Current Events

Politics

Technology

The Media

Topic: Current Events

Communication

• Person-to-Person Communication
  
  • Debate issues concerning current events.
    
  • Express and exchange reactions to current events.
    
• Listening and Reading for Understanding
  
  • Identify pertinent information when listening to newscasts or reading selections from written news sources.
    
• Oral and Written Presentation
  
  • Produce oral and written reports and articles on current events.
    
  • Develop and explain opinions and reactions to current news events.
    

Cultures

• Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products
  
  • Explore traditional attitudes when reacting to current events.
    
  • Explore differences in reporting current events.
    

Connections, Comparisons, and Communities

• Making Connections Through Language
  
  • Recognize a connection to various school subjects to include social sciences, history, government, and science.
    
• Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons
  
  • Compare and contrast attitudes of people in the U.S. and in Spanish-speaking countries towards world events.
    
  • Compare the Spanish use of the perfect tense and the contrasting uses of the preterite and imperfect tenses with English when discussing current events.
    
  • Recognize borrowed words and cognates from news articles and TV broadcasts in both languages.
    
  • Examine the differences between the English and Spanish uses of the subjunctive mood.
    
• Communication Across Communities
  
  • Locate and use authentic resources in Spanish to broaden understanding of current events.
    

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Vocabulary related to political systems
  
• Vocabulary related to geography and contemporary issues
  
• Expressions of conviction, opinions, and agreement or disagreement
  
• Use of subjunctive mood, preterite versus imperfect, perfect tenses, and passive voice
  

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Topic: Politics

Communication

• Person-to-Person Communication
  
  • Participate in sustained conversation and/or debate about past and present political events.
    
  • Debate merits of political candidates.
    
• Listening and Reading for Understanding
  
  • Read newspaper and magazine articles related to political events.
    
  • Comprehend news broadcasts about political matters.
    
  • Comprehend written and oral materials on elections.
    
• Oral and Written Presentation
  
  • Produce spoken or written presentations on varied political views.
    
  • Give a detailed summary and/or critique of an article or news broadcast about politics.
    
  • Produce spoken and/or written presentations on the various political parties in Spanish-speaking countries.
    

Cultures

• Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products
  
  • Examine the influence of history on the political systems of Spanish-speaking countries to include monarchies, democracies, dictatorships, etc.
    
  • Explore the influence different political systems have had on cultural aspects of Spanish-speaking countries.
    

Connections, Comparisons, and Communities

• Making Connections Through Language
  
  • Relate knowledge of politics gained in government or social studies classes to information learned in Spanish class.
    
• Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons
  
  • Compare the political systems in the U.S. and Spanish-speaking countries.
    
  • Compare the world view of the U.S. to world views of Spanish-speaking countries (international law, conflicts, economic issues, etc.).
    
  • Identify cognates and Spanish terms related to politics.
    
• Communication Across Communities
  
  • Access information on the Internet about political issues and events in Spanish-speaking countries.
    
  • Investigate the various voting policies in Spanish-speaking countries.
    

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Vocabulary related to the legal system
  
• Vocabulary related to rights and responsibilities
  
• Vocabulary related to government, political parties, and elections
  
• Vocabulary related to economic issues
  
• Expressions used in negotiations
  

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Topic: Technology

Communication

• Person-to-Person Communication
  
  • Discuss the evolution of technology.
    
  • Discuss the applications of technology in contemporary society.
    
  • Describe how technology has influenced our society.
    
• Listening and Reading for Understanding
  
  • Comprehend oral and written information about the use of technology throughout history.
    
  • Explore and understand the history and evolution of technology in today’s society.
    
• Oral and Written Presentation
  
  • Describe how technology has created as well as solved problems in our society.
    
  • Give a detailed summary and/or critique of an article or news broadcast about technology.
    
  • Produce spoken or written presentations supporting the use of technology in our community.
    
  • Use various technological techniques in a presentation to examine the use of technology in our community.
    

Cultures

• Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products
  
  • Discuss attitudes towards technology in education and the workplace.
    
  • Examine and discuss how technology has changed social interactions in today’s society.
    
  • Compare and contrast historical achievements without the use of modern technology.
    

Connections, Comparisons, and Communities

• Making Connections Through Language
  
  • Discuss how technology is used in other disciplines, such as math, science, the humanities, and vocational studies.
    
• Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons
  
  • Increase awareness of the use of technology in Spanish-speaking countries.
    
  • Identify cognates and other vocabulary related to technology.
    
• Communication Across Communities
  
  • Access information on the Internet about the evolution of technology.
    
  • Use technology in the production of commercials, plays, recordings, menus, etc.
    

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Vocabulary related to technology
  

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Topic: The Media

Communication

• Person-to-Person Communication
  
  • Maintain a discussion related to the media.
    
  • Discuss the media's influence on current events.
    
  • Discuss the impact of the media's presentation of current events.
    
  • Analyze and discuss presentational techniques of the media.
    
• Listening and Reading for Understanding
  
  • Identify pertinent information when listening to newscasts or reading selections from print news sources or the Internet.
    
• Oral and Written Presentation
  
  • Produce an oral or written report on the positive and/or negative influence of the media.
    
  • Develop and explain opinions and reactions to the media.
    
  • Produce spoken and/or written presentations on the variety of ways in which the media can be used to slant the news.
    

Cultures

• Cultural Perspectives, Practices, and Products
  
  • Explore authentic media sources and discuss cultural attitudes when reacting to the media.
    
  • Explore differences in media reporting.
    
  • Explore how media presentations reflect cultural attitudes.
    

Connections, Comparisons, and Communities

• Making Connections Through Language
  
  • Identify and/or demonstrate a connection to various school subjects to include psychology, history, humanities, government, and technology.
    
• Cultural and Linguistic Comparisons
  
  • Compare and contrast reporting techniques of the American media with those of Spanish-speaking countries.
    
  • Compare the Spanish use of the perfect tense and the contrasting uses of the preterite and the imperfect tenses with English past tenses when discussing current events.
    
• Communication Across Communities
  
  • Locate and use authentic resources in Spanish to broaden understanding of the media.
    

Related Vocabulary and Linguistic Elements

• Vocabulary related to the media, past and present
  
• Vocabulary related to contemporary issues.
  
• Expressions of conviction, opinions, and agreement or disagreement.
  
  

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