Real World Homework
Choose your own adventure!
To build fluency in a language you must be motivated to interact with that language on
many levels. As a result, students in Spanish 2 are required to interact with Spanish in
some way every week outside of class. You have many choices available to you, as outlined
below, and you are welcome to create ideas of your own and present them to Profesora
Mertens for approval. You are highly encouraged to seek out topics that interest you.
Interested in music? Love sports? Fascinated by science? Intrigued by other cultures? This
is an opportunity for you to spend time exploring those fields and develop your Spanish
skills at the same time.
Each Friday you must submit a description of what you did including one thing
you learned and one thing you did well. Make sure to include the type of skill
you practiced (listening, reading, speaking, writing, or culture & performance)
with the number (from this paper) and name of the song, podcast, article, website
etc. that you used. You cannot repeat one activity more than one time in a 9-week
grading period, and you need to include at least 2 listening options and 2 reading
options at some point during each quarter. Several options are listed below. The
first one for this quarter is due Friday, September 11
Remember: you are HIGHLY encouraged to create assignments that interest you – just have
them approved in advance by Profe Mertens. Also, consult with your parents/guardians on
the options you choose, especially the ones that involve travel and/or expense. They are
encouraged to share these experiences with you, and you must choose options that meet
their approval.
LISTENING OPTIONS: Take notes on what you hear (English or Spanish) and
write a few sentences in Spanish on what you liked/didn’t like.
1. Listen to Latin music for 45 minutes. Check out www.envivoradio.com or
other sites/apps like Pandora, Spotify, Songza and Grooveshark.
2. Watch TV in Spanish for 30 minutes. If you have digital cable or satellite,
you should be able to find several Spanish-language channels. You can also
find YouTube channels of major networks (Telemundo Novelas, for
example). Also try Hulu Latino and Netflix (Internado is a current popular
series on Netflix). Please, please, please beware of content. If you are unsure
if it will be appropriate ask your parents or me first!
3. Watch 3 video clips on sports on www.espndeportes.com (click videos) and
3 clips on current news on www.univision.com.
4. Watch a soccer game (or other sport) in Spanish. Try www.telemundo.com,
www.livesoccertv.com, or watch one on your TV at home if you can.
5. Watch 10 Intermediate A or 5 Intermediate B videos (or higher) on
www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/.
6. Scour YouTube and find a good PSA (public service announcement) or
commercial in Spanish that we could use in class. Email me the link and list
at least 10 words that you understand, as well as how you think it connects
to class.
7. Watch a YouTube tutorial in Spanish on a topic you’re interested in (10
minutes or more). You can find tutorials in Spanish by searching for
“tutoria” and then the topic in Spanish, such as “baile”, “maquillaje”,
“guitarra”, etc.
8. Listen to the news in Spanish for 30 minutes. Check out
www.bbsmundo.com, www.newsinslowspanish.com or
www.cnnespanol.cnn.com.
9. Listen to podcasts in Spanish for 30 minutes. Check out www.audiria.com
10. Go to www.readlang.com/es and choose 5 A2 or 3 B1 songs, conversations
and/or dialogues to listen to.
11. Go to www.senorwooly.com. Click on the games tab and play either 5
videogames at the fácil level, 3 at the moderado level or 2 at the difícil level.
Tell what song(s) you chose, and your scores. To do this you will have to create a
free student account. The access code is JRFUm2K.
12. Attend a Spanish-language worship service. Write about your experience
(you may do this in English). How did it go? What familiar things did you
see? What new things did you see? How much did you understand? Check out
Profesora Mertens’ website for a few places in Springfield where you can do
this.
READING OPTIONS: Make sure to bring in or email a screenshot of what you
completed or a print out of the reading material.
1. Change your Facebook location to a Spanish speaking country and play on FB
for 30 minutes. Bring a screenshot of your work. What did you
learn/discover?
2. Change your Twitter location to a Spanish speaking country and read the
trending topic tweets for 30 minutes. Be sure that the tweets are in Spanish!
Bring a screenshot of your work. What did you learn/discover?
3. Follow 3 famous Spanish speakers on Twitter. Performers are usually a good
place to start (musicians, actors, dancers or athletes). Make sure that they
actually tweet in Spanish before you follow them.
4. Find and follow Instagrammers in Spain/Latin America. Do this by searching
for #pais (#mexico, #peru, #espana, etc.) Please make sure to preview the
user’s profile before you follow them to make sure 1) they are posting in
Spanish and 2) they are not posting inappropriate content. A good place to
start is @igersperu
5. Browse (read) an online Spanish-language newspaper for 30 minutes. What
are the most intriguing things that you discovered? Some to try:
www.abc.es, www.endi.com, www.elpais.es, www.bbcmundo.com,
www.clarin.com, www.elmercurio.com, www.cnnespanol.cnn.com
6. Find an article in a field that interests you. This can be from a newspaper
(separate from an article you read if you complete the option above), online
magazines such as www.vivelohoy.com, www.tuenlinea.com or People en
Español (available in the classroom too), or even blogs. Read the article,
summarize its main idea in English, and list 5-10 words from the article that
you didn’t know before but figured out from context clues.
7. Explore corporate Spanish-language websites for 30 minutes. Several fast
food restaurants (Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, etc) have locations
Spanish-speaking countries. You could also check out the MLB website at
www.lasmayores.com. What are some similarities and differences between
their menus and other information provided on their sites?
8. Read a book in Spanish for 30 minutes. You may get one from me (I have
several!) or check out the Clark County Public Library. Summarize the main
idea of what you read in English, and list 5-10 words from the reading that
you didn’t know before but figured out from context clues. This option may be
repeated up to 4 times per quarter if you are continuing the same book.
9. Read 3 familiar chapters of the Bible or other religious text in Spanish.
(online)
10. Change your cell phone language to Spanish for an entire week. What did
you learn/discover?
11. On www.mememartes.tumblr.com read the last 12 memes. Choose your
favorite and answer the questions that go along with it.
12. Explore the infographs on www.infografiasencastellano.com,
www.infografiasdelperu.blogspot.com, or www.sp.rian.ru/infografia.com.
Find one that really interests you and print it out. Summarize the main idea
of what you read in English and list 5-10 words that you didn’t know before
but figured out from context clues.
13. Read an article about a famous Latino politician, musician, or historical
figure at www.es.wikipedia.org. Prepare a small poster or infograph (you can
create your own at www.piktochart.com) about the person, providing a timeline
of some key events of his/her life. Also include 3-4 sentences in Spanish
using your own words to tell who s/he is and why s/he is interesting to you.
14. Read one of Jorge Ramos’ essays in Spanish dealing with current events
(www.jorgeramos.com/articulos/.) Tell me what you learned. Use Spanish to
explain whether you agree or disagree with his opinion and why.
15. Complete one of the movie activities here: www.zacharyjones.com/zambombazo/category/cine/. After watching the video, print and
complete the worksheet that goes along with it.
WRITING OPTIONS: Make sure to give me evidence of your work.
1. Participate in #spanstuchat on the 1st or 3rd Tuesday of the month from 910pm. Answer all of the questions in Spanish and chatting with other
students.
2. Participate in the #instagramELE challenge for 5 days. Use the word of the
day in a sentence or with as much description as you can. Go here to find the
words that are going to be used each day for a month.
http://pilarmunday.com/instagramele/ Use #laclasedeSraMertens so I can
easily find what you did.
SPEAKING OPTIONS: Make sure to give me evidence of your work.
1. Go shopping at a Latin grocery store and complete your purchase (if you
make one) in Spanish. Give a short video tour of the store in Spanish. Locally
we have a store called La Condesa at the Burnett Rd. Plaza. There are also
several locations of La Michoacana in Dayton and Columbus.
2. Have a 10-minute conversation with Siri in Spanish (you must first change
your phone language to Spanish). What were some of her funny/good/odd
answers? Take several screen shots to show me or have someone else record
the conversation (this can be audio only if you prefer).
3. Chat with a friend via Facebook. Twitter, text or another messaging medium.
The communication needs to have a minimum of 8 exchanges (8 messages per
person).
4. Chat with a native Spanish speaker or a Spanish teacher (can be from
Shawnee, another high school, or a professor at a college) for 15 minutes.
Evaluate your conversation – how did it go? What did you need to know that
you didn’t? What went well? Your evaluation can be in English.
CULTURAL & PERFORMANCE OPTIONS: Make sure to give me evidence of
your work.
1. Create a Pinterest board of at least 7 recipes in Spanish. The recipes must be
for authentic Latino dishes. (Search “recetas” on Pinterest to get started.)
2. Using post-it notes (or small pieces of paper and tape), label 10 items in your
house that you don’t already know the word for. These should be items you
see daily and want to know how to say in Spanish. Leave the labels there for
a week and take pictures to show me you did this. Then report to me from
memory (as best you can) what all the items were. (Use
www.wordreference.com to find the Spanish words.)
3. If you want to do the option above, the week before you do that one you can
come to me and draw, act, or explain the items you want to label in your
house and I will give you the word for them.
4. Tutor a Spanish 1 student for 20 minutes. Who did you tutor and what did
you help him/her with. What did you learn from this?
5. Make an authentic Latino dish and serve it to your family. Try these sites to
find a recipe: www.micocinalatina.com (click on the “recetas” tab) or
www.quericavida.com. Bring in some for me for extra credit in my
!
6. Go to a Latino restaurant and make a recording of your experience. Include a
quick peek of what the restaurant looks like on the inside (and outside if you
want), the staff and the food you and whoever goes with you order. Be brave
enough to try new foods! We have several options in the area and there are
even more in Columbus and Dayton – check out the “Aquí en Springfield” tab
on my website for some ideas on where to go. (Taco Bell and Chipotle don’t
count!)
7. If you complete the option above you can do this one at the same time and it
will count as a separate homework assignment. Talk to your server at the
restaurant and ask him/her a few questions. Then, make a recording of you
and the server. Introduce the person and tell me what you learned about
him/her. (You can only do this one if the server speaks Spanish!)
8. Explore the Spanish-language section of Barnes & Noble (or another
bookstore that has a large Spanish section) for 30 minutes. Find 2 things you
would like to own. Write 3-4 sentences in Spanish describing the experience
and why you chose what you did.
9. Explore clothing store websites from Spanish-speaking countries. Find at
least 3 outfits you would like to own and create a style sheet with pictures of
the clothing and detailed descriptions in Spanish. Some stores to try:
www.pimkie.es, www.elcorteingles.es, www.ripley.cl (type “la ropa” in the
search bar of this site).
10. Talk to your parents, other relatives or an adult friend who would like to
know more Spanish to use in their job. Find out the top 6-8 phrases they
wish they knew and make a glossary for them of those phrases. Provide a
one-on-one 15-minute lesson to help them practice their new skills.
Summarize your experience. Who did you help, what phrases did you give
them, and what did you learn?
11. Play on the free Duolingo app for 30 minutes. Complete progressively
advancing levels. Bring evidence of your progress.
Do you have other ideas? Talk to Profe for approval!!