You will complete three individual projects in this course, in chapters 1, 3 and 5. These three individual projects count as 15% of your final grade (5% each project).
You will be evaluated based on the written text of each project. Each text is 125-150 words long.
Due dates for the first drafts and final versions of your written texts are posted on the course calendar. Submissions will not be accepted after the due date. Please check the dates on the course calendar and make sure you make the necessary arrangements on your own calendar to be able to write and submit all versions of your written texts on time.
The first draft of each text needs to be written in class, on the dates posted on the course calendar. If you are not in class and/or you do not submit a first draft, you will not be allowed to submit a final version and your grade for this composition will be ZERO.
If you cannot complete the first draft and/or final version of a written text on the due dates because of a valid reason, let your teacher know as soon as possible to discuss possible alternatives.
Valid reasons to submit your project after the due date include illness, and death or serious illness in the immediate family. If you are sick, let your teacher know via email as soon as possible. You should NOT provide medical documentation as proof of short-term illness to justify a late submission.
If you are a student athlete, in the national guard, or are submitting your project after the due date because of a UW mandatory academic activity, you need to provide your teacher with proper documentation.
Your work schedule is not a valid reason to submit your project after the due date.
Personal trips or vacations are not a valid reason to submit your project after the due date.
WRITING PROCESS
STEP 1: As part of your homework, the day before writing the first draft in class you will be asked to fill a form intended to help you brainstorm and plan for your project. This form is designed to be used as an outline and counts as 5% of the grade. It cannot contain full sentences. Your instructor will check it at the beginning of class to make sure it follows the instructions. If it contains full sentences, you will not be allowed to use it in class.
STEP 2: On the dates posted on the calendar, you will receive specific instructions about the content and format of each individual project. You will write the first draft of your written text in class. This first draft will be handwritten. You will be allowed to use your textbook and a dictionary, but no online translation tools. This first draft counts as 35% of the grade.
STEP 3: Your teacher will read the first draft of your written text and will return it to you in approximately 2-3 days with general comments and feedback. They will mark your errors without correcting them. You will need to revise the content and organization, as suggested by your teacher, and correct all errors before submitting the final version of the written text. This final version must be typed. Accent marks and special Spanish characters need to be typed too. The final version counts as 60% of the grade.
VERY IMPORTANT: All compositions must be WRITTEN BY THE STUDENT WITHOUT ASSISTANCE.
All the work you submit for this class must have been completed by you. While writing your composition, you can use a dictionary and check the grammar charts in your textbook, but you ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE AN ONLINE TRANSLATION PROGRAM. This will be considered CHEATING.
The use of artificial intelligence and chatbots such as CHAT GPT in any stage of your project is NOT AUTHORIZED in this class. You can only submit YOUR OWN WORK.
According to the honesty code of the University of Washington, “you are guilty of cheating whenever you present as your own work something that you did not do. You are also guilty of cheating if you help someone else to cheat”. If there is evidence in your composition that you used CHAT GPT or a similar AI tool, an internet translator (such as Google Translate), or you copied and paste from a book or website, or you received help from a native or fluent speaker of Spanish YOU WILL RECEIVE A ZERO IN YOUR COMPOSITION AND WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO REPEAT IT.
Visit the following webpage for more information on academic honesty, cheating, and plagiarism:
https://www.washington.edu/cssc/for-students/academic-misconduct/
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Written texts will be graded on content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics, following the rubric below.
If the written text shows evidence that at least part of the work submitted was not completed by the student without assistance, the student will receive a ZERO in ALL sections.
OUTLINE AND FIRST DRAFT:
| Excellent (A) | Good (B) | Fair (C) | Poor (D) | Unsatisfactory (E) | |
| Outline (5 points) | 5 - 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2.5 - 0 |
| Content (15 points) | 15 - 13.5 | 13 - 12 | 11.5 - 10.5 | 10 - 9 | 8.5 - 0 |
| Organization (10 points) | 10 - 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 0 |
| Language use (10 points) | 10 - 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 0 |
FINAL VERSION:
| Excellent (A) | Good (B) | Fair (C) | Poor (D) | Unsatisfactory (E) | |
| Content (10 points) | 10 - 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 0 |
| Organization (10 points) | 10 - 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 0 |
| Grammar (15 points) | 15 - 13.5 | 13 - 12 | 11.5 - 10.5 | 10 - 9 | 8.5 - 0 |
| Vocabulary (15 points) | 15 - 13.5 | 13 - 12 | 11.5 - 10.5 | 10 - 9 | 8.5 - 0 |
| Mechanics (10 points) | 10 - 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 - 0 |
OUTLINE
EXCELLENT: Student has completed all sections of the form, with appropriate information. Only short phrases and single words are being used.
GOOD: Student has completed most sections of the form, with appropriate information. Only short phrases and single words are being used.
FAIR: Student has completed some but not most sections of the form, not all the information is appropriate. Only short phrases and single words are being used.
POOR: Student has completed some but not most sections of the form, most of the information is not appropriate. Only short phrases and single words are being used.
UNSATISFACTORY: Outline does not follow instructions; contains full sentences.
CONTENT
EXCELLENT: There is an established purpose and audience; all components of the writing prompt are thoroughly addressed; required length; very complete information; ideas supported with detail and evidence; appropriate use of images and visual materials (as requested by the prompt); relevant; on target; answers What? Why? How?
GOOD: Some ambiguity of purpose and/or audience; prompt is addressed, but not thoroughly; required length; adequate information; some development of ideas; some ideas lack supporting detail or evidence; appropriate use of images and visual materials (as requested by the prompt); leaves the reader asking a few What? Why? How?
FAIR: Purpose and/or audience unclear; almost required length; limited information; ideas present but not developed; lack of supporting detail or evidence; incomplete or somehow inappropriate use of images and visual materials (as requested by the prompt); leaves the reader asking What? Why? How? questions.
POOR: Too short; minimal information; information lacks substance; inappropriate or irrelevant information; no use or inappropriate use of images and visual materials (as requested by the prompt).
UNSATISFACTORY: Not enough information to evaluate.
ORGANIZATION
EXCELLENT: Required format (letter, essay, email, etc.); logically and effectively ordered; main points and details are connected; fluent; not choppy whatsoever; appropriate introduction and conclusion; appropriate use of connectors; images and visual support (when used) are integrated with text.
GOOD: Required format (letter, essay, email, etc.); an apparent order to the content is intended; somewhat choppy; loosely organized but main points do stand out although sequencing of ideas is not complete; weak introduction and/or conclusion; missing some connectors; images and visual support (when used) are integrated with text.
FAIR: Format acceptable; limited order to the content; lacks logical sequencing of ideas; ineffective ordering; very choppy; lack of most connectors; lacking a logical introduction or conclusion; images and visual support (when used) appear alongside text but are not necessarily well integrated.
POOR: Format not acceptable; series of separate sentences with no transitions; disconnected ideas; no apparent order to the content; no introduction and/or conclusion; images and visual support (when used) have no direct relation to text.
UNSATISFACTORY: Not enough information to evaluate.
GRAMMAR
EXCELLENT: Student demonstrates mastery of grammar presented in the chapter; many accurate examples of all grammar from lesson; very few errors in subject/verb, adjective/noun agreement; work was well edited for language.
GOOD: Several accurate examples of grammar presented in the chapter; possibly missing a few examples of grammar from the chapter; occasional errors in subject/verb or adjective/noun agreement; some editing for language evident but not complete.
FAIR: A few accurate examples of grammar presented in lesson but not all; frequent errors in subject/verb agreement; frequent errors in adjective/noun agreement; erroneous use of language often hinders understanding; work was poorly edited for language.
POOR: Very few accurate examples of grammar presented in lesson; very frequent errors in subject/verb agreement; non-Spanish sentence structure; erroneous use of language makes the work difficult to understand or mostly incomprehensible; no evidence of having edited the work for language.
UNSATISFACTORY: Not enough information to evaluate.
VOCABULARY
EXCELLENT: Student maximized opportunities for use of words presented in lesson; precise and effective word use and choice; rich and varied vocabulary.
GOOD: Several examples of words presented in lesson, but there was opportunity for more; some erroneous word usage or choice; limited variety of vocabulary.
FAIR: Used a few words presented in the lesson; erroneous word use or choice leads to confused or obscured meaning; some literal translations and invented words; some words used repetitively.
POOR: Inadequate, repetitive, incorrect use or non‐use of words studied; literal translations and/or words in English; abundance of invented words.
UNSATISFACTORY: Not enough information to evaluate.
MECHANICS
EXCELLENT: Almost no errors or no errors at all in spelling, punctuation, or capitalization.
GOOD: Few errors in spelling, punctuation, or capitalization; errors do not hinder understanding.
FAIR: Frequent errors in spelling, punctuation, or capitalization; some errors hinder understanding.
POOR: Very frequent errors in punctuation, spelling, or capitalization: errors make understanding difficult.
UNSATISFACTORY: Not enough information to evaluate; no evidence of having edited the work for punctuation, spelling or capitalization.