can access a pdf that says "repaso del capitulo"

The next one is really cool.It's a third party site, but some lovely person uploaded and created vocab practice for each of our chapters. I highly recommend the student try to do the graded vocab quiz... he'll be asked to spell it over and over until he/she gets it right.

STudents can print flashcards and do other activities. Any of these that he/she does will count for extra credit as long as either a parent signs the study diary saying the student did it, or he/she prints it out and brings it in to me.

http://conjuguemos.com/home/docs/php/public_activity.php?do=display_options&id=116

The above link takes you to the current chapter in Spanish I, but you can go from there to activities for other chapters or,


If you are in French I... you can access your current chapter at:

http://conjuguemos.com/home/docs/php/public_activity.php?do=display_options&id=1524
- Show quoted text -

Happy Friday!

Just a few helpful hints for my students:

Memorizing the spelling of words can be difficult. Here are some helpful hints on how to memorize words for your mini-quizzes.

First, use more than one method. IF you are one of the few students who are regularly making 100% on your quizzes, keep up the good work. If not, your current method of studying probably isn't working for you and you need to try something new.

Second, investigate what has made other people successful. If you know someone who makes better grades than you, ask them how they study and maybe even ask them to practice with you.

Third, use these links to find new methods that might help:

Specific steps for one method that involves flash cards:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4844924_memorize-vocabulary-words-ace-test.html

A list of methods for students:

http://www.brighthub.com/education/homework-tips/articles/35503.aspx

A video about how to learn languages:

http://www.videojug.com/interview/memorizing-vocabulary-and-languages

A list of steps to help memorize spelling words:

http://www.auburn.edu/~murraba/spelling.html

Handy hints for one more method of studying:

http://www.spelling.hemscott.net/mem1.html

Scholastic offers two fun ways of learning your spelling words:

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/spelling.htm

Snow Day Activities

Please check out your parent's email and quia.com page. I sent information on extra credit and review activities for you to do during your snow day!

Take some time off from texting or playing "Call of Duty" and do something for yourself- learn some more French or Spanish and improve your grade!

Also, don't forget to get some exercise... it's not good for you to sit around all day. If you do go outside, stay warm... and try making a weather video. I did a couple of them last year during the double blizzard. Some students did their own and got extra credit for them... if you scroll back through the blog entries to last year, you can watch mine and get some ideas.

Have fun!

Preparing for High School!

I am trying to prepare the kids for the High School experience they will be having next year. The current freshman are struggling a little bit with the volume of work and the speedier pace of classes. We want to see our students comfortable, confident, and succesful at WHS. We are trying to ease our eighth graders into the study and homework habits they will need when they arrive at WHS. Many students are saying that they felt unprepared for some of the new standards such as not having their late homework accepted, having to study or do homework every night in order to maintain a "b" average, and not being able to re-take tests.

My students will be having a homework assignment of some kind every night from now on, and late work (for homework only) will not be accepted. Any homework not done, forgotten, or lost will be entered as a zero and will remain a zero.(This does not apply to absences. If a student is absent, he /she should turn in their work upon their return. If a student is absent when an assignment is given he/she has the standard amount of time to make it up.) Please let me know if you need any information on what your child should be doing at home. You can check the Spanish or French Agenda here on my blog for updates and specific assignments.

Students have just completed their mid-term exams and within the next week you will be receiving a recommendation form to guide you in deciding your child's placement for next year. I will email you again when those go home and students will be expected to have them signed and return them to me.

French Snow Day Extra Credit

Please follow the directions and post a comment IN ENGLISH to this blog to get extra credit. Please remember to post anonymously and to put your Lions ID (Lions and then the last four digits of your student id.) on your post.

French Classes:

Follow the links. For each, note in your post which holiday you think it celebrates.

1. Greeting card One

2. Card Two

3. Card Three

4. Card Four


5. Card Five

6. Card Six

7. Card Seven

8. Card Eight

9. Card Nine

10. Card Ten

Mid-Term Review and Exam

Students have been going through an intense period of work and review. This is a time when students should take advantage of review to catch up on things they missed the first time around.

Students have had time every day to work on the review packet they have been assigned. We have divided it up into sections and are doing a few pages every day and night. Please check the Agenda on the right of my blog for a more detailed description of assignments and due dates.

Each students has also received copies of the vocabulary lists for each chapter and has been assigned study diary assignments to help them review. For accountability purposes, they then take a vocabulary "mini-quiz" to assess the effectiveness of their study techniques.

The mid-term is a county exam. It is used to provide feedback to teachers, students, and parents about the progress students have made. In addition, we use the test to assess the effectiveness of instruction and student study habits. Students will receive a recommendation from me as to whether or not they will be prepared for Spanish or French II based on their current grades in class and on the mid-term. With a few exceptions, regular completion of homework and good study habits are the most reliable predictor of success in the next level.