Mrs. Norton's Spanish 1A Class

Spanish 1A Course Description

The Spanish 1A curriculum, ¡Qué chévere! Level 1 is a beginner-friendly Spanish course that focuses on basic language patterns, vocabulary, and cross-cultural communication. Students develop foundational listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while exploring the diverse cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. This class immerses learners in culture, community, and communication – how Spanish is authentically experienced. With a student-centered approach to learning, this course empowers students to become proficient and confident Spanish speakers. The core course components include Real-World Communication, Cultural Immersion, and Grammar and Vocabulary.

Real-World Communication emphasizes interactive tasks, collaborative conversations, and practical speaking and writing. Cultural Immersion integrates authentic videos, art, and geography to help students compare their own culture with the Spanish-speaking world. Grammar and Vocabulary focus on essential building blocks such as present tense verbs, noun-adjective agreement, and location. Typical unit topics include: Personal Introduction - Greetings, names, numbers, and basic courtesy expressions. School and Hobbies - Talking about classes, telling time, and discussing after-school activities. People and Places - Describing personality traits, physical characteristics, family members, and community locations.

The Colorado Academic Standards for World Languages are built around four core areas (the "4 C's") designed to guide students from their first exposure to the language up to Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR). Rather than rote memorization, the standards focus on what learners can do with the language in real-world situations. The standards center on four main pillars: Communication - Communicating effectively in multiple languages for real-world purposes (Interpersonal, Interpretive, and Presentational modes). Cultures - Interacting with cultural competence and understanding. Connections - Accessing and connecting with other academic disciplines and diverse perspectives. Comparisons - Developing insight into the nature of language and culture.

Habits of Scholarship

In Mrs. Norton's Spanish 1A class, students’ character development is equally important as developing language skills. Throughout their educational journey, students are working to become effective learners, ethical people, and contributors to a better world. Perseverance, responsibility, and engagement are essential for success in school and life. Students persevere by putting forth good effort towards learning despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Students demonstrate responsibility by being on time, completing coursework, and bringing required materials to class. Students engage in learning by actively participating in classroom activities. To support the development of these skills, Mrs. Norton evaluates a student's habits of scholarship weekly (The associated scoring rubric can be found in Infinite Campus).

Grading Practices

Mrs. Norton utilizes a standards-based grading system that assesses students on their mastery of specific learning standards, rather than on points earned for individual assignments. Standards-based grading focuses on what students know and how they are progressing toward their learning goals. This grading method provides students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate success or receive enrichment, and it builds in time for redos of formative assessments and reassessments of standards. Standards-based grading separately assesses the influence of work habits on student learning. This method of grading better measures student learning, and it can also help parents understand what is expected of students. You can find out more about Cresthill Middle School's grading practices by selecting this link.

Mrs. Norton updates information in Infinite Campus on a timely basis, as this is her primary way of communicating a student's academic achievement and engagement in her class. Infinite Campus is the district-wide student information system used by Cresthill Middle School to manage student data, such as grades. In addition to in-progress grade reporting, students and parents can also view the associated learning objectives, scoring rubrics, and teacher comments in Infinite Campus.

Meet the Teacher

Before teaching Spanish, Mrs. Norton had a successful career as a biochemical scientist and computer scientist. She completed her undergraduate studies at Herman H. Lehman College in New York and at the University of Florida. She began her career in education in 2024 and has been teaching middle school Spanish in Colorado since 2026. Mrs. Norton is a native of Puerto Rico, a U.S. citizen by birth, and identifies with her distinct Caribbean heritage, Spanish language, and vibrant island culture. She is the mother of three children and the grandmother of five grandchildren. Mrs. Norton values her students as individuals and believes in their potential for growth and success. She sees her students as more than their grades and is invested in their overall well-being and future.

Contact Information

Jacqueline Norton

Spanish Teacher

Cresthill Middle School

jnorton4@dcsdk12.org