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American School of Warsaw 2013-2014 Ms. Allison Schmidtke Email: aschmidtke@aswarsaw.org Tel: 702-8500, ext. 1215

Ab Initio Spanish II Course Description and Student Expectations

¡Bienvenidos a la clase de Ab Initio II! Description This is the second year of a two-year course that prepares students with no previous experience in Spanish for the final IB Ab Initio written exam at the end of the year. The aim of the program is to continue the development of students’ abilities in Spanish so that they may communicate adequately in various situations of everyday social interaction. As in the first year of study, students will explore the different cultures in Spanish-speaking countries through various media including the Internet, films, music, and authentic texts, such as letters, emails and simple excerpts of literature. The course is meant to provide a foundation for possible further study. Materials Students are expected to come to class prepared. The following materials are required in class every day:

- pencil/pen - notebook with clean sheets of paper - charged laptop - course hand-outs

There is a textbook, Español lengua viva 2, for this course, which will be made available to students in the classroom as needed. The ASW Moodle site will be the primary source of additional resources for the course. Students should expect to check the site daily. In addition, there will be important links posted on the Moodle page that students will need to access on a regular basis. Students will be expected to organize their browser bookmarks in such a way that “Spanish” is its own folder. All students are issued a school Google email (gmail) account which they should use for all school correspondence and assignments. We will be incorporating the use of Google docs for many assignments, and it is important that students have a consistent point of contact in order to be able to access all necessary information and materials. Achievement Grade The Achievement Grade in Spanish represents a student’s performance on different summative assessments in the following weighted power standards:

Power Standard Weight

Oral Communication 30%

Written Communication 45%

Knowledge and Understanding 25%

At the end of the two-year course students will take an IB exam in text-handling and one of written production (55% of final IB mark). In addition, students will complete an extended written assignment in class during the second year that is evaluated externally (20% of final IB mark). The remaining 25% will be derived from an internal oral assessment in the second year of the course conducted and assessed in class, as described in greater detail in the Ab initio Subject Guide available on Moodle. The specific vocabulary and skills list, Ab initio required vocabulary and grammar, is also available on Moodle.

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Students may take mock IB exams during the spring semester and prior to the actual IB exams in May. Students will be provided with more detailed information about the assessment prior to the exam period.

What follows is a description of a few of the more common assessments students will be doing throughout the year according to the above-mentioned power standards.

Oral Communication consists of, but is not limited to, paired dialogues, presentations, and skits. For most topics, in place of a “unit” test, students will be required to complete an authentic oral summative assessment. Students will be given ample time to prepare such oral projects in order to practice with peers and seek out any other necessary assistance, especially if technology is required/involved. The IB Individual Oral rubric will be used to assess oral tasks and students will be familiarized with expectations prior to actual evaluation. This rubric can be found on Moodle. Written Communication consists of, but is not limited to, blog entries, descriptive paragraphs, emails or letters, and other relevant IB tasks. Not all written work will be summatively assessed; however, where relevant, two IB rubrics will be used to assess certain written tasks depending on their content and length. Students will be familiarized with the expectations of each rubric prior to actual evaluation. Both rubrics can be found on Moodle. Knowledge and Understanding consists of, but is not limited to, vocabulary and grammar quizzes, text-handling exercises and listening-comprehension quizzes. Much of the work of learning a language, especially in the initial stages, involves memorization of vocabulary and acquisition of grammatical structures. Many students need the reinforcement of daily written homework assignments to successfully internalize new material for later use in more authentic communicative tasks (dialogues, letters, emails, blogs, etc.). To ensure that students are doing the individual study and rehearsal necessary to acquire the language, periodic vocabulary and grammar checks in the form of unannounced quizzes will be given. In addition, students’ reading comprehension will be assessed using tasks similar to those on the text-handling portion of the actual IB exam. These assessments are of an objective nature, with “right” or “wrong” answers; therefore, no descriptive rubric is used in evaluation. A particular word about incomplete work… The Achievement Grade communicates a student’s progress toward achieving particular standards upon which the course is founded. Summative assessments are the tools teachers use to measure this progress. If students do not complete summative assessments, I am unable to determine and report their achievement. Therefore, incomplete work is not an option. Any student who fails to complete summative assessments will be referred to the After School Work Sessions described in the ASW High School Student Handbook.

Approaches to Learning Grade Much of our daily work together in Spanish class is of a formative nature. This simply means that students are constantly practicing new vocabulary, structures and skills as a group, in pairs, or one-on-one with the teacher, with immediate, “non-graded,” feedback. Successful language-learners are those students who maximize the benefits of these formative tasks by paying attention to their mistakes and taking the initiative to correct themselves and clarify misunderstandings. In other words, they are active and engaged learners. To assist students in doing the daily work necessary to acquire and internalize new material, we have a number of class routines that will be periodically assessed in different power standards of the High School Approaches to Learning rubric, which may be found on Moodle. In addition, each quarter students will be assessed in all four of the following power standards: Work and Deadlines; Ownership of Learning; Self-Management; and Engagement and Interaction. What follows is a description of a few of the more common routines students will be doing throughout the year according to the above-mentioned Approaches to Learning power standards.

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Engagement and Interaction in the Spanish classroom takes the form of daily oral participation. The more students speak Spanish, the faster they will acquire proficiency in the language. Students will receive a monthly evaluation of their use of Spanish in the classroom in activities such as role-playing, acting, oral vocabulary and grammar practice, singing, and general conversation. Exemplary students take risks and volunteer to speak often, striving for complex sentences rather than one-word or simple responses. In second year, it is important that students begin to include the why behind their assertions. In addition, exemplary students strictly adhere to the class norm that all conversation, whether with classmates or the teacher, should be in Spanish. Due to the performance-based nature of this course, it is imperative that students attend class every day. Exemplary students will make up oral participation individually with me during a break or after school if they are absent. Excessive absences will not only affect achievement, but also be reflected in the grade for Approaches to Learning. Work and Deadlines in the Spanish classroom takes the form of daily entry tasks and homework. Very little class time is dedicated to practice of the written language. As a result, the few tasks that are of a written nature are of utmost importance since written communication is a fundamental skill in language acquisition. Students will receive a monthly evaluation of their successful completion and correction of entry tasks. These tasks are activities designed to help get class started on time and efficiently. The daily activity will review work from the previous class period, week, or month, or preview the new lesson. Exemplary students begin the entry task immediately upon arrival to class and carefully review and correct their work with the entire class, making sure they understand each answer. In addition, exemplary students will make up any missed entry tasks from the Moodle if they are absent. Excessive absences will not only affect achievement, but also be reflected in the grade for Approaches to Learning. Students should expect to complete approximately 30 minutes of homework in Spanish three nights a week. Homework will include any of the following: vocabulary practice and study, grammar practice activities, reading, and writing. Homework is due at the beginning of class and will be recorded on an assignment sheet kept by the student. It is the student’s responsibility to bring the sheet to class each day and to keep it current. This sheet will be collected at the end of each unit and evaluated. Exemplary students accurately and independently complete all homework on time and carefully review and correct their work with the entire class, making sure they understand each answer. In addition, exemplary students will make up any missed homework from the Moodle if they are absent. A particular word about homework… For some students, a new language comes easily and they may feel that homework completion is not necessary to master the material. However, review of the homework is an integral part of our daily routine in class and in order to maximize their participation, they need to actively engage with the exercises. Additionally, many of the quizzes reinforce the format of homework tasks. In other words, it is in the best interest of all students to complete, correct and keep their homework organized in a notebook for independent study. Ownership of Learning in the Spanish classroom will be evaluated each quarter. During this second year of the Ab initio course, students will be completing many more practice written tasks (Prueba 2) for formative assessment and will be given the opportunity to revise their work. Exemplary students always take advantage of the chance to use teacher/peer-feedback to improve their work. In addition, exemplary students use every opportunity to employ new vocabulary and structures in original contexts, both oral and written. Finally, exemplary students identify individual areas of weakness (oral, reading, writing, listening) and make a concerted effort to develop strategies to strengthen those skills, as well as seek clarification from the teacher outside of class if there is confusion about a particular concept.

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Student Expectations The following general expectations will also be reflected in the Approaches to Learning grade, in particular Self-Management, at the end of each quarter. 1. Observe the rules, procedures and guidelines of the ASW High School Student Handbook. 2. Show respect for everyone in the classroom: the teacher, guest teachers, fellow students, visitors, and,

most of all, yourself. This includes not talking when someone else, teacher or student, is talking to the class.

3. Keep food, drinks (except water), and gum OUT of the classroom. 4. Bring all necessary materials to class. Necessary materials in Spanish include a pencil/pen and

notebook. 5. Use your laptop computer and all classroom technology appropriately and as instructed by the teacher. 6. Speak Spanish and keep a positive attitude. The only way to improve is by practicing! Don’t give up if

you don’t understand at first. Be patient. And be proactive.

Attendance Attendance is the most important part of students’ success. If students are present, they participate in the activities designed to help them learn the material. Many tasks are easily completed in class with the help of the teacher and other class members. Doing the work at home is much more difficult! The Absence Policy in the ASW High School Student Handbook applies regarding the make-up of daily work. It is the students’ responsibility to find out what they missed from Moodle. There are also guidelines stated in the ASW High School Student Handbook that address absences and quizzes/tests/presentations/projects. Tardy Policy Punctuality is a demonstration of respect for one’s teacher, peers and the integrity of the learning taking place in class. Exemplary students arrive on time and prepared with necessary materials for every class. In Spanish, we begin class promptly according to the published bell schedule. Tardies will be negatively reflected in the Approaches to Learning grade and reported to the office. Academic Honesty Learning a new language tests our sense of academic integrity to a great extent because a very effective acquisition strategy we use is to mimic the authentic language we see and hear around us in new and unique contexts. Is this copying? Not necessarily. In addition, in a communicative classroom, the nature of language-learning provides the opportunity for much group and partner work. In Spanish class, cooperation and teamwork are often encouraged because we can learn a lot from our fellow classmates; in fact, my goal is to promote a community of learners in which students feel safe among their peers to take risks and even fail at times. Consequently, there will be situations when the line between appropriate and inappropriate use of material and assistance from others isn’t always clear, and we will have to define this boundary from time to time in class. More often than not, though, students can trust their instincts when it comes to faithfully presenting work and ideas as their own in this course. In the end, students must be independent learners, and no type of deliberate cheating or plagiarism will be tolerated. Should a student produce work which raises suspicions of inauthenticity because it does not represent his/her knowledge and skill level, he/she will be asked to redo the assignment. Further violations of academic integrity will be handled according to the Academic Honesty Policy in the ASW High School Student Handbook. The use of on-line translation sites and services can also be troublesome when it comes to copying and plagiarism. Our goal in language-acquisition courses is for students to be able to independently and authentically communicate in a new language; translation is not the equivalent of communication for our purposes. While on-line translation sites can be an invaluable tool, students should only use them with great caution as they would a physical dictionary, looking up individual words. If students use such sites to translate an entire sentence or paragraph from their native language to Spanish, they will invariably run into problems. Should this occur, they will be asked to redo the assignment using the notes and vocabulary provided to them in class. Whenever they are in doubt about the appropriate use of the myriad resources available to them for the purposes of learning Spanish, students shouldn’t hesitate to consult with me.

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Assistance Students may come in before school, during breaks or after school for help, or to make up entry tasks, participation, quizzes and tests. Please check ahead of time to make sure I have no other appointments scheduled. Communication – A Note to Parents/Guardians I firmly believe that students’ academic success depends on the cooperation and open communication between students, families, and teachers. I make an effort to keep my grade book current, so student progress can be monitored on a regular basis via Edline. In addition,

please be sure to check your student’s Moodle page from time to time to stay informed about course assignments and expectations. If you ever have any questions or concerns about your student’s progress throughout the year, please feel free to contact me. The best time to reach me at school is during my preparation blocks, B, E and G, at 702-8500, ext. 1215. You can also email me at aschmidtke@aswarsaw.org; email is actually the best method to contact me.

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Course Content Spanish Ab Initio II 2013-2014

The course content is developed around three broad themes prescribed by IBO in the program guide: individual and society; leisure and work; urban and rural environment. Additionally, individual topics of study are organized under each theme. Topic: Volver a empezar Function: Review of previous topics. Forms: present tense; reflexives; ser vs. estar; gustar; verb/subject agreement; noun/adjective

agreement; broad spectrum of vocabulary Topic: ¿Qué hacemos este fin de semana? Theme: Leisure and Work Function: Talking about our leisure time. Forms: preterit tense; personal a Topic: La niñez – Así éramos Theme: Individual and Society Function: Talking about our childhood. Forms: imperfect tense; expressions of comparison Topic: Los eventos especiales Theme: Leisure and Work Function: Talking about our past experiences and important moments in our lives. Forms: preterit vs. imperfect; present perfect tense; reciprocal verbs; saber vs. conocer Topic: ¡A viajar! Theme: Leisure and Work Function: Talking about our travel experiences and preferences. Forms: continued practice of preterit vs. imperfect; pluperfect tense Topic: El medio ambiente Theme: Urban and Rural Environment Function: Talking about environmental issues. Forms: future tense; nosotros commands Topic: Los medios de comunicación Theme: Leisure and Work Function: Talking about how we communicate with one another. Forms: review of problem areas