Elementary Spanish I
Summer 2008 SPA 1010-64653 (TeleWeb course) 3 credits
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Profesora Carolin McManus |
Oficina: C 310 (Leonardtown campus) |
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Teléfono: (240) 725-5452 |
Horas de oficina: by appointment |
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regular e-mail address: carolinm@csmd.edu
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Please use WebCT email once class begins: |
Getting Started The full syllabus schedule and instructions for the course are found on the Blackboard/WebCT online platform. To access WebCT select “My WebCT” from the CSM website or go to this address http://webct.csmd.edu/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct, use the username and password sent to you via US mail letter from CSM in mid-May to login in. Then click on the “Getting Started” folder.
Course prerequisite: None (other than plenty of time and self-discipline)
Course description: You will practice listening to, speaking and writing in Spanish, working with basic dialogues, and writing short compositions in Spanish. You will also read about and view on video various cultural aspects of the Hispanic and Latin American world.
Course Objectives: Upon completion of this course, you should be able to communicate in Spanish in the following ways:
· read at a basic level
· understand basic clearly spoken Spanish in the present tense
· write simple compositions in the present tense and preterite (past) tense
· have a better understanding of the Hispanic and Latin American culture
Course Requirements:
Required Text:
Blanco, José A. and Philip R. Donley. Vistas 3rd ed. Boston: Vista Higher Learning, 2008 (standard package). Please purchase your book from the CSM bookstore or Vista Higher Learning (the publishing company) at www.vhldirect.com. Students who attempt to find a less expensive source usually end up starting late and often end up falling behind and withdrawing from the course. Note: All students will be required to use Vistas 3rd edition with the Vistas electronic Supersite.
FYI— If you successfully complete SPA 1010 and wish to take SPA 1020 in the same course format, you can do so without any additional textbook purchases as long as your text passcode is still active (within 18 months) unless the college administration makes an unanticipated decision to the contrary.
Special Equipment:
1) High-speed Internet. Although some students with dial-up have taken successfully taken the course, they usually have difficulty accessing the videos and recordings. DSL works fine for me, but I hear that in some areas, it’s not much better than dial-up. If you have dial up, plan to spend time at a location with public-access high-speed internet, such as a public library or CSM or a wifi hotspot location.
2) Microphone. The electronic exercises require that you record your voice to respond to the questions or pronunciation exercises. If your computer does not have a microphone built into it, you will need a microphone attachment for your computer. You can experiment with the recorded exercises in Lección 1 (which are not graded) to see if it is working correctly. Fairly inexpensive microphones are widely available where electronics are sold. Mine is a microphone-headset combo. This is a terrific tool for us to work on pronunciation and listening comprehension.
WebCT Instructions: This is a TeleWeb course. The “Tele” portion refers to DVD videos you will be borrowing and viewing, which used to be accessible only on television. We now have copies of the series, which students check out for the semester. The “-Web” aspect of the course refers to the use of the Internet to access both our WebCT course page and the publisher’s site. You will be using both of these sites to submit most assignments, to access supplemental materials, and to communicate with me and your classmates (optional). In this course, we use WebCT to post the syllabus and schedule of coursework, to email, to post messages on the bulletin board (optional), to access the course calendar, and to view your online grade book. The course site can be accessed from any internet-connected computer, including those at the Waldorf, PRIN, LEON, and La Plata campuses or public libraries, etc. Note: WebCT course sites do not become accessible until 8:00 a.m. on the first day of the class in most cases.
CSM’s WebCT Access (your “virtual classroom”): The URL for the WebCT is http://webct.csmd.edu/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct. To get into the WebCT site, you will need a password and a USER ID, which has already been established for you by the college. Login information is provided at the above URL. Generally, your user ID is your first and middle initial and your last name (all one word, lowercase) and your password is your student ID number. If you have any trouble logging into WebCT (not the Vistas Supersite), please call the CSM Help Desk at 301-934-2251 or help@csmd.edu.
Check WebCT frequently. Students should check the course email and announcements daily. I will check the course email daily Mondays through Fridays and occasionally on weekends. Grades are generally posted to the online grade book within one week of receipt of the assignment. Exam delivery is usually delayed by at least another week if it comes from the Testing Center on the La Plata or Prince Frederick campuses.
Vista’s Online activities (This refers to your textbook publisher, not WebCT). You will be completing a significant portion of your work for this course on the textbook publisher’s Supersite. In order to access this website, you will need the code that came bound with your text. You should only need to input these codes once. Then you will set up an account with a password, which will allow you to access the electronic exercises from any internet connected computer. Unless there has been a change, the passcode is bound into the cover and first page of your text. I suggest you leave it there. Do not lose the Supersite key code before you input it or you will have to purchase a new one from the publisher. Keep the code where you can find it if you have problems later! Because people try unsuccessfully to transfer and sell these valuable codes, the publisher will not replace it or reset it if you lose it. If you have problems accessing Vista’s (not WebCT’s) online material, you need to contact their help desk, not CSM’s helpdesk. They have links to their help desk on the Vista’s homepage: www.vistahigherlearning.com
Online Assignments
In order to help you keep to a schedule, I will ask you to complete online exercises electronically for each chapter (Lecciones 1-6) by certain dates. I generally set the dates on Mondays and Thursdays to spread the work out. Because of the compressed nature of the summer schedule, you should plan to do some work five days a week. If you can’t finish a section on time, get to it as soon as you can. The computer takes a 3% deduction for every day the exercise is late. I can’t undo it. I will check your exercises and record your grades on the WebCT site within one week of the last deadline for the lesson if you completed them on time. If you submit late, the grading will probably be delayed. Some exercises require instructor grading before the points are granted, so keep in mind that your overall score will probably increase after I have reviewed the exercises. You will receive the full 5 points if you have an overall score of 90% or higher. If your score is lower, your overall percentage will be multiplied by 5.
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Advice about completing the exercises
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1. Know the vocabulary thoroughly before you attempt the exercises. “Know” does not mean “glance at” or even “read carefully.” It means if you cover up the Spanish and look at the English, you can say and spell 80% or more of the words. This is one of the hardest parts of completing the course. I recommend using index cards with the English on one side and the Spanish on the other. One word per card (or two associated words, such as opposites). If you complete the exercises with the book open in your lap copying from the book, you are not likely to learn or retain much. Copying does not increase retention, in general. If you don’t follow this advice you will probably feel very, very frustrated for the entire semester and find yourself blaming Vistas, me, CSM, all college administrators and your cat instead of learning the vocabulary first.
2. Grammar components. There are four per chapter. Follow these procedures for each one: a. Read the two pages in the book introducing the grammar components. b. Try the exercises on those pages. Some are duplicates of electronic exercises, but the time won’t be wasted. c. Go through my PowerPoints tutorials and/or view Vistas tutorials (the cartoon Professor Pedro Gómez) while studying the book for each grammar component. You will find Pedro in the Supersite Online Reference Tools (right hand side menu) in “My Tutorials.” STUDYING THE TUTORIALS IS THE REPLACEMENT FOR YOUR TIME (6 hours/week) IN THE CLASSROOM. THIS IS WHERE THE EXPLANATION/LEARNING DYNAMIC OCCURS. Skip this and you may not be able to move forward. d. Re-study the vocabulary e. Now, and only now, you are ready to tackle the online homework. If you follow this method, you should enjoy the exercises (except when you get one wrong). You can fool me and the computer by copying everything you need directly out of the textbook, but you will be wasting your time and not preparing for the inevitable exams.
d. Investigate the answers you got wrong using the PowerPoint tutorials and the text. If it was something small, like punctuation, just note the error and move on. Small errors don’t usually add up to enough points to affect your grade.
3. Communicate with me when you don’t understand something.
4. Review the material from the last session and quiz yourself on the vocabulary before you move on to the new material.
5. Conjugate every new verb in every verb tense we learn as you go along. Check it against the verb conjugations on the Verb Wheel (in Supersite Online Reference Tools) on the WordReference.com site. Say them aloud and drill yourself regularly.
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Destinos DVDs—One of the requirements of this course is that you view the Destinos episodes. (This is not the same as the short video vignettes that are part of the textbook materials.) After you register for the class, you can pick up your Destinos set at the La Plata library or call the circulation desk (ext. 7134) and request that a set be sent to another CSM campus library nearer you. This is an excellent series, a multiple-episode drama following a Los Angeles lawyer, Raquel Rodriguez, as she attempts to help a dying client find a son he never knew he had. The series takes you all over Spain and Latin America. As you watch it, you will not be able to understand each word. The actors use a full conversational vocabulary. Your job is simply to follow the storyline and to give yourself credit for each word or phrase that you do recognize. Relax as you watch. Imagine that you are Raquel’s English-speaking cousin who is traveling with her to keep her company. I have no graded assignments associated with the tapes, but I do have simple questions on the exams that require knowledge of episodes. It adds up to as much as 15% of your exam grade. I would like you to take notes about the story as it unfolds. For example, know the first names of each of the characters important to the episode and what cities they travel to. The questions on the exam will not require 100% understanding of the dialogue to answer. Enjoy this well-produced series. I believe you will be given the series on DVDs. One of the advantages of this format over the VHS version is that you should be able to turn on the Spanish subtitles, so you can read the Spanish as well as hearing it. There are no English subtitles. It is also available on streaming video accessible by any Internet-ready computer, no subtitles, though. See the link in the our WebCT page.
Exams—You will have three required exams during the semester. The first covers chapters 1 and 2. The second covers 3 and 4. The third covers chapters 5 and 6. I will include questions about the Destinos series in the exams as well. You must take the exams in the testing center on the campus of your choice. Waldorf does not have a testing center. Prince Frederick requires an appointment at this time to schedule time to take the exam. You may use pencil or pen and scratch paper. You will have 2 hours to complete the exam. You must bring your student/photo ID to take a test at the testing center. Remember to allow enough time before the center closes to take the exam, particularly if you are taking them on the Prince Frederick campus. If you are driving a distance, I recommend that you call the testing center to make sure it is open when you expect it to be. I have a link to the Testing Center’s webpage on my WebCT site.
Exam and Final Make-up Policy—The syllabus schedule (on the WebCT site) shows the deadlines for taking the tests. You will have one week window to take the exam. After that week, the exams will be sent back to me. You must take the exam within the week they are available. If you do not take the exam during the week when they are available, there is an automatic 20% (two-letter grade deduction); 10% more is taken per week. You must contact me to make arrangements to take the exam in Leonardtown (no other campus). No exceptions. If you have a known schedule conflict, you may take it early (more than a week before the deadline).
Listening and Speaking (Oral Exam) You will practice your listening comprehension, pronunciation and sentence structure throughout the semester using the recorded online exercises. Toward the end of the semester we will complete an oral exam together usually via telephone. The oral exam will consist of a passage you read aloud and a series of question I will ask you in Spanish that you will answer in Spanish. A recording of the reading passage can be found online so you can practice as much as you would like before the exam. A list of questions reflecting the type I ask is posted on the web page. In addition, you will receive 1 point for each of five chapters for which you completed the recorded exercises (Lecciones 2-6).
Grading for the course—Your grade is based on the following:
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1. Exams (3 @ 20 pts. each) |
60 pts. |
60% |
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2. Online exercises for chapters 1-6 (6 @ 5 pts. each) |
30 pts. |
30% |
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3. Recorded exercises (1 pts. for ea. lección) |
5 pts. |
5% |
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4. Oral test |
5 pts. |
5% |
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TOTAL |
100 pts. |
100% |
Final grades are based on this traditional scale:
90-100 pts = A 80-89 pts = B 70-79 pts = C 60-69 pts = D 0-59 pts = F
Students with disabilities who believe that they may need accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact Disabled Student Services in the Learning Assistance Department (301) 934-7614 as soon as possible to better ensure that such accommodations are implemented in a timely fashion.
Withdrawal date—The last day to withdraw from this or any fall credit course or to change credit/audit status is July 14, 2008.
General Education Values incorporated in this course—At the end of this course, you should have practiced the skills and expanded the categories of knowledge listed below:
¡Bienvenidos y que tengan un gran semestre!
Welcome and have a great semester
Below is a list of topics covered during the semester. Specific dates and assignments will be available on the updated syllabus posted on the course SPA 1010 WebCT site.
Week 1: Introduction to the course. Begin e-exercises for Lección 1: Nouns and articles, Numbers 0-30, Present tense of ser, Telling time
Week 2: Complete Lección 1 and begin Lección 2: Present tense of –ar verbs, Forming questions in Spanish, Present tense estar, Numbers 31-100 Exam I on Lección 1 and 2
Week 3: Lección 3: Descriptive adjective, possessive adjectives, Present tense of –er and –ir verbs, Present tense of tener and venir
Week 4: Present tense of ir, Stem-changing verbs, Verbs with irregular yo form and Exam 2 on Lección 3 and 4
Week 5: Lección 5: Estar with conditions and emotions, Present progressive, Ser versus Estar, Direct Object Nouns and Pronouns
Week 6: Lección 6: Numbers 101 and higher, indirect object pronouns, Preterite tense of regular verbs, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns
Week 7: Exam 3 on Lecciones 5 and 6 and the oral exam.
The specific course schedule for Summer 2008 will be available on the course WebCT page on the first day of classes.