Syllabus

Eighth Grade Spanish at Atlanta Charter Middle Syllabus

 

Instructor:                        Laura M.  Byard  (Profe Laura)

Room:                                    202

Phone:                         612-986-8764

Email:                                     LByard@atlantachartermiddle.com

Blog:                                    http://cultureshock-acms.blogspot.com/

Office Hours:                        Block 2.1 & 2.2 (Available before/after school and during

lunch – just call me or email me to make sure I am there!)

 

As the first 8^th Grade Spanish class at ACMS, this will be a very exciting year! Below I have explained our course schedule, my grading expectations and policies, and any other classroom expectations. Please feel free to contact me any time with any questions!

 

Course Schedule

 

First Trimester (--)

Unidad 1            comenzando y repasando

Unidad 2            los animales en peligro de extinción

 

Second Trimester (--)

Unidad 3            la agencia de empleo

Unidad 4            vamos al restaurante

 

Third Trimester (--)

Unidad 5            Don Quijote de la Mancha

Unidad 6            celebración y fiestas de países diferentes

 

 

Grading

> 100 = A+

90-100 = A

80-89 = B

70-79 = C

< 70 =" Needs">

 

Blog – 5%

The blog for our classroom is http://cultureshock-acms.blogspot.com/ -- you are required to check it regularly! I will occasionally put assignments in the blog or pose questions that you will have to comment on to earn points. The blog assignments will be simple and used more to see if you are utilizing all of the tools at your disposal.

 

Participation – 10 %

Participation will be graded everyday since it is imperative that you are an active participant in a foreign language course. Though I do understand that everyone has a different comfort level in speaking aloud, the participation grade is more to grade your attention and effort and is not to count how many times you speak in a day.

 

The daily grading scale is:

3 Points	Completed all class assignments and actively participated in class.
2 Points	Completed all class assignments, but did not participate actively in class (with games, speaking activities, etc), or was missing materials.
1 Point	Did not complete in class assignments and/or was disruptive
0 Points	Did not attend class or attended less than 50% of class

 

*Note: If you are tardy to class, the most points you can earn in a day is 2

 

Make-Up Work

You are allowed to make up participation points only for points missed with an excused absence. If you missed class (or more than 50% of a class), you have one week from the day of the absence to turn in your make up assignment (example, if you are sick on a Monday, you have until the beginning of class the following Monday to turn in your work for credit).

 

Students may read an article (or simply a few paragraphs of a large article) in Spanish and write a small summary of 50-100 words. Students must attach the article to their summary. Summaries must include one statement of opinion about how the student feels about the subject of the articles. All articles must be in Spanish. Summaries written in English are worth 2 participation points; summaries in Spanish are worth 3 participation points. Links to news sites can be found on the blog.

 

Charlas – 15%

Everyone who has learned a foreign language that they only really started to grasp the language when they really started to speak. For this reason, once every two weeks, I will engage each student in a five minute long charla  (chat) to give the students an opportunity to have an interrupted one-on-one dialogue. Students will be graded on a five-point scale for each charla. Students are not graded on how many mistakes they make. In fact, they are encouraged to try new words and verb endings and are rewarded for their effort. Each student is graded individually, allowing students to build on their own knowledge. All students will receive a 5 for their first charla as long as a strong effort is made in order to see where each student is at in their speaking ability. Students will receive a small write up at the end of each charla with their score as well as some notes and corrections.

 

5 pts	Student not only is engaged in conversation for five minutes, but also tries new words and goes outside of comfort zone. When making mistakes, student attempts to self-correct.
4 pts	Student not only responds to questions asked by teacher, but replies with his or her own questions. Student occasionally explores new verb forms and vocabulary.
3 pts	Student can engage in conversation for the full five minutes; however, the conversation does not build and is very similar each time.
2 pts	Student only responds to questions and does not actively participate in dialogue.
1 pt	No one should receive only one point for the charla – you get one just for sitting down with me!

Assignments – 20%

Throughout the school year, students will receive homework, in-class assignments and projects. All will be recorded here.

 

Quizzes – 20%

Small vocabulary and grammar quizzes will be given throughout a unit to check students’ understanding and can be used as study guides for the Unit Tests.

 

Unit Tests – 30%

At the end of every unit we will have a comprehensive unit exam. Each exam will be 15% of the testing grade. Though each exam will largely focus on the vocabulary and grammar skills learned in the unit that is being tested, exams will draw from knowledge from past units and students will be responsible for all material at any time after it has been presented.

 

Pesos

 

The only way to earn extra credit in class is to earn pesos. A student earns a peso for speaking in Spanish in class; however, it must be something above and beyond what is expected. For example, a student would not receive one for answering a question or speaking Spanish for an in-class activity, but if they were to offer an answer that involved more dialogue or they were speaking Spanish with a classmate when they entered the room, they would receive a peso.

 

Students are responsible for their own pesos. Students may turn in five at any time to add one point to any quiz or assignment. Students may turn them in at any time in the year and could even save all of them until the final trimester.

 

 

 

Parents & Students –

If there are any questions about the syllabus, please feel free to contact me via phone or email (my personal number is listed above). I am always available for tutoring and would even hold regularly scheduled morning or after school tutoring for students who would like to go above and beyond what we learn in school.

 

I look forward to a great year!!

Profe. Laura