Objectives

Spanish 101 - Fall 1999

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

1. Textbook: ¡Claro que sí! Gaycedo Garner et. al.
2. Activities Manual: ¡Claro que sí! Gaycedo Garner et.al.

OBJECTIVES:

Spanish 101 is designed to be an innovative course, which develops basic communicative proficiency in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. In addition, you will learn information about the art and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. We will use only the target language from the first day of instruction, so that you will receive intensive daily practice with Spanish. This will be supplemented with daily work outside of class from workbook, web page, conversation, writing, and skit preparation. These objectives can be realized only through your active participation!

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING CRITERIA

35% Weekly tests. They are cumulative and are based on all structures, vocabulary, and writing learned until that point in the semester. All tests must be taken at their scheduled times.

10% Class participation. This refers to how much you participate, your attitude toward your fellow classmates, your instructor, and the activities; your preparedness for class; and your attendance. You will have to fill out a self-evaluation form. Please be fair! If you participate every day, speak only Spanish, volunteer more than three times per class, and others, you can get 100%. Please note that if you do not turn in the evaluation on time (every Friday) you will automatically be given zero points for your participation that week. I will let you know the electronic address for this purpose. CLASS ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY. Any unexcused absences will be reflected in the final grade. Students are expected to prepare thoroughly for class each day. This preparation at home includes actively learning grammatical concepts, memorizing vocabulary, completing daily assignments in the Activities Manual, writing, and rehearsing oral work. Students are responsible for all the material listed on the syllabus. You are also responsible for doing all the exercises in the Activities Manual. They are essential for the development of your skills, as well as your success on quizzes and exams. Do the exercises without referring to the answer key, and then correct your answers against the key using a different color pen or pencil. You are also required to learn the vocabulary on the web page that belongs to each chapter of the book. Do the exercises alone and try to answer the questions before you click on the objects or on the given links.

25% Writing assignments. You will practice your writing by working on a topic that I will give you in advance. Your work must use correctly the new structures and vocabulary learned, must be interesting, and legible. Please write in the computer and print a copy for me! When preparing your compositions, bear in mind that spelling (including accents) and grammatical errors will not help you to improve your grade! Each writing assignment has to be rewritten. I will correct and grade the first version, but you will only get credit for it when you turn in the second one! Even if your grade is very good (A-) you are still required to rewrite!

25% Minidramas. Students will be graded for the correction and richness of the language, as well as for creativity, expression, and motivation. Working in small groups, students are responsible for writing, rehearsing, and presenting weekly skits that will use the structures and vocabulary currently studied. The skits must include CORRECT EXAMPLES of the structures covered the prior week, as well as a minimum of 8 words from the vocabulary. An element of humor will be greatly appreciated! There will be two presentations each Monday. One group has an assigned date and the other will be selected at random. Please sign your name on the list during the first week of classes and remember that your group can be selected any other Monday for a presentation. It means your group has to be prepared for a presentation in class every single week!

5% E-mail an unknown classmate. Once a week or more often you are required to write to a classmate. Please make sure she/he does not know who you are. Do not reveal the secret until the end of the semester. It should be fuuuuun, but please do not forget spelling and grammar! Save your correspondence and do not wait until the due date to send all E-mails. You are supposed to send one per week! Remember that date and hour are recorded! See the calendar for due dates. The topic? You can choose it freely!

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

1.- CLASS TIME will consist of practice of structures and oral exchanges based on the material learned, as well as brief explanations of grammatical concepts. All changes, news or information concerning the class will be disseminated electronically and you are responsible for reading them in advance and out of class.

2.- SPANISH TABLE. Time to eat! Students are expected to attend the tables at least 7 times during the semester. Sit down, relax, practice your new vocabulary by ordering your food in Spanish, and enjoy your new world! When you finish, do not forget to SIGN YOUR NAME on the board.

STUDY TECHNIQUES

(More suggestions in your text book, pp. 11-13)

1. Consult the weekly syllabus on the electronic site you have been given to make sure you know what will happen tomorrow. Be sure to read any message with new information for the class!

2. Gradually grammar and vocabulary become more and more complex. It is crucial that you work BEFORE class on the material assigned for each particular day and pay special attention to those pages you are told to study. You should study the assigned sections actively and with care; make sure you understand and are able to work on basic exercises. Write down your questions to ask them in class.

3. Activities manual. This work is mandatory, but will not be checked by the teacher. You are expected to do this independently. Complete the activities that correspond to what you just studied. After every "Hacia la comunicación" section in your text, you should do the "Práctica mecánica" that corresponds to it.

4. Reread your answers to make sure you have done them to the best of your knowledge.

5. Compare your answers to those in the answer key. If there are differences, try to understand WHERE the problem lies.

6. Review the problematic structure in your textbook.

7. Make the proper corrections.

8. Try out your new knowledge: think up a couple of sentences and say them to a friend or at the Spanish table! Keep talking - the more the better!
9. Make sure you have completed the vocabulary section on the web page that is related to the chapter we are studying during the week! Do the exercises, learn the new vocabulary, and if you are interested in a particular artist, navigate through the links you have been given. Do not click anywhere before trying to identify the object you are supposed to know. Come up with an answer and then click.
10. Keep a vocabulary record. Use a notebook or flash/study cards. They should be big enough so that you do not loose them and small enough so that you can carry them everywhere! Write the word in Spanish, its translation, and a sentence using the word. It is easier to learn new vocabulary within a given context.
11. Complete ALL the activities in the manual before your weekly quiz. This includes "Práctica comunicativa".
12. If you have done all this, classtime will be a breeze, and you’ll probably get an A!

More learning tips:

The limits of my language are the limits of my world

-Ludwig Wittgenstein