Modern Language Course Offerings & Policies

Department Policies:

In STANDARD levels, students must earn a grade of 77 or above to continue into a STANDARD level course.

A grade of 82 or above is required to continue into an HONORS level course (levels 3 and 4).

No student failing the first semester will be allowed into the second semester of the same
course.

Auditing a course, for any reason, is up to the discretion of the instructor.
p.29/30 of the 2015-16 Course Description Guide

Stay fresh with French and Spanish this Summer

Morton has a limited number of spots available for studying any of Rosetta Stone's 23 languages in June/July.  If you are interested, please contact Señor Mahannah by email or in Room 31.

Anyone and everyone can participate in our Duolingo games by signing up here.

Supplements

In addition to being able to access your textbook, workbook, and class notes online, you may find the following sites especially helpful in your studies.

Conjuguemos school code 88892
Mexican History in a Nutshell
AP Rubrics
Learn Spanish Review
Translator/Dictionary
Verb Conjugations
Spanish Spanish Review

About Sr. Mahannah






I am looking forward to working with you to maximize your language proficiency and enjoyment.  Please call, e-mail, or stop into tutoring time from 3:00-3:40 daily (unless posted), and by appointment in the evenings. 

Statement of relevance

My goal for you in this class is to enjoy learning Spanish and for you to be able to connect classroom materials to your life and your future. If you are ever unsure of the value or applicability of a lesson, please address it with me after class.

ACTFL Standards

These standards are posted in the classroom
· Communicate in Language Other Than English
· Gain Knowledge & Understanding of Other Culture
· Connect with Other Disciplines & Acquire New Information
· Develop Insight into the Nature of Language & Culture
· Participate in Multilingual Communities at Home and Around the World

Standard 1.1
Students engage in conversation, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.

Standard 1.2
Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.

Standard 1.3
Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

Standard 2.1
Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the cultures studied.

Standard 2.2
Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the cultures studied.

Standard 3.1
Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.

Standard 3.2
Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures.

Standard 4.1
Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.

Standard 4.2
Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

Standard 5.1
Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.

Standard 5.2
Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.

Course Introduction and Goals

Congratulations! By choosing to learn Spanish (español) you are connecting to a community of over 320 million people in more than 22 countries across the world. I will be your guide as we discover and practice the language and culture of Spanish. This syllabus and website will aid you throughout the year by providing important itinerary for our stops on the journey.

Course Overview:
I want you to be taught explicitly some strategies for foreign language learning, but I also want you to experience language in a very natural mundane way through our daily interactions and obligations, in the same way you probably learned English at home. I hope to do this by having a particular method of focus for each day, and by requiring you to use Spanish as much as you can tolerate (including when asking for help or for permission to leave class, etc.).

My broad goal is for you to find a purpose for using Spanish outside the classroom: to connect with people, to explore careers in foreign language, to consider international or cross-cultural missions, etc. I also hope that you learn to enjoy language and use language in a clean and meaningful way.

Note: you should have received a syllabus on the first day that outlines classroom expectations, grade distributions, and content for the course.  If you lost your copy, please see me or send a message to get a new one.