Course Outline

 

Spanish 4:

Course Overview

Students continue to sharpen listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. They learn to express themselves using an ever-increasing vocabulary, present- and past-tense verbs, articles, and adjectives. Grammar is introduced and practiced with a variety of learning styles in mind. Throughout the course, students experience the culture, people, geographical locations, and histories of the Spanish-speaking world.

Course Length

Two Semesters

Prerequisites

Spanish III (or equivalent)

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Course Outline

SEMESTER ONE

Unit 1: La Gente (People)

• Skills: describe people, things, and activities they like to do

• Grammar lessons: compound tense and present perfect tense

• Cultural topics: historical facts about Spain & lives of Rigoberta Menchú and Antonio Banderas

Unit 2: Los Logros (Achievements)

• Skills: describe accomplishments, talk about activities that involve uncertainty or doubt, and review the use of numbers

• Grammar lessons: using subjunctive mood and impersonal expressions

• Cultural topics: historical facts about Spain

Unit 3: Los Deseos (Wishes and Desires)

• Skills: students talk about landforms, the environment, and their hopes and desires

• Grammar lessons: reviewing the many meanings of por and para, and the subjunctive mood

• Cultural topics: Spanish and Spanish-American history

Unit 4: Actividades (Activities)

• Skills: students talk about the outdoors, what others want them to do, and what happened by a certain time

• Grammar lessons: present perfect subjunctive

• Cultural topics: Spanish and Spanish Conquest history and modern-day events in Spanish-speaking countries

Unit 5: Celebración (Celebrations)

• Skills: students talk about things that are happening, will happen, and happened in the past, and days and dates

• Grammar topics: preterit, imperfect, and future tenses

• Cultural topics: celebrations of holidays in Spanish-speaking countries and Mexican and Conquest history

SEMESTER TWO

Unit 1: Posibilidades (Possibilities)

• Skills: students talk about future and conditional activities

• Grammar topics: sequence of tenses and future perfect tense

• Cultural topics: Puerto Rico and Luis Muñoz Marin

Unit 2: El Pasado (The Past)

• Skills: students use adverbs, and talk about their past and food

• Grammar topics: using verbs in the past tense that take on a special meaning and suffix patterns

• Cultural topics: foods eaten in Latin America, Ana María Matute, and Miguel de Unamuno

Unit 3: Las Artes (The Arts)

• Skills: students talk about what others have said or asked of them

• Grammar topics: correct sequencing of tenses for expressing thoughts and conditional statements

• Cultural topics: fine arts in Spanish-speaking worlds and contemporary and historic artists

Unit 4: Ahora (Current Events)

• Skills: students talk about electrical items and actions that happen that were not planned

• Grammar topics: irregular verbs and colloquial expressions

• Cultural topics: Hispanic culture and Gabriel García Márquez

Unit 5: Se Acaba (Wrap Up and Review)

• Skills: students talk about how they do things and about others

• Grammar topics: using relative pronouns

• Cultural topics: Latin American writers and Hispanic traditions

 

Spanish 5:

Unit 1 Grammar Review:

General time frame: 2 weeks

In this unit students will undergo an extensive review of the more advanced grammar which they have been exposed to in the past four courses of Spanish. The review begins with the past tenses, preterite and imperfect, and continues with the addition of the present perfect, the past perfect, the future, the conditional and the subjunctive. SAT 2 format and sample questions will be utilized during this section of the grammar review.

Unit Objectives:

1. Demonstrate mastery of previously taught grammar. Specifically, verb tense usage.

2. Identify and use appropriate verb tenses in written and speaking activities.

3. Use the irregular forms of the verbs correctly.

4. Use the subjunctive to describe obligations, desires, and opinions.

5. Differentiate between the preterite and the imperfect verb usage in the past tense.

6. Express past tense occurrences in the preterite or the present perfect.

7. Write about their summer experiences using the appropriate past tense. Meets Standards Pre-Advanced Learner Range

 

Unit 2 La Casa de Bernarda Alba:

General time frame: 8 weeks

In this unit students will read the play, “La Casa de Bernarda Alba”. This is a play written by Federico Garcia Lorca. Students will do some reading in class and at home. They will be required to keep a list of all new vocabulary and learn the vocabulary presented on the lists given by the instructor. They will learn about the author, Lorca, and the region of Andalucía in Spain. Students will do their own dramatizations of the work, compare, and contrast the characters and ultimately see a live performance of the play at the Repertorio Español in New York City.

Unit Objectives:

1. Read and interpret the play “La Casa de Bernarda Alba” in its entirety.

2. Demonstrate their ability to understand the lines and meanings during class discussions.

3. Be responsible to know all presented vocabulary and new grammatical structures.

4. Compose essays and answer questions related to the work.

5. Compare Lorca’s play to the work of American authors/playwriters.

6. Express the ideas about woman in the play with accuracy and fluency.

7. Compare and contrast the role of women in La Casa. to that of women during the same period of time in the United States.

8. Recognize Lorca’s style, symbolism, and feelings in the play.

 

Unit 3 Cultural Research Presentations:

General time frame: 4 weeks

The cultural research project will allow students to make their own selection of any Spanish speaking country to report on. They will investigate the history, government, religion, economy, people and most importantly, the cultural and traditional practices of that country. They will be given the opportunity to use library resources as well as the internet during class time and area expected to work on their projects at home. More than a compilation of facts, their presentation must include specific information about the people. They must compare the life of a student their age to themselves. They will be responsible for a written report and an oral presentation, both done in Spanish, which must include technology. They may use music, power point, smart boards, etc. during their presentation to the class and the instructor. Students will be required to take notes during their classmate’s presentations and to prepare for a test which will include information from each of the countries presented, based on the information provided by each student.

Unit objectives:

1. Read, translate, and interpret information on their chosen country.

2. Compare and contrast the culture and traditions of the people of their country to our practices and lifestyle.

3. Learn how to acquire information on Spanish websites, and possibly conduct live interviews on the net with students their age in their respective countries.

4. Form an opinion, based on their data, about their country and the people that live there.

5. Include information on the peoples’ careers, views on diversity, religious practices, and education.

6. Use technology to share the music and other relative information about their country with the class, via podcasting, etc.

7. Express their ideas and information using the correct tenses, grammar, and expressions during their oral presentations.

8. Demonstrate their learned knowledge on each country reported on via a written report.

9. Investigate the career opportunities available in the countries presented.

10. Compare the career opportunities in the respective countries to those of the United States.

 

Unit 4 History/Geography of Spain:

General time frame: 2-3 weeks

This unit will provide an overview of the history of Spain and the geography of present-day Spain in the target language. In this condensed version of the history, the origins of Spain dating as far back has BC times, include the arrival of the Iberians, Basques, Tartessians, Phoenicians and the Greeks. It continues with the Reconquista, the Catholic Kings, and the House of Austria, right through the 19th century until Francisco Franco and finally into the Spain of today. The geography goes hand in hand with special emphasis placed on the regionalization of Spain and information on the various regions, their capitals, customs, people, and the language.

Unit Objectives:

1. Identify and use geographic vocabulary accurately.

2. Understand the complexity of the early history of Spain.

3. Become familiar with important names, places, and dates in Spanish history.

4. Identify and know the location of the different regions/provinces of Spain.

5. Recognize differences in the regions in language and customs.

6. Compare Spain’s history with other European countries and the United States.

7. Recognize the contributions to language and culture that came with each set of conquerors.

8. Examine the progression of the economy, employment, and political power.

 

Unit 5 Poetry, Short Stories and Music:

General time frame: 4 weeks

In this unit students will explore the works of Pablo Neruda, Ana Maria Matute and Miguel Hernandez. They will memorize, interpret, and recite poetry. They will read the short stories of Matute and be able to see how they reflect her views of the Spanish Civil War. Students will be introduced to contemporary music from Spain and Latin America. They will listen to the Spanish groups of El Canto del Loco, La Oreja de Van Gogh, Malu and Amaral. They will also be exposed to Latin American groups/singers including: Mana, Aventura, Los Enanitos Verdes., Miranda and Shakira. Students will have the chance to compose their own poetry and music.

Unit Objectives:

1. Translate and interpret poetry by Neruda and Hernandez

2. Illustrate the works of Neruda, Hernandez and Matute

3. Compose their own poem following the style of one of the poets presented

4. Express their opionion of the works presented

5. Compare and contrast the poems and short stories of Neruda, Hernandez and Matute to those of American writers and poets they have studied.

6. Identify the different styles of poetry

7. Listen to different genres of Hispanic music from a variety of different countries

8. Interpret the lyrics of the music

9. Compare the music presented to the music they listen to

10. View music videos from the artists studied

 

Unit 6 Spanish in the Global Workplace:

General time frame: 3 weeks

The global workplace unit is most relevant to the students in the Spanish language classroom today. In this unit the students will research career paths that will utilize their Spanish language abilities. Students will be able to see how in today’s world combining the knowledge of Spanish with a variety of careers will offer them a multitude of opportunities. They will explore the different fields where either a major or minor in Spanish is required. They will investigate colleges and universities that offer Spanish major/minor programs. After they have researched whatever careers interest them, they will share the information with the class in an oral presentation. Students will also be made aware of the cultural differences involved with working in certain areas in the United States, as well as other countries.

Unit Objectives:

1. Research a specific career that requires the knowledge of Spanish that interests them

2. Find out exactly what kind of courses and certifications are needed for their specific career choice

3. Search for colleges/universities that offer the necessary programs

4. Compare the employment opportunities of a bilingual person verses a monolingual person

5. Compare the job opportunities in the United States to those of some Spanish speaking countries previously studied

6. Present an oral report incorporating technology, i.e. power point, smart board, etc., on their findings 7. Project what the future may bring for certain fields and careers

8. Meet and listen to a presentation first-hand by an individual who uses Spanish in their career

9. Review and incorporate the future tense in their presentation

 

Unit 7 News and Current Events:

In this unit students will acquire current events information from either the current issue of Authentik en español or any Spanish periodical found on the internet such as El Mundo or El Diario. They will also be required to view and discuss original Spanish broadcasts from the Spanish television station, Univision. After their exposure, they will orally present a summary of the event or broadcast in their own words. They will provide a written English interpretation of the same events. Students will research how to give a weather report in Spanish and present it to the class. They will also work with a partner and conduct interviews, making inquiries on specific topics; thus, acting as reporters. They will conduct their interviews in Spanish with other Spanish speakers, including Spanish teachers. They will present a written Spanish report on their findings. Time permitting, students will set up a mock Spanish newsroom and broadcast the local news in Spanish as a group activity.

Unit Objectives:

1. Research current event topics, including politics, entertainment, government and environmental issues and everyday occurrences.

2. Report the weather in the target language

3. Create a report on a relevant piece of current events

4. Acquire vocabulary and structure to permit accurate reading of newspapers and magazine articles

5. Present an original newscast using learned vocabulary and appropriate grammar

6. Become aware of and use multiple medians for reporting the news

7. Compare and contrast the Spanish language periodicals, magazines, and live broadcasts to those of the United States

8. Investigate what is required to obtain a career in news reporting in selected Spanish speaking countries

 

Unit 8 Art Expression:

This final unit is designed to allow the students of Spanish 5 to express themselves via their own creation of art. Students will paint a selected cinderblock in the classroom, leaving a permanent mark for the High Point community. Their block can represent any aspect of the Spanish language and the Spanish 5 class. Students will be encouraged to show diversity, cultural understanding, and the importance of the language in our future.

Unit Objectives:

1. Brainstorm with one another to develop their ideas.

2. Present a rough draft form of their design to the instructor before starting.

3. Use the median of paint to express their feelings about the class, Spanish language, and culture.

4. Conduct research to see what kind of murals/artwork have been produced by students in Spanish speaking countries.