Week 3 of Spanish 3: Sept. 9-13
with Señora Melo
Contact Information
You are receiving this because you are listed as the ELA or parent/guardian of a student that I am currently teaching in Spanish 3 this fall. Please read this entire welcome flyer and let me know if you have any questions (see contact info. below).
If you feel that you have received this message in error, please let me know and I'll remove you from my email distribution list. I got this email address and your contact information from the NCVPS Registration System. If it's not up-to-date and/or there are additional contacts/information, please let me know.
What are we working on this week?
- Welcome to week 3 of the course! Week 3 begins on Monday, Sept. 9th. We have a total of 7 assignments this week, so keeping a pace of completing 2 assignments daily will have students ahead of the game! Unit 2 is all about personal relationships. By the end of unit 2, students will be able to talk about extended family, friends & dating, stages of life, major life events, and conflicts & opinions. Please note that students may attend the Unit 2 Live Class either this week OR next week, so have them check the Google calendar as well as my announcements to see which sessions best fits their needs. However, it is always a best practice for students to attend the first if not one of the first live class sessions. I have also copied the calendar for this week's and next week's live classroom sessions below. I am excited for students to complete some of the types of assignments we have not yet encountered in the course this week. This week's assignments are listed below.
Unidad 2 - Las Relaciones Personales
Unidad 2 Required Live Class (during week 3 or week 4)
Lección 1
_____ Notas (con actividades para practicar)
_____ Prueba de Vocabulario
Lección 2
_____ Notas (con actividades para practicar)
_____ Prueba de Vocabulario
_____ Actividad Cultural
_____ Hablar
Mon., 9/9 @ 8 p.m. Sra. Myers
Mon., 9/16 @ 8 p.m. Sra. Melo
Tues., 9/17 @ 5 p.m. Sra. Gillen
Thurs., 9/19 @ 9 p.m. Sr. Alvarado
Tues., 9/24 @ 8 p.m. Sr. Martin
Wed., 9/25 @ 4 p.m. Sra. Blachy
*I STRONGLY encourage students to work ahead this week as this week is a "light" week and next week has a very heavy work load, including a final project, which is very time-intensive.*
Would you like parent/observer access to the class?
Hello parents / guardians,
My name is Erin Melo, and I will be your son's / daughter's teacher for Spanish 3 online with North Carolina Virtual Public Schools (NCVPS).
You can have access to the course to see student's progress and monitor your child's progress online.
Here is a link with information on what an observer can do:
http://ncvps.org/archives/7111
You can register here: https://ncvps.instructure.com/login/canvas
You will need your child's username and password in order to register.
Students have to work in the course a minimum of 1.5 to 2 hours daily in order to be successful. Students will have communication with me via text message, phone calls, and through the course. Students have a guide on how to start working in the announcements section.
I am looking forward to having a great semester!
What can you do to help your student/s succeed?
- Remind them to read the course announcements DAILY. This is their lifeline to the course and contains critical information and instruction.
- Make sure that you and they are familiar with the Spanish Dept. Guidelines. A link is posted to these in the announcements and they are available under "Start Here!" module/section.
- Make sure that they have printed off the "Schedule of Assignments" under "Start Here!" module/section. You can also access it here. This document has every assignment on it and when it is due. The students should use this as a check-off list to keep track of what they have done and what they have left to do. It's critical that assignments are completed in the order listed on (or ahead of) time.
- Make sure that they complete *ALL* assignments, to the best of their ability and on time. The Canvas Spanish courses are set up as "conditional" where *all* assignments are open/available, but can't be accessed until completing the previous activity/assignment (with certain scores being required for certain assignments). This means that students may work as quickly as they'd like, but they must complete the prior assignments before moving forward. Any assignments that are not completed will earn a zero. Again, this is why the "Schedule of Assignments" is so important. It keeps them on track, completing work, in order, and on (or ahead of) time.
- Remind them to take their time to read through and learn the material and not to rush. There should always be a focus on quality. Students may redo any assignment that isn't a quiz, test/final project or auto-graded assignment (with one attempt).
- Remind them to go ahead and mark their calendars to schedule when they will attend additional their "Required Live Classes". While students are required to attend a total of 10 (Getting Started, Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 5, Unit 6, Unit 7 , Unit 8, & Final Exam/Project). They are more than welcome and encouraged to attend more! These are live classes with me and/or other Spanish 3 teachers to go over the unit's major topics, assignments, present/discuss the material in detail, practice, ask/answer questions etc., just as you would in a regular classroom.
- Encourage them to ask questions, seek help, and communicate with me as much as possible. Communication is critical in an online class. Texting is the quickest/best way to communicate with me. However, they can also send me Canvas messages, email me, Tweet me, or call me.
- Remind them that the use of external sources (such as online translators, native speakers, other students, etc.) is forbidden and considered cheating. Everything that the students need should be in the course and he/she should use the material from the course for his/her answers. If he/she wants to know how to say something, he/she should ask me. The only approved reference is www.wordreference.com and this can only be used for a vocabulary word in isolation, not translating word-for-word, verb conjugation or for sentence structure. Please make sure that you and they know all of the details of the academic honesty policy and the consequences of not following them, as stated in the Spanish Dept. Guidelines (link above).
- Ask them how they are doing and have them show you their grades in the course. Moreover, ask them what they are learning and why they are learning it. If they can't answer these questions in detail, please let me know, as they may need extra help. Grades (and feedback) are always available under "Grades" in the left-hand sidebar. Specific feedback is provided for assignments, so make sure that they check over completed assignments to learn from any mistakes. If your student/s and/or you have questions/concerns on any of the grades/feedback, please let me know.
- ELAs are responsible for checking and reporting grades to the students/parents on a bi-weekly basis after NCVPS grade reports have been sent to the schools.
- Feel free to contact me via email (at erin.melo@ncpublicshools.gov) anytime and by phone/text (at 919.346.3889) before 9 p.m. It's easier for me to text or email as I teach at a face-to-face school. If you need to talk via phone, I am available in the afternoons after 4 p.m.
Sra. Melo's Unit 2 Getting Started Required Live Class
Monday, Sep 16, 2019, 08:00 PM
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Grading, Rubrics & Feedback
The course grade is comprised of 2 parts (Course work the Final Project/Exam). The final course grade is made up of: Course work = 80% and the Final Project/Exam Average=20%. Progress reports are completed and submitted to schools every week. Students in NCVPS Spanish courses are graded based on their Spanish-language proficiency. It's the school's/ELA/s responsibility to provide them to the students/parents. Please see the rubrics below for complete details. NCVPS only reports numerical grades, not alphabetical grades due to the variance among different schools/districts. All assignments receive specific feedback. It's critical for the students to check their grades/feedback daily and inquire with the teacher if they don't understand something or feel that there is an error. Assignments not attempted/completed receive a 0.
Grading Rubrics:
Below, are the grading rubrics that will be used to evaluate your performance/proficiency throughout the course. You should refer to these often, so that you know at what proficiency level you are performing and what you need to do to move to the next level.
- Writing Rubric
- Speaking Rubric (original text production)
- Speaking Rubric (reproduction of existing text/speech)
- Listening & Reading Rubric
- Rubric - Required Synchronous Session
- Rubric - Actividad Cultural
- Rubric - Proyecto(s) Final(es)
- Rubric - eLinguaFolio
- Rubric - Culture Cafe Extra Credit
Proficiency Levels and Examples:
Often students have misconceptions on what they will learn/be able to do by the end of the course. For world language, please note that you will not be fluent after one or two levels. It takes time to develop and increase in proficiency.
- Click here to see the overarching grid of proficiency levels and outcomes.
- Click here to see samples of Novice level speakers
- Click here to see samples of Novice level writers
- Click here to see samples of Intermediate level speakers
- Click here to see samples of Intermediate level writers
- Click here to see samples of Advanced level speakers
- Click here to see samples of Advanced level writers
- (Click here to see samples of all levels of Listening)
- (Click here to see samples of all levels of Reading)
Students Who Need Help
Click Here for the NCVPS Virtual Support Center!
About Me
Email: erin.melo@ncpublicschools.gov
Location: Holly Springs, NC, United States
Phone: 919-346-3889
Twitter: @srameloncvps