I am almost out of space on this blog, so while I save up for the upgrade, I’m posting on the TES website. On the link below you will find a reading resource for A level Spanish in the topic area of Jóvenes de hoy – ciudadanos del mañana. It focuses on a Spanish street artist (Pejac) and how this art form can be used as a means of social protest.
LINK: www.tes.com/teaching-resource/reading-pejac-y-el-arte-urbano-12328101
For more information on Pejac, visit his website – http://www.pejac.es
As I explained in a post a week or two ago, we are trying to prepare our Year 11 students for their A level studies from September. We are putting together transition packs, but are doing this in two phases. Attached is the work I have created for phase 2. I really want to get the balance right between engaging them to do some work and pushing them beyond GCSE while at the same time not putting anyone off taking the subject! Not sure whether I’ve managed it here, but you can adapt it yourselves to your own context. Students work through the three tasks independently.
TASK 1 – Sentence structure /grammatical accuracy (using Duolingo). The activities are quick to do + focus them on a range of grammar and sentence structure exercises.
TASK 2 – Cultural awareness (- exposure to Spanish language music and culture). The Bomba Estero song “Soy yo” has a great video and message.
TASK 3 – Vocabulary development + conceptual awareness (- the how and why of things). Hopefully this gets them to engage with authentic texts but in a gradual, step by step way.
BOOKLET: Step Up – SPANISH A LEVEL 2 v2
Although translation can easily be embedded into teaching, I find that it is important to take a period of time to focus on the skills involved. Attached is a booklet I have put together which is made up of all of the AQA translations into English from recent past papers. I find that pulling everything together from a certain task type helps to focus the students on the skills needed and also helps me as a teacher to spot trends.
BOOKLET: TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH
I have also produced a booklet for translation from English into Spanish, but there is not enough space on the blog to upload it at the moment. If you are able to support so I can pay for more space, I would be most grateful. I don’t feel comfortable asking this, and I have always funded the blog myself, but the package to get more space is a significant jump in cost. If you want to buy a pack of resources I have put on the TES Resources website, I would be really grateful, as I am going to use whatever funds I get from that to pay for the blog upgrade.
LINK: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/racismo-a2-spanish-resources-12313821
Another update to my resources on the Spanish A level topic of Franco y su dictadura, but somewhat left of field. I was watching a BBC documentary in which they mentioned that there was some controversy when Spain participated in and won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968. It was alleged that the contest was rigged by “el Caudillo”, who sent state television officials across Europe offering cash and promising to buy television series and contract unknown artists in other participating countries in return for their votes. The UK came second by one vote that year. Whether or not this is true, it is an interesting stories and it lends itself pretty well to an A level summary task which is posted below.
WORKSHEET: Franco y el Festival de Eurovisión
Unless I am reading this wrong, in the AQA Spanish A level exam the gap fill exercises seem to focus on literary texts. Gap fill activities always seem to have traps in them and they do like to use an expression or two. Getting the students to focus on the types of words listed is key + then to work out the possibilities. If one of the possible answers is an adjective does the gap require masculine, feminine, etc? If a verb is needed which tense etc? I try to get my students to do this before filling the gaps telling them that there are always more words than gaps and the extra words might be trying to catch them out.
Attached is an example I’ve put together within the topic area of “el paro entre los jóvenes” from the novel “En la Orilla” by Rafael Chirbes.
WORKSHEET: GAP FILL En la orilla LITERATURA answers GAP FILL En la orilla LITERATURA
With Year 11 students not taking their GCSE exams this summer amid the impact of Covid19, getting them ready for A level studies from September is problematic. Like may other schools we are putting together transition packs. Getting the balance between engaging them to do some work and taking it to the next level is clearly important. I don’t want to put them off! Attached is what I have put together so far. We are doing two booklets and this is the first. I have borrowed ideas from some other people who have posted their resources online, but this is mostly my own work. Students work through the three tasks independently.
TASK 1 – A Cambio de Nada (film analysis)
TASK 2 – Independent Research Project
TASK 3 – Comprehension + grammar (based on the Covid19 outbreak + guidance given in Spain)
BOOKLET: Step Up – SPANISH A LEVEL 1 v3
To try and keep my blog going (see previous post re: increase in blog costs), I have posted a group of resources on the TES website. I don’t want to charge much and have kept the price low. My aim has always been to share my resources for free and I will use the money (if I get any!!!) from the TES to keep this blog going.
The resources are on the A level topic of “las actitudes racistas y xenófobas”. They are mostly reading activities with accompanying videos to add some context. There is also a reading summary task. I have gone for issues which seem like the sort of thing that could come up in an exam and all of the activities are ones you get in the AQA Spanish A level exam.
So, here’s hoping this literally pays off.
LINK: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/racismo-a2-spanish-resources-12313821
I’ve always been very keen to share resources for free. Charging is something I am not keen on esp. as I don’t feel that’s the spirt we should have. Teachers should share with teachers. However, it appears that I have now reached the space limit on my blog and to upload more resources will mean an upgrade of my account which will cost quite a bit more. I have considered deleting lots of previous posts, but then I don’t really want to. While I have been happy to pay to keep the blog going to date, the next stage would be costly. So, I have decided that I am going to go the way I never wanted to and I am putting some resources for sale on the TES website to fund this work. Again, this is not what I wanted. If anyone out that has any clever ideas, please let me know.
I will post whatever I can on here to squeeze out the final bits of space left + start sharing as much as I can on the TES. My name on there is “sanferminuk”. I’m going to go for maximum resources for the lowest price! The poundland of TES resources.
PS. My old free stuff on the TES site is a bit rubbish. Well, some of it.
I am updating some of my resources for the Monarquías y Dictaduras section of the A level Spanish course. I have decided to add something in about the removal of the remains of Franco from the Valle de los Caídos nearly four and a half decades after his burial. So, attached is a simple resource – just a video followed by a reading comprehension. I like the video because of the subtitles which make it more accessible + it provides a clear picture of the events.
POWERPOINT: La exhumación de Franco WORKSHEET: La exhumación de Franco READING
This final post on transgender is focused on the use of the term “latinx”. A definition of this could be a person of Latin American origin or descent which is used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina. The -x suffix replaces the -o/-a ending of nouns and adjectives. The term, however, is only being used in Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. The resource starts with a slide pointing out that the term in unknown to many Spanish-speakers and is followed by a video where young people who identify themselves as latinx explain why they use it. A reading comprehension comes at the end.
RESOURCES: PowerPoint – 4. Los derechos de las personas transgénero LATINX Worksheet – LATINX READING
