Español-4º Año
SYLLABUS
Señor Blease - Rm. 326
E-Mail address: rblease@cps.edu
¡Bienvenidos! Welcome to your FOURTH year of Spanish! Colleges and universities are going to love
you for that! I’m sure you will find this course extremely helpful for further understanding of cultures that
speak Spanish and deeper comprehension of the Spanish language. Congratulations of on continuing to become
a worldlier person through understanding Hispanic cultures!!
As the person who has traveled beyond his or her own doorstep to discover new cultures is wiser than the one
who has not, so brings an ability to scrutinize more steadily, appreciate more lovingly, our own.
-Margaret Mead
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these
accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little
corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain
Si usted habla con un hombre en un idioma que comprenda, que va a la cabeza. Si hablas con él en su lenguaje,
que va a su corazón.
- Nelson Mandela
Objectives:
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To create an atmosphere that allows you to feel comfortable to make mistakes and encourage and guide
you to learn from your mistakes
Help you to apply what they’re learning in class and use it outside class
To communicate with the people who speak Spanish and to understand their cultures
Classroom Expectations:
☺ Spanish will be spoken at all times
☺ Cell phones are OFF. Not on “silent” or “vibrate”. They will be taken away immediately if this is
violated and you’ll collect your phone at the end of the day.
☺ No cheating which includes copying exams, homework, or extra credit. Check your handbooks for
description of what happens with offenses.
☺ Respect will be the foundation of our class. You always receive as much respect as you give.
☺ Homework must be made up immediately after an absence. All homework assignments will be posted on
the internet and/or the chalkboard by the end of the day.
☺ Washroom breaks are on your own. If it becomes a distraction, we’ll reevaluate this. Cell phones are to
be left in class.
☺ You will take the National Spanish Exam in late March. This will cost $6 or $7. If you have economic
hardship, please let me know in private.
☺ If you’re having difficulty, please come in for tutoring. I cannot tutor after school but something can be
worked out for before school, during your lunch, or many times during X block.
Portfolio:
As part of your grade, you will be required to maintain a portfolio of all your homework, classwork, and projects
in a 3-ring binder. This is for a couple reasons. One, the portfolio will preserve all your work. Two, an
organized portfolio will help you to study for quizzes and exams. Three, the portfolio will be turned in twice a
semester for my review as well as your parents’ review when they come for conferences. Finally, the portfolio
can be kept and used for next summer’s assignment, if applicable. I will collect the portfolio twice per semester,
but it only counts as one grade. The categories in your portfolio will be as follows:
1) Tarea
2) Apuntes
3) Correcciones de exámenes y pruebas (continuation from last year)
4) Vocabulario (continuation from last year)
E-mail:
I usually check e-mail no later than 8 p.m., so if you have a question, write to me before then.
Pases de tarea: Homework passes are offered randomly throughout the year for approved extracurricular
activities. Homework passes can be used to replace homework assignments previously marked “0”, they may be
used for future homework assignments, or you may accumulate them for additional points after your extra credit
is accounted for! Homework passes do not excuse your participation the day we review the homework.
Extra credit: Extra credit will only be offered to students who have done absolutely ALL the required
assignments. Extra credit will not be offered to students who fail to turn in homework assignments and/or those
who fail to take their quizzes/exams on time. After all, that is what “extra” means!
Departmental Grading:
100=90
89-80
79-70
69-60
59-0
Evaluation:
A
B
C
D
F
35% of your grade will be your participation in class
 Full immersion in Spanish will count as double 1st semester and triple 2nd semester
 Portfolio
 Projects
20% of your grade will be homework
 Marked complete and on time (100), or not (0). If we review the homework in class,
you need to make corrections or it will also be counted as 0. If I (Sr. Blease) just
collect the homework without reviewing it in class, errors are allowed.
20% of your grade will be quizzes
25% of your grade will be tests (oral and written)
 Final exams will carry more weight
 National Spanish Exam will count as a regular exam
Materials:
 Imagina textbook
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Notebook or paper in your Apuntes section of the portfolio
2 inch, 3-ring binder for portfolio. I may have a few you can use if you don’t have one.
Pens/pencils
Course Outline
Weeks 1-4 – REPASO DE ESPAÑOL 3
 Spanish 3 review with summer packet and Imagina
o Homework will be based off of the packet and textbook
o It is utmost importance to ask questions during this time because you need to understand these
grammar points to continue on to more difficult structures
 Visits to the language lab to practice your oral skills
 Presentation of Amigos de las Américas program
 Presentation of National Spanish Exam
 EXAM on all the grammar in the summer packet
Weeks 5-12 – LAS RIQUEZAS NATURALES – Imagina, páginas 156-193 (Description of chapter is on pág.
157)
 We will discuss dates and expectations for the 2 big projects this year: Noticias!
 Begin Noticias!
 Continue Lección 5 from last year in Imagina. Bring Imagina every day
 There will be at least 1 quiz/lección based on vocabulary and/or grammar point
 There will also be UNANNOUNCED quizzes on Noticias readings before Noticias is presented
 You will also begin to have quizzes based on the vocabulary for the National Spanish Exam
 We will visit the language lab a few times for you to verbally practice what you learned in the chapter as
well as practice activities with the chapter and additional vocabulary in the National Spanish Exam
 You will have 2 exams (written, but some may be oral) mostly based on the grammar and vocabulary
from the chapter. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the National Spanish
Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter exams.
Weeks 13-19 - EL VALOR DE LAS IDEAS – Imagina, páginas 194-231 (Description of the chapter is on
pág. 195)
 Continue with Noticias
 Begin Lección 6 in Imagina. Bring Imagina every day
 There will be at least 1 quiz/lección based on vocabulary and/or grammar point
 There will also be UNANNOUNCED quizzes on Noticias readings before Noticias is presented
 You will also have quizzes based on the vocabulary for the National Spanish Exam
 We will visit the language lab a few times for you to verbally practice what you learned in the chapter as
well as practice activities with the chapter and additional vocabulary in the National Spanish Exam
 You will have 1 cumulative exam (written, but some may be oral) mostly based on the grammar and
vocabulary from the chapter. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the National
Spanish Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter exams.
WEEK 20 – EXAMEN FINAL – Lecciones 5, 6, y una parte escrita basada en una NOTICIA presentada en
clase
 The final exam will include vocabulary and grammar from Lecciones 5, 6, and a written composition on
one of the noticias presented in class. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the
National Spanish Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter
exams.
Weeks 21-28 - PERSPECTIVAS LABORALES – Imagina, páginas 232-267 (Description of the chapter is
on pág. 233)
 Continue with Noticias
 Continue Lección 7 in Imagina. Bring Imagina every day
 There will be at least 1 quiz/lección based on vocabulary and/or grammar point
 There will also be UNANNOUNCED quizzes on Noticias readings before Noticias is presented
 You will also have quizzes based on the vocabulary for the National Spanish Exam
 We will visit the language lab a few times for you to verbally practice what you learned in the chapter as
well as practice activities with the chapter and additional vocabulary in the National Spanish Exam
 You will have 2 exams (written, but some may be oral) mostly based on the grammar and vocabulary
from the chapter. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the National Spanish
Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter exams.
 NATIONAL SPANISH EXAM! If you’ve been paying attention in class and doing well on the
vocabulary quizzes, you don’t have to do any additional studying. The National Spanish Exam counts
as an exam in class as well.
Weeks 29-38 – CIENCIA Y TECNOLOGIA – Imagina, páginas 268-301 (Description of the chapter is on
pág. 269)
 AP exams are going on during this time, so we may need a few more days to review this chapter
 Continue with Noticias
 Continue Lección 8 in Imagina. Bring Imagina every day
 There will be at least 1 quiz/lección based on vocabulary and/or grammar point
 There will also be UNANNOUNCED quizzes on Noticias readings before Noticias is presented
 We will visit the language lab a few times for you to verbally practice what you learned in the chapter as
well as practice activities with the chapter
 You will have 2 exams (written, but some may be oral) mostly based on the grammar and vocabulary
from the chapter. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the National Spanish
Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter exams.
WEEKS 38-39 – PRESENTACIONES Y EXAMEN FINAL – Lecciones 7, 8, y una parte escrita basada en
una NOTICIA presentada en clase
 Finish with Noticias
 Final class project: Present vocabulary and grammar from Lecciones 5-8
 The final exam will include vocabulary and grammar from Lecciones 5-8 and a written composition on
one of the noticias presented in class. The exam will not require you to know the vocabulary from the
National Spanish Exam, but you are encouraged to incorporate the new vocabulary in the chapter
exams.