Syllabus: AP Spanish Language and Culture
Curricular Requirements / PagesCR1 / The teacher uses the target language almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise. / 2, 3
CR2a / Instructional materials include a variety of authentic audio and video recordings. / 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13, 17
CR2b / Instructional materials include a variety of authentic nonliterary texts such as newspaper and magazine articles. / 11, 12
CR2c / Instructional materials include a variety of authentic literary texts. / 2, 5, 15
CR3a / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in Spoken Interpersonal Communication in a variety of situations in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range. / 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17
CR3b / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in Written Interpersonal Communication in a variety of situations in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range. / 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 17
CR4a / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize information from a variety of authentic audio, visual, and audiovisual materials. / 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 15, 18
CR4b / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability in Interpretive Communication to understand and synthesize information from a variety of authentic written and print resources. / 4, 5, 9, 16, 18
CR5a / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in Spoken Presentational Communication in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range. / 4, 8, 10, 16, 18
CR5b / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate their proficiency in Written Presentational Communication in the Intermediate to Pre-Advanced range. / 4, 5, 8, 12
CR6a / The course explicitly addresses the Global Challenges theme. / 8
CR6b / The course explicitly addresses the Science and Technology theme. / 10
CR6c / The course explicitly addresses the Contemporary Life theme. / 12
CR6d / The course explicitly addresses the Personal and Public Identities theme. / 16
CR6e / The course explicitly addresses the Families and Communities theme. / 5
CR6f / The course explicitly addresses the Beauty and Aesthetics theme. / 14
CR7 / The course provides opportunities for students to demonstrate an understanding of the products, practices, and perspectives of the target cultures. / 4, 7, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18
CR8 / The course provides opportunities for students to make comparisons between and within languages and cultures. / 5, 10, 13, 14
CR9 / The course prepares students to use the target language in real-life settings. / 12
Course Overview and Objectives
The AP Spanish Language and Culture course is a rigorous course which provides students opportunities to develop language proficiency across the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational. Students learn about culture through the use of authentic materials that are representative of the Spanish-speaking world. Materials include a variety of different media, e.g., journalistic and literary works, podcasts, interviews, movies, charts, and graphs. Some of the works read are short stories published in “Nuevas Vistas” and the following novels: La tierra del tiempo perdido by José María Merino, Senderos Fronterizos by Francisco Jimenez, and Marianela by Benito Pérez Galdós. [CR2c]
AP Spanish Language and Culture is a language acquisition course designed to provide students with the necessary skills and intercultural understanding to enable them to communicate successfully in an environment where Spanish is spoken and as such, is an immersion experience requiring almost exclusive use of Spanish, a requirement which class participation grades reflect. [CR1]
Categories:
Speaking: 25%
Writing: 30%
Listening: 15%
Reading: 15%
Culture: 5%
Homework: 10%
Oral Assessments: Based on exclusive use of Spanish and ease of use. [CR1] Speaking the language increases fluidity and accuracy. Risk-taking is rewarded. The goal is the communication, not the grammar. Use of English inhibits learning, weakens the process, and loses points.
This grade is based on participation points that students earn by answering questions by students and/or teacher, volunteering answers, speaking Spanish, performing skits, dialogs, presentations, and Google Voice. Points are recorded daily and posted bimonthly. 100 points.
Homework: Will be given ALMOST EVERY DAY including most weekends and will be checked and/or turned in nearly every day. Homework assignments will be updated daily on my website and grades a minimum of once a week on Zangle. Students will receive 30 points (full credit) for completed, mostly accurate work, 20 points for half-completed work or for multiple errors, (50%), 16 points for incomplete, largely inaccurate work (more than 50% errors), 17 points for not correcting their paper properly and 15 POINTS FOR ASSIGNMENT NOT TURNED IN. No zero will be given for homework except for academic fraud. Students will receive 20 points for homework completed during tutorial provided it is well done. No other late homework will be accepted. Frequently missed homework affects the citizenship grade. Absent students must check the website or the homework folder to obtain the homework assignment. Students who do not do homework will be assigned tutorial which is on Mondays and Wednesdays during lunch. URL for website is: sanjuan.edu/webpages/asherbondy
Quizzes, tests: There will be two to three written quizzes or tests per week. Absent students are responsible to make up all tests. They may check the website or ask for a printout upon returning to class. Please check the grades on Zangle. Students have as many days as they were absent to make up tests or homework. If they have an unexcused absence, they will not receive credit for work missed that day.
Citizenship grade will be lowered as a result of: Missed homework, cheating, behavior in class, frequent tardies. Cheating will result in a zero on the assignment and a D in citizenship for one grading period. If student is caught cheating again, he/she will receive an F in citizenship. Copying another student’s homework constitutes cheating.
Notebook: Students are responsible for maintaining a 3-ring binder to organize homework, notes, corrected quizzes, practice exams, vocabulary, rubrics, and writing; notebooks are worth 60 points per quarter.
Cultural Assessment:
1. Students research one country using video and articles from the internet, They write a summary which they present orally to the class about that country’s geography, food, customs, history, and heroes and they create a quiz for the class. Students listen and take notes. Final grade will be based on the presentation, the quizzes and notes taken on other presentations. [CR4a] & [CR4b] & [CR5a], &[CRb] & [CR7]
2. Students research one cultural event taken from “Cápsula Cultural” of “Triángulo Aprobado”. They do an oral presentation of the event to the class using visuals, i.e. PowerPoint, Prezi, or video. Then all students will do a two-minute oral presentation comparing that event to a similar American event with which they are familiar. [CR5a]
News Report: Students will frequently read and briefly summarizing the content of news articles, editorials, blogs, and/ or TV news broadcast from current, authentic sources. [CR5b]
Essays: Throughout the course, students will write a variety of essays (i.e. synthesis, persuasive, expository) using authentic listening and reading sources, such as documentaries, news reports, interviews, and newspaper and magazine articles; the essays are worth 50 points and are scored using the AP scoring guidelines. [CR5b]
Skit: Students will watch commercials in Spanish then change them and perform them in class. Group activity 50 points. [CR2a] &[CR5a]
Final Exam: Practice AP Test in AP format: examination of texts and a writing response to an article. Students will also have a final which includes vocabulary from the readings, an audio portion, a reading portion and some grammar.
Las palabras del día: Students explore two words a day, analyze their meaning, find synonyms and antonyms, make linguistic comparisons and use the words in context. [CR8]
El diario de las noticias: Students keep a journal of the daily news presented in class with new vocabulary and reactions. [CR5b]
Course Planner
Through the study of the following AP topics, students build the necessary skills to reach the assessment objectives through the expansion of their receptive, productive, and interactive skills.
AP themes to be covered include:
• La belleza y la estética
• La vida contemporánea
• Las familias y las comunidades
• Los desafíos mundiales
• Las identidades personales y públicas
• La ciencia y la tecnología
. Unit 1: Las familias y las comunidades [CR6e] Essential Questions:
• ¿Qué forma de educación es la más eficaz: coeducativa, en casa, pública, privada, diferenciada?
• ¿Cómo se define la familia en distintas sociedades? ¿Cuál es la diferencia del concepto de la “familia extendida ”en distintas culturas?
• ¿Cómo contribuyen los individuos al bienestar de las comunidades?
• ¿Cómo han afectado las redes sociales las conexiones personales?
• ¿Cuáles son unas tradiciones que se practican en países de habla hispana?
Interpretive Communication, Interpersonal Communication
Activity #1:
. 1. In an online discussion forum, students respond/comment on the essential questions. Students also comment on two of their classmates’ responses. [CR3b]
. 2. In class, the teacher asks students, using adjectives, to identify the characteristics of “good parents.” Los buenos padres son...
. 3. For homework that evening, students respond to the following questions in written format: ¿Cómo se sentirían tus padres si te convirtieras en un delincuente? ¿Cambiaría su actitud hacia ti, por qué?
. 4. In class the next day, the class reads “El nacimiento de las tortugas”” by Pedro Pablo Sacristán, [CR4b] and “Las cofradías y la semana santa” Blogviaslado by Juan Molinero. [CR2c] Students will write a synthesis of the paragraphs of the article and will take notes on the audio. [CR4a]
. 5. Students listen to the audio, “La fiesta de la tortilla de hinojo” by Documentales Etnográficos and write a summary of the content.
Activity #2
Students watch, “La leyenda del espantapájaros” Before viewing:
A. Have students discuss why it is important to be part of a community, to have a feeling of belonging, and to have friends. [CR3a]
B. Explore vocabulary (defined in Spanish) that students may not know while viewing, such as cobrar vida, malvado, and tiritear.
C. View the YouTube video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnIU1Ip5Vs
D. Follow up with Ricardo Arjona’s song, El espantapájaros www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FKgLU7udU0M, which deals with a similar theme. [CR4a]
E. Students watch the video “El hada del espantapájaros” and compare it to “El cuento del espantapájaros” [CR3a]
Students discuss the following questions in pairs and then share with the class:
. ¿Por qué existe el prejuicio?
. ¿Cuál es el mensaje de los dos productos?
. ¿Cómo puede la sociedad evitar actitudes similares y cambiar las prácticas y perspectivas que dirigen el prejuicio?
Activity #3
Students research heroes, singers, artists, famous people from other countries. They will do an oral presentation comparing an American hero to a hero from a Spanish speaking country.
9. Students listen to the documentary, “La carne de caballo”, and answer comprehension questions. Students answer the question, “How do family traditions determine what we eat?” http://www.ver-taal.com/noticias_20130224_carnedecaballo.htm [CR2a] & [CR7]
Presentational Communication
Authentic Materials [CR2a]
Context: Las comunidades educativas
10. Students watch the video “El hada del espantapájaros” and compare it to “El cuento del espantapájaros” [CR3a]
11. Students watch the video: http://www.ver-taal.com/noticias_20121215_escuelaencasa.htm Students answer comprehension questions and then present an oral presentation to the class comparing schools in the United States to schools in a Spanish speaking country.
. Interpretive Communication, Presentational Communication, Interpersonal Communication
. Students respond to the essential question, ¿Cómo es tu familia y qué papel desempeña en tu vida? In the online discussion forum, students comment on other responses from classmates. [CR3b]
. In class, students make a list of the characteristics of a family in their community with a partner. They then discuss the ways in which a family has changed over the last 20 years. [CR3a]
. Students share with another pair of students their ideas/responses to the question. [CR3a]
. Students view the following art images, “La famila de Carlos IV,” by Goya and“En familia” by Botero and make a written comparison between the two works of art. How are they different; what do they have in common? [CR5b]
Summative Assessment: Interpretive Communication, Print and Audio, Written and Spoken Presentational Communication.
1. Students read the article, “La educación en casa: una alternativa cada vez más frecuente” by David Cortejos and analyze the graph, “Motivos para educar en casa” from the blog, “Madelen Taxonomía”. They listen to the interview, “La educación en casa a examen”. They write a persuasive essay answering the question, “¿Se debe sancionar la educación en casa como alternativa válida a la educación en los colegios? [CR2b] [CR5b] [CR4a]
2. Students do a two-minute oral presentation comparing a typical American family to a family from a Spanish-speaking country. In their presentation, they should discuss traditions, importance of family, family structure and values. [CR5a]
Unit 2: Los desafíos mundiales [CR6a]
Essential Questions:
• ¿Cuáles son los desafíos sociales, políticos y del medio ambiente que enfrentan las sociedades del mundo?
• ¿Cuáles son los orígenes de esos desafíos?
• ¿Cuáles son algunas posibles soluciones a esos desafíos?
• ¿Cómo afecta la economía de un país la de los demás?
• ¿Cómo ha afectado la globalización internacional la economía de cada país?
• ¿Cuáles son unos de los desafíos que enfrentan los inmigrantes?
Interpretive Communication, audio and print
Activity #1
1. Students answer essential questions using polleverywhere.
Context: Los temas económicos
2. Students listen to, “A la Carta” at “BBC Mundo radiodifusora-Noticias Internacionales” , about poverty in Spain and write a summary and answer questions. [CR4a]
www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/telediario/cada-cuarto-personas-españa-estan-riesgo-exclusion-social/1339422
Context: Los temas del medio ambiente
3. Students read, “La radioactividad generó mutaciones hereditarias en mariposas de Fukushima” on TN on the internet. They write a summary and answer questions about the mutation of butterflies caused by radiation. [CR4b] http://tn.com.ar/internacional/000266411/el-accidente-de-fukushima-genero-mutaciones-en-mariposas