AP SPANISH LANGUAGE
Ms. Julie Hall Phone: 410-674-6500 E-mail: jthall@aacps.org
http://www.members.thinkport.org/jthall
I. Course Description
The AP Spanish Language course is a program whose main objective is to develop students’ communication skills in Spanish. This course is comparable to a third-year university course with an emphasis on conversation and composition. Students who take an AP course may receive college credit.
Since the fundamental objective of the program is for students to achieve a high level of ability in all four skills (listening, reading, speaking, and writing), students must be exposed to a variety of materials and genres to help them expand their knowledge of formal Spanish in both oral and written forms.
II. Instructional Philosophy
Because the AP Spanish Language Examination is a performance test in which students are asked to demonstrate their knowledge of Spanish in all four skills, it is imperative that they hear, read, write, and speak exclusively in the target language in the course that serves as preparation for the exam. Therefore, the AP Spanish Language course is conducted completely in Spanish. By using Spanish at all times and in different situations, students will build the confidence they need to perform successfully in all the different tasks on the exam.
III. Course Standards/Goals
Students in this course will gain greater competence in Spanish by refining the skills that follow.
Listening: Students are presented with a variety of listening activities that expose them to the different accents, regionalisms, and colloquialisms of Spanish. They watch films and videos on a variety of topics; listen to taped lectures, narratives, and conversations transmitted by recordings or radio programs. Listening activities are followed by writing and speaking exercises that involve summarizing, giving an opinion, answering questions based on the material, and using the material as a source for essay writing.
Speaking: Students are expected to perform at a high level of fluency with good pronunciation at all times. They must be able to narrate, describe, and explain by correctly using past, present, and futures tenses and moods. Students will participate in pair, group, and individual activities that guide them in using the language in meaningful, creative, and engaging contexts. Sections of the textbook Abriendo paso: Gramática along with a variety of supplementary texts are used to encourage meaningful discussion of literary and cultural topics, current events, and personal experiences. Students are expected to incorporate the newly learned vocabulary and idioms from these lessons into their conversations. Students are prepped to develop fluency in the structured activities that constitute the speaking component of the AP Spanish Language Examination by performing class drills. Time both in and out of class will be devoted to practicing the use of tape recorders to record their responses to informal conversations, etc.
Students make group and oral presentations to the class. Oral discussion takes place after these presentations. The class asks questions of the presenters, who must defend or clarify their position. Debates are an integral part of the class.
Reading: It is important to expose students to a variety of genre, theme, style, length, and degree of difficulty in reading. Short stories from the textbook Abriendo puertas-Tomo I and Abriendo paso-Lectura are used as the basic reading books because they offer material that is varied, interesting, and appropriate for students at an advanced level of study. This program gives pre-reading and post-reading exercises that promote practice of the four skills. By the end of the course, students are expected to understand both direct and inferred meaning as well as high-frequency idiomatic expressions.
Reading selected newspaper and magazine articles, in addition to literary prose and poetry, enhances students’ understanding of today’s Hispanic world while enriching their vocabulary with high-frequency words used by Spanish-speakers today. Additionally, students are assigned reading comprehension selections similar to those on the AP Spanish Language Examination.
Writing: In-class writing of descriptive, narrative, informative, and persuasive essays that express ideas, feelings, opinions, and give advice is assigned. The formal essays must be 250 words in length, written in blue or black ink, double-spaced, and written within a 40-minute time period. Some essays will require that students read and listen to three sources of information in order to support the ideas and opinions expressed in their essays. Informal writing must be 100 words in length. Students are expected to write with a high degree of structural accuracy. The teacher evaluates the compositions using the AP rubrics and circles mistakes. Students must rewrite the essays and turn them in for a grade. The rewriting can be done in class.
Grammar: The focal point of modern language instruction is communication. In order to communicate accurately, both in speech and in writing, students need to have control of certain grammatical structures. It is impossible to disregard the role of grammar in an AP course. Therefore, grammar is presented as a means of clear communication. Oftentimes, it is necessary to review a particular structure and practice a few drills before students can be expected to produce it in their original discourse. Awareness of grammatical features should expand as students progress through the grade levels. This expanded knowledge should be reflected in an increasing accuracy in communication.
Overview of Class Activities:
- small group discussions
- informal writing assignments such as journal writing, e-mails, letter writing, poetry, short essay
- simulated phone conversations using recording equipment
- timed readings
- reading from authentic sources
- formal writing incorporating integrated skills
- peer review and editing
- debates
- paragraph completion with and without root words
- practice listening exercises from authentic listening resources as cited
- listening exercises to include: short and long dialogues, short and long narratives, cloze activities
- review of grammatical structures and vocabulary
- activities to prepare for the AP Spanish Language Exam
- sequencing of events from selected readings
- conduct web research
- formal/informal oral presentations such as current events, personal experiences, etc.
- web search and interpretation of editorial cartoons from Hispanic newspapers
- textual analysis
- interview a character from selected reading
- write a new ending for selected reading
- extend a selected reading by creating a dialogue
IV. Topics of Study – Course Planner
Unit (1) Instructional Focus: La Familia (August– mid Oct.)
Essential Unit Questions:
1.) What constitutes a family?
2.) How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
3.) How do parents/guardians in today’s society control their children?
Essential Content Topics
1. Las Medias Rojas by Emilia Pardo Bazán
Grammatical Concepts
1a. Preterite, Imperfect Indicative
1b. Reflexive verbs
1c. Object pronouns
1d. Gustar and verbs like it
1e. Compound prepositions
1f. Idiomatic expressions
Essential Vocabulary
household items, kitchen utensils, farm-related vocabulary, feelings and emotions
- ¿No oyes ladrar los perros? By Juan Rulfo
Grammatical Concepts
2a. Gerunds
2b. Imperative
2c. Indefinite and negative
words
2d. ser vs. estar
Essential Vocabulary
feelings and emotions, daily,
routines, physical and emotional descriptions, personality traits
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3. Jaque mate en dos jugadas by Isaac Aisemberg
Grammatical Concepts
3a. Preterite, Imperfect Indicative
3b. Future
3c. Conditional
3d. Reflexive verbs
3e. Interrogatives/exclamations
Essential Vocabulary
body, daily routine, health, home, city, time, weapons, chess
4. Adolescencia by Vicente Aleíxandre
Grammatical Concepts
4a. Present subjunctive
4b. Imperfect subjunctive
Essential Vocabulary
feelings and emotions
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Essential Unit Skills and Instructional Approaches:
Students will read and interpret literature and poetry in order to:
- reflect on the importance of family and family values.
- examine the relationship between emotions and actions/decision making.
- analyze the impact of time on character and development.
Class Activities:
- poetic and literary devices
- internet research via Spanish search engines
- organization and mechanics of an extended essay
- informal vs. formal writing and speaking
- paraphrasing and citing sources of information
- analyze the effect of parental control on the behavior of family members in the stories.
Major Assignments:
- write a poem about childhood or old-age
- role-play the courtroom trial of Claudio and Guillermo (Jaque mate en dos jugadas)
- Journal entry from Ignacio’s point of view (No oyes ladrar los perros)
Major Assessments:
- Debate: Death penalty – yes or no?
- Formal Essay (Integrated Skills): ¿Cuáles son los efectos de la violencia doméstica y cómo afecta la familia y la sociedad?
- Quizzes and Tests on Grammar, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension
Unit (2) Instructional Focus: La Condición Humana (mid Oct. – early Dec.)
Essential Unit Questions:
1.) Why would humans yearn for immortality?
2.) What can older people offer to society?
3.) What impact do youthful experiences have on people as time goes by?
Essential Content Topics
1. Nosotros, no by José Bernardo Adolph – p.114
Grammatical Concept
1a. Present perfect and Pluperfect indicative
1b. Revisit Future
1c. Revisit Conditional
1d. Indefinite and definite words
Essential Vocabulary
agreement and disagreement, expressing personal opinion
2. Rosa by Ángel Balzarino
Grammatical Concepts
2a. Future perfect
2b. Conditional perfect
Essential Vocabulary
technology, feelings and emotions
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3. Canción de otoño en primavera by Rubén Darío
Grammatical Concepts
3a. Revisit present indicative
3b. Revisit preterite, imperfect, and present perfect indicative
3c. Adjectives
Essential Vocabulary
Feelings, emotions, seasons, literary terminology for analysis of poetry
4. Un oso y un amor by Sabine R. Ulibarrí
Grammatical Concepts
4a. Revisit Present indicative
4b. Revisit Preterite and
imperfect indicative
4c. Revisit indefinite and
negative words
Essential Vocabulary
feelings and emotions, nature, camping
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Essential Unit Skills and Instructional Approaches:
The student will:
- Compare and contrast the concepts of immortality, youth vs. old age, and their impact on society.
- Discuss the impact of technology in society.
- Use literary terms to analyze poetry.
- Express reactions to dangerous or unexpected situations.
Class Activities:
- Discuss and interpret poetry using appropriate literary terms for poetry.
- Selected activities from aforementioned overview, as appropriate.
Major Assignments:
- Mock interview with senior citizen
- Journal Entry: Write a journal entry about your feelings upon turning sixteen. Write an additional entry speculating your feelings upon turning 60.
Major Assessments:
- Debate: Pros and Cons of Immortality
- Quizzes and Tests on Grammar, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension
- Formal Essay (Integrated Skills): “La vida moderna presenta grandes problemas para la juventud. Al mismo tiempo, los jóvenes se preocupan por su futuro. ¿Qué pueden hacer los jóvenes para enfrentarse a los retos del presente y lograr tener éxito en su vida?”
Unit (3) Instructional Focus: Cultura, Valores, Creencias y Ritos
(early Dec. – mid Feb.)
Essential Unit Questions:
1.) How are traditions transmitted from generation to generation?
2.) How do rituals define our humanity, culture, and behavior?
3.) What rituals or traditions can you identify in your culture?
Essential Content Topics
1. La fiesta de San Fermín by Carmen Roman
Grammatical Concepts
1a. Revisit present and past indicative tenses and impersonal se
1b. Relative pronouns
1c. Por/Para
Essential Vocabulary
feeling, emotions, geography, geographic features, festival-related vocabulary
- La Tomatina by Alberto Ibáñez
Grammatical Concepts
2a. Demonstratives
2b. Possessives
2c. Revisit Por/Para
2d. Numbers
Essential Vocabulary
opinions, food items, celebrations, geography, geographic features, festiva
l-related vocabulary
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3. Oda al tomate by Pablo Neruda
Grammatical Concepts
3a. Revisit imperative
3b. Revisit impersonal se
3c. Revisit pronouns
3d. Adjective/noun agreement
3e. Gender/number agreement
3f. Passive voice
Essential Vocabulary
food-related items, table settings, the five senses, revisit literary terms
4. Despedida by Federico García Lorca
Grammatical Concepts
4a. Affirmative Vosotros
commands
4b. If clauses
Essential Vocabulary
Everyday life situations
5. Additional readings at teacher’s discretion.
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Essential Unit Skills and Instructional Approaches:
The student will:
- Identify cultural celebrations, holidays, and tradition in Spain.
- Compare and contrast their own culture’s traditions with Spain’s.
- Share family traditions with their peers.
- Differentiate between geographically similar regions in the U.S. and Spain.
- Utilize literary terms to analyze poetry
Class Activities:
- Web research-holiday traditions
- Write an ode about an inanimate object of their choice
- Selected activities from aforementioned overview, as appropriate
Major Assignments:
- Informal Speaking: Simulated phone conversation between principal and parent/guardian of a student involved in a food fight.
- Formal Oral Presentation (Integrated Skills): Compara la responsabilidad de los seres humanos con los animales domésticos y salvajes.
Major Assessments:
- Debate: Is it right to use animals in cultural celebrations to entertain the public?
· Formal Essay (Integrated Skills): ¿Qué aspectos contribuyen a la creación de la comida que distingue una cultura? Explica tu respuesta.
· Quizzes and Tests on grammatical structures, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.
Unit (4) Instructional Focus: Justicia Social (mid Feb. – mid April)
Essential Unit Questions:
1.) When a person’s individual choices are in direct conflict with his/hers society, what are the consequences?
2.) How do people overcome oppression/tragedy?
3.) When should an individual take a stand in opposition to an individual or larger group?
Essential Content Topics .
1. La viuda de Montiel by Gabriel García Márquez
Grammatical Concepts
1a. Revisit Imperfect and pluperfect
subjunctive
1b. Revisit Imperative
1c. Idiomatic expressions
Essential Vocabulary
city, home, politics, body, household objects, emotions, character, personal description
2. Dos Palabras by Isabel Allende
Grammatical Concepts
2a. Imperfect subjunctive
2b. Conditional/if clauses
2c. Sequence of tenses
Essential Vocabulary
politics, geography & climate, feelings, emotions, personal characteristics
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3. Jacinto Contreras recibe su paga extraordinaria by Camilo José Cela
Grammatical Concepts
3a. Revisit comparatives
3b. Prepositions
3c. Adverbs
Essential Vocabulary
Clothing city, weather, food, drink, family and relationships
4. Cartas de amor traicionado by Isabel Allende
Grammatical Concepts
4a. Revisit grammatical concepts
as needed.
Essential Vocabulary
Emotions, feelings, expressing personal opinions
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Essential Unit Skills and Instructional Approaches:
Students will read and interpret literature in order to:
- investigate the role of leadership and power in society.
- reflect upon social positions and gender roles in communities.
Class Activities:
- read the aforementioned literature works and complete comprehension, analysis, and vocabulary activities.
- complete supplemental grammar activities.
Major Assignments:
- Present a eulogy for don Jose Montiel from the point of view of his widow or a townsperson. (La viuda de Montiel)
- Write a newspaper editorial from Jacinto Contreras about the state of man and society based on your reaction to the events in the story.
- Role-play a situation in which Analia confronts Luis about the fact that he was not the true author of the letters. (Cartas de amor traicionado)
Major Assessments:
- Research two dictators or military rulers from different Latin American countries and write an essay comparing and contrasting the two.
- Make an oral presentation to the class about a time that something personal was lost or stolen. Discuss the circumstances and your reaction.
- Formal Essay (Integrated Skills): ¿Qué importancia tiene la promoción de la lectura en la sociedad de hoy?
Test Preparation Unit: Mid April – May testing date
- Students will be using this time for in-depth practice of the skills needed to be successful on the AP Spanish Language Exam.
Post Exam Unit: May testing date – June
- Oral Dramatization: Students will work in groups to write and present a dramatization of one of the pieces of literature that they have read this year.
- After the presentations, students will write a newspaper review of each of the dramatizations.
V. Assessment and Grading Plan
Assessment is an ongoing process; everything you do is part of that process and counts towards your grade. Your grade will be based on your performance on quizzes, tests, essays, oral presentations, graded homework assignments (both oral and written), class participation, and homework completion. The AP rubrics are used in AP Spanish Language to grade speaking and writing activities. You will be trained to work with the rubrics and use them to perform peer assessment.
Your grade for the marking period will be based on the following:
- Asssessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75%
- Classwork and Graded Homwork (i.e. active participation in all individual & group assignments) . . . . 15%
- Completed Homework and Work Habits (see below) . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 10%
Homework: Homework will be assigned each night and will take at least 45 minutes to complete. Some homework will be graded on completion while others will be graded for accuracy or quizzed for accuracy. Many homework assignments are used as a basis for graded class activities the following day. Late homework is not accepted unless you have an excused absence.
Late Policy:
· Proficiency assessments: For each class period the assessment is turned in late the grade will automatically be penalized one letter grade before being assessed. After five classes, the grade can be no higher than 50%.
· Absences: Students will receive one class for every class of excused absence to complete any missed assignments. After that time missing work will not be accepted. It is critical that students make every effort to be present and prepared on the days assigned oral assessments are due. Other students’ oral presentations are frequently an essential element of most oral presentations. When a student is absent it is frequently impossible for a group to make its presentation or for the absent student to adequately make up his/her assignment without his/her group making an additional presentation. Valuable class time is lost.
General characteristics of the “A”, “B”, “C” student, etc., are:
- A = exceptional achievement of course concepts, leadership and independence, and written and oral work should be consistently accurate, logical, coherent, insightful, detailed, organized, and stylistically mature. No interference with understanding from English. Always takes advantage of the Proficiency Policy.
- B = above average achievement of course concepts, content, skills, and processes with noticeable responsibility and initiative. Should also show frequent leadership and independence, and written and oral work should be characterized by above-average accuracy, logical, coherence, sight, detail, organization, originality, and effective style. Very little if any interference with understanding caused by English usage. Almost always takes advantage of the Proficiency Policy.
- C = average achievement of course concepts, content, skills, and processes with some responsibility and initiative. Should also show occasional leadership and independence, and written and oral work should usually be accurate, logical, and coherent, with some use of effective detail, organization, originality, and insight. At times English interferes with understanding. Style should be generally clear. Frequently takes advantage of the Proficiency Policy.
- D = shows minimal grasp of course concepts, content, skills, and processes with little, if any, responsibility and initiative taken. Attempts to follow directions, but needs a high amount of teacher support; may have trouble completing work within time constraints. Written and oral work shows a minimum level of understanding, accuracy, logic, and coherence, with little if any effective detail, organization, originality, or insight. Style may be sometimes/frequently wordy, unclear, or difficult to comprehend without reliance upon the English language. Seldom takes advantage of Proficiency Policy.
- E = fails to meet the criteria above. Does not hand in some/much work; may have problems such as seriously incomplete/inaccurate/unclear work, failing tests, or lack of participation. Does not take advantage of the Proficiency Policy, works in English if at all.
Proficiency Policy:
1. When & only when a student has made a sincere attempt in the original submission of work and the work has been turned in on the due date, he/she may revise and resubmit an assignment for re-evaluation. This may be done only at the teacher’s discretion.
a. Student must submit the original with highlights of changes on the revision.
b. The teacher reserves the right to provide an alternate assignment or format.
c. The teacher will establish a reasonable timeline for the resubmission.
2. When a students has made a poor test or quiz grade and at the teacher’s discretion he/she may be given the option of taking another test or quiz on the same material
a. Students are required to attend a review session with the teacher before taking a new quiz or test.
b. The teacher reserves the right to change the test format.
c. The teacher will establish a reasonable timeline for retesting.
VI. A. Materials Needed for Class
- 8 ½ X 11 inch three-ring binder
- The basic textbooks - Abriendo paso: Gramática and Abriendo paso: Lectura
B. Materials Needed for Home
- A good Spanish/English dictionary
VII. Texts and Resources
Basic Texts (with ancillary materials):
- Díaz, Nadel, & Collins. Abriendo Paso-Gramática. Boston, MA.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007.
- Díaz, Nadel, & Collins. Abriendo Paso-Lectura. Boston, MA.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007.
Workbook for Exam Prep (with ancillary materials):
- Díaz, Leicher-Prieto, & Nissenberg. AP Spanish Preparing for the Language Examination-3rd Edition. Boston, MA.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2007.
Supplementary Materials:
- REPASO. National Textbook Company, 1997
- Abriendo puertas-Tomo I. McDougal Littell, 2003
Websites used for listening activities and news articles: (This list will be revised
and added to as new websites become available.)
VIII. Extra Support
This is an advanced class. You cannot afford to fall behind. If you need extra help with anything we are doing in class, please make arrangements with me to get the extra help and support that you need to be successful in this class.
IX. Academic Integrity
As stated in School Board Policy Code #613, students will be expected to exhibit academic integrity in regard to all assignments.
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