Spanish IV Course Overview

Taught by: Juan Amigo

[ASIJ Home] [High School Home] [Academic] [Modern Language Dept.]

1. To develop advanced skills as a means of communication with the Spanish speaking world.

2. To develop concrete, general and abstract notions that enable personal communication and critical thinking in the foreign language.

3. To discuss cultural issues of the Spanish speaking world.

Specific objectives of the course:

1.  Read modern Spanish literature involving some degree of complexity.

2.  Understand everyday conversation at normal speed.

3.  Understand news broadcasting at a speed slightly lower than normal.

4.  Review the more complex aspects of Spanish grammar and be able to follow explanations in Spanish.

5.  Think and write in Spanish

6.  Control of long passages in conversation.

7.  Develop a firm, clear style in writing with a comprehensive control over long passages.

8.  Increase awareness of different aspects of Hispanic psychology and compare them with their U.S.A. equivalents

Evaluation procedures

A marking period grade is a combination of evaluation on the following areas:

A quiz is given each time a uniform portion of material, or a specific skill has been fully explained, practiced and developed. An evaluation is also made at the end of each unit and upon completion of a literary reading.

Whenever possible, an equal number of tests is given for each evaluation area and averaged together with any samples of written or oral work produced by the student. A different amount of points is assigned to each evaluated material depending on its characteristics.

Homework policy

Homework is regarded as a sine qua non element for class.  Students are expected to prepare vocabulary and read the materials at home.

 About 1 hour of homework is expected for every class session.

Students are expected to check their corrected assignments and do some kind of work on their mistakes in order to improve that area

Daily homework is assigned as a follow up of the lesson or as preparation for the following class.  Each completed homework receives 10 points while undone or clearly hasty, careless homework receives 0 points.  Partial credit is given only when there is evidence that the student has done his best but could not complete the task because of lack of understanding of the subject.

Participation in school sports, clubs or activities is not regarded as a valid excuse for failing to produce homework. Students who fail to do their homework are assigned to the MLRC in order to ensure completion of assignments.

Work presentation

A three hole binder is needed for keeping handouts in good condition until the end of the school year.  Class notes and other homework assignments may be kept on a different notebook or section provided it only contains Spanish related material.

In general, students are encouraged, but not forced, to produce their work in handwriting.  Occasionally typed assignments will be requested for special papers or projects.

As stated above, hasty, sloppy work will not receive credit.

Making up work after an absence

Students who missed classes are expected to contact either their teacher or a classmate.  The students are responsible for finding out what happened in the session(s) missed, update their class notes and ask about pending assignments.  If then, while reviewing the material, a student has trouble understanding it, he should see his/her  teacher immediately in order to clarify  difficult concepts and get explanations as needed.   At that point some kind of remedial or makeup work will be arranged.  A reasonable amount of time for the completion of the task will be given to the student.

Students who know in advance that they will be missing for school reasons or family needs must write a short note to their teacher stating the days they will be absent and the reasons.  As they hand in the note to the teacher some arrangements can be made regarding make up work and class work.

 Students who missed tests due to an excused absence have a maximum of four days to take that test at the Resource Center.  After the fourth day the test will be graded 20% down for each day delayed.  However, if the absence was unusually long and the student needs prolonged makeup work to catch up with the class, a deadline will be set by the student and the teacher together.  Again after the deadline the test will be graded 20% down for each day delayed.  Finally, students repeatedly missing test days will be reported to the principal's office and the reason for their absence will be examined very closely.  A doctor's signature may be required depending on the case.

Late assignments

Students are well advised to contact their teacher if they foresee that reasonable circumstances will prevent them from meeting a deadline.  However, deadlines are usually established together by both the teacher and the class at the time of giving an assignment and therefore, as a general rule, late work is not admitted.

Extra credit

      Extra credit may be given either to students who volunteer to participate in projects that would translate into some kind of benefit for the class as a whole (v.g.: making of materials) or to those who, out of genuine interest in the subject, produce an amount of work well beyond the requirements and expectations set on a given task.
Extra credit is not an option for students who having wasted class time or neglected attention to the subject want to improve their grade in the last stages of the quarter.

Extra help

            Students experiencing major difficulties with writing, reading or oral skills will be called individually by the teacher and assigned to the Resource Center, required to complete specific remedial  assignments or asked to take extra tapes home in order to improve their listening ability. 

Teaching style

1.  Classes consist of discussions on a topic or text.  Students are encouraged to express their opinions in a variety of ways.

2.  Students are requested to participate actively in class since this is a critical factor in language learning.

3.  The texts selected for class encourage contextual comprehension and motivate discussion.

4.  Writing ability is mostly developed through essays and, to a lesser degree, through grammar exercises.  The use of complex structures is constantly encouraged and the identification of mistakes is viewed as a positive activity that leads to progress rather than frustration.

5.  Aural comprehension is emphasized as to develop the hearing skills necessary for communication. Tapes present speakers from different Spanish speaking countries.  Listening activities train the students not to rely solely on printed materials, but rather to listen carefully to what they hear.

Use of technology and other support materials.

1.  The course is supported with a broad range of multimedia and audiovisual materials:
Multi-system video machine, tape recorder with adjustable speed, tapes, videos, overhead transparencies, slides, art work.

2.  Computer support:

·         Microsoft Word in Spanish.
·         SATII  test software designed to prepare students for the examination.
·         Microtutor in Spanish (Computer assisted instruction: remedial and review purposes)
·         CD-ROMS on a broad variety of exciting topics: Multimedia Encyclopedias, Cooking, Science, a trip trhough the Nyle river, World History, Art.
·         INTERNET gives access to newspaper like EL PAIS and media magazines.

Projects and special assignments

Short term assignments include compositions , computer assisted instruction, projects involving some elaborate presentation and oral reports

Long term assignments may include:

1.  The writing of a Journal Monday through Friday excluding school.

2.  One major project.