Classroom Guidelines
and
Syllabus for Spanish 1
Course Description:
This is a beginning level Spanish course. It will combine elements of Vocabulary,
Grammar, and Culture to give a World Languages experience. We will use different
countries/regions from the Spanish speaking world to explore new vocabulary and
introduce you to thematic vocabulary and grammar concepts in the Spanish Language.
Instructor and contact information:
My name is Mr. Aldrich. Often you will hear me called Sr. Aldrich or El Cid. I am happy
to answer to all of these.
The easiest way to contact me outside of class is via e-mail. If it is during school hours
please send it to my school address aldrichd@cersd.org I try to check this e-mail a
couple of times during the day.
If it is after hours I will also take e-mails at home at sr.aldrich@gmail.com. Like all of
you I lead a very busy life so if I do not answer right away I may not be home or
available to help yet.
Textbook:
We will be using the Exprésate textbook Level 1. The textbook is broken into Capítulos
(Chapters). Each of the Capítulos are broken into sections. Those sections are the
Vocabulary sections, called “Vocabulario”, the Grammar sections, called “Gramática”.
The order is Vocabulario 1, Gramática 1, Vocabulario 2, Gramática 2.
In addition to the textbook itself, we will be using the Cuaderno de Vocabulario y
Gramática (Vocabulary and Grammar workbook) and the Cuaderno de Actividades
(Activities workbook). All of this will be provided to you in either a paper version or an
electronic version.
Other available materials:
In addition to the textbook and workbooks, we also have online resources and CD
tutorials and flashcards that are available.
 The online resources are available at the following URLs:
o Exprésate textbook general site – www.go.hrw.com
o My internal web site - www.moodle.cleelum.wednet.edu
o My external web site El Cid’s Web Page (www.inlandnet.com/~elcid)
 Tutorials and Flashcards
o Quizlet flashcards are a great way to learn the vocabulary.
o BYKI flashcards and tutorials are available on my web site.
o I do have CD’s with tutorials for the book but they are getting quite old
and may or may not work on your modern operating system. However you
are more than welcome to check one out and try.
Classroom Procedures
There are a few procedures you will be expected to follow in class.
 You are expected to be on time. If you are late and you are with another teacher or
office personnel, bring a note. Failure to do so will cost you points from your
grade.
 Have your materials ready to go. Every day you should have access to your
textbook, paper, and something to write with. If you accidentally come without
one of these, borrow the missing item(s) before class starts so that you are not a
distraction to yourself, your neighbors, or me.
 Homework is assumed to be due the day after I assign it unless I say otherwise.
 When you come into class, you are to check the board for an activity and
directions. If there is not one there you are to study your vocabulary. You are to
work on this while I am taking role.
 Though I do not expect a silent classroom I do expect you to listen when I am
explaining something, whether I am explaining it to you or not.
 I do not like people getting up and walking around the classroom when I am
talking. Please stay seated and wait. If it is urgent, raise your hand.
 Gum is allowed as long as it does not interfere with class and I do not find it
anywhere but the garbage can. If the class can’t comply with this simple
stipulation I will stop allowing it so please, keep it in your mouth or in the
garbage can.
 There is no food allowed in the class unless it is part of a class activity. If you are
eating in my class I will ask you to through the food away.
 There are no drinks allowed in the class except for water in a clear, closable
container. The exception to this is if it is a pre-approved drink as part of a
classroom activity.
 I reserve the right to limit you two bathroom passes per term. Use them wisely. I
will start by not doing this but if the number of bathroom trips becomes excessive
or I keep getting interrupted to be asked I will implement the limit.
Tests and Quizzes:
Each section of the textbook is associated with a quiz and/or test. This will take place on
the Moodle Server so be sure to have a computer account. It will usually be broken into a
Vocabulary 1/Grammar 1 quiz and a Vocabulary 2/Grammar 2 quiz. At the end of each
of the Capítulos there is a Unit Exam. In addition to the book quizzes and tests I may also
give additional quizzes on materials covered in class.
The quizzes actually come quite quickly and test on smaller concepts. They emphasize
the few concepts and vocabulary from the smaller sections of the Capítulo.
The unit tests follow section quizzes and involve a much larger scope of learning. They
emphasize the information and vocabulary over the entire Capítulo.
Although quizzes and tests emphasize their individual section, all quizzes and tests are
comprehensive. That is to say that if I was tested on conjugating –AR verbs on a quiz or a
test. When I get to the next chapter I still need to be able to conjugate –AR verbs.
Because of this, think of each assessment as an opportunity to measure what you do and
don’t know. If you find that you did poorly on a section. Ask questions about it and make
sure that you can do it. The concepts keep coming back and you will need to know how
to do the early things in order to do the later things.
For both quizzes and tests there are some procedures and guidelines you will need to
follow.
 You will be given a finite amount of time in which to complete the assignment.
 Once the quiz or test has been started there is no talking until I say that all the
tests are done. This is only fair to those who do not finish early and should not
have to deal with the distractions of noise.
 You may have a piece of blank paper to write on but you must show it to me at
the start of the quiz.
 When I finish correcting an assessment I will open it up for you to look at and fix
any mistakes you made. This is very important to me. Spanish is a cumulative
class. If you don’t see what mistakes you made you cannot assess how well you
know the subject. This is an opportunity for you to shape the learning. You can
ask questions and get more explanations before we take a unit tests or move on to
the next Capítulo.
Homework:
Homework is given one to three nights a week. It is intended to give you more practice
with the concepts that were learned during the week to help solidify them and give you a
chance to formulate questions about them before we take quizzes on the material. It is
usually exercises from the Cuaderno de Vocabulario y Gramática but can come from
other sources including exercises from the textbook and the Cuaderno de Actividades.
Vocabulary:
Vocabulary should be studied every night. There is no night that you do not have Spanish
to do. Every night you should study your vocabulary for no less than 15 minutes even if
you have homework, Studying vocabulary more than 30 minutes in a single setting is
usually counterproductive. If you wish to study for more than 30 minutes in a night, you
should take a break, do something else, and then return to the vocabulary.
Daily Participation:
Daily participation points are points that I give you for being in class and participating
responsibly in the classroom activities. You are given daily points. You loose them for
being absent, tardy, or not participating responsibly in class. You do not loose them if
you are gone for a classroom sponsored activity such as a field trip or presentation. Since
participation points are given freely, if you lose them you cannot make them up unless it
is an excused absence. If you are absent and it is excused you can make up the points in
one of two ways.
1. You can spend time before or after school working on Spanish in my classroom.
2. You can bring in tangible forms of study.
Some examples of tangible forms of study are:
 Worksheets that were not assigned as class work or homework
 Worksheets that you make and provide answer keys to

Study guides that you create about topics we are currently covering or have
previously covered.
 A printed sheet from my website or the studypanish.com website showing a 100
percent score.
I am looking for what seems to be fifty minutes worth of work to equal one day of
participation points.
Here is a typical schedule of study for a Capítulo. Remember that this can change somewhat
according to the class schedule, the complexity of the concepts, and other events that influence
the flow of the classroom.
Day
1
10
Class events
Introduce the Capítulo and the country in takes place in.
Introduce the vocabulary
Do exercises from the book
Assign homework
Review the vocabulary
Talk about the homework
Do more exercises from the book
Introduce the Grammar 1 concepts
Concentrate on the first one or two concepts
Do exercises from the book
Review the grammar concepts from day 3
Concentrate on remaining concepts from Gramática 1
Do more exercises from the book
Assign homework
Review for quiz
Section 1 Quiz
Cultural exploration
Look at the Vocabulario 2
Do exercises from the book
Assign homework
Review the vocabulary
Practice putting the vocabulary into context
Introduce the Grammar 2 concepts
Concentrate on the first one or two concepts
Review the grammar concepts from day 7
Concentrate on remaining concepts from Gramática 2
Do more exercises from the book
Assign homework
Review for the quiz
Section 2 Quiz
Review for Unit Test
11
Review for Unit Test
12
Unit Test
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Student Responsibility at home
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of homework
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of study for the quiz
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 1
20 – 30 minutes of homework
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of homework
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of vocabulary study
for Vocabulario 2
20 – 30 minutes of homework
15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario
1&2
15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario
1&2
15-20 minutes of review Vocabulario
1&2
Look at the vocabulary from the next
section
Course Study/Objectives
Each Unit will take three to four weeks to complete and will cover the following topics.
Unit
You will Learn to:
You will use:
Capítulo 1
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Ask someone’s name and say yours
Ask how someone is and say how
you are
Introduce people and say where
they are from
Give phone numbers, the time, the
date, and the day
Spell words and give e-mail
addresses
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Subjects, verbs, and subject
pronouns
Numbers 0 – 31
The alphabet
The verb ser
Punctuation marks and written
accents
Describe people
Ask someone’s age and birthday
Talk about what you and others
like
Describe things
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Ser with adjectives
Gender and adjective agreement
Questions
Nouns and definite articles
Gustar, Por Que?, and porque
The preposition de
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Talk about what you and others like to
do
Talk about what you want to do
Talk about everyday activities
Say how often you do things

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
Say what you have and need
Talk about classes
Talk about plans
Invite someone to do something

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Gustar with infinitives
Pronouns after prepositions
Querer with infinitives
Irregular –ar verbs
Ir and jugar
Weather expressions
Indefinite articles, cuanto?, mucho,
and poco
Tener and some tener idioms
Venir and a la/las with time
Ir a with infinitives
Regular and irregular –er and –ir
verbs
Tag questions
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Capítulo 2
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Capítulo 3
Capítulo 4
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Capítulo 5

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
Describe people and family
relationships
Talk about where you and others live
Talk about your responsibilities

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Capítulo 6

Comment on food


Possessive adjectives
Stem-changing verbs: almorzar,
dormer, volver, merendar, entender,
and empezar
Estar with prepositions
Negation with nunca, tampoco, nada,
and nadie
Tocar and parecer
Ser and ester

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
Take an order and make polite
requests
Talk about meals
Offer to help and give instructions

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Pedir, server, preferir, poder, and
probar
Direct objects and direct object
pronouns
Affirmative informal commands with
pronouns
Capítulo 7

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Talk about your daily routine
Talk about staying fit and healthy
Talk about how your feel
Give advice

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Verbs with reflexive pronouns
Infinitives
Stem-changing verbs
Estar, sentirse and tener
Negative informal commands
Object and reflexive pronouns with
commands
Capítulo 8

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Ask for and give opinions
Ask for and offer help in a store
Say where you went and what you
did
Talk of the phone

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Talk about plans
Talk about past holidays
Talk about preparing for a party
Greet, introduce others, and say
goodbye


Costar and numbers to one million
Demonstrative adjectives and
comparisons
Quedar
Preterite of –ar verbs
Preterite of ir
Preterite of verbs with reflexive
pronouns
Preterite of –ar, -er, and –ir verbs
Pensar que and pensar with
infinitives
Direct object pronouns
Conocer and personal a
Present progressive
Ask for and give information
Remind and reassure others
Talk about a trip
Express hopes and wishes
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Capítulo 9
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Capítulo 10 
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Preterite of regular verbs
Preterite of –car, -gar, -zar verbs
Preterite of hacer
Informal commands of spelling
change and irregular verbs
Direct object pronouns
Verbs followed by infinitives
First homework assignment for Spanish 1
Your first homework assignment is to fill out this form and return it to me. Use print for all
information. If you only have one parent at home write NA in the blank so that I know you
did not turn in an incomplete homework.
Last Name: _____________________________
First Name: _____________________________
Parent or Guardian Name: ______________________________________________
Parent or Guardian Name: ______________________________________________
By signing we acknowledge that we have read the preceding information.
Student ____________________________________________________
Parent _____________________________________________________
Parent _____________________________________________________
Date: _____________________________