iBIENVENIDOS A LA CLASE DE ESPAÑOL!

SR. PEÑA GRADUATED FROM SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY IN 1993 MA IN EDUCATION BA IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, SOCIOLOGY, AND SOCIAL SCIENCE. SPANISH AND SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHING CREDENTIALS 22 YEARS TEACHING EXPERIENCE NATIVE SPANISH SPEAKER MARRIED WITH TWO CHILDREN. HOBBIES: TRIATHLONS, MARATHONS, ULTRAMARATHONS, TRAVELING, SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY AND READING

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

WHY TAKE SPANISH? I am very excited to teach Spanish to your student. 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.

COURSE DESCRIPTION Spanish I will provide the student with a general introduction to the Spanish language: sound system, pronunciation, functional vocabulary related to everyday life, cultural information and basic grammatical structures. Emphasis will be on the acquisition of four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and limited writing. There are two main objectives to the course. Foremost is to give the students the ability to carry on a simple conversation. The course also endeavors to introduce the students to the cultural richness and diversity of the Spanish-speaking world.

TEXTBOOK AND WORKBOOK

COVER YOUR TEXTBOOK

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

BEHAVIOR Students must know the school and classroom rules. They will find them in their student planner.

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

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.

DAILY ROUTINE Students copy objective and homework in spiral notebook.. Students do the warm up (Calentamiento) 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 : ).

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. 

Grading Policy Quizzes, Tests, Projects- 60% Classwork/Participation and Homework – 25% Final Exam- 15%

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

If you want to know your student’s grade, homework, and missing assignments, check synergy grades. I update grades at least 3x a week.

Student Planner The students will write their homework and the objective daily in their student planner. If you want to know what your student is learning, please see student planner.

HOMEWORK Every day students will write their homework assignments in their student planner. Homework is posted on whiteboard and in Synergy Grades. 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.

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

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.

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

Please have your student go to www. quizlet Please have your student go to www.quizlet.com for additional help with vocabulary and pronunciation. 1 . g r e e t p e o p l e i n S p a n i s h 2 . k n o w h o w t o c o u n t f r o m 0 - 1 0 0 3 . K n o w t h e S p a n i s h a l p h a b e t . 4 . t e l l t i m e i n S p a n i s h 5 . k n o w w h e n t o u s e “ t u ” a n d “ u s t e d ” 6 . i d e n t i f y p a r t s o f t h e b o d y 7 . k n o w w h e n t o u s e “ e l ” a n d “ l a ” 8 . t h e c a l e n d a r ( k n o w t h e d a y s o f t h e w e e k a n d m o n t h s o f t h e y e a r ) .

Students can go to www. studyspanish. com or www. quia Students can go to www.studyspanish.com or www.quia.com for additional help.

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

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