French

ACIS in 60 seconds

I am planning a new trip! It will be with the ACIS tour company to Paris and Madrid during spring break 2013.  This trip will be open to all French students and Spanish students at Rockridge High School, and their parents.  We will leave on March 29, 2013 and return on April 6, 2013.  You can visit the ACIS website to find out more. Go to www.acis.com and use my last name (FLAUGHER) and the trip group ID number 9570 to learn more.  I will be having an informational parents meeting on Wednesday, March 14th, at 6:00 pm. in the French classroom (next to the HS office) for all those who are interested.  All those who register by April 1, 2012 will get a $100 discount on their trip.  We will only travel if we have at least 6 people (not counting me).  If we don’t get 6 people, all the deposits and payments will be refunded.  I hope to see you at the upcoming parents meeting!

Video of an ACIS Tour Guide: Lucy

Interview with teacher: Why she uses ACIS for travel with students

Welcome - Bienvenu! I am very much looking forward to a new year and new students in French.  Feel free to contact me any time about anything you may have a question or a concern.

-Madame Flaugher

All students need to bring to class daily

• blue or black pen, or a pencil (orange, purple, green, gold (etc) colored inks are not allowed)
• clean-tear lined paper
• a sturdy pocket folder just to keep French handouts organized
• a three-ring binder with a section set apart for French
• any book(s) we are currently using

Advanced French students in French III and French IV also need

• a good French-English / English -French Dictionary (I recommend Larousse with 130,000 translations)

Optional recommended (but not required) items for advanced French students

• a Cuthbertson verb wheel
• a verb book of irregular French verbs

Mrs. Flaugher is organizing an informational meeting on Thursday night, September 30, 2010 for all those students and parents who may be interested in going to Europe in the spring of 2012. Come at 6:30 to the French room (next to the high school office) to find out more. If you are interested but cannot come, please call Mrs. Flaugher or email her ASAP to let her know. Most tours run around $2800-$3100, and if we begin saving now, we can save monthly and make it quite manageable!

In the Lycée

Our whole group at the American Cemetery in Normandy

We had a wonderful trip to France in early June. We left from the Moline airport and scheduled a day in Paris on our way to the northwest of France to visit our pen pals.  In Paris, it rained, but we did get up the Eiffel Tower, rode the métro and saw the Arc de Triomphe.  Once in Brest, we visited their school and had a ball with our host families and new friends. We had a day trip to the D-Day beaches at Normandy, the American cemetery, and the cathedral at Mont-Saint-Michel.  We also had a day trip to the Isle de Molène, and saw several medieval castles, an aquarium, and went strawberry picking. It was a terrific experience for everyone!

Our new French friends were very sweet and kind. They have invited us all back whenever we can come again, to stay with them for a longer time period.  We were received at the Mayor’s office of Brest (the city is the size of Denver, Colorado), and were also warmly welcomed by the superintendent. Their high school has over 4,000 students.

Mrs. Flaugher makes a crêpe

This was an amazing experience for the students who really got to use their French in a real-life way, who got to make friends with French families and learn of the culture first-hand.  I was delighted with the growth and maturity shown by each of the Rockridge students, and look forward to learning more about their unforgettable moments in class as the year starts.

Our exchange experience in March and April 2009 was a big success.  We hosted twelve students from Brest, France, and their two teachers in our homes for ten days.  We welcomed them with a taco dinner, and then we (with the help of Marcia Winter and many volunteer parents) took them around our area. They visited the Putnam museum, IMAX theater, Augustana College, local farms, Muscatine, the “Bridge to Nowhere”, John Deere Pavillion, a QC Flames game and went to lunch and a radio station interview in Aledo.  They also spent two days at school with us, going to classes and eating lunch in the school cafeteria.  They have presented our school with a ceramic piece typical of the Breton area, and they were thrilled with all they saw and did here.  On the weekend, we had some unexpected late spring snow. Some were at a slumber party and had a barefoot snowball fight.  We also took everyone, (all the French and all the Americans studying French) to Chicago on April 1st, where we visited the Science and Industry Museum, went to the Hancock Building obervatory and went shopping on Michigan Avenue.  The hit of their shopping was Levi jeans, which are much cheaper here than what they pay for them in France.  They also felt that our 30 minute lunch periods were “crazy” and that they can’t wait to show us around their area in June.  Mrs. Flaugher will take five students to stay in their homes for 10 days in June.

We will be doing an exchange this year!

In March 2009, we will be welcoming twelve students from Brest, France to our area. They will stay in the homes of the French students here.  They’ll have two teachers with them. Mme Monique Peres-LeRoy and Mme Vanessa Bertic will stay in Mrs. Flaugher’s house.

They will arrive on the evening of March 24th, and will stay for 10 days. They will be in school with us on Wednesday and Thursday March 25th and 26th. They will attend classes opened up to them so that they can experience what an American high school is like.  To see their schedule at school for those two days, see the “School Schedule” attachment.  Then, they will go on field trips during the days of the rest of their time here. They will go to the Putnam Museum, IMAX, a local radio station, Augustana College and other interesting things.  In the evenings, we hope to have several activities that they can do WITH the Rockridge teens like Michael’s Sports World, a QC Flames game, a school softball game and a Scavenger Hunt at North Park mall.  They will fly back to France on April 3rd.

All the visiting students and teachers will join all the Rockridge French students on a day trip to Chicago. We will visit the Science and Industry Museum, go up to the Observatory of the Hancock Building, and do a little shopping. We hope to become true friends with these visitors.

Then, in June, Mrs. Flaugher will take a group of Rockridge students to go visit these same kids. We will leave on June 9th and stay ten days there. We will stay in their homes and go to their school. They will take us around their area to see their local attractions. We will even take a day trip to the island cathedral of Mont St. Michel and to see the D-Day beaches at Normandy. We will also have a brief day in Paris.  We will fly back home on June 18th.

Join us on some of our activities, and get to know some of these visitors!