Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Required Materials:
Looseleafpaperornotebook
WritingUtensil
Afolderorbindertokeepnotesandhandoutsin
AnExpomarker(anycolorthatisvisiblefromadistance)
Iamsogladyouhavedecidedtotakethisclass!.OurgoalforthisclasswillbetoacquiretheSpanishlanguage.
Thereisabigdifferencebetweenlearningandacquiringanewlanguage.Acquiringissomethingthathappensto
youinsteadofsomethingthatyoumakehappen.Whenyoubegantospeakyourfirstlanguage,you
acquired
it
naturallybylisteningtootherpeoplespeakitaroundyouforalongtime;notbystudyingit.Therefore,almostallof
ourclasstimewillbespentusingSpanish-notEnglishtotalkaboutSpanish-andthefocuswillbeonlisteningand
readinginsteadofspeakingandwriting.ThoseskillswillcomenaturallyasyoutakeinmoreandmoreSpanishby
listeningandreading.
Wewillfocusourclasstimeontheacquisitionofhighfrequencystructures(themostfrequentlyusedwordsina
language);betweenthreeandsixnewtargetstructureseachweek.(Youwillacquiremorethanthis,butyouwillbe
assessedonlyonthetargetstructures.)Wewillusethesestructuresinclassdiscussions,stories,andcultural
explorations.Youwillbeexpectedtorecognizethemwhenyoureadorhearthemand,intime,beabletoproduce
theminspeechandwriting.Beforetheendoftheyear,youwillreadonetotwonovelsinSpanish,astimeallows.
Evaluation
ThisclasswillusethestandardHallsvilleHighSchoolgradingscaleandthefollowingisabreakdownofeachsemester
grade:
Participation
10%
Classwork
20%
Assessments
60%
FinalExam
10%
Participation
Participationpointswillbeawardedforsatisfactorycompletionofdailywarm-upsandgeneralclassparticipation.
Class Work
Mostassignmentswillbecompletedinclass,henceclasswork.Classworkwillbegradedforaccuracy,notjust
completion.Youwillbegivenampletimetocompleteeachassignment,butifextrahelp/timeisneeded,expectto
comeintoacademicsupportormakearrangementstostayafterschool.
Assessments
Quizzesandprojectswillmakeuptheassessmentscategory.MostquizzeswillbeUNANNOUNCED.Itisimportant
formetoknowwhatSpanishyouhaveacquired,notwhatSpanishyouhavecrammedintoyourmindthenightbefore
aquiz.Projectswillhappenoccasionallythroughouttheyear,withsomeclasstimegiventoworkonthem.
Speaking Policy
MuchofthecoursewillbeconductedinSpanishandyouwillbeexpectedtocommunicateinthelanguageassuch.IfI
askyouaquestioninSpanish,IexpectananswerinSpanish.iFyouMUSTsaysomethinginEnglish,youmustfirst
ask,Eningls,porfavor?(InEnglish,please?)
Electronics Policy
Youshouldhaveallelectronicsturnedoffandputawaybeforeenteringmyclass.
Absence Policy
Yourclasswillspendalmostanhoureachdayacquiringlanguage(theeasyway!)andyoumayhavetospendasimilar
amountoftimeathomeorinacademicsupporttomakeupwhatyoumissed.Checkwithmeonyourfirstdayback
toseewhatworkneedstobemadeup.