Videoblog
Proyecto de español 130
In groups of 3, students will record 5 clips of 3-4 min. each throughout the semester, where
they will discuss some activities done outside of the classroom in relation to the topics studied in
each chapter of the Fuentes textbook. At the end of the semester, your instructor will receive a
DVD with 5 clips recorded by your team. The total duration of the 5 clips together must not
exceed 30 minutes.
Suggested Activities for the Videoblog
Capítulo 1: Las costumbres culturales

Read and analyze a poem about any Hispanic culture that talks about cultural habits.

Choose a song that deals with the chapter’s topic, and talk about the connection
between the song and the content of the chapter.

Eating is a fun cultural habit! Go to a Hispanic restaurant and record your experience.

Discuss a Hispanic TV program where people talk about cultural habits.

Do a role-play of a Hispanic television program where presenter and/or participants talk
about cultural habits.

Interview a Hispanic person. Ask him/her about some cultural differences between US
and their country of origin.
Capítulo 2: La historia de España

Go to an exhibit in the museum (e.g. the Philadelphia Museum of Art) that shows art
from Spain where you can learn some more about Spanish history, and talk in your clip
about what you learned.

Choose a Spanish painter and analyze some of his/her paintings.

Talk about a TV program that you have seen about the History of Spain and discuss
what you learned.

Read a literary work (a poem, a fragment of a novel) from a Spanish writer and discuss
it.

Role-play a historical event that you have learned in class (e.g. a conversation between
Christopher Columbus and the Catholic Kings, or between Hernán Cortés and
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Moctezuma/la Malinche/a group of indigenous people, or between Federico García
Lorca and Francisco Franco/a group of Fascists, etc.).

Watch a movie about some topic related to the History of Spain and coment it (e.g. Yo,
la peor de todas, El cid, 1492: La conquista del Paraíso, El laberinto del fauno, La lengua de las
mariposas, etc.)
Capítulo 3: La historia de Mesoamérica

Go to an exhibit of Mesoamerican art in a local museum and discuss what you saw and
learned (e.g. the Museum of Anthropology at UPenn has a wonderful permanent exhibit
about the Mayas).

Read a text about Mesoamerican indigenous cultures and analyze it (it might be a poem,
an article, a historical text, etc.).

Interview a Hispanic American person and ask questions about the indigenous
communities in Latin America today.

Choose an indigenous work of art, do some research about it, and discuss it.

Do some research about any component of Mesoamerican culture of your interest (e.g.
architecture, religion, rituals, clothes, food, etc.) and talk about it.

Watch a movie about the history of Mesoamerica with your group, and discuss it.
Capítulo 4: La inmigración

Interview a Hispanic immigrant and ask him questions about his/her experience as
immigrant in the US, and his/her own immigration story.

Watch a TV program that talks about immigration, present it and discuss it.

Read a news article in a Hispanic newspaper about immigration and discuss it (it might
be about the immigration of Hispanics to the US or about any topic related to
immigration within any Hispanic country. Some suggested newspapers: BBC mundo, El
país, Clarín, La vanguardia. All of them are available online).

Choose a text (it might be, for example, literary or artistic) that talks about immigration,
analyze it and discuss it.

Watch a movie about immigration in the Hispanic World, or about Hispanic immigrants
in the US, analyze it and discuss it (e.g. Al otro lado, Real Women Have Curves, Bolivia, Babel,
Maria Full of Grace, Flores de otro mundo, Princesas, Quinceañera, Balseros, El Norte, etc.)
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Capítulo 5: La comida

Go to a Hispanic restaurant and record the experience.

Cook with your group, give instructions on how to prepare a meal, and record the
experience.

Role-play a visit to a restaurant (e.g. a student would be a waiter/waitress, and the rest of
the students would be the clients).

Interview a Hispanic person and ask him/her about the food in his/her country.

Choose a text that talks about the culinary customs in a Hispanic country and discuss it.

Choose a text that talks about the culinary customs in a Hispanic country and compare
these customs to your own.

Read a poem/a fragment of a novel/a short story in Spanish about food, analyze it and
discuss it.

Listen to a song that talks about food in a Hispanic country, analyze it and discuss it.
Capítulo 6: Dictadura y democracia

Interview a Hispanic person and ask him/her about the politics in his/her country.

Watch a movie about Democracy and Dictatorship in the Hispanic World. E.g. Cautiva,
La lengua de las mariposas, Machuca, El laberinto del Fauno, La historia oficial etc.). The movie
must be different from the one that we will watch in class.

Make a comparison between the movie that we have watched for this class and another
movie that deals with the same topic (see suggested titles above).

Choose a song that deals with this topic (Democracy and Dictatorship in the Hispanic
World), analyze it and discuss it.

Do some research about the political regime of a Hispanic country of your interest, and
discuss it.

Read a news article about some political issue in a Hispanic country and discuss it.
Requirements
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
Each activity must be different (e.g. if your group has selected and discussed a song in
relation to chapter 1 as the first activity of your videoblog, you cannot select another
song for any of the remaining activities in the videoblog).

Students cannot read in Spanish. The main objective of this component of the course
is to practice and improve your oral skills (indeed, this activity is in place of the
traditional oral exams). Therefore, reading during your discussion will be penalized (e.g.
you might recite a poem, and then discuss it. In this case, you can read the poem, but
you should not read during your discussion).

If the group decides to do an activity different from the ones suggested above, they may
do so, but first they must inform their instructor. So if you want to do a different activity
from the ones suggested, please remember to talk to your instructor about it before you
do the recording!

Students must speak in Spanish all the time, in each clip. Students must appear on
screen.

Students must incorporate the vocabulary and the grammatical structures learned
in that chapter. Also, they should make an effort to recycle the grammatical structures
previously learned in the course.

You may record your clips from your computer, if you have a webcam, or you may use a
digital camera, or a video camera, or even your cell phone if the image quality is high.
You may also use any of the resources available to you on campus (e.g. in Weigle
Information Commons in Van Pelt Library there are recording rooms available). Please
talk to your instructor if you have doubts about how to proceed with your recordings.

Students must not leave this activity for the end of the semester. In the event that this
happened, students would be penalized. You must do your recording right at the end
of each chapter, at the most convenient time for all of the members of the group.

At the end of the semester, each group will hand their instructor a DVD with their 5
clips.

You may choose 5 out of the 6 chapters for your videoblog.

The first clip will be handed to your instructor for revision on the date indicated on the
syllabus. At this time you should meet with your instructor and clarify any doubts you
may have, in order to proceed with the project.

This activity will constitute 10% of your final grade.
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Summary of Important Grammar Points per Chapter
Capítulo 1: Las costumbres culturales

Gustar y verbos similares

Adjetivos descriptivos con ser

Futuro perifrástico (ir + a + infinitivo)

Presente de indicativo

Verbos reflexivos
Capítulo 2: La historia de España

¿Qué? y ¿cuál?

Pronombres de sujeto y de objeto directo y su posición

A personal

Pretérito

Adverbios y expresiones de tiempo

Imperfecto

Pluscuamperfecto
Capítulo 3: La historia de Mesoamérica

Pretérito vs. Imperfecto

Participio pasado como adjetivo

Adjetivos descriptivos y ser y estar + adjetivo
Capítulo 4: La inmigración

Lo + adjetivo

Lo que

Se accidental

Presente perfecto de indicativo
Capítulo 5: La comida

Presente de subjuntivo

Mandatos

Se impersonal y se pasivo
Capítulo 6: Dictadura y democracia

Presente perfecto de subjuntivo
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Summary of Important Vocabulary Contents per Chapter
Capítulo 1:

Las costumbres culturales

La vida nocturna

La identidad nacional
Capítulo 2:

La historia de España

El cine

Los cuentos/leyendas
Capítulo 3:

La historia de Mesoamérica

Las leyendas indígenas
Capítulo 4:

La inmigración

Los famosos inmigrantes

La cultura del Caribe
Capítulo 5:

La comida

El spanglish
Capítulo 6:

Dictadura y democracia

La política
Videoblog Objectives

Instigate your research curiosity.

Relate what you learn in the classroom with the real world.

Help you practice oral Spanish and improve your communication skills.

Expand your knowledge about Hispanic culture.

Promote your interaction with other classmates and your sharing of ideas through group
work.
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