Spanish 2 CP

Spanish 2 CP 2024-2025                                                                                 Mrs. Varghese- Room L115

                                                                                                                                                 kvarghese@greenville.k12.sc.us

                                                                                                                                              (864) 355-7893

Text and Suggested Materials

3-ring binder with paper

Dividers with pockets

Pencils, pens and highlighters

Chromebook - fully charged

Supplemental handouts, digital text resources, authentic audio and music sources, and travel and culture videos

Course Description

In this semester-long course, students develop a broader understanding of culture while continuing to develop and refine language skills in the five modes of communication through interpretive listening and reading, presentational speaking and writing, interpersonal communication, investigation of cultural products and practices, understanding of cultural perspectives and participation in cultural interaction. Emphasis is placed on proficient communication in the language while studying the relevant, real-world thematic units described below. 

This course is designed for students who have completed Spanish 1 and demonstrated the ability and desire to continue study of the Spanish language. Students in this course will describe ideas in more detail and use more complex structures, building on the skills developed in Spanish 1. They will extend their language skills by becoming more accurate in the language they produce, comprehending a greater variety of texts, generating responses and initiating interactions in the language in more complete and complex ways.  They will recognize language to expand knowledge of other content areas and gain awareness of multiple viewpoints. This course prepares students to perform interpersonal, interpretive and presentational communicative tasks within the Novice High to Intermediate Low range on the ACTFL Proficiency scale.

Instructional Philosophy

In this course, students will expand their knowledge of grammatical structures as well as their ability to communicate within cultural contexts. Many of the learning activities and experiences will be based on the students’ special interests. Reports and projects will be made based on original research using contemporary articles and sources. Students will develop and express their ideas and opinions after listening to and/or reading the language using authentic sources. This class will be conducted in both English and Spanish, with students gradually being able to understand and use more Spanish as the year progresses.

Many instructional approaches will be used to help all types of learners: graphic organizers, language ladders, cooperative learning, questioning strategies (yes/no, either/or, multiple choice, short answer), Total Physical Response (TPR), surveys, reading authentic documents, listening to authentic music and other authentic audio sources, and visiting authentic websites, to name a few. Students will be actively engaged and will be expected to participate voluntarily and when called upon.  Participation does not mean always giving the correct answer, but demonstrating a willingness to try to use Spanish and a genuine attempt at learning the material or asking questions when the material is unclear. Regular attendance and participation is critical to the success in a foreign language due to continually building upon prior knowledge.

Course Assessment and Grading

All Spanish 2 classes at RHS watch two video series a couple of times a week - Extr@ for one quarter of the year and Destinos for the other quarter - and take a quiz on each episode for a grade. Episodes are available online with a link provided in Google Classroom.

Students will periodically be assessed by an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) based on the content in the unit in which they will listen and read (interpretive), speak (interpersonal) and write (presentational) in Spanish about the unit topics and within the unit context. Each of the IPA tasks will be graded as a separate major assessment. There will also be other major written tests and projects used within the units to assess student comprehension of the major vocabulary, grammatical concepts and cultural elements of the units.

In accordance with Greenville County School District:

Major assessments: 60% (tests, projects and IPA tasks - interpretive, interpersonal, presentational)

Minor assessments: 40% (quizzes,  Extr@, Destinos, mini-projects, notebook checks, etc.)

Final exam: 10% 

Final grade = 1st quarter grade = 50%, 2nd quarter grade = 50%

Grading Scale:          A 90-100          B 80-89          C 70-79          D 60-69          F 59 or below

In-Class Procedures

Be in your designated seat and ready to begin when the bell rings. Bring necessary materials daily and respect each other’s opinions and property. Cheating will not be tolerated and will result in a zero and a referral. Cell phones will be used only for educational purposes and only when teacher permission is given - chromebooks will be used for most technology-based tasks.  Failure to abide by the rules will end with a referral.  Consequences for misbehavior and disobedience of school rules are listed in the handbook. Please familiarize yourself with these rules.

Tentative Course Outline (Pacing and topics are a guideline and are subject to change.)

Week 1: Introductions, Syllabus, Rules and Procedures, and Course Diagnostics

Weeks 2-6: Preliminary Unit and “Who am I?”

Weeks 7-9: “What Are My Choices?”

Weeks 10-12: “How Have I Changed?”

Weeks 13-15: “Where am I Going?”

Preliminary Unit: Performance and Proficiency

Within the context of this unit, students will demonstrate their understanding of the following:

• Concept and purpose of performance and proficiency

• End-of-course proficiency target for the course in which they are enrolled

• Difference between performance assessment and other assessment types 

• Current performance levels in listening, reading, speaking, and writing

• Process for setting their own proficiency goals

• Classroom rules, procedures and expectations

Pre-assessments will consist of performance tasks and in the Novice Mid to Intermediate Low proficiency range for the course across the three modes of interpretive, interpersonal and presentational communication and the skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing.  

Unit 1: “Who Am I?” 

Within the context of this unit, students will use the target language to demonstrate performances in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interculturality in the Novice High- Intermediate Low range of proficiency by the end of the unit. Student performance tasks  include, but are not limited to the following:

• Describe the image they project to other people

• How other people view them

• Talk about what makes a good match between people

• Recommend who might be interested in joining school and community activities

• Explain how their choice of dress, interests, and activities in which they choose to participate make them unique

Unit 2: “What Are My Choices?” 

Within the context of this unit, students will use the target language to demonstrate performances in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interculturality in the Novice High-  Intermediate Low level of proficiency by the end of the unit. Student performance tasks include, but are not limited to the following:

• Describe how their choices and obligations define them

• Tell someone about their day, activities, an event in a simple sequence of sentences

• Give a short presentation on a personal experience or very familiar topic

• Describe their daily routine 

• Compare their normal daily routines with the typical routine in the target culture(s)

Unit 3: “How Have I Changed?” 

Within the context of this unit, students will use the target language to demonstrate performances in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interculturality at the Intermediate Low level of proficiency by the end of the unit. Student performance tasks include, but are not limited to the following: 

• Understand the main idea and some details about someone’s childhood, especially with visual support

• Obtain and provide information about childhood expressions of play and activities

• Express various time frames of infancy and childhood

• Describe a childhood event or recount an event in a logical sequence of sentences

• Talk about what they used to like and dislike when they were children

• Tell a simple story about a childhood memory, or a recent family trip or event

• Describe what they used to do when they were children

• Give a short presentation on a personal childhood experience

Unit 4: “Where am I going?” 

Within the context of this unit, students will use the target language to demonstrate performances in listening, speaking, reading, writing, and interculturality at the Intermediate Low level of proficiency by the end of the unit. Student performance tasks include, but are not limited to the following:  

• Describe what they plan to do next in their school or work lives, and explain why

• Understand some information on job postings

• Understand the basic requirements for a career as described on a website or brochure

• Ask and answer questions about future plans

• Elaborate on preferences and opinions about future careers choices, and give reasons

• Write a recommendation of a career website and give reasons why others might find it useful