COURSE:
Spanish V-VI 3rd Year
INSTRUCTOR: señora Patrick
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Course Syllabus
Academic Expectations: At Tahoma High School studying a second language is an elective course;
therefore, it pleases me to know that it was your choice to enroll in this class to continue your study of
Spanish. The fact that you are here tells me that you are sincerely interested in attaining a high degree of
fluency. Third year Spanish is an adventure. This year you will wade deep into rich cultural experiences,
navigate a variety of conversations, and understand strange and wonderful perspectives. In the third
year of learning a language you will need to think and work “in Spanish” almost exclusively. This
is going to demand a lot of time and effort on your part both in and out of class in order to achieve
desirable results. You will be expected to SPEAK, READ, WRITE, AND LISTEN IN SPANISH. You will
also learn about Hispanic culture and history. How successful you are depends on your willingness to put
forth your best effort and CONTINUALLY memorize and practice the skills that you are acquiring. Commit
yourself to learning every single day in this class. Participate wholeheartedly. With this in mind, I look
forward to a positive and successful year with every student in my third year class! I am thrilled that you
want to refine your Spanish speaking skills, and I am here to help you to do that!
Tourists observe, travelers engage, ADVENTURERS PLUNGE!
Learning Objectives: Within your range of experience, in your third year of study,
you will…
1. know and understand the grammatical rules of the language presented in class
2. speak well enough to communicate in formal and informal
conversations/presentations in Spanish using correct pronunciation
3. understand the language when spoken at a normal speed
4. read, with direct understanding, material on a general subject
5. write the language by spelling correctly and using correct punctuation
6. gain an understanding of the formal and informal aspects of Hispanic culture
Grading Procedure: You will be graded on a point system. Your grade will be
determined by points acquired on daily homework assignments, oral and written tests,
in-class participation, presentations, attendance, quizzes, major exams, and class
projects. The following percentages are used in the World Language Department:
A = 93-100%
A- = 90-92%
B+ = 88-89%
B = 83-87%
B- = 80-82%
C+ = 78-79%
C = 73-77%
C- = 70-72%
D + = 68-69%
D = 63-67%
F = below 63%
Display Integrity: No on-line translators or translation devices (these programs are
not accurate), no plagiarism, and no cheating in any way. As per THS policy, the
first and second occurrence of cheating will result in a zero on the test/assignment and
a referral to the administration. The third occurrence will result in a loss of credit for the
entire grading period. Being honest and trustworthy are of absolute importance in
my class!! Students are encouraged to help and learn from one another on assignment
skills, but individuals need to always complete and submit their own original work!
Participation Grade: Participation in this class will have a major impact on your grade.
Most days you will receive up to 10 points for speaking and using Spanish as
much as possible throughout the class period. You will rate yourself using a scale
of 1-5. If you are absent you can make up these points (anytime during the grading
period) by speaking in Spanish with a friend for 15 minutes in my classroom either
before or after school. It is extremely important in third year Spanish that you are
WILLING to speak the language all you can during class time. Don’t’ worry about
making mistakes. Just be willing to learn from them! This is all about PRACTICE,
PRACTICE, PRACTICE! It’s all the practice that will help elevate your speaking ability!
Additionally, you will be evaluated two times during the semester on the following:


Points possible
Follows Spanish class Rules and Regs………………..50 (X2)
Participates in all class activities,
assignments, and learning experiences………………..50 (X2)
Course Materials/Texts: This year you will work out of two textbooks that are written
for intermediate and high intermediate students of Spanish. In Situaciones - Spanish for
Mastery you will work on oral and written communication, linguistic skills (expressing
yourself accurately), and improving reading skills. In De Aquí y De Allá you will
concentrate on vocabulary building, grammatical structures, and cultural awareness.
An immense variety of other applicable materials will be used to supplement the texts.
Additionally, videos and selected readings from a great variety of websites and other
sources about Hispanic language and culture will be used.
Third year Spanish is a rewarding year, but you need to be very dedicated to your
studies in order to learn all the material that you can. Be prepared to be evaluated on
quizzes, major tests at the end of each unit, a lot of oral presentations, partner
activities, group activities, selected writings, dramatizations, and a plethora of other
communicative skill-based activities.
Daily Homework: Come to class prepared to turn in your assignments at the beginning
of each class period. In order to receive credit for your daily homework assignments,
the work must be COMPLETED, CORRECTED ACCURATELY, AND TURNED IN ON
TIME. Incomplete, copied, poorly corrected, or late assignments will receive no credit.
The daily quizzes that you will take in class will be directly related to the homework
assignment that is due. It is, therefore, extremely important that you complete all parts
of the assignment and that you do your own work. Remember that the main purpose of
the homework assignment is to reinforce the lessons/exercises being studied!
Contact Information: You can contact me via our school website or feel free to come
to my class. I try to remain in my classroom each day after school for a long time
unless there are meetings in which case I will be unable to meet. I always look forward
to talking to my students outside of class! Your well-being is very important to me!
I love to see my students succeed in Spanish class. When something is hard or confusing, please let me
know. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. I want for you to have a successful year. With the time,
dedication, and effort that you put in, this will most certainly occur. I look forward to making this year a
rewarding experience in your life! Teaching third year Spanish is always a rewarding experience for me!