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A2 AQA SPANISH CULTURAL TOPICS

Last post 06/02/12 at 20:33 by ammakitch, 17 replies
Post started by nschweitzer59 on 26/01/11 at 14:10

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  • nschweitzer59 avatar
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    Posted by: nschweitzer59 26/01/2011 at 14:10
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    Hi all,

    I'm having to teach the cultural topics for the first time and wondering if anyone has recommendations as to which are good topics to teach ( as in, good /relevant resources available) but particularly, do you know of topics that the students have really liked?

     And also, of course, where to find good resources for them, and how long should you spend teaching it? Would you encourage the students to do some research?

     

    As I said, I'm completely new to this so any help would be much appreciated!

     

    Many thanks.
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    Posted by: HelenWickes 26/01/2011 at 21:50
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    Hi nschweitzer59, I am also teaching Spanish A2 cultural topics for the first time this year. The history of 20th century Cuba (my first topic) took me all of the summer to sort, reading reference books and preparing a series of slide shows. But I have to admit I found it very interesting. With limited time for a second subject I went for a film. Pedro Almodovar's Women on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown has a lot published and is very stright forward. A slice of Madrid life. The students seem to enjoy a film; I show three chapters per lesson and then prepare a series of questions on those chapters. This helps towards the writing and speaking exam.

     

    Helen
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    Posted by: lingo_lass 27/01/2011 at 15:07
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    Hi there

     

    I have taught previously Eduardo Mendoza's Sin Noticias de Gurb (old spec) and currently teach Pan's Labyrinth. A colleague who I co-taught with did Catalunya. All of our resources are on my site languagesresources.co.uk, in the A Level Spanish section.

    Dulwich College's Spanish resource section also has some great film and history stuff, particularly Andalucia.

     

    Regards

    Sam
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    Posted by: nschweitzer59 16/02/2011 at 11:28
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    hi, thanks a lot for your help about the A2 topics, also looked at your website , which is great! Funnily enough, I was actually thinking of doing Cataluna as a topic!! Just wondering though, I'm massively late and haven't even started teaching the topics (lots of catching up to do as this group last year spent 1/2 the year without a teacher!). Therefore, we'll have 6 weeks to cover Cataluna AND Pan's labyrinth... How would you go about it to just try to teach the essential stuff and cut corners a bit? Also, what could I give them to do during 1/2 term in preparation for the topics, and which topics would you do first? Sorry I know I'm asking a lot of questions but I really want to get this right as it's so important for their exams... Thanks!!!
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    Posted by: josephiney 16/02/2011 at 14:02
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    If you are planning on doing both topics from now, I suggest you pick the one that you want them to do for the essay question on the written paper and focus mainly on that one. I would then only prepare the second topic with the oral exam in mind, perhaps give them a list of questions that could come up (but it has to be a conversation, so it can't be a prescriptive list of questions - I find that some questions really helps them though as they have a starting point). This is not the ideal way, but it is the way that I would do it in this limited amount of time.

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    Posted by: nschweitzer59 26/02/2011 at 16:45
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     yeah that's probably what I'll do. How exactly do you go about teaching about a film and what sort of activity is best to prepare them for the exams? I've asked them to focus on different aspects of the film and come with a presentation during the hols but after that, not sure how to best teach about it..

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    Posted by: lingo_lass 28/02/2011 at 13:20
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    Have a look at past questions. They seem to be focussed on very vague things such as 'why is this film successful/important/interesting' etc and so you can use anything you want to answer.

    I tend to focus on:

    characters

    main themes (in Pan's Lab these would be: women, war, relationships, children, fantasy etc)

    filming - lighting, shots, scenes, colours, sounds etc

    My resources have stuff on all this, plus useful speaking questions. My kids want to do the film for the writing, not the region, so that is how we will teach it.
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    Posted by: OTTER 28/02/2011 at 14:38
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    There are some great resources for studying Pan's Labyrinth here.

    http://www.cornerhouse.org/resources/item.aspx?ID=92
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    Posted by: Dediteach 01/03/2011 at 22:53
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    Is there any chance you could put the questions onto the TES website?  I am also teaching 'Mujeres ...' and my pupils are currently preparing a presentation for their oral and then we will practise answering questions on the film but I have no idea what sort of questions they might be asked!  I guess they will be about the themes etc but any help you can offer would be fantastic.  Many thanks.
  • lingo_lass avatar
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    Posted by: lingo_lass 02/03/2011 at 20:32
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    Pans questions are already in the a level Spanish section of my website languagesresources.co.uk
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