Spanish 4 Honors 2015-2016
Mr. José Martínez
LAHS, Room 759
Telephone: (562) 799-4780, ext. 82759
Email: jmartinez@losal.org
A. Course Description
Spanish 4 Honors is an intensive language course that is the equivalent of a 4th semester college-level
course. It is designed as a 4th year course of study as well as a bridge to prepare students for the AP Spanish
Language course next year. Class work will stress these skills: reading comprehension, listening comprehension,
speaking, writing, vocabulary and grammar. The class includes a comprehensive grammar review as well as new
material, but as it is an honors course, it is expected that students in 4H already have a solid understanding of
grammatical concepts taught in previous courses. The emphasis in this course will be on comprehension of written
and audio sources and speaking and writing practice.
Students need to be aware that they must take responsibility for learning beyond the classroom. To do well
in this course, most students will need to develop independent study habits and to go beyond the minimum
requirements for the course. Depending on a student's particular abilities, this might involve extra grammar study,
extra composition practice, outside reading, watching Spanish TV, listening to Spanish language radio, searching for
information on the internet in the target language, etc. If a student does not understand a concept taught in class,
it is his responsibility to seek help from the teacher outside of class. Unlike previous Spanish classes, doing
homework daily and studying for tests will not guarantee an A in this course. Except in a few cases, an A student
goes beyond what is assigned on the syllabus. The student must make a year-long effort to build reading, writing,
listening and speaking skills.
B. Materials needed:
1. A 3-ring binder or section in a larger binder for the lab manual and other handouts.
2. A decent Spanish-English dictionary or search a reliable website.
3. You will be given a syllabus for each unit listing in-class activities, homework, tests and quizzes, etc. Please
consult it daily and bring it with you to class. We will make changes as needed.
4. Homework calendar - you must have this daily or you will receive no credit for homework!
5. Pen or pencil - NO RED INK
6. Reflejos - issued to all students. Cover it and bring it daily.
7. Spanish 4 Honors Lab Manual – Most homework will assign from the lab manual, so you must bring to class
everyday.
C. General Rules
• Your most important contribution is your presence in class every day! Students should not miss more than 5
classes per semester! You will receive participation points daily and may earn more through exceptional
contributions. Obviously if you aren't here, this will affect your grade.
• Absolutely no English will be spoken in the classroom. It is my experience that students who insist on
speaking English will not improve. Speak Spanish, even when you are chatting with a friend. You will be
deducted participation points if you speak English. ¡Se habla solamente español en la clase!
• Electronic devices are not permitted in the classroom except when previously arranged for a class purpose.
Please refer to the Electronic Devise Policy established on campus.
• No food, drinks or chewing gum are permitted in the classroom, unless you are visiting during lunch to practice
your Spanish or for tutoring.
• All make-up work will be done at lunch or by appointment. Any make-up work not completed within one week
will be assigned a grade of zero. Late work, if accepted, will be penalized one letter grade for each day
late.
• Homework will be worth 3 points per day. To receive credit, it must be completed at the beginning of the class
period. No late homework will be accepted except in case of an excused absence. When you are absent, you
should show me the homework immediately. In addition, even if you are absent, you are responsible for the
assignment due the day you return. All homework is listed on the class syllabus!! No excuse for not having it
done! You will have a homework calendar on which you are to write assignments. You will receive a stamp for
completed homework. Partially completed homework receives half credit. At the end of each month/grading
period, I will collect calendars to record homework grades. Do not lose your calendar!!!
• You will receive daily participation points, plus additional credit for outstanding contributions. You should
volunteer as often as possible, and I will make a point of calling on everyone in the class. However, classes are
large, and you may not get called on every day unless you volunteer. If you are absent, you will obviously not
earn any participation points for that day, and they may not be made up unless you make some arrangement
with the teacher. The teacher will use Class Dojo for participation points and you will receive participation
points for using Spanish, are on task and are prepared. You can lose points if you use English all the time,
are not on task and are unprepared to class.
• Under no circumstances may you miss Spanish 4 Honors to attend another class or take a test for another class.
If at all possible, try to limit college visitations during this period to two absences. Also, if you are taking a test in
another class, it is not OK for you to stay to finish your test and come to Spanish late.
• Spanish 4 Honors is a difficult course and requires your undivided attention and effort. It is not a study period
to complete other assignments for other classes. I will remove your book/notes if you are studying for another
class during a Spanish lesson.
GRADING:
89.5 - 100%
79.5 - 89%
69.5 - 79%
59.5 - 69%
A
B
C
D
How is my grade determined in this class?
Participation
Homework
Projects and Essays
Tests and Quizzes
15%
15%
30%
40%
Essay policy / Attendance
Dear Parents and Students,
One of the most integral parts of the Spanish 4 Honors course is the completion of writing assignments in Spanish.
Students will be regularly doing 3 types of writing: informal, formal and summaries. Informal writing involves
writing postcards, letters, and emails, while formal writing consists of formal essay topics in the traditional fiveparagraph format. The summaries will consist of articles from different websites.
While informal and formal writing will be done mostly in class, the summaries and the revisions of the informal and
formal writings will be at home. When they are writing at home, students are welcome to use dictionaries or
grammar references. Essays will be scored using a rubric that has been developed for AP scoring. The teacher
marks errors, and the students are required to resubmit the essay with corrections. This takes an enormous
amount of time from the teacher, but the students benefit from it.
Since they want to earn a good grade on the essay, students sometimes have their work proofread by
either a native speaker or another Spanish teacher. The teacher knows immediately when this has occurred, based
on the use of expressions, verb tenses, or other nuances of language a 4th year non-native speaker could not
possibly have mastered. When questioned, these students and the people who help them usually admit only to
“helping with a few words.”
Please note: The use of online translators is also immediately detectable, and TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.
There are two problems with this scenario:
1) The student learns NOTHING when someone does the work for him/her.
2) IT IS CHEATING to have someone else do your work for you!!
Therefore:
If I receive a paper and suspect that a good portion of the paper was written by someone other than the
student who turned it in, the student will be asked to sit in my classroom after school and rewrite the essay, using
only a grammar reference and dictionary. If the student cannot replicate the quality of the original paper, the
student will receive a grade of zero on the assignment. If necessary, I will consult with other Spanish teachers to
determine quality. A student who continues to “cheat” on essays will be counseled to drop the class.
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We have read the course description and classroom rules for Spanish 4 Honors at Los Alamitos High
School. We understand the essay policy and agree that the student will work independently. We understand that
regular attendance is of utmost importance and that any work missed due to an excused absence must be made up
by appointment within one week of the absence. We also understand that no late homework is accepted, and that
late essays/projects will be penalized one letter grade for each day late. We know that electronic devices are not
permitted in the classroom, and that Spanish must be spoken at all times.
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Name of Student
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Per.
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Student Signature
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Date
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Parent/Guardian Signature
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Date