World Language News

Welcome to Spanish Class. We are so happy your students are here with us. This is who we are, with over 60 years of combined experience. We hope this newsletter provides you with some needed information and if you have any questions at all, ´please do not hesitate to reach out to me, Sarah Gaudet, the World Language Department head at sgaudet@uxbridge.k12.ma.us

We hope your students have settled in well with their Spanish classes. We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them, especially since our first unit of study is IDENTIDAD!

We will study 6 units throughout the year and there are different Essential Questions for each level of study, such as Who am I? for Spanish 1 and Why am I who I am? for Spanish 2.

We are continuing with our Standards Based Grading in Spanish. Instead of using iPass, each caregiver will receive an Expectation Tracker portfolio in the coming days. These will be sent to you via your students' teachers so keep an eye out in your email. This is a collaborative effort between students and teachers to share out and provide feedback on student work. Students will add pieces of work that they want feedback on and teachers will conference with them to go over the work and assign a proficiency grade to it.

This will be updated with the completion of each unit of study, generally about every 6 weeks.

After a few years with only technology in our classes, we have decided that sometimes, the old way is the best way. Each student has a class folder (old school 2 pocket folder) which houses all their class work (on paper). This is their daily practice and it allows for students to stay organized and to ensure that their work is always with them in class.

Teachers do also post to Google Classroom so if a student is absent, they can see what they missed and possibly even do some work at home!

We use the proficiency model in our classes. Students are expected to reach standards for different modes at different levels. Below you will find some graphics and a video that help to explain what the proficiency model is.

We use rubrics for everything we grade and assign a proficiency rating to. There is one for each communication skill (interpretive, interpersonal and presentational) as well as for culture as we expose students to the different Spanish-speaking cultures around the world. These rubrics are composed of the different standards set for each level. To pass the course and be able to move to the next level of study, students must Meet the Standard (3) for each standard. They have all year to meet these standards.