Classroom Guidelines

and

Syllabus for Spanish 3

Course Description:

This is an advanced level Spanish course. It will combine elements of Vocabulary, Grammar, Culture and Literature to give a World Languages experience. We will use different egions from the Spanish speaking world to expand on our vocabulary and grammar concepts in the Spanish Language.

Instructor and contact information:

My name is Mr. Aldrich. Often you will hear me called Sr. Aldrich or El Cid. I am happy to answer to all of these.

The easiest way to contact me outside of class is via e-mail. If it is during school hours please send it to my school address . I try to check this e-mail a couple of times during the day.

If it is after hours I will also take e-mails at home . Like all of you I lead a very busy life so if I do not answer right away I may not be home or available to help yet.

Textbook:

We will be using the Exprésate textbook Level 3. The textbook is broken into Capítulos (Chapters). Each of the Capítulos are broken into sections. Those sections are the Vocabulary sections, called “Vocabulario”, the Grammar sections, called “Gramática”.

The order is Vocabulario 1, Gramática 1, Vocabulario 2,Gramática 2.

In addition to the textbook itself, we will be using the Cuaderno de Vocabulario y Gramática (Vocabulary and Grammar workbook) and the Cuaderno de Actividades (Activities workbook). All of this will be provided to you.

Other available materials:

In addition to the textbook and workbooks, we also have online resources and CD tutorials and flashcards that are available.

  • The online resources are available at the following URLs:
  • Exprésate textbook general site –
  • My internal web site –
  • My external web site El Cid’s Web Page (
  • Flashcards and tutorials can be downloaded from my website. They will run on either a PC-Windows machine or a Macintosh machine.

Classroom Procedures

There are a few procedures you will be expected to follow in class.

  • You are expected to be on time. If you are late and you are with another teacher or office personnel, bring a note. Failure to do so will cost you points from your grade.
  • Have your materials ready to go. Every day you should have access to your textbook, paper, and something to write with. If you accidentally come without one of these, borrow the missing item(s) before class starts so that you are not a distraction to yourself, your neighbors, or me.
  • Homework is assumed to be due the day after I assign it unless I say otherwise.
  • When you come into class, there will be an activity on the board or you are to study your vocabulary. You are to work on this while I am taking role.
  • Though I do not expect a silent classroom I do expect you to listen when I am explaining something, whether I am explaining it to you or not.
  • I do not like people getting up and walking around the classroom when I am talking. Please stay seated and wait. If it is urgent, raise your hand.
  • Gum is allowed as long as it does not interfere with class and I do not find it anywhere but the garbage can. If the class can’t comply with this simple stipulation I will stop allowing it so please, keep it in your mouth or in the garbage can.
  • There is no food allowed in the class unless it is part of a class activity. If you are eating in my class I will ask you to through the food away.
  • There are no drinks allowed in the class except for water in a clear, closable container. The exception to this is if it is a pre-approved drink as part of a classroom activity.
  • I reserve the right to limit you two bathroom passes per term. Use them wisely. I will start by not doing this but if the number of bathroom trips becomes excessive or I keep getting interrupted to be asked I will implement the limit.

Tests and Quizzes:

Each section of the textbook is associated with a quiz and/or test. Like the Capítulos, the order will be Vocabulario 1/Gramática 1 quiz, and the Vocabulario 2/Gramática 2 quiz. At the end of each of the Capítulos there may be a Unit Exam. In addition to the book quizzes and tests I may also give additional quizzes on materials covered in class.

The unit tests follow the lesson quizzes and will be given when the initial quizzes indicate additional review and assessment is needed. All quizzes and tests are comprehensive. That is to say that if I was tested on conjugating –AR verbs on a quiz or a test. When I get to the next chapter I still need to be able to conjugate –AR verbs. Because of this, think of each assessment as an opportunity to measure what you do and don’t know. If you find that you did poorly on a section. Ask questions about it and make sure that you can do it. The concepts keep coming back and you will need to know how to do the early things in order to do the later things.

For both quizzes and tests there are some procedures and guidelines you will need to follow.

  • You will be given a finite amount of time in which to complete the assignment.
  • Once the quiz or test has been started there is no talking until I say that all the tests are done. This is only fair to those who do not finish early and should not have to deal with the distractions of noise.
  • You may have a blank piece of paper to write on but I must see it at the start of the assessment.
  • When I finish correcting an exam I will open it up for you to look at and fix any mistakes you made. This is very important to me. Spanish is a cumulative class. If you don’t see what mistakes you made you cannot assess how well you know the subject. This is an opportunity for you to shape the learning. You can ask questions and get more explanations before we take a unit tests or move on to the next Capítulo.

Homework:

Homework is given one to three nights a week. It is intended to give you more practice with the concepts that were learned during the week to help solidify them and give you a chance to formulate questions about them before we take quizzes on the material. It is usually exercises from the Cuaderno de Vocabulario y Gramática but can come from other sources including exercises from the textbook and the Cuaderno de Actividades.

Vocabulary:

Vocabulary should be studied every night. There is no night that you do not have Spanish to do. Every night you should study your vocabulary for no less than 15 minutes even if you have homework, Studying vocabulary more than 30 minutes in a single setting is usually counterproductive. If you wish to study for more than 30 minutes in a night, you should take a break, do something else, and then return to the vocabulary.

Daily Participation:

Daily participation points are points that I give you for being in class and participating responsibly in the classroom activities. You are given daily points. You loose them for being absent, tardy, or not participating responsibly in class. You do not loose them if you are gone for a classroom sponsored activity such as a field trip or presentation. Since participation points are given freely, if you lose them you cannot make them up unless it is an excused absence. If you are absent and it is excused you can make up the points in one of two ways.

  1. You can spend time before or after school working on Spanish in my classroom.
  2. You can bring in tangible forms of study.

Some examples of tangible forms of study are:

  • Worksheets that were not assigned as class work or homework
  • Worksheets that you make and provide answer keys to
  • Study guides that you create about topics we are currently covering or have previously covered.
  • A printed sheet from my website or the studypanish.com website showing a 100 percent score.

I am looking for what seems to be sixty minutes worth of work to equal one day of participation points.

Here is a typical schedule of study for a Capítulo. Remember that this can change somewhat according to the class schedule, the complexity of the concepts, and other events that influence the flow of the classroom.

Day / Class events / Student Responsibility at home
1 / Introduce the Capítulo and the country in takes place in.
Introduce the vocabulary
Do exercises from the book
Assign homework / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of homework
2 / Review the vocabulary
Talk about the homework
Do more exercises from the book / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of study for the quiz
3 / Introduce the Grammar 1 concepts
Concentrate on the first one or two concepts
Do exercises from the book / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 1
4 / Review the grammar concepts from day 3
Concentrate on remaining concepts from Gramática 1
Do more exercises from the book
Assign homework / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of homework
5 / Review for quiz
Section 1 Quiz / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 2
6 / Cultural exploration
Look at the Vocabulario 2
Do exercises from the book
Assign homework / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of homework
7 / Review the vocabulary
Practice putting the vocabulary into context
Introduce the Grammar 2 concepts
Concentrate on the first one or two concepts / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 2
8 / Review the grammar concepts from day 7
Concentrate on remaining concepts from Gramática 2
Do more exercises from the book
Assign homework / 20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of homework
9 / Review for the quiz
Section 2 Quiz / 15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario 1&2
10 / Review for Unit Test / 15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario 1&2
11 / Review for Unit Test / 15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario 1&2
12 / Unit Test / Look at the vocabulary from the next section

Course Study/Objectives

Each Unit will take three to four weeks to complete and will cover the following topics.

Unit / You will Learn to: / You will use:
Capítulo 1 /
  • Talk about the past
  • Talk about what you liked and used to do
  • Ask for and give advice
  • Talk about the future
/
  • Preterite and imperfect
  • Ser and Estar
  • Subjunctive mood
  • Pronouns
  • Comparisons, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
  • Negative words and time constructions

Capítulo 2 /
  • Express interest and displeasure
  • Invite someone to do something
  • Describe the ideal friend
  • Express happiness and unhappiness
/
  • Imperfect
  • Ir a + infinitive in the imperfect
  • Nosotros commands
  • Object pronouns
  • Subjunctive with the unknown or nonexistent
  • Subjunctive with expressions of feelings

Capítulo 3 /
  • Complain
  • Express an opinion and disagree
  • Make suggestions
  • Apologize
/
  • Verb + Infinitive
  • Subjunctive with will or wish
  • Subjunctive with negative or denial
  • Future tense
  • Conditional Tense

Capítulo 4 /
  • Ask about the latest news
  • React to news
  • Comment on food
  • Explain and give excuses
/
  • Present progressive
  • Present perfect indicative
  • Present perfect subjunctive
  • Preterite
  • Se + indirect object pronouns
  • Past progressive

Capítulo 5 /
  • Ask for and give opinions
  • Introduce and change a topic of conversation
  • Make suggestions and recommendations
  • Turn down and invitation
/
  • Comparatives of equality and superlatives
  • Passive voice
  • Subjunctive with hopes and wishes
  • Past perfect

Capítulo 6 /
  • Express certainty
  • Express doubt and disbelief
  • Ask about information and explain where you found it
  • Talk about what you do and do not know
/
  • Indicative after expressions of certainty
  • Subjunctive after expressions of doubt and disbelief
  • Haber
  • Indefinite expressions
  • Gender of nouns
  • Indicative in compound sentences

Capítulo 7 /
  • Talk about challenges
  • Talk about accomplishments
  • Talk about future plans
  • Express cause and effect
/
  • Verbs that change meaning in preterite and imperfect
  • Grammatical reflexes
  • Lo and lo que
  • Subjunctive after adverbial conjunctions
  • Subjunctive with future actions
  • Indicative with habitual or past actions

Capítulo 8 /
  • Say what you can and cannot do
  • Talk about what you do and do not understand
  • Write a formal letter
  • Talk about your plans
/
  • Verbs with indirect object pronouns
  • Verbs that express “to become”
  • Uses of se
  • Conditional
  • Past subjunctive with hypothetical statements
  • More past subjunctive

Capítulo 9 /
  • Set the scene for a story
  • Continue and end a story
  • Talk about your hopes and wishes
  • Express regret and gratitude
/
  • Preterite and imperfect
  • Por and para
  • Subjunctive
  • Sequence of tenses

Capítulo 10 /
  • Talk about past events
  • Express and support a point of view
  • Make predictions and give warnings
  • Express assumptions
/
  • Expressions of time
  • Future tense
  • Subjunctive with doubt, denial and feelings
  • Subjunctive and indicative with adverbial clauses

First homework assignment for Spanish 1

Your first homework assignment is to fill out this form and return it to me. Use print for all information. If you only have one parent at home write NA in the blank so that I know you did not turn in an incomplete homework.

Last Name: ______

First Name: ______

Parent or Guardian Name: ______

Parent or Guardian Name: ______

By signing we acknowledge that we have read the preceding information.

Student ______

Parent ______

Parent ______

Date: ______