sábado, 24 de enero de 2015

Variedad para el examen final

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First semester just ended and once again I changed the final exam that I give in my Cultura y Civilización class. I love teaching this class and the freedom I have (it is totally different than what I have to teach in Spanish 2 and 3!). I think I have changed the final every time I have taught the class (2012's version), but this year might be the one I stick with. This time, I used Carrie Toth's ideas and gave students a variety of choices to show me what they know and what they have learned during the semester. I was very happy with the final "products," and they were really fun, and funny, to grade. Students did an excellent job of "weaving" in details from what they learned this semester, and they also made some excellent connections. 

There were 7 choices, but these were the most popular:
  • Feeling creative? Write a fictional short story to accompany one of the units. Create a new leyenda of Kingswood or a new serie para la tele. Connect it to what we have learned in the class. Next year it could be one of the resources we use during our study! You'll be famoso(a)! Do you best to show me the depth and breadth of your language skills!
    
  • Feeling even more creative? Write a story in which two characters from two different novels, movies or El Internado somehow meet. Next year it could be one of the resources we use during our study! You’ll be famoso(a)! Do your best to show me the depth and breadth of your language skills!!!

  • Compare and contrast two of the characters (and their experiences) from the books or movies that we studied. These are the characters: Makenna (Noche de Oro), Laney (La Llorona de Mazatlán), Chava (Voces Inocentes), Machuca, the narrator from Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha, La Llorona, any of the other legends we learned about, any character from El Internado, the narrator from Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha, or anyone else.  **Note** Do not compare two leyendas… you already did that!

  • Do you think songs and music videos are a good way to learn Spanish? Why? How and what did you learn from the songs and/or music videos in this class? Write about your 4 favorite songs from this class. Write why you liked them, what 2 of your favorite lines from each are, 5 new words that you learned from each song, and what else you learned from the song.
    

One student wrote a short story in the first person and somehow he managed to somehow incorporate references to the following things: the civil war in El Salvador, Laney from La Llorona de Mazatlán, gang life (MS-13) in the U.S., mega-mines in Argentina, La Mosca from this video, and the difficulties of immigration in Spain and the U.S. He finished the story by writing a song with Calle 13 and Ana Tijoux, and then becoming rich and famous.

Another student had the narrator from Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha and Padre McEnroe (from the movie Machuca) somehow meeting. Another wrote about Paula from El Internado meeting la llorona. The "new" legends were also fun to read. Only one student wrote about how songs and music videos helped him to learn, but that was one of my favorites to read.

The speaking part of the exam was a conversation and it was easy for them. I learned a lot about what they liked. One thing that was overwhelming was that we should definitely continue watching El Internado and using Kahoot... everyone loves Kahoot!

Another fun thing we did at the end of the course was a 16 song bracket to decide what the favorite song of the semester was, both individually and as a class. The winning song was "Somos Sur" by Ana Tijoux. Two other favorites were: surprisingly (to me), "La de la mochila azul" (from Voces Inocentes) and "Me Voy" by Vázquez Sounds:



viernes, 23 de enero de 2015

La Lucha Libre

**UPDATE 4/9/15** I just completed this unit and it was very good. Students were engaged and it was a nice, "light" break. The evaluaciones (developed more now, see below) were excellent and fun too. 

Thanks to Sra. Dentlinger, Bethanie Drew, and Wendy Brownwell (and others in my PLN), I have put together a new, "light" unit:  La lucha libre. I have put the resources together here and here is the unit packet. I am really looking forward to teaching this unit and I think the evaluaciones will be fun for the students. Another good thing that I like about this unit is that it could be used in a variety of levels.

There is a wonderful documentary called Tales of Masked Men that is available on Amazon prime. That will start the unit. It is in English and Spanish. I am also including a variety of other resources, including: a "seis grados de separación" video about lucha libre, an infografía, a couple of songs, a cortometraje (thanks Zachary Jones!), some commercials, a children's book and, for my advanced students, a documentary about female luchadoras in Bolivia or this documental en español.

Here are the Preguntas Esenciales:
  • ¿Qué es la lucha libre? ¿Dónde es la lucha libre popular? ¿Cuál es la historia de la lucha libre? ¿Cuándo y dónde empezó?
  • ¿Quiénes son algunos luchadores populares y/o famosos? ¿Cuáles son algunas de las características de los luchadores y de una lucha? ¿Qué representan los luchadores de la cultura mexicana?
  • ¿Cómo es similar y diferente de algo dentro de nuestra cultura o dentro de la cultura de otro país (Bolivia Las Cholitas de Pollera)?
  • ¿Cómo serías tú si fueras un luchador? ¿Cómo te llamarías? ¿Cómo serían tu máscara y tu ropa? ¿Quién sería tu enemigo? ¿Cuál sería tu "frase luchística"?

And here are the evaluaciones for the unit:
  • Evaluación escrita: Contesta estas preguntas con detalles de los recursos que vimos en esta unidad didáctica: 
    • ¿Qué es la lucha libre? ¿Dónde es la lucha libre popular? ¿Cuál es la historia de la lucha libre? ¿Cuándo y dónde empezó?
    • ¿Quiénes son algunos luchadores populares y/o famosos? ¿Cuáles son algunas de las características de los luchadores y de una lucha? ¿Qué representan los luchadores de la cultura mexicana?
  • Comparación Cultural - presentación oral de dos minutos: Contesta esta preguntas con detalles de lo que has aprendido en esta unidad didáctica y con información de tu propia vida. ¿Cómo es la lucha libre similar y diferente de algo dentro de nuestra cultura o dentro de la cultura de otro país? Piensa en las productos, las prácticas y las perspectivas de las dos culturas. (Advanced - Compara la lucha libre con este fenómeno: Bolivia Las Cholitas de Pollera)
  • Presentación oral y escrita: ¿Cómo serías tú si fueras un luchador? ¿Cómo te llamarías? ¿Cómo serían tu máscara y tu vestimenta? ¿Quién sería tu enemigo? ¿Qué sería tu "frase luchística"? Dibuja la máscara que tendrías si fueras un luchador.