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These particular guidelines are for the Spanish 1, 2 & 3 classes. cspitler@lcusd.net 818-952-4200 x 7114 Website: www.srspitler.com; notices will also be given on Classroom Office hours: Mon., Wed, Fri. 7:15 A.M.- 8:00 Materials: Text- Descubre 3--; notebook; pen or pencil Prerequisite for Spanish 3-- a grade of 70% or better received in Spanish 2. If you are a native speaker or have taken extra preparation, the department offers a placement test. You must pass this test, with a minimum grade of 80%, written and orally, to advance to a next level. Bienvenidos a Español. I hope that you gain a lot from this class, and that you'll be able to take some valuable, usable knowledge away from this class. I am excited about sharing this great language with you, because, like with any knowledge you acquire, I believe knowing Spanish will open up many doors for you. You will hear me use the same terms throughout the year, both in English and in Spanish. One of them is: “Todo es Energia; Everything is Energy.” What kind of energy will you bring to this class, to your work? If you bring high energy, I believe you will obtain high results. Another term is this: “Your Thoughts lead to your Actions, which lead to your Results.” Your attitude and how you choose to see things and explore will determine your success. YOU are responsible for your education. I will give you my energy and share with you my knowledge, and I need you to be open and committed to putting forth your energy into doing the best you can in all of your work. I intend for us to bring high energy together to bring about positive results. A level ten is the highest energy you can gather. A level one means you have a pulse, barely. I will give you plenty of repetition of material and we’ll practice our knowledge in a variety of ways. For the best results, you really need to practice outside of class. There will be plenty of speaking, reading, listening to and writing of the language that we practice in class, but you need to spend concentrated time every day to practicing the following: conjugation, memorizing vocabulary, verbally practicing with classmates or friends outside of class. I am available for extra help before school, or can suggest tutoring possibilities with advanced students. I will evaluate you based on the following criteria: Oral quizzes and tests; written quizzes and tests; participation in class, (a FEW) special projects and your final exams. There will be opportunities for bonus points, mainly in the area of participation. Positive participation is key in this class. Please obtain the textbooks, Descubre 2 and Descubre 3 as soon as possible. Also, have your Chromebook or laptop with you every day. Esp. 1, 2 & 3--Your grade will be broken down in these areas: Participation, in-class work 20%, Assessments: 65% (Tests, 45%; Quizzes, 20%) Final (semester) Exam 15% Grade break down and values: A: 93%-100% A-: 90-92.99% B+: 88-89.99% B: 83-87.99% B-: 80-82.99% C+: 78-79.99% C: 73-77.99% C-: 70-72.99% D+: 68-69.99% D: 63-67.99% D-: 60-62.99% Participation: This will include being prepared with your textbook and notebook with you for every class, and sitting in your seat when the bell rings. You need to be on task, speaking with your seat partners or working on exercises. I will cover pages in the text regarding vocabulary and grammar; if you cannot even attempt to answer questions based on work we have covered in class, that has been repeated, you will lose points that day. Also, I give warm up exercises that are a review of presented material, or I will ask you to respond to questions. I intend for you to be working on this and not doing other work or reading other material, and you especially should NOT be visiting with your classmates when the bell rings. I will also ask you to work with other classmates, to move around the room, to take a role in all parts of the lesson. If you are not participating when I need you to, and you disrupt the flow of the lesson, this will hurt your participation grade. ** Coming to class late will affect your participation grade. I do not give homework. I do, however, give pop quizzes, which almost always involve new vocabulary I have asked you to learn, or conjugations. ***You MUST review vocabulary and conjugations every day; focused concentration and study for 15 minutes each day should be enough to be prepared for a quiz. If you are absent from a class, there is a binder on the shelf under the cabinets, entitled Trabajo Perdido, which will include notes over what we covered in class, and there is a tray next to that book containing handouts given in class. You should look in the binder first, and if the notes are not clear, then you can ask me what was covered/missed. Oral Tests: In Spanish 2 and 3, you will have an oral test every few weeks on material we have covered and you will be evaluated on pronunciation, oral comprehension and aural (listening) comprehension and use of grammar. You will receive a rubric to take home and keep so that you know what is expected of you. ***Assessments: Written and oral quizzes on vocabulary, grammar and writing skills will be given at least once a week. Sometimes you might be asked to write short papers or paragraphs on a particular topic. There will be a test on material covered in a chapter (approximately every 3-4 weeks) and it will include understanding of vocabulary, grammar, listening skills and an oral component. There will be a quarterly exam at the end of every 10 weeks over 3 chapters, in addition to a final semester exam over 6 chapters. A sample portion of a test is included in this syllabus. I will go over in class what will be on each test. It is up to YOU to take notes in class. I will give you sample test questions before each test; sometimes the exact same questions will be from the test, sometimes the questions will be similar to the test questions. I will do my best to put important notes on Classroom. Tests include writing, matching, multiple choice, short-answer and orally spelling vocabulary. Spelling is important. One letter or accent can change a word’s meaning. If a word is spelled wrong, even one letter, it’s marked wrong, though one letter off will generally result in a half point being taken off. Assessments and their review comply with and pertain to current school board policy. If you have further questions, you may talk to me privately. ***CITIZENSHIP: I intend for you to be thoughtful, respectful, courteous people --to me, to one another. Occasionally one might lapse into immature, thoughtless behavior. As I said above, your attitude is key to everything. I am committed to a safe learning environment. To me, being in a safe environment means total respect for everyone-- me, your classmates, and any visitors. ****(A) Deep down, we all want to be treated respectfully. We don’t like to be called names, or physically hurt or bullied. Treat everyone the way you ideally want to be treated. Hint: If you wouldn’t use language or behavior in front of the King of Spain, you don’t say it or do it in the classroom. * This is your one warning. I have found very few people who are, in fact, disrespectful. IF you are, you will be spending time with me outside of class, writing essays about how you can improve your attitude, and a possible visit to the assistant Principal of Discipline might be in the cards too. ***Academic Honesty: You are expected to demonstrate honesty and integrity while in attendance at La Cañada High School. You are expected to do your own work. The following are some examples of cheating: claiming credit for work that is not the product of one's own honest effort (e.g. copying homework answers from any source; creating a composition and using any online or offline program to translate sentences or the entire piece; copying in the target language a composition and modifying it to fit the assignment's requirements; cutting and pasting any material - translated or not - and submitting it as your own work; answering a test question by directly quoting another portion of the exam or quiz). Students who cheat will receive a “0”on the assignment and a “U” on the citizenship grade for the quarter. Consequences of violations will be determined based on the Academic Honesty Policy. Consult the Academic Honesty Policy for further explanations and repercussions. Students who cheat should expect to be confronted by their teacher or staff member observing this behavior and be subject to the following consequences: 1. Zero on the assignment or test 2. Notification of parents 3. Establishment of a cheating record with the office of Discipline 4. The student may be referred to the Student Honor Court Academically allowable work includes the following: 1. Use of a dictionary (online or offline) to look up single words within the context of a sentence which you personally have constructed. 2. Within a composition, referencing ideas from another source. This must be cited (at a very minimum, mentioning the name of the source within your work), and, unless using quotation marks, must be rephrased in your own words. 3. Answering a test question by referencing ideas from another source rephrased in your own words. Departmental Technology Policy: We, as a faculty, believe that in order to effectively educate students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, communicators and collaborators in the 21st century, we should require that they use technology responsibly. Recognizing that this modern technology tempts us with more and more compelling distractions, we do see the need for some regulation. The goal, therefore, of our technology policy has to be to encourage students to use technology in the classroom solely as a learning tool. Technology misuse disrupts class goals and will not be tolerated. Any infractions will result in consequences described in our school’s cell phone policy. The following are examples of ways that technology should/will not be used in the classroom:
*** I do not allow the unauthorized use of any electronic devices in class (unauthorized means, I have not specifically instructed you to use your cell phones or laptop for research purposes)--NO cell phones, i-pods, ear pods, etc. shall be used unless I instruct you to use it. If a cell phone goes off ONCE, I will most likely give a warning, but I might possibly take it and give it back after class. If a phone goes off a second time, I will take it and give it to the office. If you text, I will take the phone away and give it to Ms. Kalb that day. ***(C) Consequences: From this point on, if you show disrespect in the classroom, you will first receive a verbal warning and detention with me after school and a call to your parents/guardians. If you persist in negative behavior, you will receive a referral to the Assistant Principal. Any first detention received will give you an automatic “NS” for citizenship. If you resume consistent courteous, respectful behavior, your citizenship mark will revert to an “S.” Any subsequent detentions will result in a “U” for citizenship. I don’t plan on any of you making it to that point. Tardiness: I understand that you might rarely have organizational problems and perhaps a logistic problem that might prevent you from getting to class on time. If you are coming from another class or the office, get a note from the teacher or office administrative assistant. You are allowed three unexcused tardies with a warning. Four unexcused tardies gives you a “U” in citizenship. If you forget your materials, you have the choice of getting them before the bell, or, adding to your tardy count. Again, if you forget your materials, you will receive minus participation points. Sample assessment questions (I will give many more examples the day or days before a test. PAY ATTENTION and TAKE NOTES!) Esp. 2&3-- You will need to know a lot of synonyms in Spanish. Por ejemplo, Otra palabra para un grupo musical es_____________ (conjunto) Espero que ella (a) lleve un paraquas' b) lleva un paraquas. The correct answer is "a" lleve, because we are using the phrase Espero que, which requires the subjunctive. You will need to know when to use the correct tense of a verb. We will study both the preterite and imperfect. You should be able to recognize key words that will alert you as to which tense to use. Por ejemplo: Yo trabajaba cuando mi hermano vino al cuarto. (the first verb is in the imperfect because it describes an action that was ongoing; "cuando" interrupts the action of working. Vino, the preterite, is used, as a "one time" occurrence. Esp. 2. Ayer yo_________________ al cine. a) voy b) fui c) fuiste d) lleve b) The answer is “b”, fui, because we are talking about going (using the verb “ir”), but more important, we are using the word “ayer”, yesterday, and therefore want to use the preterite form of “ir.” Voy is present tense; fuiste is preterite, but for the familiar second person form of "ir;" lleve is the "yo" form of the subjunctive of llevar. En el tren, el __________________es el hombre quien examina los boletos en el ______________________ (revisor--conductor) (pasillo--aisle) |
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