22FA_SN201A-Fund of Spanish Grammar

By the end of the semester successful students should be able to:

• Initiate, sustain and close simple conversations
• Demonstrate basic mastery of the following Communicative Goals (Metas Comunicativas): Describe; compare; react and recommend; narrate in the past; talk about likes/dislikes; talk about the future; recognize formation of hypothesis
• Acquire sufficient vocabulary in order to talk about daily life (school, work, leisure, family, health, etc.)
• Identify key places of interest in Latin America and Spain (Lugares Fascinantes) through culturally contextualized activities throughout the text
• Communicate in written form with thematic vocabulary and the Metas Comunicativas
• Gain self-confidence at the novice level of Spanish using all three modes of communication: Presentational (through recorded monologues); Interpersonal (in-class conversations); and Interpretive (listening / reading comprehension exercises) 

Dr. Jessica Ramos-Harthun, Profesora

Class Meetings:  Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 9:30-10:30 am

Classroom:  Humanities center (HC) # 218

Office: HC # 202

Office Hours:  M & W 2:00 - 3:00 pm, T & Th 1:00-2:00 pm, and by appointment

Email: jmramosd@bsc.edu

Participación en clase

(80 points or 8% / approximately 2 points per each session, 40 sessions)

All students are expected to be full participants in all daily classroom activities that include reading activities, debates, role-play, videos, singing, pair and group work. Students will receive a daily participation grade. Each class session is worth 2 points approximately. As a minimum each student must come to class prepared to review, ask and answer questions on the material assigned for the day. Students must prepare for class by completing all assignments in advance and be ready to participate in all class activities and discussions.  All chapters of the textbook are to be read and reviewed completely PRIOR to coming to class the day that chapter is discussed. The use of Spanish and the attendance to class will be critical parts of the participation grade.  Students will be graded, among other things, on the following factors:

·       Constant use of Spanish in the classroom

·       Volunteering to answer and ask questions

·       Positive contributions to the class

·       Regular use of new vocabulary

·       Being able to formulate grammatically and phonetically correct answers

·       Show progress in the “skill of communication”

·       Complete homework assignments

·       Show attendance and alertness

Temas (120 points or 16% / 3 temas x 40 points)

Students will write four out-of-class essays or Temas during the term around the following topics: identity (all about you), daily routine & leisure activities (activities & schedules), unique travel and past experiences (an amazing experience), and ecotourism and the environment (ideas and suggestions to preserve nature). The professor will assign a grade (out of 40 points) to each Tema. Essays must be: 1. typed; 2. double-spaced; 3. in Spanish; 4. minimum 250 words (name, date, etc. don’t count). Details for each Tema including Editing Key explaining the Professor’s notations on the essay as well as a Rubric for Compositions are posted on Moodle. The dates of these exams are printed on your syllabus and found in the course calendar at the end, ps. 6 & 7.

Ediciones (3 x 15 pts. = 45 pts. or 4.5%)

After the tema is turned in, the Professor will indicate any grammatical problems the essay may have using the Corrections Key posted on Moodle. Once the original tema is returned to the students, they will correct the mistakes and turn in the typed corrected version and the original version by the date specified on the Programa Failure to turn in the original version along with the rewrite will result in a 4-point penalty (40%) on the value of the rewrite. Getting any outside help (other than from Dr. Ramos) on the temas and ediciones is expressly forbidden and constitutes a violation of the BSC Honor Code.

Video Quizzes (120 pts or 12% / 4 x 30 pts.). On designated days (found on your course Programa) you will record and submit a video-monologue via Moodle. This should be done by using your personal computer at home or at the Language Lab. Students may prepare and practice the monologue beforehand but should focus on spontaneous speech as much as possible when recording. Students may record on Moodle the exercise as many times as they like before submitting the final copy to the Professor. Once the recording is completed to the student’s satisfaction, he/she will submit the video and post it within Moodle-Video Quizzes. These recordings are scored based on a rubric of 30 points (3%). The students will be given samples for each video so that they know what the communicative goals are. The video must be received by the posted deadline shown on the Programa (ps. 5-6).

Vocabulary Quizzes (7 x 10 pts.). For chapters 1-7, there will be a quiz based on Vocabulario del Tema throughout the semester. The format for the vocabulary quizzes is by category and usage, and not simply providing the English-Spanish translation. The dates for these quizzes are posted on the Programa, at the end of the Syllabus (pp 6-7.)

Online Homework (160 pts. or 16% / 8 x 20 pts.). Online Homework is due at the end of each chapter. However, it is highly recommended that students complete their homework in a daily basis so they can reinforce the new material they learn in class. The online homework includes all the exercises listed on the section “QUIZZES” located on the Pasaporte website. These assignments ought to be completed and submitted online before coming to class. Students will receive full credit for completion of all exercises if they score 70% in accuracy or greater. If they have a lower score than 70%, they must redo the exercises and get a greater score to receive full credit. Students should review their notes and textbook before completing these assignments. All assignments should be sent to my email: jmramosd@bsc.edu Online assignments are found in the following link:

CLICK BELOW TO WORK ON YOUR ONLINE HOMEWORK:

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073513180/student_view0/para_empezar/index.html#

Pruebas (190 points or 19% / 2 exams x 95 points each)

There will be two formal assessments during the semester. The exams will follow similar formats and contents to the exercises found within your textbook and online resources. The professor will discuss specific format of these activities and study strategies before the assessments. They will take place on Monday, October 10th and Monday, November 21st.

Portafolio Cultural (100 points or 10%)

Students are encouraged to participate in events and programs which involve the Hispanic community, such as visits to local Hispanic institutions (churches, medical centers, businesses or other organizations), interviews with members of the Hispanic speaking community (on-or off-campus), writing to pen-pals in a Spanish speaking country, attendance to cultural events hosted by BSC, among others (presentations, movies, shows), etc. Students are required to prepare and maintain a Cultural Portfolio which describes their involvement in such activities and should include visual aids, such as pictures, sketches as well as evidence such as tickets to the events and recorded interviews on tape. Statements around reflective thoughts should include: 1. Reason for the selected activity, 2. Description of the event (date, time, participants, and objectives), 3. What did I learn from this experience? 4. What did I like best and what did I like least of this experience? The Portafolio Cultural is due on Monday, November 28th. Students will present in class their most exciting experiences collected in their portfolio and subsequently hand in the portfolio to the professor. The minimum number of activities for the completion of this project is five. Each activity will be worth 20 points making a total of 100 points per portfolio.  

Examen Final (115 points or 11.5%)

This is a comprehensive exam given during finals week. It will take place on Thursday, December 8th, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The professor will discuss the format of the exam and study strategies before the exam. Daily preparation and completion of all assignments throughout the term will help students prepare for this activity. Furthermore, the final exam will include a 30-minute conversation with a native Spanish speaker via TalkAbroad (https://talkabroad.com/). Students will need to register (Ramos2022-377848) and secure a date/time for this activity not later than 48 hours before the due date, Thursday, December 8th at 9:00 pm or before. 

The final exam will include a 30-minute conversation with a native Spanish speaker via TalkAbroad (https://talkabroad.com/). Students will need to register (Ramos2022-377848) and secure a date/time for this activity not later than 72 hours before the due date, which is the same date as the Final exam, Thursday, December 8th, by 4:00 pm or before. 

Students need to create a student account on talkabroad.com, register into our class section, and redeem their codes as soon as they receive them.

Here are the basic steps for students to get started:

To get started, students need to do the following:

1. Create a student account on talkabroad.com and input the Section Code from their professor to join their section: Ramos2022-377848
2. Redeem the Pre-purchase Code received from the bookstore
3. Make reservations with the assignment topics their professor has already created (see list of questions provided within Assignments)
4. Students must schedule this activity with the TalkAbroad partner not later than 72 hours before the due date, which is the same date as the Final exam, Thursday, December 8th, by 4:00 pm or before. Students can complete the TalkAbroad conversation starting Monday, November 28th.
   

Grammar Tutorial Videos (McGraw Hill)

https://highered.mheducation.com/sites/1259602966/student_view0/grammar_tutorials.html

Colby

http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/

Myths of Language Learning

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqJqIwnBrZFdk7DrrFg4RBy6dpQt4-fcyeiqOMDVHLqv6RDg/viewform

Grammar Tutorials

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073385301/student_view0/grammar_tutorials.html

Useful handouts below:

Online Learning Center for Textbook

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073513180/student_view0/index.html 

Colby Website for Grammar Practice

http://personal.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/

Punto y aparte Online Learning Center

http://www.mhhe.com/puntoyaparte3

iLrn Online Resources for PUENTES

https://hlc.quia.com/books?qbid=0.803326854613446&sessionId=9b6e8777aad0e26fcd71fa36c64392d3_jjzwvh4d_3p3u&type=4&bcp=HLC

Grammar Tutorials

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073385301/student_view0/grammar_tutorials.html

HOY (Canción interpretada por Gloria Estefan, autor Gianmarco (cantautor peruano)

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=HOY+Gloria+Estefan+Letra#id=4&vid=074b6a6fcde538ed6d0e267704025439&action=view

Por/Para

https://uab.instructure.com/courses/1486768/modules/items/14886406

Palabras afirmativas y negativas

https://121spanish.com/affirmatives-and-negatives

Presente del subjuntivo

https://www.npsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib04/NJ01001216/Centricity/Domain/493/Lektion12.pdf

Please note that attendance to class is mandatory.

If you had to be absent (due to illness, BSC sports and/or an emergency of personal matters), you will need to arrange a meeting with our Spanish tutor, Nolen Ridlehoover (ngridleh@bsc.edu) to review whatever you missed during your absence. You can also review any other grammatical structure, vocabulary, questions you might have; practice your pronunciation by reading aloud; and/or having a conversation for preparation to TalkAbroad (see list of questions on Moodle). Minimum time for a tutorial session is 30 minutes. 

LATINOAMERICA, CALLE 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkFJE8ZdeG8