Spanish 4 AP Language & Culture

Course Description:  

The AP Spanish Language and Culture course emphasizes communication by applying interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational skills in real-life situations.  This includes vocabulary usage, language control, communication strategies, and cultural awareness. The course engages students in an exploration of culture in both contemporary and historical contexts. The course develops students’ awareness and appreciation of cultural products, practices, and perspectives.

The AP Spanish Language and Culture course strives to promote both fluency and accuracy in language use and avoid overemphasis on grammatical accuracy at the expense of communication.  In order to best facilitate of language and culture, the course will be taught primarily in the target language.

The AP Spanish Language and Culture course is approximately equivalent to an upper-intermediate college or university course in Spanish language and culture.  Depending on students’ individual level they will be recommended and prepared for AP Spanish Language & Culture Exam in the Spring.

Students will use various internet resources for helping them to supplement and vary the kind of integrated resources presented to the students. It is important that the students realize that integrating skills is not just an expectation for the class but a necessary daily life application in communication.

Course Outline:  

To provide context and content for students to develop their skills in the modes of communication, the course takes a thematic approach.  There are six required course themes:

Families and Communities

Personal and Public Identities

Beauty and Aesthetics

Science and Technology

Contemporary Life

Global Challenges

Within each of these themes, there are five to seven recommended contexts. The course is organized thematically into six units.  Each unit targets a primary theme but also connects to additional recommended contexts for those themes.  Related to the themes are essential questions designed to encourage students to investigate and express different views on real-world issues, make connections to other disciplines, and compare aspects of the target culture(s) to their own.

Online Textbook: Temas: AP Spanish language and Culture

Combined College AP level books and different authentic materials are used for different activities (College Board, Spanish Four Years: Advanced Spanish with AP Component, AP Spanish: Language and Culture Exam Preparation, among others).

Grading Critera: 

The average of the unit tests, and projects/performances will be 25% of the quarter grade.  All other assignments such as daily work, quizzes, homework, oral and written reports, class participation, and any other assignment will count as 75% of the quarter grade.

Expect a minimum of 12 grades with 2 major summative assessments per quarter and 2 Semester Finals for the year.

The final grade will be the average of the two semester grades.