Grades and Course Requirements

Grade Distribution

Preparación                15%  
Comprobar                   10%  
Quizzes                         25%
Proyectos (6)               25%
Oral assessments     15%   
Participation              10%  

Grading Scale:
A= 100-89.5       B= 89-79.5    C= 79-69.5     D=69-59.5   F= Below 59.5

Course Grade:  Your course grade is available in Canvas. 

Schedule: You can view HERE a brief overview of all assignments for this class. Remember to check your account in Contraseña daily to know what is due due prior to coming to class. 

Preparación 

Before coming to class,  you will be required to complete activities in Contraseñas. These activities will prepare you for what will take place in class.

a)    In Preparar: you watch animated videos that explain concepts, read brief texts, and complete activities to check your comprehension. You need to go over this content PRIOR to completing the Aplicar exercises. These exercises are graded. 

b)    In Aplicar, you practice what you learned watching the animated videos and reading the lesson content by completing self-checks. There are quite a few activities in these sections but they will help you to do well in the assessments that follow. These exercises are graded. 

c) In Reflexionar, you will get a chance to reflect on your own learning. When these exercises appear in the Calendar, please, complete them so your instructor can assess whether new content is being understood or not. These exercises are optional and do not count towards course grade, although they are in the Calendar. 

In completing the Aplicar and Preparar activities, you will have two attempts plus one opportunity to reopen a submission, make changes (if necessary) and submit it again without losing the number of attempts.  After your three attempts, you will see the correct answers (unless you do all exercises correctly before the max amount of attempts). In completing the Investigar activities in Exploración cultural, you will only have one attempt because these activities require you do some online research and report your results). If you need additional practice with the grammar/vocabulary content of each unit, you can also complete Práctica adicional exercises. These Práctica adicional exercises are optional and do not count towards your course grade.  

For each day you submit one of the graded activities late, you will be deducted 5% from your score. 

If you do not complete all these activities prior to coming to class, you will feel lost during the in-class lesson.  In class, you will have the opportunity to ask your instructor any questions you may have on the content you were exposed to in Preparar and Aplicar activities at home. New content will also be reviewed through practice exercises.  Therefore, we urge you to ask any questions you may have about the topic for the day so your teacher can explain things that may be confusing to you.  However, do not expect your teacher to explain things from the start. Explanations of new content will appear naturally in the lesson as students ask questions and/or practice language in in-class activities.  A

These activities are due by 8 am on the day they are assigned, except some Preparar and Aplicar activities that will be done in class. ALL these activities count towards course credit. Therefore, if you miss class on a day where some of these activities are part of the lesson of the day, you will be responsible for completing them at home. 

Comprobar

After you have completed the corresponding Preparar/Aplicar exercises, in class you will get additional practice. After your in-class lesson, you will be asked to you complete one Comprobar activity in Contraseña. This activity is an assessment to ensure you have not only paid attention to all the new content you learned in Preparar and Aplicar exercises in Contraseña, but you paid attention to all the additional practice that takes place in the classroom. These Comprobar exercises will be timed (15 mins) and you will have two attempts. After the first attempt, you will be able to review your submission to see where you made mistakes. Then, you will start your second attempt and upon submission of your second attempt, you will see the correct answers. For each day you submit this late, you will be deducted 5% from your score. 

These activities are due by 8 am on the day they are assigned. 

Quizzes 

These assessments will take place in class and on paper and will be based on what you practiced prior to coming to class AND in class .  Your THREE  lowest/missed quiz scores will be deducted from course grade. Since three quiz scores will be dropped from your course grade, if one day you miss class and therefore, you miss a quiz, please, do not ask for a make-up.  Missing four quizzes will not impact your overall course grade.  Some Quizzes will be announced ahead of time but some quizzes will be unannounced.  There will be 20 quizzes in the course.

Proyectos

At the end of each unit, you create a Proyecto, a written or oral project. All projects are posted in an ePortfolio called LingroFolio, so your instructor and classmates can see and comment on your work. The activities throughout the unit prepare you to be able to complete the Proyecto successfully. Each Proyecto has four parts: Preparar, Publicar, Comentar y Reflexionar. 

In class, you will work on the Preparar section of the project with the help of your teacher. If you have to miss class that day but provide a justifiable and officially documented absence ahead of time, your instructor will send you the handout used in class which you will have to return completed via email the day you miss class. If you miss class without an excuse, you will get a 0 in the Preparar portion of the project.  Late Preparar handouts will NOT be accepted. 

Using the information and feedback from Preparar,  you will complete the project at home before submitting it (=Publicar).  It is expected that the work you did in the Preparar section will be very similar to what you will publish. You are encouraged to add more content to the Proyecto if you want to but remember that the use online translation apps or help from a friend is NOT allowed. . Please, make sure you are familiar with the course policy on academic dishonesty listed in the following page.  If you feel your Spanish skills are beyond the level of this course, read the prompts carefully and ONLY use grammatical structures expected for this level. If you add content to the Proyecto besides what you did in class with the Preparar section, you may use wordreference.com to look up new words (you CANNOT use any other dictionary, app or google search).  However, any new words you use, need to be marked in capital letters or in bold (if project is written) or include them on a separate list  and send to the instructor (if the project is oral). Failure to do so will be considered evidence of using unauthorized help. Please, see next page for more information. The day a Project is due (=Publicar) you will need to turn in the Preparar handout you completed in class.  Your instructor will use this handout to compare your final product in the Project with what you were able to accomplish in class. If your final product deviates dramatically in quality from what you did in class, this may raise suspicions of having used unauthorized help to complete the project. Failure to turn in the Preparar Handout with the Project will result in a 10% penalization from the Project score. 

The Preparar section of each project will be evaluated according to this rubric:

Above Expectations (90-100 pts.)

All sections are fully completed. Content corresponds with what is expected according to assignment instructions. Language quality shows learner paid attention to the grammatical content and vocabulary of the current unit and beyond (e.g, student integrated grammatical concepts from previous units). All new information appears underlined.  The outcome is longer than expected (more words than the ones indicated in the assignment, at least 25% more). Student looked up new words in the dictionary. The outcome clearly shows student put lots of effort to pay attention to language forms as well as content. 

Met expectations (70-89 pts.)

All sections are completed according to instructions. Content corresponds with what is expected according to assignment instructions. Quality shows learner paid some attention to some of the grammatical content and vocabulary of the current unit (no effort to include grammatical content from previous units). If some new information appears, it is underlined. The assignment is just as expected based on instructions.  

Below expectations (0-69 pts.)

Not all sections are completed and/or completed minimally showing little effort and attention. It is not clear learner followed instructions properly.  Quality shows learner paid very little attention to the grammatical content and vocabulary of the current unit. New information does not appear underlined.

After the Projecto is submitted, you will be asked to comment on your partner´s projects through an activity called Comentar in Contraseña. Here is the evaluation rubric for the Comentar activity.

• 9-10 points= Three comments on different projects and submitted on time. Comments are directly related to the project. Offer one example from the project.

• 7-8 points= Three comments on different projects and submitted on time. Comments are quite general.

• 6 points= Two comments on different projects and submitted on time. Comments are directly related to the project. Offer one example from the project.

• 5 points= Three comments on different projects and submitted on time. Comments are quite general.

• 3 points= One comment on different projects and submitted on time. Comments are directly related to the project. Offer one example from the project.

• 2 points= One comment on a project and submitted on time. Comment is quite general.

In the Reflexionar section, you will have to complete two activities. In the first one, you will have to make comparisons between your project and the project of your classmates. In the second one, you will evaluate your own learning and reflect on what you are accomplishing in this course. These two activities are graded. 

For each day you submit Publicar, and Reflexionar  late, you will automatically be deducted 5% from your score. If Comentar is turned in late, 2 points will be additionally deducted per day. 

The Publicar, Comentar and Reflexionar are due by 9am on the day it is assigned. The Preparar section of the project is completed and submitted in class.

The Publicar is worth 7%. The Preparar  is worth 15% and the  Comentar, and Reflexionar are worth 3%. 

Oral Assessments

The main objective of this class is to help you to use Spanish to communicate with others. Oral skills are therefore a priority in this class. Your oral skills but you will also be evaluated as follows:

1.  Prácticas orales in Contraseña (5%): These exercises will give you the opportunity to practice speaking while using the various themes, vocabulary and grammar concepts related to each unit.  Considering this is a beginning Spanish class, we know you will most likely will try to write out your answer and read it aloud. Since this is a beginning class, you are allowed to read a script you prepared ahead of time for the first FIVE Prácticas Orales. For the last seven Prácticas Orales, we expect you to make an effort to speak spontaneously.  However, If the teacher suspects you are reading something you wrote, you will be evaluated on comprehensibility of the message based on your pronunciation, but you will be penalized on your grammar/vocabulary usage. If you want to challenge your teacher's score, you are entitled to do so. In that case, you will be given the chance to meet with your teacher and do a similar activity with her and use that performance as the final score for the activity.  Some of the Prácticas Orales will involve a recording reading aloud a paragraph. These exercises are intended to help you practice your Spanish pronunciation skills and of course, we do not expect you to speak spontaneoulsy since you will be reading from a text and only your pronunciation skills will be assessed. You will have one attempt to complete each Práctica Oral. Here is the grading rubric:

9-10 pts.      Answer is complete and relevant according to the prompt. Student made an effort to speak spontaneously even though this resulted in grammatical inaccuracies. Student incorporated grammatical structures taught in the course. Pronunciation also shows the student practices Spanish in class and at home to improve pronunciation. Overall, quite comprehensible. (For reading aloud exercises: Text is fully comprehensible. Sounds practiced/taught in the course are very close native speaking standards) . Overall, ABOVE EXPECTATIONS

6-8 pts.      Answer is complete and relevant according to the prompt. Pronunciation also shows the student practices Spanish in class and at home to improve pronunciation. However, it is clear that the student wrote something out and read it aloud.  Pronunciation of sounds practiced/taught in class has strong English influence.  (For reading aloud exercises: Text is partly comprehensible. Pronunciation of sounds practiced/taught in class has strong English influence. Overall, MEETS EXPECTATIONS

0-5 pts.  Score represents some of the following options:  Answer is incomplete, short, not related to prompt, mixed with English and Spanish, read but not very comprehensible due to strong English influence in pronunciation.  Overall, BELOW EXPECTATIONS

These Prácticas orales are due by 8 am on the day they are assigned.

2. Conversación (10%): The last week of classes, you will meet with your instructor and a partner to complete an oral proficiency evaluation.  You will be given several prompts to prepare ahead of time, but you will not know who your partner will be until the day of the assessment. This evaluation will take place during regular class hours. Evaluation rubric is HERE.

Participación

Participation is fundamental to this course. Each absence will greatly hinder your progress. It is necessary that you prepare your assignments before coming to class so that you can participate to the best of your ability. Do not hesitate to speak, even if you feel like you are making many mistakes.  Making mistakes is an important part of language learning and a stage that all language learners pass through on their way to proficiency.  We understand you do not know enough Spanish to ask all the questions you may have, but we will give you tools to help you use as much Spanish as possible. Your teacher is required to speak Spanish as much as possible (approximately 90% of class time). This is necessary because the only way to learn a language is by using it.  Studying the grammar and vocabulary is important, but unless you use Spanish to express yourself, you will not learn the language. Make an effort to use Spanish in class.

Participation scores are based on the following:

1. Your motivation and effort in participating in class as well as your effort to speak Spanish in class. You will be assessed THREE times in the semester.  Your evaluation is based on the following rubric. 

Cell phone use or texting in class is not permitted.  Open your laptop or tablet ONLY when your teacher tells you to do so. At other times, you need to have your laptop closed. Many of the in-class activities come from Contraseña and your instructor will ask you to open the laptop and log in into Contraseña. Please, note that tour instructor has the right to check that you are in the Contraseña website and not in another page.  If you are distracted visiting other pages , this will negatively impact your participation score. 

2. Sometimes you will be assigned to complete some activities at home designed by your instructor. These activities are intended to give you personalized feedback on your performance and will be graded on the amount of effort you put into completing them based on what you are learning. 

3. Attendance. Learning to use an additional language is only possible if you get to practice it as much as possible with peers and working with Spanish materials. Therefore, coming to class is IMPERATIVE. Your attendance will be taken daily. Missing class will result in a 0 and arriving 5 minutes later or more will reduce your daily attendance score by 20%.

NOTE:  #1 and #2 will constitute 5% of course grade. #3 (=Attendance) will constitute 5% of course grade. 

Absences

As stated in the Undergraduate Catalog, you are responsible for attending class and completing all academic work. Make arrangements with the instructor in advance if you will be missing class due to participation in a Sanctioned University Activity, fulfillment of a religious obligation, exercise of a bereavement leave, or another university-recognized excused absence. If you must miss class due to an extended illness (3 or more consecutive class days) or bereavement, the Student Health Services and the Dean of Students Office can help. Also be aware of ISU policies regarding Absences Due to Communicable Disease.

Ultimately, students are responsible for material covered in class. Excused absences are those who have been approved by your instructor upon provision of an official notification from a doctor, the military, employer, etc; or the Dean of students or Accommodations Services. All assigned homework in Contraseña is open from the first day of classes so if you expect to be absent from class one day, make sure you keep up with assignments online.