This course will build upon the skills developed from Spanish for Heritage Speakers 1 Honors. Students in this course come from Spanish-speaking family backgrounds. They speak and understand Spanish in the home, and they demonstrate some skills in reading and writing Spanish.
In Spanish for Heritage Speakers 2 Honors, students will continue to develop their formal composition skills, deepen their academic reading ability, and build their vocabulary for increased proficiency in multiple contexts–academic, professional, and personal. Through culturally relevant units and authentic resources from the Spanish-speaking world – including videos, articles, art, music, and literature – students will increase their knowledge of the cultural practices, products, and perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world.
Many of the unit assessments will begin to familiarize students with the Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture Exam tasks, which include comparing and contrasting, persuasive writing, analytical reading, and listening to authentic texts.
Taught exclusively in Spanish, this course is designed for heritage speakers only.
Upon successful completion of this course and the course final exam, students are recommended to enroll in further Spanish courses, such as Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture or the Spanish electives.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Latin 3 Prose is an advanced level language course for the serious student who has mastered the basic elements and concepts of Latin 1 and 2, and those students wishing to continue their Latin study, but not as Advanced Placement. The Latin Prose student completes the learning of Latin forms and grammar, concentrating on use of infinitives, subjunctive verbs, gerunds, and gerundives within the classical Latin periodic sentence in Roman prose writers such as Cicero, Livy, and Pliny. Students will encounter the genres of history, commentary, and oratory.
NOTE: LATIN 3 PROSE is offered in the Fall of odd years (2025, 2027,etc.)
English 303H fulfills all the goals of English 300 but requires the students to read several more books and to write longer and more (approximately 20) papers. These papers require a good understanding of the forms of literature in order that the students will be able to formulate and support accurate, interpretative theses about the literature under study. At the end of 303H, students usually take the AP English Language and Composition examination.
Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations.
English 300 covers the literature of the United States from the Puritan Era to the present. All the forms of literature which have been studied specifically in themselves during the first two years are now studied as they emerge historically through the imaginative lives of major U.S. authors. This course complements the study of American History, which is also taken during the junior year. The students’ writing aims at greater and greater control over the expository essay and specifically at developing analytical theses on literature. Students will write at least twelve papers during the year in various rhetorical modes including the personal narrative (at least 1), the expository essay (5-7), the synthesis essay, the timed quick-write, and the creative composition. After consulting with their teachers, students taking this course may opt to take the AP Language and Composition examination. Both this course and the honors course prepare students to pass the Junior Writing Exam taken in the second semester. Students who do not pass this exam with an acceptable score must take Literature and Composition: Non-fiction during the senior year.
Mandarin 3 is a third-year course that continues the study and development of Mandarin to high intermediate level. This course builds upon the skills and materials covered in Mandarin 1 and 2. It broadens the range of grammatical structures the students can effectively use in day-to-day communication, focusing on listening and reading comprehension skills, and developing students’ oral and written skills in the language. This course includes a closer look at the classic and modern Chinese culture, enriching the student’s vocabulary and deepening his or her awareness of the Mandarin-speaking world. This class is conducted mainly in Mandarin, except when complex grammar concepts require a clearer explanation in English. Students are expected to speak in Mandarin at all times.
Mandarin 3H is an advanced language course designed for students identified during their first two years as superior Mandarin students, who wish to become fluent in Mandarin and prepare themselves for Mandarin 4 AP. This course broadens the range of grammatical structures the students can effectively use in communication. Considerable emphasis will be given to enriching the students’ active vocabulary and increasing their ability to comprehend and express themselves in spoken and written Mandarin. The students will be required to speak in Mandarin in various situations ranging from class discussions to oral presentations and skits. Students will be able to read with comprehension selected short stories and various articles. This course includes a closer look at the classic and modern Chinese culture, enriching the student’s vocabulary and deepening his or her awareness of the Mandarin-speaking world. This class is conducted mainly in Mandarin and students are expected to speak in Mandarin at all times.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Cambridge Latin Course Unit 4. Latin 3H is an advanced language course designed for the superior Latin students who wish to continue to refine their Latin skills and reading ability. New grammar includes all uses of the subjunctive mood, gerund and gerundive; the student’s overriding task is to read and comprehend the variety of clauses and constructions which typically form the Latin periodic sentence. A study of rhetoric accompanies readings from speeches of Cicero. In addition to the prose readings mentioned in the description of Latin 3, the 3H student will study a selected Latin author, reading excerpts from his original works. Latin 3H is strongly recommended for students intending to enroll in Latin 4AP in the following year.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
Spanish 3 is an intermediate level language course designed for those students who have acquired satisfactory competency during their first two years of language study. The course builds upon the skills and material covered in Spanish 1 and 2. It reviews all major grammatical structures and introduces a broader scope of grammatical knowledge. Emphasis is given to improving oral skills, broadening the range of grammatical structures the student can effectively use in writing and conversation, enriching the student’s vocabulary and deepening his/her awareness of present day social justice issues within the Spanish-speaking world, as well as examining immigration issues facing Latinos. This class is conducted in Spanish, except when complex grammar concepts require a clearer explanation in English. Students are expected to speak in Spanish at all times.
Spanish 3H is an advanced language course designed for students identified during their first two years as those superior Spanish students, who wish to become fluent in Spanish and prepare themselves for Spanish 4 AP. Students will practice the major grammar structures previously studied, as well as more complex grammar concepts, including expanded uses of the subjunctive mood. Considerable emphasis will be given to enriching the students’ active vocabulary and increasing their ability to comprehend and express themselves in spoken and written Spanish. Students will be required to speak in Spanish in a variety of situations ranging from class discussion to oral presentations and situations. Students will be able to read with comprehension selected short stories and newspaper and magazine articles. They will also become more informed about some of the contemporary problems and difficulties affecting Hispanic communities. This class is conducted in Spanish, and students are expected to speak Spanish at all time.
*Class receives honors weighting in SI weighted GPA and UC/CSU GPA calculations
The first part of the course reviews basic terminology, notation, concepts, skills, and application of elementary algebra by examination of the real number system. This part includes real number concepts and skills involving operations with positive and negative numbers and zero, solution of linear equations and inequalities, one and two variable equations, solving verbal problems, properties of polynomials and rational expressions. Ideas such as set, variable, number line, open sentence, ordered pair, equivalent sentences, and Cartesian coordinate system are studied and the student is required to demonstrate ability to solve problems involving these concepts.
The course also includes the concepts of function and relation and emphasizes linear and quadratic relations and functions. The text chapters discussing this material employ symbols, concepts, and methods presented in the earlier chapters. Thus, the course continually grows and builds on learned material. The course also includes discussions on exponential functions and logarithms, and a short look at trigonometry. A Texas Instruments TI-83 or TI-84 series graphing calculator is required.
