MRS. JACKSON’S SYLLABUS
FOR SPANISH 1
As stated in the Course Description for this class, Spanish 1 is an introductory course for students with no previous knowledge of Spanish, or whose knowledge is limited and, therefore, do not have mastery of the basic skills necessary to move to a higher level. All students entering Spanish 1 take a Placement Test to determine the level to which they should be assigned.
North Hollywood High School uses Realidades 1 as the textbook for this level. In addition to the textbook, I use other support materials for Realidades to practice the concepts presented in the textbook, such as the Writing, Audio, and Video Workbook; the audio and video components, and the Practice Workbook, mostly for homework. In addition, almost all testing throughout the year comes from the Assessment component related to Realidades. Where necessary, I use other material to enforce concepts presented in the textbook.
Because of the large amount of new material covered throughout the year, students are given from one to two tests per week in a regular Spanish class and a total of between four and five tests for each subsection for every chapter in the book. Honor classes usually do not have individual tests for chapter’s subsections, but are given a comprehensive exam at the end of each subsection. These exams require that students continue to practice the vocabulary and each segment of grammar on their own much more thoroughly than the regular classes.
Realidades includes nine chapters in level one, each one subdivided into two sections. The beginning of each subsection covers vocabulary and grammar in context, followed by two to three grammar lessons. Each subsection includes two assessments related to vocabulary and grammar in context and two to three additional tests related to grammar. Honor classes only have one comprehensive exam for each subsection as stated above.
This class covers in order the preliminary section of the book through chapters 3 or 4 in the first semester, and chapters 4 through 9 in the second semester. Generally this class includes a thorough study of the first seven chapters of the book and a general understanding of the last two chapters, as these are again covered in the next level (Spanish 2).
Comprehensive final exams are given at the end of the first semester and at the end of the second semester. In addition to the exam, students must also demonstrate proficiency in speaking and in writing at the end of each semester. The final exams and other assessments are graded as any other assessments given throughout the year, as I believe that a student’s final grade should be based on the efforts made throughout the entire semester. Please refer to my Grading Policy to obtain information on the percentages given to each type of assessment.
Information about classwork, homework, extra credit, attendance, etc. is included in the General Procedures for this class. Additional information related to the class is also included in the Grading Policy, Make-Up Work Policy, Class Rules, and Guidelines for Country Presentations.
My teaching philosophy is that in order to learn and be successful a student must make efforts and practice at all times. Learning a language requires skills that build on other skills, therefore, it is necessary to keep up with learning by paying attention to introductory lessons to a concept and to practice a lot to reinforce the skill.