Blog Entry # 9

 

Home Videos

This blog entry is all about home videos.  If you search through gaggle net (you tube) you will find that many Spanish teachers make their own videos as a means of instruction for their students.  Some are more professional than others and some contain valuable information. 
Find a video that is supposed to be instrucitonal in nature.  Once you have decided on a video, write a summary of the video and the main purpose for that video ( ex.  this video is from a teacher in California and she is trying to teach about definite articles...)
also include:

• A link to that video
• The summary mentioned above
• Your opinion of the video (can you learn from a video like this?  the quality of the video?)
• Would you watch videos such as the one you have found in order to enhance your learning?

This entry is due on Friday May 20th at midnight

Blog Entry # 8

 

Telenovela

As we have read in our text, telenovelas are quite different in Spanish speaking countries.  These dramas last for a much shorter time period than here in the US.  For this blog entry, you must find a telenovela on a Spanish speaking tv channel and watch it for 20 minutes.  You may find that you can follow some of the dialogue when gestures, facial expressions and intonation play a part.  Also, remember that one episode of a normal soap opera is a fraction of a real day. 
Once you have watched your telenovela, blog about it.
You will need to include:

• Title
• Date and time you watched the show
• A couple of the characters (their names)
• What you thought was happening in the show
• Your personal reaction to 1.) the show itself...did you like it or not, was it interesting 2.) How much were you able to grasp in terms of the plot and the show itself.

This post is due Sunday at midnight (May 22)

Blog Entry # 7

¡Viajamos!
Let's take a trip!

I love traveling! I have traveled to several Spanish speaking countries, Australia and Europe.  In 2008 I traveled with 11 students to France and Spain and it was very memorable for all of us. There are so many places to go and things to do that it is almost impossible to know about all of them- that is why it is necessary to do some research!

Your task is to choose a Spanish speaking country, and tell me how would you spend in a week in that country.

• What would you see?
• Where would you go-be specific (cities, museums, plays, dances, shows, etc.)?
• Tell me why you would go to those places (why did you choose that place to visit).
•  How much money do you think you would need?
• What would you eat?
• Where would you eat?
• What do you think will be the most memorable thing?
• Do you need to read a little history of that particular location in order to maximize the trip?
• With whom would you love to travel (people you know, not famous stars)?
• What type of monetary system do they have in that country?
• What is the exchange rate?  Will your money go further or will you have to conserve?
• Include at least 3 pictures of places or meals you have talked about.

To do this assignment, I recommend going online and searching the country or "things to do in ______." Find a travel site for the country. For example: www.visitcostarica.com. If money were not an issue, what restaurants would you visit? To find that information go to: www.tripadvisor.com and you can find the top rated restaurants, hotels, things to do, etc. Check out their menu and decide what you would want to eat. This is a more extensive blog post but it can be fun!

This post is due on Friday by midnight (May 13th)

Be sure to take advantage of the lab time on Tuesday.

Blog Entry # 6

La Poesia
As a student in Spanish II, my teacher, Sra. Bruce required us to memorize a poem.  Everyone in the class had to memorize this poem.  We had no idea at the time that it was a rather romantic poem, we just memorized it for our grade. Most of us, especially the boys, were not to thrilled when we learned what the poem was actually saying.
Here is that poem:

In this romantic Spanish poem, Gustavo Adolfo Becquer wonders what he would give for just one kiss ...

Por una mirada, un mundo,
Por una sonrisa, un cielo,
Por un beso... ¡yo no sé
Que te diera por un beso!

Another short poem of love in which the poet proclaims he can't stop thinking about his beloved - her hair, her eyes, her look - and cannot stop loving her.

Tu cabello, tus ojos, tu mirada:
No dejo de pensarte,
Entera eres mi pensamiento,
Desde tu ternura hasta dulzura.
Entera eres mi sueño:
No dejo de extrañarte,
Y no puedo dejar de amarte.

 For this post, I am requiring you to:

• Find and read a poem by a Spanish poet.  You will then write a summary / your impression of the poem.
• List the poet, poem title and how you found the poem.
• Write a short poem of your own.  You may follow a simple haiku pattern, try one that rhymes in Spanish, an acrostic type poem or, be more creative and write an original.

Here are just some suggestions of famous poets from several countries:
Federico Garcia Lorca
Antonio Machado
Pablo Neruda
Gabriela Mistral
Jose Asuncion Silva
Rafael Guillen
Octavio Paz
Cesar Vallejo

Other resources:
http://www.abcteach.com/free/h/howto_haiku.pdf
http://volweb.utk.edu/school/bedford/harrisms/haiku.htm
http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-a-limerick.html
http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-write-an-acrostic-poem/
http://www.saidsimple.com/content/How-to-Write-an-Acrostic-Poem
http://www.creative-writing-now.com/how-to-write-poetry.html

If you choose to write an acrostic poem, it must be a word that is 10 letters total, or your first and last name (close to 10 letters).  Points will be deducted if you write an acrostic poem for something like "Bob"

Also, please, please don't try to copy a famous poem and think I won't know.  Anyone caught doing this will lose all points for this entry.

This post is due on Sunday by midnight (May 15th)

Be sure to take advantage of the lab time on Tuesday (May 10th).

Blog Entry # 5

Blog Entry # 5

Cuando era niño-a...

Hope all of you are enjoying writing your blog entries and making your blog look great.  For this entry, your task is to talk about your childhood and some of the things you did when you were young.  I would also ask that you try practicing your preterite and imperfect once you have written your blog in English.  I am going to do a sample entry about myself so you have a clear example to go by as you write your own. 
You will need:
1.  To talk about 5 of you favorite childhood activities.
2.  Mention how frequently you engaged in those activities.
3.  Post some pictures relating to the activities. 
4.  Change the font color of the verbs you believe would be in the preterite tense (if you were writing in   Spanish).
5. Change the font color of the verbs you believe would be in the imperfect tense (if you were writing in   Spanish).

Please think about the things we have discussed in class concerning these two tenses.  Preterite is for past narration (completed actions) and Imperfect is for description in the past ( Al Wept).  Try to incorporate some of the reflexive verbs from U2E1 as you talk about your childhood.

When I was young, I used to play jump rope with all the girls who used to live in my cul-de-sac.  We got together and we used to play a chase game almost every day.  I remember one day, none of us wanted to be the ender, so we knocked on Christine Martin's door and asked her to play.  She volunteered to be the steady-ender.  We felt so happy because that meant we had so much more time to play and not be an ender.  Another activity I used to play often was hide and seek.  We would have 20 or more children playing.  We played hide and seek and ringalivio mostly in summer.  My best friend was named Patty Pagliaro, she liveed up the street from me and had a dog named Major.  We used to play with Barbie dolls in her backyard.  Her mother used to lay a big picnic blanket on the grass and we played for hours.  My best memories were at the lake.  My mom used to pack all 5 children into the car and we would drive 20 minutes to Round Lake and stay for the day.  She used to pack a cooler with snacks and our lunch and we had a great time.  I remember the day when I finally had the courage to jump off the high dive which was on the back of the raft.  In my mind it was 50 feet tall, but in reality it was probably only 15 feet or so.  I was always afraid to jump.  I didn't like water to go up my nose.  But, on that day I was brave ; )
During the winters, we used to skate on Merriwold Lake, or go sledding on Maniac Hill.  The older children would build a fire to keep us warm.  I remember one day when I dressed myself in my new boots and sat myself too close to the fire.  I burned the tips of my boots.  I felt sad because I knew my parents could not afford to buy a new pair for me.

Blog Entry # 4

This week we are going to look at famous singers and/or musicians from Spanish speaking countries. Your task is to find a video ( must be appropriate for school!) from a Spanish speaking singer and blog about it. Be sure to include the following:

Who is the artist?

Where is s/he or they  from?

What type of music do they sing?

Have you ever heard of this artist before?

Do you like their music?

A few examples of Spanish singers are Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, Shakira, Juanes, Juan Luis Guerrra, Franco de Vita, Bacilos, David Bisbal, Nelly Furtado, Selena, Rebelde, and Bandera. In your post, include a link to the video (via YouTube or the artist's website), and write no less than eight sentences describing the artist, video, and type of music.

Blog Entry # 3 West Side Story

Well, it would seem that most of us are up and running and the blogroll seems to be almost perfect.  Mr. Stewart gave some very nice compliments to some of your entries in his email to me.  Congrats!

The discussion has come up in class about perceptions concerning certain Spanish speaking nationalities and I am going to spring-board off of that for our third entry.  Here is a website that has a wealth of {all things related to Spanish} with podcasts and I found this posting about the re-make of West Side Story on Broadway.  This particular re-make is almost all in Spanish.  The blog also contains a video that speaks to cultural insensitivity and stereotyping. 

Have we come a long way...or not?

Read the following exerpt and then click on the link to finish the reading and watch the 7 minute video.  “Sometimes I don’t know which is thicker…your skull or your accent.” – Rita Moreno in West Side Story
One of Broadway’s most well-known musicals is about to get a makeover, this time in Spanish.  If you’ve never heard of West Side Story it’s basically a retelling of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet set in 1950′s New York City. In this day and age of so much creative recycling and remakes, it’s rather surprising that it took somebody this long to realize that redoing West Side Story in Spanish would be a great idea. The “somebody” in this case is Arthur Laurents, the man who who wrote the book for Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s musical.

Your assignment is to watch this 7-8 minute video West Side Story  and blog about your reaction to the video clip and the comments leading up to the video clip.  Try to relate your comments to 2011 and what you see happening today.  Do you find yourself influenced by what you see in the movies, utube and on music videos?  Do you have a different standard for a population in general and another for the friends you have and the people you know?  If you are a native speaker  (or from a home where Spanish is spoken frequently) I would like you to blog about this from your point of view.  Your blog entry should be a minimum of one paragraph (5 - 7 sentences) in English.