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SPANISH 4 ¨C HONORS                              SRA RAJ                                          2011-2012

This college preparatory course is an honors course and thus it is expected that the students will complete all class and home assignments with commitment. It is also expected that the students will demonstrate mastery of spelling and grammatical concepts in Spanish and will begin to understand the history and political situations of Spain and Latin America. Grammar and structure of the Spanish language will be studied through literature. The reading selections include poetry, short stories, legends, fables, and excerpts from original Latin American and Spanish novels. The course emphasizes effective, confident written and oral communication. Students will be asked to analyze literary works, expository texts, and current events and will practice a variety of writing forms such as letters, essays, reviews, newspaper articles, advertisements, acrostic poems, semantic maps, Venn diagrams, and the like. All of these forms will be taught and practiced in class.

Project-based learning is an integral part of the course. Students will be expected to prepare one project per quarter for the first 3 quarters, each counting as 20% of the grade. In addition, students will be expected to keep a journal (Diario) in which they will be asked to write about specific topics, generally opinions or personal experiences, approximately 2-3 times per week.

Since this is an honors course, grades are weighted for the GPA and count as follows:

A = 5 B = 4 C = 3

GOALS

By the end of the year, students will:

¡¤ Develop linguistic and cultural literacy.

¡¤ Engage in real-world communication ¨Cinterpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.

¡¤ Speak and write using culturally appropriate language, correct grammatical forms and expanded vocabulary.

¡¤ Understand and produce cohesive texts composed of multiple paragraphs.

¡¤ Understand conversations and narratives on familiar topics.

¡¤ Be familiar with a variety of literary genres, especially those typical of Hispanic and Spanish writings such as Magical Realism and the picaresque novel.

¡¤ Become familiar with famous authors of Spain and Latin America and the type of literature they write.

¡¤ Interact using culturally appropriate language.

¡¤ Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the Spanish/Hispanic cultures as learned from literature, expository readings, Internet research, and the media.

¡¤ Demonstrate an awareness of the global community.

¡¤ Understand the need for proficient communication in a second language.

¡¤ Conjugate and use verbs in the simple present, past, imperfect tenses and the subjunctive mood.

The course is taught in Spanish and the students are required to participate and respond, orally and in writing, in Spanish.

BOOKS AND MATERIALS

The text that is used, ¡°Encuentros Maravillosos,¡± is a wonderful anthology that includes fascinating literary pieces, ample vocabulary and grammar exercises, and excellent questions for discussion and written expression. ¡°Dime, pasaporte al mundo 21,¡± ¡°Tesoro Literario,¡± ¡°Galer¨ªa Hisp¨¢nica,¡± and ¡°Leyendas del mundo hispano¡± will serve as additional sources. These will be further supplemented by additional grammar activities, the study of Spanish and Hispanic artists and famous persons, poetry, short stories, essays and an abridged novel in the original Spanish. Spanish language videos and Internet activities and research will enhance the curriculum as well.

CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS

¨¹ Arrive to class before the tardy bell.

¨¹ Bring all materials each day (notebook, textbook, pen/pencil, homework).

¨¹ Be ready to begin work at the tardy bell.

¨¹ Start the ¡°Do Now¡± immediately. It is always posted on the board.

¨¹ Gum, food, drinks, hats, hoods, electronic devices are not permitted.

¨¹ Stay engaged in the lesson; enjoy learning.

¨¹ Work with assigned partner / group.

¨¹ Use the Cornell Note Taking System explained in class.

¨¹ Show respect to the teacher and to your classmates at all times.

¨¹ Complete participation rubric daily; submit on Fridays.

¨¹ Complete and submit Exit Slips daily.

REWARD SYSTEM

¡¤ Teacher will call home to report excellent behavior, effort, and work.

¡¤ Students with full participation points for the week will receive raffle ticket for bi-monthly raffle.

¡¤ Learning a lot is its own reward! Let learning be fun!!!!

DO NOWS

Each day a Do Now is written on the board and students are expected to answer the questions on the weekly do now sheet (see the example at the end of this document). The Do Now serves as a way of assessing the students' comprehension of the lesson from the day before and counts as an important part of the students' classwork grade. Therefore, it is not a collaborative effort; students must complete the assignment individually, without conferring with other students. Three to five minutes are allotted for completion of the Do Now, depending on the questions. Failure to hand in the do now will result in a grade of ¡°0¡±. Note that ¡°0¡± will not be given to students who attempt the work, even if it is not correct.

HOMEWORK

Since homework assignments are independent practice of the day's class work, they must be done when assigned. Missed assignments must be made-up by the Friday of the week they were due and will receive ? credit (5 points). Assignments made up in a timely way after a verified absence will receive full credit. Check on PowerSchool for the assignments or ask for them when returning to class. Failure to follow this procedure will result in a grade of zero for that assignment. Poorly done assignments or incomplete assignments will receive 5 points and may be redone in the week they were due to regain points.

DIARIO

In this journal students are to respond in writing to a topic given by the teacher. It will be read but not corrected, criticized or judged. It is an ongoing assignment and will be kept confidential. While entries will not be graded, credit will be given for each entry.

*PARTICIPATION RUBRIC

Students will complete a self-evaluation (see the sample rubric at the end of this document) of their class participation each day by checking the appropriate box and by indicating the reason for the grade. The completed rubric must be submitted weekly, on Fridays. The total points will be entered in PowerSchool. Discrepancies between the teacher's evaluation and the students' will be discussed to insure a clear understanding of the expectations.

TESTS, QUIZZES AND OTHER ASSESSMENTS

Since they are announced in advance, students are expected to be ready to take them on the assigned date. If a student is absent for a test, quiz, or presentation, s/he will need to bring a note from home explaining the absence. Student can make up the assessment.

PROJECTS

Projects and mini-projects will be assigned throughout the year. A scoring rubric will be given along with the outline of requirements and expectations. Students will be graded not only on the final product / presentation, but also on the process, that is: how they work with the group, daily progress, effort (number of revisions submitted) and other criteria specific to the project. All projects will be explained thoroughly in class.

EXIT SLIPS

Exit slips are comprised of one or two questions asked at the end of the period to determine if the students have understood and accomplished the learning objective for the day.

Students must answer the questions and submit the exit slip sheet (see sample at the end of this document) at the end of each period. Credit of one point per day will be given for answering the questions. The teacher will use the results to evaluate what has to be reviewed or clarified the next day before continuing on. A grade of ¡°0¡± will be given for failure to submit the daily slip.

NOTEBOOK

Students must bring their notebook to class every day. Students are expected to have a separate notebook or section for Spanish class, divided as follows:

*For quarter 4, no major project will be assigned. The final exam will count as 20% of the 4^th quarter grade, instead of a project.

REMEDIATION / TUTORING

I am available during lunch and after school for extra help.

Contact Information: praj@wccusd.netor paularaj@hotmail.com

COURSE OUTLINE / TIMELINE FOR SPANISH 4H:

LITERATURE and VIDEOS

Semester 1:

1. The Picaresque Novel:

¡¤ Characteristics of the genre

¡¤ El Lazarillo de Tormes

¡¤ Video: Lazarillo

2. Short Stories:

¡¤ El otro by Jorge Luis Borges

¡¤ El Ahogado m¨¢s hermoso del mundo by Gabriel Garc¨ªa M¨¢rquez

¡¤ El hablador by Mario Vargas Llosa

¡¤ Personal Idiosincrasies: Viajes by Julio Cort¨¢zar

3. Immigration:

¡¤ Yo, Rigoberta Mench¨²

¡¤ Guatemala (video)

¡¤ Central American Children Speak (video)

¡¤ Adolfo Miller by Sabine R. Ulibarr¨ª

¡¤ El Norte (video)

4. Experiences that define us:

¡¤ El ni?o al que se le muri¨® el amigo by Ana Mar¨ªa Matute

5. The Expectations of parents:

¡¤ Nada menos que todo un hombre by Miguel de Unamuno

Semester 2:

6. Magical Realism:

¡¤ Characteristics of the genre

¡¤ Excerpts from Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel

¡¤ Como agua para chocolate (video)

¡¤ La peste del insomnio by Gabriel Garc¨ªa M¨¢rquez

¡¤ Excerpts from La casa de los esp¨ªritus by Isabel Allende

¡¤ La casa de los esp¨ªritus (Video)

7. Poetry:

¡¤ Un perro ha muerto by Pablo Neruda

¡¤ Oda a la tempestad by Pablo Neruda

¡¤ Canci¨®n de oto?o en primavera, by Rub¨¦n Dar¨ªo

¡¤ Versos sencillos by Jos¨¦ Mart¨ª

¡¤ Romance de la luna, luna by Federico Garc¨ªa Lorca

¡¤ Other selections

8. Jokes / fables / myths:

¡¤ Characteristics of the genres

¡¤ La Lechera

¡¤ El perro que deseaba ser un ser humano

¡¤ El Popul Vuh

¡¤ El mito de la creaci¨®n inca

9. Legends:

¡¤ La gente nube

¡¤ La casa de los mu?ecos

¡¤ El ?anduti

¡¤ La pobreza

¡¤ Los cadejos

¡¤ La Llorona (2 versiones)

¡¤ La Ciguanaba

¡¤ El Cipitio

¡¤ Los volcanes

COURSE OUTLINE FOR SPANISH 4H: GRAMMAR