SYLLABUS FOR SPN 1121

With Service Learning Component

ELEMENTARY SPANISH II

Dos Mundos

 Fall 2008

9:30-10:45 a.m.

Monday/

Wednesday

INSTRUCTOR

Name:              Veronica I. Tempone

Office:             J209

Telephone:       Voice mail is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, so call at any time

                        to leave a message.

                        Direct:                             772-462-7704

                        Toll free                      1-866-792-IRSC (4772) 

E-mail:                   vtempone@ircc.edu

Faculty Webpage:  http://faculty.ircc.edu/faculty/vtempone

Office hours:   TBA

Course Description/Mission/Goals

Course Description:  Elementary Spanish II is a blended course with a service learning component.  It is a beginning language course in which learners will continue to improve their language skills.  Topics such as holidays, celebrations, daily routines, physical and emotional states, classroom activities, careers and work related activities, future activities, the neighborhood and the house,  introductions will be taught.  Grammatically, students will be introduced to the preterite and imperfect tenses in Spanish.  A continuation of the present tense from first semester will also permeate the course.  Students will use the four skills involved in learning a foreign language:  reading, writing, listening and speaking. Students will be involved in a variety of service learning opportunities including: Encuentros , working with Spanish speaking elementary school children and other activities that involve working with the Spanish speaking community.  The purpose of these activities is to practice language and learn about another’s culture. In addition to the service learning experiences, students will utilize technology to engage in language practice in an authentic language environment.  Students will make use of technology via an online learning center and an interactive online workbook to improve language skills. 

Note:  A blended course means that the time you spend in service learning classes and online work replaces actual seat time. The SL activities and online work compose 40% of your grade. 

Mission Statement:

In an authentic language environment, Spanish language students and Spanish speaking ESL students/community members will utilize language skills through activities that address daily life and professional experiences.  Dual language approaches will emphasize linguistic and cultural competencies.

Goals:

• Improve language skills
• Motivate students’ language learning
• Immerse students in an authentic language and cultural environment
• Increase students’ cultural awareness
• Encourage students to become civically engaged

Learning Outcomes:

1.         In SPN 1120 and 1121 the student will be able to understand most spoken Spanish at a slower than normal pace and most Spanish at a normal pace.  In SPN 2220 and 2221 the student will be able to understand Spanish spoken at a normal pace.

2.         In SPN 1120 and 1121 the student will ask and answer questions on a variety of everyday topics, describe people and places, and narrate mostly in the present tense and some in the past tense.  In SPN 2220 and 2221 the student will be able to ask and answer questions on a variety of everyday topics, describe people and places, and narrate mostly in the present tense, past tense, future and conditional and will learn the present subjunctive.

3.         In SPN 1120 and 1121 the student will be able to read almost any simple Spanish text.  In SPN 2220 and SPN 2221 the student will be able to read more advanced Spanish text to include Hispanic Newspapers, magazines and literature.

4.         In SPN 1120 and 1121 the student will be able to write a simple text on a variety of topics.  In SPN 2220 and SPN 2221 the student will be able to write more advanced texts on a variety of topics.

5.                  In all Spanish courses the student will be able to demonstrate cultural awareness of the Spanish-speaking world and its people.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

To be purchased from the IRCC bookstore:

Textbook:                             Dos Mundos, 6^th edition, 2006  Terrell, Andrade, Egasse, Munoz

Packaged with the text:      Quia Web Card which includes online workbook and lab activities. 

                                            (This card is good for 2 years)

                                                McGraw Hill Online Learning Center Premium card-contains audio for text.

To be purchased by student: 

Materials to create bilingual children’s books and story boards. You will receive more information once you begin your service learning experience at the elementary school.

Description of Materials:

Dos Mundos   Text that incorporates grammar into the communicative/natural approach to language learning.  I will teach the vocabulary and related grammatical concepts together.  The grammar explanations are printed on blue pages at the back of each Paso or Capitulo.

Quia Online Workbook  Electronic version of the workbook.  Contains written activities, auditory exercises, cultural and in context videos.  Students will be assigned work each week to be completed.  For the most part, students will complete these activities online, but may be asked to print out a completed activity to review in class.

(http://books.quia.com  use my registration instructions and the quia passcode that came packaged with the text)

McGraw Hill Online Learning Center   Includes audio for text vocabulary and readings.  It contains practice quizzes and other resource materials.  Students may be asked to print out activities for review in class. (http://www.mhhe.com/dosmundos6)

YOUR GRADE FOR THE COURSE

Your grade for this course will consist of five elements:

Tests                                                                                       35%          

Quizzes                                                                                10%

Participation/Attendance                                                   15%

Service Learning Activities*                                              30%

Quia Online Workbook                                                      10%

*Service learning activities include a minimum of two 30 minute visits a week to the elementary school (Sep/Oct/Nov), in which students will partner with Spanish speaking ESL students to create bilingual story boards and children’s books, participation in 3 encuentros (select Fridays) and reflection essays.

The grading scale for your overall course grade will be as follows:

90-100     A

80-89        B

70-79        C

60-69        D

0-  59      F

TESTS (35%):  There will be three tests during the term and a final exam.  The dates for the exams will be listed on the weekly assignment schedule, but are subject to change due to pacing and/or extenuating circumstances that may arise.  Students will always be advised in class as to the actual test date.   Should you be absent for any reason, you should call my office or email me as soon as possible to find out when the test is scheduled.  The final exam is set according to the College Final exam schedule.  NO exams may be given early unless permission is granted from the Vice President of Academic Affairs. 

QUIZZES (10%):  There will be 5 quizzes/projects this semester. The will be either written, oral or created by the student.   In the case of a regular quiz (as opposed to a project), the quiz will normally be given at the beginning of class.  Students who arrive after the quiz has been taken will not be able to take the quiz.  Students who arrive late will not receive additional time on the quiz.  The same applies to projects; students who are late or absent on the due date of the project will not be allowed to turn it in late. The topic of each quiz will be announced on the syllabus.  Your lowest quiz grade will be dropped at the end of the semester; only your best 4 quizzes will be counted.  There are no make-ups for missed quizzes.  If you miss a quiz (for any reason), it will have to count as one of the grades that are dropped or be recorded as a zero. 

DAILY GRADE (15%):   Your daily grade will be based on three components:  participation in class activities, attendance and homework. I will drop the 3 lowest daily grades for every student.  Exception:  no encuentro dates may be dropped.

Participation:  Students are expected to actively participate in all class activities. Activities can be written or oral.   Failure to participate in class activities or come prepared with written materials will seriously affect your daily grade.

Attendance:

Your attendance in class will affect the class participation part of your daily grade.  Arriving late to class, leaving early, or missing a significant amount of time during class will affect your class participation grade.  (Sitting with your head on your desk or sleeping in class will be considered the same as not being there.)    You will receive a “0” for class participation for every class you miss.  I will drop the three lowest daily grades for every student.   Being absent does not excuse you from any of the course activities or requirements.  When you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what the assignment is for the day on which you will be returning to class. 

Quia Workbook (10%) (sometimes referred to as Activities Manual) and Lab Activities

The online workbook and lab activities are found on the Quia webpage.  The icon is on your course homepage.  You purchased a book key with your text.  I have asked you to register the minute you are online in the course.  These assignments are 10% of your total grade.  They will be graded on a 100% scale.  Quia activities are self grading.  If the exercise indicates that review is needed, I will be personally looking at those to check the answers, since there may be more than one way to answer the question.  Quia is very text sensitive and accent marks will cause you to get a question marked wrong.  Since you will be responsible for spelling on tests, you should practice throughout the term the proper spelling of words.  You may do your Quia exercises over and over, if you wish. But I will only count the score recorded at the due date, which means you can’t redo the exercises once the deadline has passed.  If you are late, Quia will allow you to do the exercise, but it will record “late” in my grade book.  Late work is not acceptable.  Please refer to “Late Assignments” in the syllabus.  Please do a good job on them, as they are the practice material for the tests.  I will be looking at your responses to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie.  The assignments to be completed are listed on the website.  They are indicated with a circle.  You should complete activities from the workbook and lab activities.  You will have the audio to the lab on Quia.  You do not need a separate disk. 

Service Learning Activities (30%)

Encuentros:  We will meet 3 times with selected Spanish speaking students from the IRCC English as a Second Language Department. You will be expected to attend  all of them.  They will be held on Friday mornings at the Main Campus in Ft. Pierce.  There are prearranged topics and activities to allow us to communicate in Spanish with native speakers.  We will do a variety of activities to improve our language, but culture will also be a primary focus of these sessions.  (see goals and missions statements above).

And

Elementary School:  You will meet with Spanish speaking ESL students at Lawnwood Elementary beginning in September for a total of 15 hours of service work .  You will team up with one or more ESL children to create bilingual children’s books related to the vocabulary themes we are studying.     Students will have a log of hours and have the Elementary school instructor sign off on the hours.  Students must complete a volunteer application which includes a local background check.

Or

St. Lucie County Historical Museum-Students will create bilingual materials for the Museum, participate in bilingual tours and/or assist with webpage development.  Students must complete a SLC volunteer application form and spend a minimum of one hour a week in the museum.  Copies of bilingual documents must be submitted at the end of the course (see syllabus for due date).  Minimum of 15 service hours required. 

Note:  Students who forge or misrepresent hours spent at the elementary school or museum will fail the SL component.  

REFLECTION JOURNAL ENTRIES:  There will be 4 journal entries assigned.  There are post reflection entries for every “Encuentro” we have and you will reflect on your experience at the elementary school.  You will write a  pre reflection in the class before our first encuentro; all others will be done outside of class and are due the date indicated.  You should plan to write 150-200 words minimum.  There is no maximum length.  You will be provided with a list of guiding questions for your entries. The majority of these entries will be done in English.   This is an important aspect of the service learning experience and should be taken seriously. 

MAKING UP TESTS

You need to make up a missed test as soon as possible. Students must have legitimate reasons to miss tests.  Students must discuss why they will need a test extension and/or a makeup with the instructor.  Failure to do so will result in a “0” for that test.  You will take these make tests in the CPI Lab of the campus where your class is located.  If you have not taken the make-up by the deadline that I designate, you will receive a “0” for that test.  When I review for tests in class, I am reviewing for the test that is to be given on the regular test date.  If you take a make-up test, it will be over the same material, but it will not be the test that I went over in class. 

TIPS FOR SUCCESS

1.       Participate actively in all class activities. 

2. Use Spanish outside of the classroom/immerse yourself in the culture as much as possible!
3. Do all assignments and review everyday!
4. Call me or email me if you are experiencing difficulty; there are many strategies to learning a foreign language. 

EXPECTATIONS

1. Bring textbook and handouts/materials to class everyday. 
2. Complete all assignments neatly and legibly. 
3. Attend class regularly, arrive on time and take required quizzes and tests.
4. Maintain a positive attitude; research indicates that ATTITUDE IS SUPERIOR TO APTITUDE WHEN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.
5. All work submitted by the student should be the work of the student.  This includes using online translators or native speakers for outside class assignments.  Students will receive a zero for that assignment. 
6. Represent IRCC in an acceptable manner while participating in SL activities.

    CLASS ETIQUETTE:

       1.  Only students enrolled in the course may attend class sessions.

       2.  Turn off all pagers and cell phones during class.

       3.  Respect Instructor and fellow classmates.

4.  Ask questions related to the topic or discussion at hand. 

5.  Do not work on other coursework during lectures/practice.

     6.  Be courteous of fellow classmates and refrain from talking during the lessons.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

http://faculty.ircc.edu/faculty/vtempone

WebCt shell-contains links to tutorials, additional language practice, including voice boards, discussion boards and chat rooms.

McGraw Hill Online Learning Center  www.mhhe.com/dosmundos6

Spanish TV Univision or Telemundo

People en español

Selecciones (Reader’s Digest)

http://www.studyspanish.com

www.indiana.edu/~call

http://www.mansionspanish.com/cursobasico/icurso01_2.htm

COLLEGE SERVICES

Student Disability Services 

If you have a documented disability on file with IRCC, please see instructor after the first class to discuss accommodations.

Learning Resources Center

Financial Aid

ACADEMIC SUPPORT CENTERS

Academic Support Centers are located at the Ft. Pierce, Vero Beach, Stuart, St. Lucie West, and Okeechobee Campuses.  This is where you will take makeup tests.

Overview of Assignments

This is an Overview of the assignments and topics for the semester.  It is subject to change.  It is your responsibility to maintain contact with the instructor.