1. E S P A Ñ O L “Hola”, Hi Parents**: It is my pleasure to have your child as my student in my Spanish class. I am looking forward to having fun, working hard, and learning new concepts and cultural information this year 2013-2014. Your child and our class have discussed the Spanish class Syllabus in the classroom by the time you receive this letter. Your child’s Spanish class syllabus includes the objectives of the class and the classroom rules and procedures. Please go to the Spanish website of the school, read it, and discuss it with your child if necessary. After reading it, please sign the bottom portion of this sheet and send it back to me. Also, fill out the information requested for my files. It is important that you know that all assignments, quizzes and tests due dates will be posted in Headmaster, please check it on a daily basis and help me monitor them with you child at home. Grades will be posted on a weekly basis; Monday will be the best day to see the latest update of your child’s grades. I will pay a close attention to the students behavior in my classroom. I will follow the school’s conduct policies and the following behaviors, among others, will NOT be accepted in the Spanish classroom: being disrespectful, being disruptive, and being off-task. Consequences begin with a verbal warning, then a Recess-Lunch Detention with an email or call to the parent, and finally a referral to the Administration. Every Detention time and Administration referral will be written up in Headmaster. Please monitor your child’s Behavior in Headmaster. Please have in mind that I work toward my students’ success in my classroom, therefore, I would like to keep in touch with you. Feel free to contact me via email at icordova@st-thomasmore.org with any question, concern or comment. If there is a need of a conference, I am available during my Planning periods (Monday 9:45-11:00 and Mondays thru Friday 12:35-1:15), before school (7:15:7:45), and after school (3:00-3:30). RAISE UP OUR COMMUNICATION THIS 2013-2014 YEAR! icordova@st-thomasmore.org Sincerely, Sra. Ilka M. Cordova St. Thomas More Middle School (Parent) My phone numbers are: Home___________ Cellular _____________ other ____________ (Parent) My email address is __________________________________________________________ We have a computer at home ___yes ___no. Microsoft Office ___yes____no. Internet ____yes____no Parent name (PRINT) Date Parent Signature My child’s (the student) name (PRINT) ONLY FOR NEW STUDENTS: Has your child taken Spanish before? ____yes _____no. When and where? _________________________________ Keep this letter with you. Fill out the bottom portion, cut along the dotted lines, and send it back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. E S P A Ñ O L St. Thomas More Middle School Teacher: Sra. Ilka Cordova icordova@st-thomasmore.org Textbook: Realidades Spanish 1 or 2. The textbook will be online and you will be given a log-in ID and password to access it. Workbooks: Realidades Core Practice/Guided Practice and Realidades Communication. Students will have a shelf in the room to leave their workbooks if not needed to complete a homework or to study. ASSESSMENT: Every grade will cover specific units of the textbook based on the Spanish level and program chosen. Assignments, quizzes, and tests due dates will be posted in Headmaster the day they are assigned. Please check Headmaster on a daily basis. Homework (15%): includes but not limited to, vocabulary and grammar worksheets, writing, interviews and research used to reinforce Spanish material given. These assignments must be turned in at the beginning of the class on the due date and placed on the assigned tray in the classroom. Class-work (15%): includes, Warm-up assignments, work done in the classroom for practice, and work assigned in the Lab-room. Activities assigned in the Lab-room will mainly include audio assignments to be completed in the Realidades Communication workbook and graded on a weekly basis. Assignments not completed in the classroom must be completed at home. Projects (20%): every unit will have one project to start in the classroom and may be finished at home. Quizzes (20%): includes 1 vocabulary quiz per unit and 1-3 grammar quizzes. Also, reading-comprehension, listening and writing quizzes will be given as needed. It is important that every student studies the material learned in class on a daily basis in case of a pop-up quiz. Quizzes will be given on a regular basis following the order on the units of the book or the information given by the teacher. Hispanic cultural concepts will be assessed separately. Tests (30%): includes 1 test per unit, 1 Mid-term test, and 1 Final Most quizzes and all tests will be kept in the classroom in a student personal file. If the student, parent or tutor needs it for any reason, they can be used inside the classroom only. Only quizzes with relevant material to study for Tests will be given back to the student. Bienvenidos! Welcome! To an interactive course that will help you develop your communicative proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing of the Spanish language and learn about the Hispanic culture. We will cover the course content specified by the Diocese of Raleigh. Page 1/3

3. E S P A Ñ O L MAKE UP WORK: If you are absent on the due date of any assignment, you are responsible to turn it in when you come back to school. STM’s handbook policy is: “Students have one day per day of absence to complete and turn in assignments.” You are also responsible to look in Headmaster for any assigned work and to contact a classmate for any notes taken. Missing quizzes and tests must the schedule with the teacher; quizzes will be taken during Recess and Tests, after school. Incomplete work will get an incomplete grade. Late assignments will have a late grade maximum of 60%. This is equivalent to 10% for every late day, so the maximum days you can turn in your work is 4 school days. No homework, project or classwork will be graded after the 4 th school day of its due date; including the days you do not have Spanish class. NOTE: Late or on-time, it is a policy of this class to not turn in assignments by email; they should all be placed in the assigned tray in the classroom. Grading: This class will follow the same grading scale of STM’s school. (Ref. Parent-Student Handbook) A 100-93 B 92-85 C 84-78 D 77-70 F 69- or below Materials The following materials will be given by the teacher on the first days of school. A textbook and both workbooks one 1-inch binder with dividers (General, Vocabulary, Grammar, Study Guides) for notes and studying material one notebook for classroom notes and practices Pencils and pens one set of headphones to be used in the Lab. 7 th and 8 th graders will use the same headphones as last year. NOTE: Any textbook, workbook, or headphone lost will require to pay for its cost in order to be replaced. It is recommended to have a Spanish-English dictionary, a USB to save digital files, and index cards 3”x5”. Grades will be posted in Headmaster on a weekly basis. Please monitor your grades and contact your teacher with any question. Page 2/3

4. Being disrespectful: Mistreating a classmate or a teacher (physically or verbally-Cussing or with disrespectful words/phrases). Talk back to the teacher. Chewing gum. CONDUCT You will be conducted in accordance with the school policies as contained in the STM Parent-Student Handbook. The following behaviors, among others, will NOT be accepted in the Spanish classroom: Consequences begin with a verbal warning, then a Recess-Lunch Detention with an email or call to your parent, and finally a referral to the Administration. Being disruptive: Talking, whistling or making weird noises while others talk. Standing from your desk without authorization of the teacher. Throwing things or yelling across the room. Being off-task: Not doing the work assigned or not doing work at all. Sleeping. ALL STUDENTS MUST BE READY TO WORK AND RECEIVE INSTRUCTION EVERYDAY, WITH THEIR WORK ASSIGNED, THE MATERIALS NEEDED AND THE UNIFORM PROPERLY USED. RAISE IT UP! FAITH PRACTICE In our classroom, we will learn prayers, songs, and other Catholic related material. “Reaching minds + Touching Hearts + Shaping Soals” E S P A Ñ O L Page 3/3