Rubric for Participation in French Class- French 1-3

La note / Prepared for class / Use of French / Small group / Large group / Attitude/Behavior
100 / St. always has book, pen, paper, book ready for use; in seat when bell rings with HW out; gets down to business. / St. takes every op-portunity to speak French to teacher & other students - in & out of class. / St. is always & keeps others on-task; completes activity correctly, in French. / St. can answer most chal-lenging questions correctly; uses multi-word answers; spontaneous answers correct / Enthusiastic, adds to positive learning atmosphere./
Attentive, easily changes from 1 act. to next; never disrupts, mocks; always helps others
85 / Forgets materials 1-2X; needs to be reminded to get seated, get HW out 1-2X / Tries very hard to com-municate in French; practices good accent; uses Fr. occasionally when not required / Always on-task; finishes the activity; good use of French as required / Frequently volunteers to answer using minimal Fr; occasionally can answer a more challenging question correctly / Cheerful attitude, never whines./
Mostly attentive, no more than 1X doing other work, sleeping, daydreaming, talking inappropriately.
75 / Unprepared 3-4X;
Needs to be reminded to get in seat, get work out ˂1/wk. / Uses basic French as required in class activ-ities. Works to have ac-cent be un-derstandable / Off-task 1-2X; may not finish activities because of lack of study or off-task. / St. rarely volunteers; if called-upon is able to answer most questions in minimal Fr. / Goes along w/class activities w/o complaint./
Needs to be reminded ˃1X/wk to stay on task
65 / Unprepared 5X or more; or constant-ly needs reminding to begin work. / Occasionally does not use French when required; does not try to make self understood / Student is liability in small-group setting; keeps others from completing task; off-task, wastes time, keeps group from finishing / St. rarely volunteers; if called upon, the answer is frequently incorrect. Slows down class effort. / Detracts from learning ambience thru inappropriate/negative remarks./
Disruptive, keeps others from paying attention.
50 or less / Regularly unprepared / Refuses to use French; does not try to be understood / Unable/refuses to participate due to lack of study or prep. Cannot/will not contribute to group effort / Wastes class time by not participating when required. / Wastes class time with inappropriate behavior.


Dimick- Cours de français

Information to be successful in French this year

Les notes (grades)

1.  Examens (tests): Each chapter is divided into 2 or 3 parts (étapes). There will usually be a 100 point test at the end of each part. Sometimes, 2 étapes may be grouped together for testing purposes. In addition, there will be several tests throughout the year based on the geography & culture.*

* If a test is missed, it must be made up within one week, barring outstanding circumstances.

2.  Interros (quizzes): There may be quizzes on grammatical items, culture, additional vocabulary, listening, etc. The weight of these quizzes will depend on the number of items on the quiz. Occasionally, there will be pop quizzes for 5-20 points, which may include graded listening exercises, as well as vocab & grammar review.

3.  Projets (projects): Generally, there will be a project assigned each marking period related to the units we have studied. They typically count ½ of a test grade, or 50 points.

4.  Devoirs (homework): You will have HW assigned almost every day. At the end of the MP, your HW grade will be worth 100 points. Any extra credit points that you have accumulated through classroom activities and games will be added to this grade. The maximum possible grade is 105%. Remember that your textbook is available on-line.

**In my experience, the number one reason that students get into trouble in language classes is that they do not keep up with homework. Language is a skill which requires constant practice & self-checking. A lot of actual understanding and learning happens during HW time. It is also at that time that you may realize that you don’t understand something and will be able to ask questions or get extra help before things get out of control. Don’t fall behind! Do your homework!

HW calculation: Each day when HW is checked, you will be marked HI (Handed IN) or NHI (not handed in). Only HW that is 100% completed with an honest effort at having the correct answers will count as HI. (You are not expected to have all the right answers (& I am very suspicious of those who do have all the right answers), but you are expected to have looked things up, spelled words correctly, etc. No HW is accepted late- except for absentees, of course. For each NHI you accumulate 5 points will be deducted from your HW grade.

5.  Participation: At the end of each MP, classroom participation will be worth 50 points. Attitude, behavior, willingness to speak French in & out of class, large and small group contributions, as well as preparedness for class will each be evaluated. Please refer to the Class Participation Rubric for further clarification.


Quelques règles de plus (A couple other important rules)

1.  DO NOT COME TO CLASS LATE! 3X= Detention

I admit it- I am a bit of a nut when it comes to lateness. We only have 42 minutes per day & I plan to use every second of it. People wandering in late waste class time. If you enter the room after the bell finishes ringing, you will be considered late. Three latenesses in one MP result in an assigned detention of ½ hour.

Going to the nurse or guidance (or anywhere else for that matter) during our class time is not acceptable unless there is an emergency or you have asked my permission. I always check out what you tell me.

2. . Keep your books covered and take care of them. If you have yours covered (so you can easily tell it from others, you may leave it in a designated cubby in the classroom. They cost over $60. The number one reason students have to pay for texts is from breaking the backs because of stuffing papers in them. Have them with you every day. There are no extra workbooks, so take good care of yours.

3. DO NOT use an electronic translator, your older sister who studied French in college or your neighbor who used to live in Montreal for help with your essays or projects. I intend to grade them based on what you should know at your level. It is not fair to others if you do not do your own work. Any work other than your own will be considered cheating and graded accordingly. If you feel you are not able to do the work on your own, please speak with me.

4. Respect one another. It is normal to feel anxious & occasionally foolish when learning a new language. If it were really easy, everyone would speak 6 or 7 languages, because, let’s face it, it’s cool to speak a different language- especially French. But unfortunately there are some tough spots & French pronunciation can be especially tricky in the beginning. It’s our job to try to make everyone feel as non-threatened as possible, whether it’s your easiest or hardest class. Just do your best and we all will learn a lot this year.

Required Materials

You will need to bring to class every day (unless informed otherwise)

1) Le livre de français (textbook) (Cahier d’activités or travaux pratiques, only when HW is due in them or you’ve been advised to bring them to class) otherwise

2) Le cahier avec les feuilles de papier (notebook with blank paper)

3) un stylo o crayon (pen or pencil)

4) Something to keep handouts organized in

The following would be helpful to have at home:

1) Internet access for cultural research & use of on-line text

2) Index cards & gluestick for making flashcards (for extra credit)

3) dictionary

Extra-help/Make-up work: (PC4, C117 or my classroom-D223) I am available (in theory) after school every day . I do have other duties, so please make an appointment ahead of time. That way I can make sure to have the necessary materials handy and not waste your time. My Planning Center is PC4, next to the main door of the library.