iBIENVENIDOS A LA CLASE DE ESPAÑOL!

1. iBIENVENIDOS A LA CLASE DE ESPAÑOL!

2. SR. PEÑA • GRADUATED FROM SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY IN 1993 • BA IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, AND SOCIAL SCIENCE. • MA IN EDUCATION • SPANISH AND SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHING CREDENTIALS • 18 YEARS TEACHING EXPERIENCE • MARRIED WITH 2 CHILDREN. THEY BOTH ATTEND KNOB HILL • HOBBIES: TRIATHLONS, MARATHONS, ULTRAMARATHONS, TRAVELING, SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY AND READING

3. Before coming to Mission Hills High School, I taught at Samuel Gompers Secondary School in San Diego and Woodland Park Middle School.

4. WHY TAKE SPANISH? • I am very excited to teach Spanish to your child. You should be very proud of your student for taking this class. I believe that it is a very important language to learn. Knowledge of Spanish not only enhances one’s opportunities in the job market, but it also helps develop and reinforce skills that are essential to academic study. Students that take a foreign language in high school will do significantly better on the SAT.

5. SPANISH III (H) COURSE DESCRIPTION • Description: Spanish III Honors: This course is offered to highly motivated students who want to be challenged with a fast paced curriculum. Grammar and vocabulary will be covered in more depth, as well as familiarity with some grammatical concepts which are not taught in the regular Spanish III curriculum. Students will continue to develop their understanding of Spanish speaking cultures by integrating information on literature, art, history, music and current events into the curriculum.  Students will also be working on Pre AP Spanish skills and activities including reading, writing, and speaking. 

6. Sample topics covered Vocabulary • Daily routines, school life, leisure activities, weekend activities, celebrations, special events, • Hiking/camping objects, activities and perils; weather, • Getting ready for an athletic or academic competition; emotional responses to competition; awards and ceremonies • Describing art and sculptures; tools for painting; describing what influences art • Musical instruments; describing dance; describing drama • Nutrition/ food; illness and pain; medicine; habits for good heath • Exercising; getting and staying in shape; health advice • After school work; describing a job; volunteering • Jobs and professions; qualities of an employee • The environment • Myths and legends; ancient beliefs;

7. Sample topics covered cont. • Grammar • We will review the following and add to the depth of understanding: present tense verbs, preterite verbs, imperfect verbs, reflexive verbs, verbs like gustar, possessive adjectives, ser and estar, affirmative/ negative  tú  and Ud commands, direct and indirect object pronouns, subjunctive, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, subjunctive (present) • estar + participle • Commands with Nosotros • Present and past perfect • The future • Por vs

8. Sample topics covered cont. • Culture-Integrated throughout year • Sample topics • National Parks of Central America • El Camino de Santiago- famous pilgrimage route in Spain • Latin American Legends • Influential artists of the Spanish speaking world • Bullfighting

9. TEXTBOOK AND WORKBOOK

10. COVER YOUR TEXTBOOK

11. Materials that will be used in class: • 1. 3 ring binder 7. color pencils • 2. pen 8. spiral notebook • 3. red ink pen 9. dividers • 4. 2 pencils • 5. paper • 6. glue stick

12. BEHAVIOR • Students must know the school and classroom rules.

13. Classroom Expectations • Be supportive and encourage others. Language learning does not happen in a vacuum and you will need not only my help, but your classmates as well. • Complete homework on time. You must have the homework done on the day it is due or you will not receive credit. See me if you have an emergency situation. • Participate in class, be attentive, and volunteer frequently. Failure to participate in class IN SPANISH on a regular basis will affect your participation. • Respect the school’s and other people’s property. • Make up work when you are absent. It is your responsibility to come and talk to me to see what you missed when you are absent. See section of make up work in Student Handbook. • Be in class on time and ready to learn with all appropriate materials. • Stay on task in class. • Speak Spanish. We have high standards and expect students to use Spanish at every possible opportunity, especially at the honors level.

14. DAILY ROUTINE • Students copy objective and homework in student planner. • Students do the warm up (Do now!) in spiral notebook. • We go over the warm-up. • We cover objective. • Everything that we do in class is on the board (agenda). No surprises : ).

15. Assessment/Grading • Students will be assessed on homework, participation, projects, tests, and quizzes. Homework is assigned on an almost daily basis. Tests, quizzes, and special projects will be assigned points depending on the complexity of the assessment.  This course is assessed at the end of each semester according to the total points a student has earned throughout the semester. NO EXTRA CREDIT PROJECTS WILL BE PROVIDED.  

16. Grading Policy • HOMEWORK: 20% • CLASSWORK: 30% • ASSESSMENTS: 50%

17. Assessment/Grading (Continue) • Grading scale: • A+       97-100% • A         93-96%                                   C        73-76% • A-        90-92%                                 C-      70-72% • B+       87-89%                                  D+       67-69% • B         83-86%                                  D        63-66% • B-        80-82%                                D-      60-62% • C+       77-79%                                   F         59%-below • Academic misconduct: Using translators (on-line) or native speakers to complete your work is not doing your work honestly. Using an online dictionary to find one word is very different than using the service to complete entire paragraphs or assignments. It is like having someone else do your work for you. This is cheating and is dishonest and may result in zero credit. ONLINE TRANSLATORS NOT ALLOWED

18. Spiral Notebook • The students will write their homework and the objective daily in their spiral notebook. If you want to know what your student is learning, please see notebook.

19. HOMEWORK • Every day students will write their homework assignments in their student planner. I will assign an average of 20 minutes of homework per night. Learning a foreign language requires a lot of memorization and practice, so it is important that homework be completed daily. There is no way to make up missed homework, unless they have been absent. Their homework is due when they walk into class.

20. GET IT DONE! • IF STUDENTS DO NOT TURN IN THEIR HOMEWORK ON TIME, THEY WILL ONLY RECEIVE HALF CREDIT (50%).

21. ATTENDANCE: • In order for students to be successful in this class, regular attendance is crucial. Students going on vacation need to inform me at least one week in advance so I can prepare work packets.

22. TUTORING • If students are having problems in Spanish, they can see me before or after school.

23. FOREIGN LANGUAGE CALIFORNIA STATE CONTENT STANDARDS A BLUE PRINT FOR YOUR EDUCATION www.cde.ca.gov

24. CONTACT • If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me via e-mail or telephone. • E-mail: jose.pena@smusd.org • (760) 290-2700 ext: 3770