Espaol III-IIII 2013-2014 Miss Hopkins

Room 4003 melissa.hopkins@district145.org

Course Description: Espaol III provides a continuation of Espaol I and II to the
Spanish language. You will continue exploring basic themes concerning personal,
familial, scholastic, social, and societal facets. Through these themes, four linguistic
competencies (listening, speaking, reading, and writing respectively) are emphasized.
You will also explore cultural components of Spanish-speaking countries and people as
well as how these elements relate to language.

Required Materials:

1 to 1 3-ring binder with all class content divided with the following 5
labels:
Calentamientos/Apuntes (warm-ups and notes)
Vocabulario (vocabulary)
Actividades/Tarea (in-class activities, homework and worksheets)
Metas/Pruebas/Exmenes (goals, quizzes and tests)
Notas del Profe (teachers notes)
Loose leaf paper for the binder
Writing utensil
High School Planner

Classroom Expectations and Responsibilities:
Attitude: Be eager to learn every day to maximize class time and your experience
in Espaol III. Make the most of the experience and come in with a good attitude.

Respectful Communication: Speaking is encouraged and necessary in a
language classroom to enhance linguistic proficiency and meet communicative
learning goals. However, you should always wait your turn to speak, refrain
from interrupting, and give a classmate or classmates on the floor your
undivided attention. Please accept others right to disagree and recognize that
all comments should be constructive in nature to better the collective class
experience and enrich overall learning. If you are not meeting the above
expectations, you will be given ONE gentle reminder. If you must be reminded a
second time, you will be removed from the class and expected to make up the
entire class period after school.

Attendance: Arrive on time, prepared for class with your binder and book to
read, without food, gum, candy, or beverages. You are able to use your school
planner as a pass for tardies, nurse, bathroom and/or locker visits. If, however,
you are found leaving class or are late an unacceptable amount of times, a
conference will be held between you and Miss Hopkins.

Arrival: As you enter the classroom, you should find your desk as quickly and
quietly as possible without disturbing your classmates.

Calentamientos: Every day, when you enter the classroom, open your binder to
your Calentamiento or Warm-Up section, date the page (day-month-year), and
immediately begin copying and/or responding to the overhead activity.

Dismissal: Please do not shuffle and pack your books in preparation to leave. You
will be dismissed on time. Please kindly refrain from lining up at the door before
you are dismissed and dont forget to tastefully push in your chairs and return
your tables and materials to their original position.

!Basta: Basta time is given out if you have forgotten how to conduct various
procedures during class. Some examples are listed below. You will receive
explanations on all expectations in class and if, throughout the semester, you
forget about an expectation, you will have a retraining basta either that day after
school or the following day before school. During your retraining session you
will fill out a sheet assigning your own consequence to the behavior and your plan
to correct the behavior, approved by Miss Hopkins.
o EXAMPLES: entering/leaving the classroom, moving around the
classroom, sitting in chairs, conducting oneself in the learning
environment, finishing work early, etc.

Extra Help: Before due dates, feel free to come into the classroom to seek
clarification or guidance. There will be an availability calendar up on the board in
the classroom and online for your reference.

Absent Protocol: If you are absent, any make-up work is your responsibility to
complete and submit. The following guidelines will assist you with make-up
work:
1. A list of all classroom activities and assignments will be posted on the
class web site and any papers you may have missed will be located in the
binder on the round table. Web Site:
http://whsmodernlanguage.weebly.com/
2. Ask a classmate for notes.
3. Feel free to come before or after school for an explanation concerning
class work and concepts.
4. Ask Miss Hopkins about due dates, questions regarding assignments and
activities, and arrangements to make up a test, quiz, or project (refer to
number 5). All make-up work should be handed in with ABSENT written
at the top.
5. If your absence is planned, it would be in your best interest to get your
work completed ahead of time. Tests, quizzes, or projects announced prior
to an absence must be taken or turned in on the due date or day of your
return. For example, if you are present on Monday and a quiz is
announced for Wednesday, you will be expected to take that quiz even
if you are absent on Tuesday.

Grading Policy:

Two types of student assessments will be used in this course, formative and summative
assessments.

Formative assessments are used to help you learn from your mistakes and develop
a better understanding of the curriculum.
Formative assessments include in-class assignments, which may be
from the textbook, workbook, or the grammar and vocabulary exercise
book.
A formal grade may not be entered in the grade book for individual
formative assessments.
You will be expected to assess and make corrections to your own
formative assignments (in a color ink/lead) when they are reviewed
in class.
Each formative assessment should be kept in your Actividades/Tarea
binder section after it has been assessed and corrections have been
made. The entire binder will serve as a language portfolio, which will
document your progress.
Once each quarter, your portfolio will be collected and assessed for a
grade. At this time, Miss Hopkins will also write any notes on current
progress in the Notes section of your binder.
Formative assessments determine approximately 15% of the final
grade.
Individual achievement of the designated learning objectives will be
the only basis for grades. Effort, participation, attitude, and other
behaviors are reported separately unless otherwise stated as part of the
learning goal. Behavior is important and is recorded and
communicated.
Quarter grades are treated as progress reports. The quarter grade is not
averaged to calculate the semester grade.

Summative assessments give you an opportunity to demonstrate your learning for
a grade. Summative assessments include:
Tests
Quizzes
Projects
Performance Evaluations (speaking grades)

*This grading policy may be adjusted to meet needs outlined in an Individualized
Education Plan (IEP).

Final Grade: The Waverly High School grading scale is used. Your Espaol III grades
are weighted in the following categories:

A 94-100
B 86-93
C 78-85
D 70-77
F 0-69
Tests and Projects 40%
Quizzes 30%
Binder Assessment 10%
Speaking/Projects 15%
Cumulative Final Exam 10%

Extra Credit: This option is only available to students who have completed and
mastered all other work and wish to continue progressing. Please see Miss Hopkins for
examples of possible extra credit opportunities.

Retake Policy: Tests and quizzes demonstrate student comprehension of covered
material. Quizzes will be given frequently in a variety of formats. If you do not
demonstrate desired learning on a quiz, you may have the opportunity to retake a similar
version of the quiz within ONE WEEK of the original summative assessment date. Only
one retake opportunity is offered and the highest grade is recorded. Re-takes will not be
offered for projects, chapter exams, or semester finals.

Missing Assignment Policy: You are required to complete all assignments,
assessments and projects. If you do not meet these expectations, you will be given a
Missing grade in the grade book. Once you have received a Missing grade, you will be
given a half sheet (a signed contract) that outlines times chosen by you to complete the
missing assignment. If you do not complete the assignment within the time you have
chosen, you will receive a referral to the office.

Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes any form of cheating, copying,
and/or plagiarizing. Plagiarism is using someone elses words and passing them off as
ones own. Students will NOT be allowed to use online translators for sentences and
phrasing. The best resources are either a paper dictionary or www.wordreference.com.
If a student is suspected of/found to be using a translator or any other behavior included
within the academic dishonesty umbrella, the students parents will be contacted and the
student will completely redo the assignment under a new deadline. The re-submitted
assignment cannot receive a grade higher than a 70%.

Resources:
E-mail: melissa.hopkins@district145.org
Twitter: @maestrahopkins, #maestrahopkins
Daily Plans & Assignments: http://whsmodernlanguage.weebly.com/