SPANISH LEVEL II HONORS –SYLLABUS

SRTA. GALLEGOS, WALTER PAYTON COLLEGE PREP

Tutoring: During enrichment or by appointment

Classrooms:120, 118

Email:ktgallegos@cps.k12

Class website:

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Description: Spanish II Honors builds on previously learned skills and emphasizes increased accuracy. Students will continue their progress toward mastery of the present and preterit tenses, as well as begin to work with the imperfect, perfect, futureand subjunctive. The emphasis on vocabulary expansion and more advanced writing, listening and reading tasks will enable the students to better negotiate communicative tasks. Spanish is the primary vehicle for classroom communication. Prerequisites:Spanish I credit (semesters 1 & 2) or WPCP language placement exam.
Remember!This will be a productive and challengingyear of learning, growth and fun.I am here to helpyoulearnSpanish, but this won’t come without earnesteffort on your part. Commit yourself to constant learningand you will grow!

“¡En español!”Class is conducted primarily in Spanish. Students should speak in Spanish, both with teacher and classmates, to the maximum extent possible. Research shows there’s a kind of judge in our heads called the “Monitor,” or editor, who helps us polish our writing. If the Monitor gets too pushy, however, he interferes with our ability to speak and makes us feel self-conscious. Like a bully, he gets bigger the more you worry about making errors or what other people think. Point taken – use the Monitor when you write, ignorehim when you speak. When it comes to speaking, you are being evaluated for effort rather than accuracy. Do not worry about making mistakes. Get the gist across in Spanish and I will assist as needed.

Categories:Grades will be based on the categories and grading scale that follow.

Exams, Tests, Quizzes40%

Projects, Written Assignments40%

Active, Engaged Participation, Daily Practice20%

Grading Scale:A89.5% – 100%

B79.5% – 89.4%

C69.5% – 79.4%

D59.5% – 69.4%

FBelow59.5%

Regarding Extra Credit: Apart from extra credit question(s) on quizzes and tests, no other extra credit opportunities will be made available.

Exams, Tests and Quizzes (40%): Tests and quizzes include matching, multiple-choice sections, analogies, fill-in-the-blank sections, and short answer or paragraph responses. A final exam will be given at the end of each semester.Students will be made aware of test dates. Unannounced pop quizzes or homework quizzes may also be givenon occasion that will demand a student’s grasp of the assigned material. Therefore, students are encouraged to review all workbook/textbook assignments to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of the concepts and vocabulary, and that they will be able to recall those concepts with ease and retain them indefinitely. Speaking tasks, which will alsocount as a quiz grade, will be recorded once or twice per unit in the Language Lab beginning second quarter.

Projects and Written Assignments (40%): Projectswill be assigned occasionally throughout the year and individualized written assignments on a regular basis. Sometimes you will be given time during class to work on and peer-edit suchassignments. Students should begin workand seek teacher support, if necessary, shortly after receiving these assignmentsin order to ensure quality work is produced in a timely manner.Examples of writtenassignments includeparagraph responses, vocabulary application, self-assessments, short readings, etc.

Active Participation and Daily Practice (20%): There will be practice assigned throughout the year in the “cuaderno,” or student workbook, as well as the Descubretextbook, which will usually go into the “Participation and Daily Practice” grade (20% of your grade). Much of this work will be done in class. Ocassionally it may be assigned as practice for home.

Participation cannot be underestimated – it is 20% of your grade! Participation means more than simply answering the teacher’s questions. It entails:

-volunteeringto ask/answer questions

-helping others learn (especially your partner and/or group members!)

-taking responsibility for your own learning

-communicating in Spanish for the entire class periodto the maximum extent possible

-taking notes

-involvement in whole class, group, pair and independent activities

-coming to class PREPARED and ON TIME

Materials: Please bring your textbook and cuaderno to every class meeting. Habitually coming unprepared and having to go to your locker to grab materials will negatively impact your participation grade. You are encouraged to maintain a separate binder where all class work can be kept.

Other materials you should have in your possession, but need not bring to class every day, include:

  • a set of blank index cards (for vocabulary words)
  • a comprehensive Spanish/English dictionary (not a pocketsize one)

Helpful Hints for Success in Spanish 2:

  1. Come to tutoring with Srta. G!

- During enrichment, other days by appointment

- Work on homework, peer edit, review test mistakes and clarify questions

  1. Use the Descubre2Supersite:

- Vocabulary lists and reinforcement

- Virtual grammar tutorials and practice

- Listening and reading practice

- Practice tests and quizzes

3. Use my class website:

- Class PowerPoints, notes, games and handouts

- Online grammar games and enrichment

Strategies for Increasing Proficiency at Any Level

1. Set electronic devices to Spanish – Facebook, email, cell phone…even your computer’s operating system!

2.Memorize song lyrics! EXCELLENTkaraoke-style website:

3. Use Livemocha. It’s like Skype for language learning, connecting you with native speakers.

4. Watch Spanish television and movies, if possible, with Spanish subtitles for reinforcement.

5. Use proficiency building strategies. Some suggestions:

- Study the triggers for the various tenses and practice integrating them into your writing and speaking

-Examine the roots of unidentified words to deduce the meaning (i.e. hacer=to do; rehacer=redo; deshacer=undo)

- Play online vocabulary and grammar games to brush up on old and current material

- Stay current by reading the news in Spanish. Grab Chicago’s free daily reader “Hoy!”

- Write out conjugation tables (repetition helps with retention!)

- Highlight and rewrite notes

- Make flashcards for vocabulary and have a parent or friend quiz you orally

- Study words incrementally; don’t cram the day before a test!

- Repetition aloud

- And lastly, avoid English to Spanish direct translation, ESPECIALLY when dealing with colloquial expressions

Internet Resources

Ms. Gallegos’s class website /
Descubre level 2 Supersite /
Online grammar practice /
StudySpanish:grammar exercises and explanations /
Variety, really anything you could need! /
Verbix: conjugate verbs in Spanish /
Spanish language, cultureand grammar exercises /
StudyStack: StudyStack displays a stack of "virtual flashcards" you can review at your own pace, discarding the ones you've learned and keeping the ones you still need to review. When you enter the data, it can be displayed as flashcards, a matching game, a word search puzzle, and a hangman. /
Grammar exercises organized by concept /

Walter Payton College Prep High School Course Outline 2012– 2013 Ms. Gallegos, Spanish II Honors

Semester I Semester II

1st Quarter (ends Nov. 1st) / 2nd Quarter (ends Jan. 24th) / 3rd Quarter (ends March 28th) / 4th Quarter (ends June 17th)
Kick-off: Sept.
- Icebreakers; Intro to Spanish 2; Interest Inventory; Plagiarism Policy
- Why study Spanish?; Useful Phrases; Textbook inventory; Translation Activity
Lección preliminar: Sept.
- Present tense of serand estar, articles, adjectives and agreement
- Present tense of –ar, -er, -ir verbs, tener, venir and ir; Verbs w/ stem changes & irreg. yoforms
- Preterite of regular & irregular verbs; verbs that change meaning in pret.
- Object pronouns
- Gustarand verbs like it
Project:Acerca de mi
Lección 1, En el consultorio: Oct.
- Health and medical terms, parts of the body, symptoms, health professions
- Imperfect tense
- Preterite versus Imperfect
- Constructions with se
- Adverbs
- Panorama: Costa Rica
Project: El pretérito versus el imperfecto / Lección 2, La tecnología: Nov.
- Home electronics, computers and the Internet, the car and its parts
- Ortografía: La acentuación de palabras similares
- Familiar commands
- Por versus para
- Reciprocal reflexives
- Stressed possessive adj./ pronouns
- Panorama: Argentina
Película: Bajo la misma luna
Lección 3, La vivienda: Dec.
- Parts of a house, household chores, table settings
- Ortografía: Las mayúsculas y las minúsculas
- Relative pronouns
- Formal commands
- Present subjunctive w/ impersonal expressions and verbs of will and influence
- Panorama: Panamá
Project: La vivienda de mis sueños
Lección 4, La naturaleza: Jan.
- Nature, the environment, recycling and conservation
- Ortografía: Los signos de puntuación
- Subjunctive w/ verbs of emotion
- Subjunctive w/ doubt, disbelief, and denial
- Panorama: Colombia
FINAL EXAM: Sem. 1 content / Lección 5, En la ciudad: Feb.
- City life, daily chores, money and banking, at the post office
- Ortografía: Las abreviaturas
- Subjunctive in adverbial clauses
- Nosotros commands
- Past participles used as adjectives
- Panorama: Venezuela
Project: Parodias en grupos; Un anuncio clasificado; Un mapa de tu ciudad imaginaria
Lección 6: El bienestar: March/April
- Health and well-being, exercise and physical activity, nutrition
- Ortografía: Las letras b y v
- Present perfect
- Past perfect
- Present perfect subjunctive
- Panorama: Bolivia
- Literatura: A Julia de Burgos
Película: El viaje de Carol / Lección 7, El mundo del trabajo: May/June
- Professions and occupations, the workplace, job interviews
- Ortografía: Letras y, ll, y h
- Future
- Future Perfect
- Panorama: Nicaragua y La República Dominicana
FINAL EXAM: Sem. 2 content

I have reviewed and I understand the Spanish Level II Honors Syllabus.

Student Signature ______Date______

Parent Signature______Date______

 Please sign and return this sheet with your student to Ms. Gallegos.