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AP Spanish Language
Syllabus
Course Overview
C1 - The teacher uses
Spanish almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise.
• The AP Spanish Language course is intended for students to improve their communication skills in Spanish through daily interaction with their teacher and peers. [C1] They will be able to express themselves orally in both formal and informal situations in order to persuade others, present information, describe, or inquire about given topics. [C5]
• Students should be able to understand authentic and level-appropriate audio/video materials, newspapers, oral presentations, lectures, letters, e-mails, and blogs. [C3] [C4]
• Students will improve their writing skills by expressing themselves in a variety of styles and for various audiences. [C6]
• Students will also increase their knowledge of the Hispanic and Spanish cultures by studying their history, literature, music, customs, life style and current topics.
• Students take a test during the first week of school to determine what strengths and problem areas they have in the target language.
Course objectives
ListeningAfter providing students with the main topic of the audio material, they listen to a controlled audio source and search for specific information by taking notes, completing grids and graphic organizers. I allow students to listen to audio excerpts more than once at the beginning of the course, but later on I get them used to listening to audio sources just once.
I will expose students to a variety of regional dialects, e.g. Argentina vs. Spain, as well as various types of pronunciation and vocabulary from the different Spanish-speaking countries.
Authentic listening sources:
- Radio Nacional de España www.rne.es
- Cadena SER www.cadenaser.com
- BBC Mundo www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/
- CNN en español www.cnn.com/espanol/ - Caracol Radio Colombia www.caracol.com.co/
C5 - The course
provides students with regular opportunities to develop their speaking skills in a variety of settings, types of discourse, topics, and registers.
C3 - Instructional
materials include a variety of authentic audio and/or video recordings that develop students’ listening abilities.
C4 - Instructional
materials include authentic written texts that develop students’ reading abilities. C6 - The course provides instruction and frequent opportunities to write a variety of compositions in Spanish.
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- www.youtube.com [C3] gives students access to never-ending possibilities of authentic video sources for them to improve their listening skills. Students can watch and download these videos at home to practice understanding of specific information and at the same time developing note taking skills at their own pace. At the beginning of the year I will provide them with excerpts from interviews on various topics, e.g. an actress speaking about her role in a movie. They will have to look for specific information and complete charts that help them comprehend the input. For instance, they can focus on answering Wh- questions (Quién, Qué, Cuándo, Cuánto, Por qué, Dónde, Cómo). By using this strategy at the beginning of the course students should be able to organize their notes and ask themselves the appropriate questions in order to retell the main idea and some details in their own words later on.
Speaking
On the first day of school I tell students that they are expected to speak Spanish at all times, even when they see me outside the classroom. [C1] I think that being constant at that commitment makes the students more engaged and responsible. If any student continuously fails to speak in the target language it will cost him/her participation points.
Students are expected to improve their fluency, be accurate in their vocabulary and syntax and have a natural intonation. They should be able to answer appropriately to formal interviews, informal conversations and they will be given prompts for storytelling and discussions in class.
One day a week students will speak to the class in order to present a topic. They will select a current issue a week ahead, e.g. Arizona’s recent law on illegal immigration, which can be in written, audio or video format (this will be shared with the class) [C7] Then, the student explains what the source is about, and expresses his/her view on the topic followed by a discussion in class.
Moreover, our school has a computer audio tool, Audacity, which will enable students to record their voices, and thus practice pronunciation, fluency, and intonation not only at school but also at home. I will require them to do a weekly home assignment so they get familiar with this tool and be prepared for the AP test. I will provide them with prompts weekly. After listening to themselves several times they will be more aware of their strong and weak areas, and will work on those.
C1 - The teacher uses
Spanish almost exclusively in class and encourages students to do likewise. C7 - The course provides frequent opportunities for students to integrate the four language skills through the use of authentic materials.
C3 - Instructional
materials include a variety of authentic audio and/or video recordings that develop students’ listening abilities.
3 Reading
Students will read samples from authentic reading materials from the textbook Triángulo, as well as other selected pieces of prose and poetry as a mean to expand their language knowledge and initiate to literary analysis. [C4][C2] Students will also read newspapers, magazine articles and reviews on numerous topics, letters, e-mails and blogs. Every two weeks they will read and synthesize a short story or poem which they will present to their peers with the help of a Power point presentation as a visual guide. As reading strategies we will use the following: context clues, graphic organizers, circle maps, and interactive reading. Required readings:
First semester
- La última novela, Abel A. Murcia Soriano, Edinumen - Selected poems from José Emilio Pacheco
- La siesta del martes, Gabriel García Márquez Second semester
- Una música tan triste, José Luis Ocasar Ariza, Edinumen - Selected poems from Platero y yo, Juan Ramón Jiménez - La noche boca arriba, Julio Cortázar
Samples of authentic sources:
Newspapers Magazines
- El País www.elpaís.es - Materiales - El Mundo www.elmundo.es - El País Semanal - Diario Clarín www.clarin.com - Yo Donna
- Saber Vivir - Clara Websites
- Aula de lengua cvc.cervantes.es/AULA/
- Materiales http://www.educacion.es/exterior/ usa/es/publicaciones/materiales
Writing
As a weekly practice, students have to read a short authentic article and paraphrase it. [C4] They underline the key ideas individually and rewrite the article in their own words. After, students get in pairs in order to compare their pieces and come up with the one that they think best paraphrases the actual article.
C4 - Instructional
materials include authentic written texts that develop students’ reading abilities.
C2 - The course
provides students with a learning experience equivalent to that of a third- year college course in Spanish language. Instructional materials, activities, assignments, and assessments are appropriate to this level. C4 - Instructional materials include authentic written texts that develop students’ reading abilities.
4 Every three weeks students are required to write a formal essay based on a topic
we have discussed, read or viewed in class. It will be either a persuasive or informative essay in which the students will be assessed for appropriate vocabulary, accurate grammar structures and syntax and organization. [C6] Since this is the first year for AP Spanish in our school, before the course starts students are encouraged to create a blog in order to display what cultural aspects they like the most (music, art, food, movies, lifestyle). This type of informal writing in Spanish is a way of knowing each other better in a format which students love, since it allows them to show their personality and be more creative. When school starts blogs can be used as a tool for commenting on students’ work, posting questions/concerns while working at home, assigning articles to read, informing of upcoming events, displaying useful links, etc.
Textbooks
- Una vez más, James H. Couch, Longman 1993. [C2] This manual provides students with ample grammar review.
- Triángulo: A propósito, 4th Ed. Manual para estudiante, Barbara Gatski and John McMullan, Wayside Publishing 2000. Triángulo gives students the opportunity to develop their vocabulary through authentic sources. - Sueña 4 Libro del Alumno y Cuaderno de ejercicios, María Jesús Torrens
Alvarez, Grupo Anaya 2007. This manual provides extensive grammar practice as well as audio and reading sources for advanced level students.
C6 - The course provides instruction and frequent opportunities to write a variety of compositions in Spanish. C2 - The course
provides students with a learning experience equivalent to that of a third- year college course in Spanish language. Instructional materials, activities, assignments, and assessments are appropriate to this level.
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Course description
Units first semester Chapters from
Una Vez Más
Chapters from Triángulo
Unit 1
1: El verbo (presente de indicativo, ser/estar, gerundio, voz pasiva, mandatos)
1.Hogar: aparatos, comida, herramientas, muebles, quehaceres, ropa
Unit 2
2. Los tiempos del pasado (presente perfecto, pretérito, imperfecto, pluscuamperfecto, voz pasiva)
2. La salud: accidentes, cuerpo, emergencias, medicina, médicos
Unit 3
3. Los tiempos del futuro y del condicional
3. El medio ambiente: aire libre, animales, tiempo, topografía
Unit 4
4. El subjuntivo 4. El turismo: aeropuerto, caminos, culturas extranjeras, medios de transporte
Unit 5
5. Los sustantivos y los artículos 5. El ocio: arte, ciencia ficción, espectáculos, fiestas, música, sueños, teléfono, televisión
Units second semester Chapters from
Una Vez Más
Chapters from Triángulo
Unit 6 6. Los pronombres 6. El deporte: actividades,
ejercicio, equipos, lugares
Unit 7
7. Los posesivos y los demostrativos
8. Las palabras interrogativas y exclamativas
7. El deporte: actividades, ejercicio, equipos, lugares
Unit 8
9. Los pronombres relativos 10. Los indefinidos y los negativos
8. El comercio: finanzas, profesiones, tiendas, trabajos
Unit 9
11. Los adjetivos, los adverbios, los comparativos y los superlativos
9. El prójimo: características físicas, emociones, familia, personalidad
Unit 10
12. Las preposiciones y las conjunciones
Unit 11
13. Más sobre los verbos 10. De todo un poco: avances tecnológicos, leyes, política, el futuro
