I hope you are excited for a new year. Spanish 2 should be ready for the Extreme Home Makeover Project and the 3rd Annual Rip the Runway Fashion Show, and Spanish 1 should be excited about making your Blockumentaries and Facebook pages. We will also be learning about Afro Latinos, Women in Latin America, Sweatshops, the Day of the Dead, Latino History Month, and much more! Our room is freshly painted, and all set for teaching and learning. Can't wait till yall get here!
Spring Break Project - Ancient Civilizations - due Monday April 11th
Spring Break Research Project Ancient Civilizations of Meso-America
75 Application of Knowledge Points (4th Quarter)
Overview: We will be learning about Ancient Civilizations of Meso-America, when we return from Spring Break. Your job to prepare for this unit is to do some preliminary research on Ancient Civilizations. Your minimum page requirement is 3 pages written. You will pick one of the following groups:
Olmecs
Miztecs
Zapotecs
Aztecs
Mayan
Incan (South America)
Questions: You are to answer 12 of the following questions, in writing, not typed, in your own words:
Where was this civilization located?
How are they related to other Ancient Civilizations in the area?
When did they rule or flourish?
What mathematic or scientific discoveries did they make?
What were they known for?
What language did they speak? What are some words from their language?
What religious traditions they have and what beliefs did they hold?
Where can you find modern day descendants of this ancient people?
What type of art did they produce?
What type of architecture did they create?
Describe their clothing.
How was dance used in their culture?
What food did they eat?
Describe their social structure or class system.
Describe education in their society.
How did their civilization end?
Notes: This is the first assignment and mini-project of Quarter 4. If you would like to start with an A, be sure to complete this assignment. Students who were not in class on Thursday, March 31st, are expected to visit the blog and complete this assignment. Be sure to remind your classmates. Their grades depend on it.
Extra Credit Option: Create a Visual Poster that displays what you have learned about your Ancient Civilization. We will use these posters to teach the rest of the class to and display in the school.
You will use your news stories to do a research project about your country, by incorporating past news stories, current events, and your country’s history.Your weekly news assignments have prepared you for this project.Now is the time to go deeper into your country, its issues and its past.This research project will be counted towards your Application of Knowledge grade a large part of your Quarter 2 Semester Grade.This project counts as much 8 Current Events Assignments, and about as much as your House Project.You must produce an interesting and original report, without plagiarizing.You will need to list sources used and properly cite the sources you use.See below for a list of topics and questions you can respond to.
Due Date
Monday January 3rd, 2011.At the Beginning of Class.Must be Already Printed.
Requirements
2 pages minimum AND 400 words minimum
Typed
12 point font, double spaced, 1 inch margins
titled, name, date and period
5 (five) Paragraphs
An Introduction, 3 short Body Paragraphs and a Conclusion
3 sources used
Paraphrase, don’t copy and paste
Wikipedia can be one source
1 source of information must be from an academic book from a Library or Book Store (ask librarian/employee if the book is considered academic)
You must reference (talk about) 2-4 of your past current events
Research Questions/Topics
1.Historical
a.How do the current events of 2010 in your country relate to your country’s modern history (1800-1900) or recent history (1900-2010)?Throughout history, have there been similar events to what is happening currently in your country?How are they similar?What does this say about your country?
2.Persuasive
a.Do you recommend someone to travel to your country, based on the news you have been covering?If not, why not?What 3 things/places would you recommend doing, seeing, or going?
3.Persuasive
a.Is your country a modern, developed, or advanced country?Are they living in the 21st Century?Is what your country similar to what the US is experiencing or very different?What does this difference tell you about the progress they are making or not making in developing.
4.Connection to US History
a.Race relations and policy, what connections do you see between race and news in the country.How does fear affect people. Immigration, assimilation, xenophobia, racism,
5.Connection to AP Gov
a.How does their form of government compare to the form in the US?What bureaucracy exists in that country and what has happened during the past year in their bureaucracy?How is this country democratic? How have elections taken place in other countries?
6.Connection to AP Environmental Science
a.Is your country sustainable?What is your country’s ecological footprint and biological capacity?How are they using their resources?Look for current event stories about your country and the terms, “footprint, carbon, global warming, greening, sustainability.”You may use your project from APES and the source, footprintnetwork.org
HW #9 Noticias - Current Events (weekly assignment)
Overview
After selecting a country or Puerto Rico, you will keep track of what is going on in this country.Every week you will look on the web to find an article about your country that interests you. You will answer the questions below and keep a log of your country’s news.
Requirements
§1 page written, ½ page typed (single spaced)
§must have the source (website or newspaper
name and date
§Must be from a news channel or newspaper from another country
§Must be detailed, thoughtful, and original
Weekly Questions
1.What is the title, date, and source (website or newspaper name)?
2.What is the news?Why did you select this article?What interested you?
3.What social issues are discussed or suggested in this article?
4.How is this news significant in the world?
5.Other notes and information
6.Extra Credit:If you have covered this topic before, how is this story developing or how does this relate to other topics you have covered?
7.Extra Credit:How is this build on or relate to your countries ancient or modern history?
Weekly Presentations
Every week 2-4 randomly selected students will be asked to present to the class on their country, for 5 minutes.When you present you must have something visual (picture, video, chart, graph, etc) and key facts to share.You can use you answers from the questions below, and you can talk about how news has been developing in general in your country.
Semester Project
You will use your news stories to do a research project about your country and incorporate news stories.You will translate some of your paper to Spanish.These weekly news assignments will prepare you for this.
Students: Here's your chance to get ahead of the game and get started on Spanish in 2010-2011. This assignment will be worth 3 HW grades, and if done, will give you a "Get Out of MST Free Card."
Extra Credit Spanish Assignment - Afro-Latinos
Directions: Find 3-5 countries where there is a population of descendants of Africa in Latin America (Afro Latinos). Describe how they arrived at this country. List what their names and 5 aspects of their culture. You may also include any words from their langauge and its translation. Find one similarity between all the groups you find. Find one similarity between the Afro-Latinos and African Americans in the US. Also talk about 1 thing that surprised you while doing this research. You may include maps, charts, or pictures from your research.
4-5 typed paragraphs. Must be in your own words, but you may use any source. Bring to Mr. Truss on the first day of school. Good Luck
It was a great year. Students learned a lot. We has a great projects and applied our knowledge to a Spanish Fashion Show and the creation of Identity Facebook Pages and gave presentations in Spanish. We played games like the Hot Seat, and Questions Game. We made stacks and stacks of Flash Cards. Students kept their work organized in their Spanish Binder and their daily assignments on the Assignment Log.
We learned about college majors that involve Spanish and professions that utilize the language. We learned about the Day of the Dead, Puerto Rico, and Globalization/Sweatshop Labor. We had a guest speaker from Columbia and learned salsa from Mr. Truss' trip to Puerto Rico. We also learned about Honduras.
We improved our study skills, learned from correcting our test/quizzes and improved our work habits. We worked after-school and on weekends to learn the material. Students mastered between 40-60 conversations questions, and demonstrated our knowledge on a 8 page Full Year Cumulative Final.
We are ready for the next level, Spanish 2, Spanish at a Community College, and College life in general.
Students were asked to create 200 Flash Cards before they could take their final and most did. The remaining had to finish a few cards before beginning the final or chose not to take the final. Those who did their flash cards felt successful about them, and more prepared for the final. It was an exercise in study techniques, determination, rigor, and college preparation.
Your Spanish Final is a cumulative test, meaning that you will be required to show your knowledge and mastery of content from the entire year.You will be graded on your grammar, vocabulary, and communication skills.Spanish is a graduation requirement and you must have passed 2 years of Spanish to apply to Cal State Universities (CSUs) and University of California (UC) Schools.You will use Spanish in every day life, and it will help with many career options, not to mention allow you to travel to many parts of the world.
Format
There is a listening portion, reading portion, and writing portion.There are several translations you will be asked to make, from both Spanish to English and English to Spanish.You will be asked to match up some vocabulary words as well.You will also be expected to conjugate verbs and at times change the endings of verbs.In addition, you will be asked to answer various questions in Spanish.You have learned an incredible amount of material, and the best way to make sure you don’t forget it is to study, and put it into your long-term memory.Good Luck.
Weight
Spring Grade = Q3 + Q4
Q4 =(33% Assignment Log, 33% Quizzes and Tests, 33% Final)
Contents
Vocabulary
§Alphabet
§Numbers (1-100, 100s, 1000)
§Days of the Week, Months, Your Birthday
§Greetings, Conversations
§School Vocab (class items, commands, subjects)
§Oral Questions (15 out of 50)Written
o22 - get to know you
o21 – verbs actions
o10 – clothes
§Verb Translations 30
o26 AR, ER, IR
oIrregulars (estar, ser, costar, tener)
§Conjugations
AR, ER, IR
Past and Present
Which endings for which subjects
SPANISH 1
Colors, Clothes, Accessories
Fabrics, Articles, Pronouns
SPANISH 2
Physical and Personality Adjectives
Like Words (Gusta, Encanta, Da Asco, Fascina, Disgusta)
Verbs (long list)
Skin, Hair, and Eyes
Colors (Black, Blue, Green, Brown)
Grammar Rules
§Order of the date
§Order of the sentences for clothes
§Which article to pick (los, unos…)
§Which color ending (negro, negras)
§Making plural words (mesa-mesas, calcetín, calcetines)
