EVALUATION AND GRADING

• All work will be divided into two categories with the following percentages: 

  • Daily Grades—55%

    • Coursework—such as Duolingo, small quizzes and assessments, bellringers, FlipGrid assignments, Kahoot, translations, etc. – will be placed under the Daily Grades category, with points as the value of the grade in place of percentages. 

      • Standard 10 pt. grades: classwork, homework, Duolingo assignments, participation grades (students speaking in target language for specific topics)

      • Standard 12-15 pt. grades: quizzes, complex paragraph reading, understanding, and/or interpretation

  • Summative Assessments—20%

    • Standard 25-30 pt. grades: assessments (including tests, small projects, written/listening/speaking assessments)

    • Standard 40-60 pt. grades: Unit assessments (end of unit test/project/speaking or writing task)

  • Final Exam—15%

  • Homework—5%

    • Short take-home translations, steps leading to a major assessment, etc.

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MATERIALS

• 3-ring binder – The notebook will be a very important component of this class.  It is imperative all students keep one.  May be a hardback binder, or the floppy kind.  Please keep in mind the floppy notebooks tend to tear easily.  

• Consistent access to technology/internet: Atlanta Public Schools is moving towards a digital environment.  As such, students will be expected to have consistent technology and internet access.  More information regarding types of assignments and assessments via technology will be provided.  

*Students will be held accountable for their notebooks.  If a student has lost his/her notebook, the expectation is students will take immediate measures to obtain a new notebook and fill it in with the course notes.*

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SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS

• Google Classroom: Internet-based classroom communication continuum.  This will the main means of teacher-student communication outside of the classroom.  Using the internet, students may access Google Classroom either on a smartphone or traditional computer in order to turn in assignments, ask questions, access additional study materials, etc.

• YouTube:  More information regarding YouTube for educational purposes will be given to students as the school year progress.  Plan to have a consistent means of internet access so that pre-lessons may be done at home, in preparation for the next class period’s practice in the target language.

• Duolingo: The Duolingo app is a cornerstone for this class.  Not only is the FDHS Spanish curriculum centered on Duolingo, but critical learning is obtained via the app.  

• Word Reference: For word-to-word translations, visit www.wordreference.com.  This site is run by people proficient in both English and Spanish, and is an excellent alternative to search engines such as “Google Translator”.  WARNING: GOOGLE TRANSLATOR IS NOT YOUR FRIEND.