SPANISH LEVEL II HONORS – SYLLABUS
SRTA. GALLEGOS, WALTER PAYTON COLLEGE PREP
Tutoring: Wednesdays from 3-4pm in Room 120 or by appointment
Classrooms: 120, 118
Email: ktgallegos@cps.k12
Class website: http://gallegoscentral.pbworks.com/
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, future and
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.
My Goal: This will be a productive and challenging year of learning, growth and fun. I am
here to help you learn Spanish, but this won’t come without earnest effort on your part.
Commit yourself to constant learning and you can succeed!
“¡En español!” Class is conducted primarily in Spanish. Students should speak in Spanish, both with teacher
and classmates, to the maximum extent possible. When it comes to speaking, you are being evaluated for effort
more than accuracy. Do not worry about making mistakes. Get the gist across in Spanish and I will assist as
needed. Research shows there’s a kind of judge in our heads called the “Monitor,” or editor, who helps polish our
writing. If the Monitor gets too pushy, however, he interferes with our ability to speak, making us feel selfconscious. 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, control him when you speak.
Categories: Grades will be based on the categories and grading scale that follow.
Exams, Tests, Homework Quizzes
Projects, Written Assignments
Active, Engaged Participation, Daily Assignments
Grading Scale:
A
B
C
D
F
89.5% – 100%
79.5% – 89.4%
69.5% – 79.4%
59.5% – 69.4%
Below59.5%

40%
40%
20%
A NOTE REGARDING THE
GRADING SCALE
The grade you receive is the grade you
earned. I will not round up if you are on the
border between two grades at the end of
the marking period (i.e. 89.4%).
Extra Credit: Apart from extra credit question(s) on quizzes and tests, no other extra credit opportunities
will be made available.
Exams, Tests and Homework Quizzes: 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 given. Speaking tasks, which will count as a test grade, will be recorded for each unit in the
Language Lab.
Projects and Written Assignments: Projects will be assigned throughout the year and writing assignments
on a regular basis. In most cases you will be given time during class to work on and peer edit projects and
sometimes writing assignments. Students should begin work and seek teacher support, if necessary, shortly
after receiving these assignments in order to ensure quality work is produced in a timely manner.
Homework Policy:
Regular Textbook/Workbook Assignments and Homework Quizzes: There will be work assigned
throughout the year in the “cuaderno,” or workbook, and textbook. Students will be responsible for
completing this work in class, often as a bell ringer or extension activity after a concept is introduced for
the first time. Students will not receive specific credit toward their grade for this type of assignment.
However, there will be regular “homework quizzes” 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. “Homework quizzes” will be included in the
student’s “exams, tests and homework quizzes” grade.
Individualized Homework: Students will also be assigned individualized written homework assignments
to be peer-edited and/or handed in for teacher review. These homework assignments will be counted
toward a student’s “Projects/Written Assignments” grade. Individualized homework assignments may
include vocabulary application, self-assessments, short readings and paragraph responses.
Active, Engaged Participation: Participation cannot be underestimated – it is 20% of your grade!
Participation means more than simply answering the teacher’s questions. It entails:
- volunteering to 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 period to 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 workbook 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:
o a set of blank index cards (for vocabulary words)
o a comprehensive Spanish/English dictionary (not a pocketsize one)
Helpful Hints for Success in Spanish 2:
1. Come to tutoring with Srta. G!
- Wednesdays after school in room 120, other days by appointment
- Work on homework, peer edit, review test mistakes and clarify confusion
2. Use the Descubre 2 Supersite: http://descubre2.vhlcentral.com
- Vocabulary lists and reinforcement
- Virtual grammar tutorials and practice
All SuperSite activities provide the
- Listening and reading practice
student with instant feedback!
- Practice tests and quizzes

3. Use my class website: https://gallegoscentral.pbworks.com
- Class PowerPoints, notes, games and handouts
- Links to 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! EXCELLENT karaoke-style website: http://lyricstraining.com/
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
- 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 for 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, culture and 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
http://gallegoscentral.pbworks.com/
http://descubre2.vhlcentral.com/
http://www.languageguide.org/espanol/grammar/
http://www.studyspanish.com
http://www.uni.edu/becker/Spanish3.html
http://www.verbix.com/languages/spanish.shtml
http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php
http://www.studystack.com/java-studysta/frames.jsp
http://www.ver-taal.com/gramatica.htm
Walter Payton College Prep High School
Course Outline 2011 – 2012
Semester I
1st Quarter (ends 11/12)
2nd Quarter (ends 01/29)
Kick-off: Sept.
Lección 3, La vivienda: Dec.
- Icebreaker; Intro to Spanish 2;
- Parts of a house, household
Interest Inventory; Plagiarism Policy
chores, table settings
- Why study Spanish?; Classroom
- Ortografía: Las mayúsculas y las
Phrases; Distribute textbooks
minúsculas
- Translation Activity
- Relative pronouns
- Formal commands
Lección preliminar: Sept.
- Present subjunctive w/
- Present tense of ser and estar,
impersonal expressions and verbs
articles, adjectives and agreement
of will and influence
- Present tense of –ar, -er, -ir verbs,
- Panorama: Panamá
tener, venir and ir; Verbs w/ stem
changes & irreg. yo forms
Lección 4, La naturaleza: Jan.
- Preterite of regular & irregular verbs;
- Nature, the environment,
verbs that change meaning in pret.
recycling and conservation
- Object pronouns
- Ortografía: Los signos de
- Gustar and verbs like it
puntuación
- Subjunctive w/ verbs of emotion
Lección 1, El consultorio: Oct.
- Subjunctive w/ doubt, disbelief,
- Health and medical terms, parts of the and denial
body, symptoms, health professions
- Panorama: Colombia
- Ortografía: El acento y las sílabas
fuertes
FINAL EXAM: Sem. 1 content
- Imperfect tense
- Preterite versus Imperfect
- Constructions with se
- Adverbs
- Panorama: Costa Rica
Project: Preterite versus Imperfect
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: Julio y su ángel
Ms. Gallegos, Spanish II Honors
Semester II
3rd Quarter (ends 04/01)
4th Quarter (ends 06/17)
Lección 5, En la ciudad: Feb.
Lección 7, El mundo del
- City life, daily chores, money
trabajo: May
and banking, at the post office
- Professions and occupations,
- Ortografía: Las abreviaturas
the workplace, job interviews
- Subjunctive in adverbial
- Ortografía: Letras y, ll, y h
clauses
- Future
- Nosotros commands
- Future Perfect
- Past participles used as
- Panorama: Nicaragua y La
adjectives
República Dominicana
- Panorama: Venezuela
- Literatura: A Julia de Burgos
Project: Anuncio clasificado
Group project: Ídolo
americano en español
Lección 6: El bienestar:
March/April
Película: Bichos
- Health and well-being, exercise
and physical activity, nutrition
FINAL EXAM: Sem. 2 content
- Ortografía: Las letras b y v
- Present perfect
- Past perfect
- Present perfect subjunctive
- Panorama: Bolivia
- Literatura: Un día de estos
Película: Bajo la misma luna
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.