RARITAN HIGH SCHOOL
Spanish V Advanced Placement
2012-2013
Teacher: Renata Klein
Location: Rm. D-20
E-mail: rklein@hazlet.org
Course Overview:
AP Spanish V is designed to further enhance students’ proficiency in Spanish. The listening,
reading, writing, and speaking skills will be taught and used in an integrated way. Students will
explore a variety of topics based on authentic sources from diverse cultural settings. Students
will focus on synthesizing the information presented in different forms of media: essays, printed
and online articles, short stories, short films, television programs, radio broadcasts, and online
videos and podcasts. Vocabulary, structures, and cultural competency will be assessed through
journal entries, e-mails, compositions, quizzes, tests, and oral presentations. This class is
conducted exclusively in Spanish, and students are expected to speak Spanish only.
Required materials:
1. Courtad, J. C. (2012). Intrigas: Advanced Spanish Through Literature and Film. Boston: Vista
Higher Learning.
This textbook will provide us with a starting point and a central theme for our classroom
discussions. The book is full of authentic readings and video materials to jump start our lessons.
2. Díaz, J. M. (2007). AP Spanish: Preparing for the Language Examination. Boston: Pearson
Prentice Hall
This text is a great resource on strategies for preparation for the AP Spanish Language
Examination. It also provides great practice activities for improving speaking proficiency. We
will use the accompanying CDs in the Language Lab both for simulated conversations, formal
oral presentations, and listening comprehension activities.
3. Access to Intrigas Student Supersite: http://www.vhlcentral.com. This companion website to
Intrigas textbook will give you access to authentic films and to Voice Boards – an important tool
we will use to continue our classroom discussions at home. Voice Boards allow students to
record their oral responses online and share them with their peers. The Supersite also allows
students to have video conferences with each other.
In addition to these sources, students will use the following websites to practice their listening
and reading comprehension skills and to access everyday news in Spanish:
Univision Television
http://www.univision.com
BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/
EuroNews
http://es.euronews.net
El Mundo
http://www.mundo.com/
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/espanol/
Prensa Escrita
http://prensaescrita.com/
Activities, Assignments, and Assessments
Your grade for the course will be calculated in the following way:
HOMEWORK – 15%
Homework will be assigned every day and will be posted on the school website. It may consist of
 Written grammar practice
 Short interpersonal and descriptive writing assignments
 Written journal entries
 Reaction papers based on our readings, broadcasts, or films
 Reading online news
 Listening to radio broadcasts and watching TV programs or news podcasts online
 Posting oral responses on Voice Board
Incomplete or poorly done assignments will receive a zero.
CLASS PARTICIPATION AND PREPARATION – 15%
You should come to class fully prepared and ready to participate. Your class participation grade
heavily depends on your speaking Spanish in class. The sample class activities will include:
 Informal discussions on controversial topics both in pairs and in groups
 Reading authentic materials
 Discussing the a variety of current issues and events based on our readings and audiovisual sources
 Working in the language laboratory once in a seven-day day cycle to practice our
listening and speaking skills by listening to radio broadcasts, viewing video broadcasts on
relevant topics
 Working in the language lab twice in a seven-day cycle to enhance our speaking skills by
practicing simulated conversations and presentation speaking. Students will be required
to save their work on an USB for later review.
QUIZZES – 20%
Students will be quizzed often to assess their comprehension of the materials and their skills.
Quizzes may include:
 Short oral presentations
 Short writing assignments, such as an e-mail, or a journal/blog entry
 Brief objective grammar checks
Any quiz or test missed needs to be rescheduled with me immediately and must be completed in
a timely fashion in accordance with the school handbook.
TESTS and ESSAYS – 30%


Tests will be announced one week in. Tests will include a listening comprehension
section, a reading comprehension section, an interpersonal writing section, and a short
essay. The speaking portion of the test will be given on a separate day.
In each unit students will write a formal essay that is based on three sources – two print
sources and one audio or visual.
QUARTERLY ASSESSMENTS – 20%
 Quarterly assessments will require students to use all their language skills in an integrated
way.
AP Course Planner:
First Semester
Intrigas
Grammar Review
Golpe al corazón
Unit 1
Film: Sístole diástole by Carlos
Cuarón
Readings:
1. Short story: “Cine y
malabarismo” by Ángeles
Mastretta
2. Poem: “ Tú me quieres
blanca” by Alfonsina Storni
3. Short story: “Los viudos de
Margaret Sullavan” by Mario
Benedetti

Present Indicative Tense

Uses of Ser and Estar

Gerund and Present
Progressive Tense
4. Novel (excerpt): Marianela by
Benito Pérez Galdós
El filo del poder
Film: El laberinto del fauno by
Guillermo del Toro

The Preterite Tense

The Imperfect Tense

The Preterite and the Imperfect
Tenses Compared

Future and Conditional Tenses

Past Participles and
Compound Tenses

Prepositions
Unit 2
Readings:
1. Short story: “Los censores” by
Luisa Valenzuela
2. Poem: “Explico algunas
cosas” by Pablo Neruda
3. Drama: “La casa de Bernarda
Alba” by Federico García Lorca
El lado oscuro
Film: Tercero B by Jose Mari
Goenaga
Unit 3
Readings:
1. Short story: “El revolver” by
Emilia Pardo Bazán
2. Short story: “La tísica” by
Javier de Viana
3. Short story: “La noche boca
arriba” by Julio Cortázar
4. Short story: “El hijo” by
Horacio Quiroga
Second Semester
Intrigas
Grammar Review
Lazos de sangre
Film: El hijo de la novia by Juan
José Campanella
Unit 4
Readings:
1. Short story: “La prodigiosa
tarde de Baltázar” by Gabriel
García Márquez



Passive and Impersonal
Constructions
The Subjunctive
Commands

Articles and Nouns

Pronouns

The Subjunctive, cont. (12.612.7)

Adjectives, Adverbs, and
Comparisons
2. Short story: “No oyes ladrar
los perros” by Juan Rulfo
3. Poem: “Canción de otoño en
primavera” by Rubén Darío
4. Drama (excerpt): El jorobadito
by Rodolfo Aldasoro
Una cuestión de género
Unit 5
Film: Mujeres al borde de un
ataque de nervios by Pedro
Almodóvar
Readings:
1. Drama (excerpt): El eterno
femenino by Rosario Castellanos
2. Short story: “Emma Zunz” by
Jorge Luis Borges
3. Drama: Una lucha muy
personal by Mercé Sarrias
4. Novel (excerpt): Elogio de la
madrastra by Mario Vargas Llosa
La moral a la prueba
Unit 6
Film: El crímen del padre Amaro
by Carlos Carrera
Readings:
1. Short story: “La conciencia”
by Ana María Matute
2. Short story: “El alacrán de
Fray Gómez” by Ricardo Palma
3. Short Story: “La nochebuena
de Encarnación Mendoza” by
Juan Bosch
4. Drama: El delantal blanco by
Sergio Vodanovic
Extra help
If you have any concerns or difficulties, please see me as soon as possible. I am always available for extra
help before and after school in room D-20. Feel free to stop by or make an appointment in advance.