GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Curriculum Guide

 

 

Course Title:                                         Spanish IV – Culture & Conversation

 

Subject:                                                Spanish

 

Grade/Level:                                         11, 12

 

Department/School:                              World Languages, High School

 

Duration:                                              One Year

 

Number of Credits:                               5

 

Prerequisite:                                          Spanish III

 

Elective or Required:                             Elective

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author:  Caitlin Price

Date Submitted:  Summer 2002


Course Description

 

Spanish IV – Culture & Conversation

 

Spanish IV-Culture & Conversation is a continuation of the language learning process developed in Spanish III.  Particular emphasis is placed on listening comprehension and speaking proficiency.  Carefully integrated materials and activities effectively produce the implementation of previously and newly acquired vocabulary and grammatical structures.  Active student participation and spontaneity in the target language are strongly encouraged at this level.  The Spanish IV course consists of the following components:  1) a continual reinforcement through conversation of the basic structures presented in levels I, II and III; 2) practical vocabulary selected to develop and expand conversational skills; and 3) cultural topics including social values, important figures, and current events.

 


GLEN RIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

WORLD LANGUAGE MISSION STATEMENT

 

 

In a changing world of technology and multiculturalism, the world is getting smaller and the importance of multilingual abilities is becoming increasingly important.  We in the World Language department believe that every individual in our school is capable of learning a foreign language to the best of their ability.  Our emphasis is on communication and culture.  Students will use correct syntax, grammar and pronunciation.  Included in our repertoire of activities is a study of both Francophone and Hispanic cultures.  This also includes non-verbal clues common to these cultures.  Students will be exposed to all forms of literature in the native language in their chosen second language, in the original form, depending on the level of study.

 

Students will also be exposed to the language not only through the use of the textbook but also through the use of multimedia, listening, speaking, reading and writing activities.  Native speakers will be invited and engaged whenever possible.  Students will be expected to take an active role in the learning of the language since true communication is an active process.  Students will be assessed in all four skills:  listening, speaking, reading and writing.  Authentic assessment in real life and survival situations will be a part of all teachers’ classrooms. Available technology will be employed, working on collaborative activities within the framework of the topic.

 


New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards

 

World Language

 

STANDARD 7.1  (COMMUNICATION)  ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE AT A BASIC LITERACY LEVEL IN AT LEAST ONE LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH.

 

STANDARD 7.2  (CULTURE)  ALL STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE FOR AT LEAST ONE LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH.

 


Course Description

 

THEMATIC UNIT 1:      NEW FRIENDS – INITIATING AND CLOSING CONVERSATIONS

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in meeting new people.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Incorporate new greetings and lines of questioning when meeting new people.   (7.1.18, 7.1.20)

2.      Identify and implement non-verbal greetings.     (7.2.9, 7.2.10)

3.      Respond to greetings and answer conversational questions.     (7.1.18, 7.1.20)

4.      Relate specific details about themselves integrating new and previously acquired expressions.     (7.1.18)

5.      Differentiate situations in which formal and informal pronouns are used.     (7.2.9)

6.      Understand and discuss current events of El Salvador.     (7.2.13)

7.      Identify and describe leading figures of El Salvador.     (7.2.11, 7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Greet and interview each other on several occasions.

-         Complete listening comprehension exercises by native speakers on tape.

-         Complete a biography on a classmate and present it to the class.

-         Research Romero and discuss social issues and political events in El Salvador.

-         Research Mata and his artwork and present their interpretation of a Mata piece to the class.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 2:      UNIVERSITY STUDY – INITIATING AND BUILDING TOPICS

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in discussing post-high school plans.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

·        Express ideas in the future tense.   (7.1.18)

·        Integrate new thematic vocabulary and converse about their plans after graduating from high school.    (7.1.21, 7.1.22)

·        Understand and participate in conversations about university study.     (7.1.21)

·        Discuss student life abroad.     (7.1.22)

·        Comprehend and analyze Nicaraguan poetry.     (7.2.11, 7.2.12)


Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Map out their current schedules and discuss how they relate with their goals and plans.

-         Research a university which they are interested in attending and determine if they are meeting enrollment requirements.

-         Research study abroad programs and determine the pros and cons of each.

-         Interview an exchange student and share study abroad advice with the class.

-         Complete listening comprehension activities by native speakers on tape.

-         Analyze and recite poetry by Rubén Darío.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 3:      PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS – DESCRIPTION AND CIRCUMLOCUTION

 

Goals: To develop proficiency in describing people, giving directions and defining words in the target language.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Define a word in the target language.    (7.1.21)

2.      Give and receive directions and instructions.    (7.1.21)

3.      Offer detailed descriptions and comparisons about people and places.    (7.1.21)

4.      Speak in command form.    (7.1.18, 7.1.21)

5.      Debate educational reform and military spending in Costa Rica.    (7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Create and play a game using circumlocution.

-         Analyze and describe classmates using palmistry.

-         Create a commercial of a product.

-         Research government reform in Costa Rica and host a debate.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 4:      JOBS AND PROFESSIONS – REQUESTING AND PROVIDING INFORMATION

 

Goal:  To develop proficiency in speaking in interviews.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Utilize the conditional tense.    (7.1.21)

2.      Comprehend and respond to question words.    (7.1.18, 7.1.19)

3.      Discuss personal work experience and talents, implementing relevant vocabulary.    (7.1.18)

4.      Fill out job applications.    (7.1.22)

5.      Respond to help wanted ads in the target language.    (7.1.22)

6.      Identify and analyze works of Columbian artist Botero.   (7.2.11, 7.2.12)

7.      Read and comprehend a selection by Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez.    (7.2.11, 7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Write their resumes in Spanish.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 5:  VACATION – PLANNING AND ORGANIZING

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in organizing travel plans abroad.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Plan a trip in the target language.    (7.1.17)

2.      Identify characteristics of respectful tourists.    (7.2.9, 7.2.10)

3.      Discuss the Panamanian singer Rubén Blades and identify important themes in his music.   (7.2.11, 7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Plan several aspects of a trip around Europe, using authentic information.

-         Decide what they need to pack for travel to certain destinations and what will be available there to purchase.

-         Complete activities highlighting cultural awareness and politeness abroad.

-         Complete oral exercises listening to native speakers on tape.

-         Read a selection on, listen to and analyze music by Rubén Blades.

-         Search for employment in Spanish newspapers and websites.

-         Complete job applications in the target language.

-         Interview each other for jobs, highlighting formal speech and pertinent expressions.

-         Create portraits of classmates in the style of Botero.

-         Research Gabriel García Márquez and read and discuss one of his works.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 6:      THE FAMILY – RECOUNTING EVENTS AND LISTENING TO ANECDOTES

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in relating and comprehending stories in the target language.


Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Relate personal stories, utilizing specific story-telling expressions.    (7.1.21)

2.      Comprehend anecdotes when told by others.    (7.1.19)

3.      Ask appropriate questions and add comments of interest and understanding while listening to a story.   (7.1.21)

4.      Recognize and discuss the achievements of Simón Bolívar.    (7.2.11)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Tell jokes in the target language to the class.

-         Share a family anecdote with the class, using photos as a guide.

-         Complete oral comprehension activities of native speakers relating anecdotes on tape.

-         Research Simón Bolívar and present a biography to the class.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 7:      PURCHASES AND REIMBURSEMENT – MANAGING WISHES AND COMPLAINTS

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in asking for services in a consumer setting.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Discuss haggling and practice in the target language.    (7.2.9, 7.2.10)

2.      Return defective merchandise to a store, defending their position.   (7.1.17)

3.      Discuss cultural differences in shopping abroad.    (7.2.10)

4.      Purchase clothes in a department store, requesting different colors and sizes.    (7.1.17)

5.      Bring clothes to a dry cleaner and describe what they want.    (7.1.17)

6.      Bring a car to a mechanic and discuss what they want to have fixed.    (7.1.17)

7.      Discuss architectural aspects of the Incan Empire.    (7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Role-play a client-vendor scenario in class.

-         Discuss shopping abroad.

-         Debate haggling as a fair or unfair system.

-         Listen to native speakers in consumer roles on tape and complete activities.

-         Reconstruct a model of an Incan structure and present its function, architecture and history to the class.

 

 


THEMATIC UNIT 8:      DECISIONS IN DAILY LIFE – GIVING AND RECEIVING ADVICE

 

Goal:   To develop proficiency in offering and asking for assistance.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Converse with a doctor as a patient.    (7.1.17)

2.      Comprehend and use basic medical terminology in the target language.    (7.1.17)

3.      Converse with an academic counselor as a student.    (7.1.17)

4.      Offer advice to classmates regarding schoolwork and social activities.    (7.1.19)

5.      Discuss the Galapagos Islands.    (7.2.11)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Guess a mystery illness by advice given by classmates.

-         Become advice columnists, responding to classmates letters.

-         Listen and respond to selections by native speakers on tape.

-         Read a selection about the Galapagos Islands and discuss.

-         Research a species unique to the Galapagos Islands and present findings to the class.

 

 

THEMATIC UNIT 9:      DECISIONS IN DAILY LIFE – GIVING AND RECEIVING ADVICE

 

Goal:  To develop proficiency in offering and asking for assistance.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Converse with a doctor as a patient.    (7.1.17)

2.      Comprehend and use basic medical terminology in the target language.   (7.1.17)

3.      Converse with an academic counselor as a student.    (7.1.17)

4.      Offer advice to classmates regarding schoolwork and social activities.    (7.1.19)

5.      Discuss the Galapagos Islands.    (7.2.11)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Guess a mystery illness by advice given by classmates.

-         Become advice columnists, responding to classmates’ letters.

-         Listen and respond to selections by native speakers on tape.

-         Read a selection about the Galapagos Islands and discuss.

-         Research a species unique to the Galapagos Islands and present findings to the class.

 

 


THEMATIC UNIT 10:       FRIENDSHIP AND DATING – EXPRESSING AND REACTING TO FEELINGS

 

Goal:  To develop proficiency in relating emotion in the target language.

 

Objectives:

Students will demonstrate the ability to:

1.      Express emotion, feelings and physical state.    (7.1.21)

2.      Utilize expressions to get someone’s attention, to show compassion, surprise, anger and disgust.    (7.1.21)

3.      Comprehend non-verbal emotional cues.    (7.2.9)

4.      Identify Bolivian musical instruments.    (7.2.12)

 

Activities:

 

Students will:

-         Listen to native speakers on tape discussing relationships and complete activities.

-         Watch a soap opera in Spanish and note expressions, then compare lists with classmates.

-         <