¡Bienvenidos a la clase de espanol con la Señora Calamusa en salon 277!

 

scalamusa@spfk12.org

 Hola estudiantes,

Learning the Spanish language should be viewed as a journey, so pack your bags and get ready to travel to many beautiful Spanish speaking countries. At this point, you must be wondering what you need to bring with you on this once in a lifetime experience. Make sure that you come to class with the following things every day. Think of them as your luggage, or items that you would not want to forget if you were on vacation.

 

Check List:

• Your book or packet (depending on what we are working on that day)
• A Spanish notebook or section in your three ring binder dedicated to this class
•  Your homework
• Pens and pencils

What do I expect from you?

• PLEASE GET TO CLASS ON TIME!! Tardiness will only be excused if you come to class with a pass. If you do not have a pass, you will be marked late and receive a detention. L
• By the time the bell rings, you should be in your seat copying down the warm-up in your notebooks.
• Please refrain from getting out of your seat while I am teaching.
• Refrain from calling out while I am talking. There will be plenty of time for this when we are speaking Spanish and participating in conversational activities.
• The end of the class period is when we go over our assignments and other assessments. It is also when I assign homework. Please pay attention.
• Remain in your seats when the bell rings. Please wait for me to dismiss you!!  

Grading

Effort is so important. There is nothing more disappointing in the eyes of a teacher than grading something that was not taken seriously. Never forget to do your best and ask for help if you do not understand. 

 

What makes up your grade?

A. Homework

Homework will be given on a regular basis and checked. If you do not have your homework, you will receive a zero. Each zero is 10 points off of your homework grade. Homework will sometimes be collected and graded.If you are not sure what the homework is, please check my website.

B. Assessments

• Culminating Assessments A culminating assessment will be given at the end of the unit. The culminating assessment may be a combination of both oral and or written skills.
• Varied Writing Assessments These assessments may be given weekly and are not always announced. If you are absent on the day of the assessment, it is your responsibility to schedule a time to make it up. But remember, one day absent = one day to make up your assessment.
• Varied Oral Assessments Oral assessments may be done in groups, partners, or individually (depending on the topic). You will have time to prepare for them. However, some oral assessments will be impromptu.
• Projects and Performance Based AssessmentsOne project or performance based assessment will be assigned in each unit. You will be given any where from two to four weeks to complete it. It is imperative that you work very hard on your projects because they are worth anywhere from two to three grades since a combination of language skills will be evaluated.

C. Participation

Participation is such a large part of your grade. You are in control of your participation grade. Tickets will be used to measure your participation grade. The more tickets you get, the higher your participation grade will be. There may also be time during the marking period when we will be using a participation rubric. Remember, in order to learn Spanish, we need to speak it.

 

Your final grade consists of:

Reading/ Writing (50%)

Varied Written Assessments which may include:

Reading Assessments

Contextual Grammar Assessments

Projects

Performance Based Assessments

Graded Homework Assignments

Daily Homework

 

Speaking /Listening (50%)

Varied Oral Assessments which may include:

Oral Interactions

Role-Plays Guided Orals

Interviews

Oral Presentations

Oral Presentations of Projects

Oral Participation

Listening Assessments

 

The main goal in the class is to build a bridge form the English language to the Spanish language. I have listed our main materials to construct this bridge.  Most importantly, you need to bring the following things with you every day:

• Respect for one another and for your teacher J
• An open mind
• Patience

If you need help, please do not hesitate to ask questions or come to see me after school. My door is always open. I am looking forward to having a successful year with all of you!

¡Buena Suerte!