AP Spanish
Language and culture

assignments and Plans

AP Spanish - Assignments & Plans

COURSE MATERIALS*

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Español AP – Course Materials

Course Syllabus

A Description of the Course

This course is designed to improve students’ Spanish-language abilities in the three main modes of communication (the interpersonal, interpretive and presentational modes) by honing their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills.

The course prepares students for the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam. It therefore focuses on the following six themes in an interdisciplinary fashion: Families and Communities, Personal and Public Identities, Beauty and Aesthetics, Science and Technology, Contemporary Life, Global Challenges.

Throughout the course, a variety of authentic written and audiovisual materials are used and students will complete a year-long project about a Spanish-speaking country that will focus on a wide variety of topics and that will be presented to the class.

The course is conducted almost exclusively in Spanish, offering an immersion-style experience. It is approximately equivalent to a third-semester university language course.

As this is a is skills-based course, and not content-based, it  will be necessary for students to practice the language outside  of the classroom frequently and on a regular basis.

Some Expectations

As this is a university-level course, it is expected that students:

- - speak only in Spanish during the class (or ask permission to speak in English).
  - make sure to participate frequently in class discussions.
  - dedicate ample time to their studies/work (that is, not wait until the last minute).
  - arrive to class with the work completed and ready to learn.
  - maintain organized notes on culture, vocabulary and grammar.
  - find ways to use Spanish outside of the classroom (see the suggestions below).
  - ask for help when they don’t understand something, from the teacher or another student.

Some Policies

Sometimes it’s necessary to miss a class. In that case, the work that was due for that class must be turned in the next day of class. In the majority of situations, the work for the next class should still be done on time. It will also be necessary to do all that was done in class on that day. There may be exceptions to this policy, but only after consulting with the teacher.

In the case of daily homework, overdue (late) work will not be accepted. For longer assignments, it will be possible to turn them in late, with with a grade reduction of 10% per day (up to 50%). No assignment will be accepted after two weeks have passed, nor will any assignment be accepted after the end of the quarter (marking period). Even though the class only meets every other day, the days that we do not have class will count as days for the grade reduction; it is always possible to turn in overdue work before/after the school day on those days.

For some assignments, it will be possible to improve your score. Vocabulary and grammar quizzes can be retaken, after meeting with the teacher either before or after school; the maximum grade will be a 90%. After receiving comments on the argumentative essays, it will be possible to improve the grade by explaining the errors that were made (see the description of the argumentative essays below for more details). The score for other assignments will NOT be able to be improved, including the score on practice exams. However, for every unit of study, there are opportunities for extra credit (see the description of extra credit activities below).

Electronic devices (e.g. cell phones) can only be used with the express permission of the teacher, as at times an electronic dictionary may be used (though NOT a translator). THE USE OF A TRANSLATOR is equivalent to ACADEMIC DISHONESTY and may result in a zero.

Attendance & Preparedness

By the start of class, you should be in your seat and ready-to-go, with all necessary materials.
- By the time the bell rings, all phones and electronics should already be stored away.
- For any Zoom meetings, this means that you are logged in and ready-to-go by the start time.
Part of being prepared is arriving with your school-issued Chromebook, with a charged battery!
- You should also have your own, personal headphones/earbuds to use for watching video lessons.
Any missed work must be made up promptly. Generally, this would be double the time you were out.
If you know you will be out for an extended time, please let me know at least 1 week in advance.

Behavior Expectations

First and foremost, RESPECT for yourself, your classmates, our classroom and the teacher is vital!
You are expected to speak only when appropriate and to do so in an appropriate manner.
It is important to have a positive attitude and to encourage your classmates. Mistakes are good!
Our class is a place of tolerance and acceptance. Absolutely no put-downs or hurtful comments!
You are expected to keep your hands, feet and objects to yourself. If it isn’t yours, don’t touch it!
Electronic devices of any sort are prohibited unless express permission is given to use them!

Electronics Policy

Electronic devices may be used only with the teacher’s permission. There will be times that cell phones are permitted, either for the completion of specific tasks or to access online dictionaries and reference materials. When devices are out for academic work, they are to be used only for that task or assignment. At no time may students use their devices to send text messages, use social media or take pictures or videos. Violation of this policy may result in the loss of privileges to use the device in the future.

The use of any device without permission will result in disciplinary action.

Suggestions for Improving Proficiency

This is a non-exhaustive list of suggestions to improve your Spanish proficiency:

read the news in Spanish, be it local news, national news or international news
read short stories or poetry in Spanish; the teacher can always provide you with more literature
listen to the radio or podcasts in Spanish; look for a podcast about a topic that interests you
watch TV series or movies in Spanish (rewatch those you already like, but dubbed)
listen to music in Spanish and look up and read the lyrics of the songs that you like

You should try to do at least one of these things each day (or, at minimum, 4-5 days a week).

Assignments & Grading

Homework Exercises – 2 pts. Each

Homework exercises indicated on the daily plans will be worth  2 points each (if there are five exercises, they will be worth a total of 10 points). This includes textbook exercises (and literature exercises) as well as grammar activities in the SAM. The exercises must be done  on paper (hand-written) and should be clearly labeled/numbered. They will not be accepted late.

'Examen de práctica' exercises – 30 pts.

Parts A and B of the ‘Examen de práctica’ exercises from the SAM will be worth 10 points total; these parts can be done directly on their respective worksheets. The email (for homework) must be hand-written, using every other line and only one side of the sheet of paper; it will be worth 10 points. Part D (the speaking activity) must be recorded and uploaded to Google Classroom before the start of class and will be worth 10 points. Parts A and B will not be accepted late.

Expansion Activities – 10 pts.

For each unit, there is a list of possible expansion activities. It will be necessary to complete one of the activities listed by Day 6 of each unit. It must be done by hand (not typed).

Extra Credit Activities – 5 pts. each

It will be possible to complete up to THREE additional expansion activities per unit; each one will be worth five points of extra credit (meaning that there is a maximum of 15 points of extra credit per unit). The due date for the activities is the end of the quarter associated with the unit (the 1st quarter, we study units 1-3; the 2nd quarter, units 4-6; the 3rd quarter, units 7-9; and the 4th quarter, unit 10). They must be done by hand (not typed).

Vocab/Grammar Quizzes – 15 pts. each

For each unit, there will be a vocabulary quiz worth 15 points; it will be based on the two lists of “Vocabulario útil” in the textbook found in the “Lectura cultural” and “En contexto” sections, with two extra credit questions on the vocabulary from the “Vocabulario útil” list in the “Literatura” section. There will also be a grammar quiz worth another 15 points; it will be based on the pages of the textbook on the “Estructura” of the language, with two extra credit questions about the “Para hispanohablantes” content.

Mini-Presentations – 15 pts.

Once per marking period on the second day of each unit, students will give a mini-presentation about one of the “Temas de presentación oral” found on the first page of the unit in the textbook (or on an additional topic suggested by the teacher). The duration of the presentations will be different for each unit (see the daily plans below). It will be necessary to include a cultural comparison in the presentations, between the Hispanic culture that the presentation is about and culture of the community in which we live. The presentation must have one slide (on Google Slides), turned in on Google Classroom by the start of the class of the presentation. The students will be permitted to have notes, but it is expected that the students do NOT read directly from their notes when presenting (one should practice the presentation ahead of time).

Mini-Compositions – 10 pts.

For each unit, each student will write a mini-composition (from 5 to 7 sentences) about one of the “Temas de composición” found on the first page of the unit in the textbook. The compositions will have to be hand-written, using every other line and only one side of the sheet of paper. In the heading of the first page, first and last names and the title “Mini-composición #” should be included

Argumentative Essays – 25 pts.

At the end of each unit, an argumentative essay will be written on the topic indicated in the “Integración” section of the textbook. The essay will be based on a total of three sources of information, two written and one auditory; it's necessary to include information from each of the three sources. The length of the essay will be different for each unit (see the daily plans below). As these are argumentative essays, it will be necessary to take a point of view and argue why it is believed to be the ‘correct’ one.

The essays will have to be hand-written, using every other line and only one side of the sheet of paper. In the heading of the first page, first and last names and the title “Ensayo argumentativo #” should be included.

It will be possible to improve the grade of an argumentative essay. You will need to meet with the teacher (either before or after school) to review it. Then, you will have to write an ‘explanation of errors’ in which it is explained why each numbered error is an error (it is not a matter of correcting the errors - the teacher will have already provided the corrections). Each well-explained error will count for one additional point (up to 25 pts., a 100%); in order to receive any additional points, it will be necessary to explain *all* of the errors (not just those needed to get to a 100%).

Participation – 25 pts. / unit

Each student will receive a participation grade at the end of each marking period that will be based on a rubric that the teacher will provide to the students. At the end of each unit, the students will reflection on their participation and will complete a self-evaluation using the rubric. The teacher will take the students’ self-evaluations into account when assigning them the grade.

In the event that a student is absent, it will be necessary to complete all of the work that appears in the plan for that day (not just the homework assignments). If they are not done, 5 pts. per day absent will be taken off the participation grade for the marking period.

Practice Exams – 30 pts.

After every three units, and once again after Unit 10, a practice exam will be taken in the format of the AP exam. For the first three exams, some resources provided by the teacher will be able to be used. These practice exams will be graded using the AP scale, from 1 to 5, which will result in the following grades: 5 = 30 pts., 4 = 28 pts., 3 = 25 pts., 2 = 23 pts., y 1 = 20 pts. The score that students receive on one of the practice exams is indicative of how they would score on the AP Exam if they were to take it that day.

Final Culture Project: Web Pages – 10 pts. / unit

The homework on days that practice tests are taken will be to finish the final culture project web pages associated with the previous three units. (That is, by the first day of Unit 4, the web pages associated with Units 1, 2 and 3 should have already been completed.) Instructions on what to include on each page will already be on their respective pages. Often this part of the project consists of first researching certain information and/or finding an article/video and summarizing it. Then, many pages will also have an analysis question related to the topic.

Every web site used for the project should be listed on the “fuentes consultadas” (“consulted sources”, in English) page.

Final Culture Project: Presentation – 50 pts.

Shortly after finishing unit 10, Final Culture Project presentations will take place; they will be worth 30 points. They will consist of explaining to the class the most important/interesting information on each page of the site.

After the presentations, each student will have to answer questions about other students web sites in a ‘webquest’-style activity worth 20 points. Moreover, everyone will be able to access all of the websites after the presentation day in order to be able to study them.

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AP Spanish Language and culture