SPAN1114: ELEMENTARY SPANISH I--CRN# 21543

Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts

Spring 2008: 11-11:50 M-R LAR227

HORARIO DE CLASES**

                    L                                     M                                       M                                     J

**Your instructor reserves the right to modify the schedule according to the needs of the course.

SPAN1114: ELEMENTARY SPANISH I--CRN#21543

Department of Modern Languages, College of Liberal Arts

Spring 2008: 11-11:50 M-R  LAR227

HORARIO DE CLASES**

Instructor: Maria-Teresa B. Moinette                                                        Office: Thatcher 201

Phone:  974-5850                                                                                  Hours: M-R 12-1 & Tues 2-4

E-mail: mmoinette1@uco.edu                                                                         

**NOTE: Students are responsible for all information contained herein. Professing a lack of knowledge of this information will not suffice as an excuse for not following course guidelines.

Please do not contact the departmental secretary for matters pertaining to class. Please contact your instructor by e-mail, phone, or in person during office hours.  When communicating by e-mail, you must use your UCO provided e-mail account and include your course time and name (e.g., 9 am Spanish1114) in the subject line.  Mail from unidentifiable sources will not be opened.

Course Description: This course is an introduction to Spanish grammar and vocabulary and emphasizes the development of speaking, writing, reading and listening in the language. Credit may not be earned for both SPAN 1114 and SPAN 1243. Heritage speakers of Spanish and students with 2 or more years of Spanish study in high school may not enroll in this course.

Course Objectives:  Successful completion of the course will enable students to use novice-level Spanish vocabulary and grammatical structures and to employ that knowledge to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in the target language.  Material will be presented through outside readings, in-class explanations, practical in-class application, and other outside activities as assigned.

Prerequisites:  This course is for beginning students of Spanish, defined as those with little or no prior study of the language. If you have had 4 or more semesters of high school Spanish (2 years), you are not eligible to take this course. You may take the CLEP test to receive credit for SPAN1114. To arrange this test, call 974-2387.

Placement Test: A placement test will be administered to all SPAN1114 students during the 2^nd class meeting for 4-day per week classes and during the 1^st class meeting for 2-day per week classes. Your instructor will inform you if the results indicate you are in the course best suited for your skill level.

Point System & General Information:

Required Materials:  *Puntos de partida, 7^th Edition; accompanying interactive CD-Rom; workbook on CD; lab manual on CD; Supplementary Workbook 6^th Edition.  *Text materials must be purchased by the 2nd day of class. *Spanish-English pocket dictionary, *3 ring binder

***Text, dictionary, and notebook must be brought to class every day. Failure to bring it will be noted toward evaluation of class participation and preparation. Students who repeatedly show up without the text may be asked not to return until they have their text.

Grading Criteria:                  

Chapter Exams               42%  (6 @ 7% each)                Daily Work                                18%  (6 @   3% each)

Lab                      7%                                        Culture Activities                        10%  (4 @   2.5% each)

Workbook            7%                                        In-class Paragraphs                      6%  (2 @   3% each)

Oral Evaluation   10%                                       

Grading Scale: 90-100: A   80-89: B   70-79: C     60-69: D    0-59: F

Some instructors will give you one official grade check shortly after mid-term.  Please do not repeatedly ask your instructor for your grade.  Students have the same information as the professor and share responsibility for tracking their progress and can estimate their grade at any given point if they keep these records. 

1. Late Work: No late work will be accepted. You are encouraged to discuss any missed assignments with your instructor and to submit the work for corrections although it will not be assigned a grade.  For these matters, make an appointment to see your instructor after class or during office hours.  Please do not attempt to discuss or submit missed or late work during class times; if you do, your instructor will request that you make an appointment to discuss the matter. You will be allowed to drop one daily assignment and one chapter quiz to allow for unexpected circumstances--undocumented personal illness, family illness, transportation trouble, child care issues, technology problems, job-related conflicts, etc.--that result in your missing an assignment; work missed for those and similar reasons cannot be made up.  The only excused absences are documented personal illness, university-sponsored activities, which require documentation from the organization sponsor, and a death in your family.  If you feel you have extenuating circumstances that you wish to have considered, you must notify the instructor ASAP, before missing an assignment, if possible, and schedule a time outside of class to discuss the matter.

2. Daily Work: Includes homework and announced or unannounced daily quizzes.  You will have a minimum of 7 daily work grades, with the lowest one of those 7 being dropped. Note, however, that your instructor may take more than 7 DW grades and may choose to count only the 6 highest grades and drop all the others or to drop only one and average all the others for this 18% of your grade.  For example, if an instructor collects 10 grades, you might be allowed to drop the lowest 4, or, you might drop only one and have the other 9 averaged for this 18%. 

*Homework will be assigned every night and checked at random either for a grade or for a check toward participation.  Assignments must be completed before you arrive to class. You may not use class time to complete work that was assigned to be done at home, regardless of what point during the class the work is reviewed or collected.  Have your work completed and prepared for submission (name on paper, papers stapled, etc.) before you arrive to class.  Use pencil or blue or black ink for your work.  If an assignment is supposed to be typed, it will not be accepted in handwritten form.

*In the event of absence, you are responsible for all work assigned in your absence for the day you return.  For example, if you miss class on Wednesday and a worksheet is handed out that day or an exercise from the book is assigned for Thursday, you are expected to contact a classmate or the professor to get that worksheet or assignment and turn it in on Thursday.  Saying you do not have it because you were absent will not excuse you from the assignment. If you miss a pop quiz due to absence, you will receive a zero unless the absence is excused (see above), in which case the quiz won’t be made up but will also not count as part of your grade. 

*Do not send assignments with another student or leave them in the professor’s mailbox or under the office door in lieu of attending class unless you have requested permission to do so beforehand.  If you do, it may not be accepted. Your professor also cannot assume responsibility for any work left in a mailbox or under the office door that is lost or missing, even if you had permission to leave it there. If an assignment is supposed to be typed, it will not be accepted in handwritten form.  If you miss handouts due to absences, it is your responsibility to ask the professor for a copy within the next two class meetings or to obtain one from another student.  Assignments that are not web-based may not be e-mailed in the event of absence. If you wish to submit work due on a day that you plan to be absent, contact the professor for instructions. No make-ups.

3. Notebook: Students are required to keep a notebook with all work--daily assignments, tests, lab records, culture activities, worksheets & handouts, new vocabulary lists--so that your course materials are organized and readily accessible during class.  You must also keep track of your grades and your absences. Work must be organized chronologically and clearly divided into sections.  Stuffing pages into the pockets will not be considered organized. Some instructors will count maintaining this notebook as one daily work grade in which case it will be evaluated during the last week of class.

4.  Exams: Exams will be given after each chapter.  Test formats will vary depending on the material from the chapter being tested and may consist of a combination of short answer, true-false, multiple choice, and translation from English to Spanish.  Other formats may be employed when needed to suit the course component being tested.  All tests will include listening, reading passages (except on the AT test), vocabulary and grammar sections. No make-ups.

5. In-class Paragraphs: These are short essays that allow you to demonstrate writing proficiency in Spanish.  A general topic and related grammar and vocabulary points for review will be announced the class meeting before the day the essay will be written.  The specific topic will not be announced until the day of the paragraph.

6. Oral Evaluation: An individual exam requiring the student to ask and answer questions, in Spanish. Times will be scheduled for class hours and, if necessary, during your instructor’s office hours.  No make-ups.

7. Lab and Workbook:  Lab and workbook exercises are to be done each week from the chapter the class is currently studying. Your instructor will provide information for accessing these on-line books and may provide more specific guidelines.  In general, each day you should complete exercises in both books that are related to the material covered in class that day or assigned for the next class meeting.  All assigned activities for a chapter must be completed the day before that chapter’s test.  If you do not purchase the CDs from the bookstore, you may purchase book codes on-line for each book at: http://books.quia.com/books/bookstore.html

8. Culture Activities: A list of activities and submission guidelines will be distributed at the beginning of the semester. Summaries of the activities you choose must be completed and typed and otherwise prepared for submission (name, stapled, etc.) before you arrive to class on the date they are due.

9. Participation: Daily participation is required.  Merely attending class is not enough!  You must become actively involved in the learning process.  This grade is based on your attempts to communicate in Spanish whenever possible, regular preparation of all daily assignments, participation in group and paired activities, and arriving with all class materials including your text and dictionary.  Attendance also factors into this aspect of the course; if you fail to attend class, it is impossible to participate.  You must be well-prepared and participate often to receive an A for this portion of your grade.  You are expected to volunteer regularly.  Your instructor may decide to use one daily work grade to reflect your participation efforts.

10. Absences: Regular attendance is critical to success in this course.  Emergencies or extenuating circumstances should be discussed with your instructor during office hours.  Travel for events such as weddings, leaving early for vacations, and the like, does not constitute an excused absence.  Sleeping in class is tantamount to missing the session and will constitute an absence and you may be asked to leave the class if you are sleeping.  Excessive absences lower your participation grade, and if a daily assignment is collected (or an unannounced quiz given) on a day you miss, or if something is assigned and you do not have it completed when you return to class, the work cannot be made up.  In addition, you will lose one point off your final grade for every absence over four. 12 or more absences will result in an F for the course.

11. Late Arrivals: Late arrivals are distracting to your instructor and to other students.  If you are very late, you run the risk of missing important information or even a short quiz that might be given at the start of class and that may not be made up.  If you are late for quizzes and miss oral questions, you cannot make them up and you will not be given extra time to complete the test.

***If you arrive more than 5 minutes late, you will not be allowed to enter the class and will be counted absent. Please do not attempt to enter the classroom after this point and risk the embarrassment of being asked to leave.  Do not interrupt the professor to ask what time it is and if you may enter-Wear a watch!).  Late arrivals and early departures accumulate for deductions that constitute absences: 3 late arrivals/departures = 1 absence; early departures of 15 minutes or more count as an absence.  For chronically late students, your instructor will address the matter with the student individually and may determine that there will no longer be a grace period for that student, meaning that he or she must arrive on time or not be allowed to join the class for that day.

12. Food & Beverages:  It is Liberal Arts’ facilities’ policy that no food or drinks be brought into classrooms.  Please do not place your instructor in the awkward position of having to remind you of this.  This includes chewing gum and candy.  This is a language course that requires the practice of speaking skills and correct pronunciation, which you cannot master with a mouth full of gum or food. After the first reminder, you may be asked to leave class and be counted absent.

13. Personal Communication Devices:  It is the policy of the College of Liberal Arts that all pagers and cellular devices be silenced during class. If you anticipate needing to accept an emergency call, notify the professor before class, silence the device, and leave the room to take the call when you receive it.  After the first reminder, you may be asked to leave class and be counted absent.

14. Do not bring children or guests to class. 

15. Extra Credit: No extra credit will be assigned for this course.

16. Follow this link to the university required syllabus attachment:

http://www.uco.edu/academicaffairs/FORMS/Student%20Information%20SheetSPR08.pdf

Policies on academic integrity, the Regents’ Expectation for course work, university withdrawal, and more are found at this link.

17. PHONE NUMBERS OF OTHER STUDENTS:  In the event that you miss class, you are responsible for having any work assigned or discussed in your absence prepared when you return, the same as if you had attended. This applies to, among other things, assigned exercises to be collected and preparation for daily quizzes given when you return. It is impossible for your instructor to return every individual call or e-mail for homework assignments and there is no guarantee that your call or e-mail can be addressed in time for you to complete the assignment before the date it is due.  Use the spaces below to record contact information for classmates that you can call for missed assignments, notes, and announcements.

Name:___________________________________________  #_______________________________________

E-mail___________________________________________  #_______________________________________

Name:__________________________________ _________ #_______________________________________

E-mail___________________________________________  #_______________________________________

Name:__________________________________ _________ #_______________________________________

E-mail___________________________________________  #_______________________________________