Spanish Challenge (The Finale)

Ladies and gentlemen of my Spanish class, this is it. We are slowly winding down to the end of the semester, and you have been doing a good job. One of the most memorable moments from this first semester was when we all discovered the fun and educational video ConjugationsBack, which presented an entertaining way to teach you how to conjugate your verbs in Spanish. For those that need a refresher, here it is.



Now, for your final challenge this semester, you will have to do what the above video did. Write a song that helps teach someone else something that you have learned in Spanish this semester. You may "parody" a real song like the ConjugationsBack did or you can write something brand new. This is also the first challenge that I will allow you to work on with another student, just make sure that when you submit it, it has all of your names on it. You should also be aware that if your song is good enough, we might just have to record it and put it on the website for all to see, because after all, if you're good...you're good.

Because this is going to take awhile to do, and the fact that you have your final due next week, I'm going to give you to the rest of the semester to turn this in, so it's due on Friday, December 17 before class is over. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me in class or just ask them on here, and I'll answer them as soon as possible.

Good luck and have fun.

Frida

Before we went away for our Fall Break, I issued a challenge to all my Spanish students to write a poem about a famous Hispanic. Katie, not only stepped up to the challenge, but exceeded it with this wonderful poem. Enjoy!


Frida

full of tragedy
full of pain
that's all my life is..
pain.

it started in the beginning
my body was so sick
my body was stricken
but i got back up, i survived.

then my luck hit me again.
it pierced my stomach,my spine, my foot my leg
my life.
i will not let this bring me down, it will not claim my life.

that accident , that bus,
that cost me my world.
i was strong, i'm told.
i rose up, i towered over my scars

i painted my feelings,
i painted my pain
people saw it in my pieces.
people saw my hurt.

then i saw him
him who would bring me lower
he broke my heart
he hurt my life.

they cut it off.
the pain was cut off.
although the leg was still there,
the pain remained

my people shared my pain.
they took my pain, my agonizing life
my life was weak, my life was hard.
but i was strong

i paint myself
because i am so often alone
because i am the subject
i know best.

Spanish Weekly Challenge 5

This is just for my Spanish students. It should be something that you will have a lot of fun with. Because it may take a little longer than most of the challenges, I'm giving you an extra week on it, so this challenge will be due on Monday, November 1st, just in time for Halloween.

More than 500 years ago, when the Spanish Conquistadors landed in what is now Mexico, they encountered natives practicing a ritual that seemed to mock death.

It was a ritual the indigenous people had been practicing at least 3,000 years. A ritual the Spaniards would try unsuccessfully to eradicate.

A ritual known today as Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

Visit the following page to read more about Dia de los Muertos:

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-history.html

After you've read about the history of Día de los Muertos, choose one of the craft assignments on the following page to complete.

http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/articles/dead-crafts.html

Do it at home and bring it into me. If it is a larger project, bring it to my class first thing in the morning, when you arrive in the building.

Due to the time that it will take to complete the assignment, everyone that turns one of the crafts in will receive a prize, with the best ones receiving larger prizes. Also, I do not care if you get help from parents or older siblings to complete this assignment.

Enjoy.

Spanish Weekly Challenge 4

Alright, here's something interesting for my Spanish students. First things first, you'll have the rest of this week and the entire Fall Break to complete this assignment, as it will be due by Monday, October 18th, the day before we return.

All you have to do is write a poem.

Simple right, but you have to know there has to be a catch, and here it is. It must be about a famous Hispanic. You can find a list of some famous Hispanics on the following website (http://coloquio.com/famosos/alpha.htm). If you come up with someone not on the list, simply ask me in class, or ask it in a comment, and I'll respond as quickly as possible. The poem must be creative and tell the reader something about the person, so the reader can understand who that person is.

Everyone who completes this assignment correctly will receive a prize, while the best ones will receive an additional prize and be published on this blog.

Get started and good luck.

Spanish Weekly Challenge 3

This week's challenge (only for my Spanish students) is a bit different than the other two challenges. This is going to make your brain draw information from two of your current subject areas: Spanish and...MATH. I will give you three math problems. You must figure them out, but then you must give me the answer to them in Spanish. You must both have the correct answer and use the correct Spanish words for that answer.


This Spanish Challenge is due by the end of the day on Sunday. Good luck.

1. Corinne's group was responsible for painting windows on the set of a school play. The group painted 18 windows in 90 minutes. If they continued painting at this rate, how many windows would they paint in 3 hours?

Spanish Challenge Winner: Hannah

Current Event Written by Hannah

Article Title: Obama Disappoints Cubans
Article Author: CMC
Article Source: internet
Article Website: www.caribdaily.com/news/cuba/

Summary: The Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez is very disappointed in Obama. He does not think Obama is going to his full potential to help the state. This disappointment really comes from the speech he made on Cuba. The president stated that he could change the economic, commercial and financial blockade in about 50 years. But, the Cubans seems to think he is lying and that can not be done. He also said that Obama can eliminate the ban on Cuban companies to transport passengers between the two countries.

Spanish Weekly Challenge 2

For students in my Spanish class only. You must find a news article dealing with a Spanish speaking country and complete a current event on it. The article cannot be older than Monday, September 13, 2010. Every student that has completed the assignment correctly will receive a reward. Of the students that completed the assignment correctly, the best will be chosen in order to be placed on this blog and that student will receive an extra prize. Assignments are to be turned in by Sunday night at midnight. If you plagiarize in any way, then you will automatically be disqualified. Please copy and paste the following form into your comment box in order to complete the current event.

Spanish Challenge Winner: Current Event

Winner: Katie L. Congratulations.


Article Title: UN: Extreme Poverty Declines but Inequality Persists
Article Author: Andean Air mail & Peruvian times
Article Source: Andean Air mail & Peruvian Times
Article Website: http://www.peruviantimes.com/un-extreme-poverty-declines-but-inequality-persists/118048

Summary:
The New United Nations 2010 Regional Report for Human Development on Latin America and the Caribbean, it says that Peru is one of the most unequal countries in the world.

Spanish Weekend Challenge 1

For students in my Spanish class only. You must find a news article dealing with a Spanish speaking country and complete a current event on it. The article cannot be older than Monday, September 6, 2010. Every student that has completed the assignment correctly will receive a reward. Of the students that completed the assignment correctly, the best will be chosen in order to be placed on this blog and that student will receive an extra prize. Assignments are to be turned in by Sunday night at midnight. If you plagiarize in any way, then you will automatically be disqualified. Please copy and paste the following form into your comment box in order to complete the current event.