Ab initio Summer Project
Gr 11
Top Ten Reasons for studying Spanish
Choose from the following list of “25 Reasons to Study Spanish” to create your own personalized list of Top 10 reasons. You will discuss them in a presentation during the first week of school next September.
http://cla.auburn.edu/forlang/resources/twenty-five-reasons/
Whether you decide to make a video, design a web page, write a blog, create an app or do a live presentation, imagine that your audience is a novice (beginning) student who is new to learning Spanish.
· Provide a visual for each item on your Top Ten list, using images, videos, infographics, screenshots, a Pinterest board and/or memes that you find in your research.
· Give an example of each of the Top Ten suggestions that relate to you, your learning style, and/or a topic of interest to you. These should be authentic, based on real life experiences and/or interests you actually have or are considering pursuing, like a college degree, future profession, or other goal.
· Include a special feature of your #1 reason, where you highlight your favorite type of activity or an amazing skill you acquired when you were learning to speak English (if it isn’t your first language). You might choose a specific cultural practice, famous person or place you discovered, etc. Tell and show why you liked this benefit the best.
· PLEASE NOTE: The purpose of this assignment is for you to discover independently the best—and most meaningful—reasons for YOU to study Spanish. Students whose lists share a suspicious number of elements or do not include applicable credit to the sources used will receive a zero, as well an Academic Dishonesty referral. Also, PowerPoint presentations will not be accepted.
· You MUST: Cite all sources for text and images using MLA format and provide this bibliography when you turn in your other documents.
· Your list will be presented in class (in English) during the first week of school next September. Your work will count as a Summative Assessment and will be assessed using the following rubric.
These sites might be useful, and are listed here for your consideration and inspiration!
La página de español http://www.paginadelespanol.com/
A free subscription will give you access to Grammar, Skills, Vocabulary, Culture and Tips…all you could ever ask for!
Pinterest http://www.pinterest.com
This free and addictive website allows you to collect interesting images, ideas and websites on any topic you can imagine. Build a board for your summer project, then tell us how you used it!
Ted Ed on the Bilingual Brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMmOLN5zBLY
Especially if you are a science geek, this video has some interesting news on research findings about how being bilingual changes your brain.
Learning Apps https://learningapps.org/
Click on the tutorial and get started! Your whole presentation could be a new App for other learners to use!
Notes in Spanish http://www.notesinspanish.com/
These free podcasts for beginners, intermediates & advanced speakers provide contextual lessons on hundreds of fun topics to grow your listening & speaking skills, as well as your cultural knowledge about Spain and Latin America. NOTE: The written activities cost $$ (your choice, but certainly NOT required!).
University of Texas https://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/
Spanish Proficiency Exercises
This site provides a compilation of brief video clips in which native speakers of Spanish from various locations throughout Latin America and Spain demonstrate various language tasks.
Learning @ La Tienda http://learning.latienda.com/
Explore the Flash Cards, Images and Study Guides for lots of interesting cultural information about Spain. You could practically be a tour guide after working through all this material!
Duolingo.com http://www.duolingo.com
With a free subscription you can really grow your listening and writing skills here. First, take a pre-test so the app can see what you know. Then, each time you practice, it will update your progress and adapt to what you need to work on most.
Top 10 Recommended Apps for Learning Español
http://www.fluentu.com/spanish/blog/best-apps-for-learning-spanish/
If nothing has interested you so far (or if you’re ready to do more!!), click on the above link to read about other great apps. I’ll look forward to hearing your recommendation, how you used it and what you learned!
If you have any questions or issues during the summer, please email me at .
¡Ahora, ponte las pilas!
Hasta el septiembre,
Profe <3
Rubric for Summer Project
Task Completion / Justification / Presentation4- Top 10 List, personal documentation, #1 selection, bibliography and presentation are clearly complete & thorough, with obvious effort and quality. / 4- Explanation of choices on list is well-documented, clearly explained & inspire exploration. / 4- Depth and thoroughness of detail inspire exploration and clearly document a valuable learning experience.
3- Top 10 List, personal documentation, #1 selection, bibliography and presentation are mostly complete and thorough. / 3- Explanation of choices is documented & explained, with few omissions or points of confusion. / 3- Presentation is interesting and gives evidence of learning, though missing some detail or description of experience.
2- One or more elements are incomplete or lacking depth. / 2- Explanation is incomplete, resulting in confusion or lack of information. / 2- Presentation is lacking in depth and/or description of experience.
1- Project is incomplete and inadequate. / 1- Explanation is severely lacking in detail and justification. / 1- Incomplete presentation fails to relate learning experience.
Comments:
______
Total points:
1