Discussion: ¿Cómo son los estudiantes?

Purpose: You will practice your listening and speaking skills in Spanish by listening to a recording and responding to the prompts in Spanish, as well as asking questions to your fellow classmates. You will focus on using the verb ser with descriptive adjectives that best describe the people in the prompt.

Task: This activity has four parts:

  1. A recording and an opportunity to prepare your responses
  2. An initial response to the prompts in Spanish
  3. Two additional prompts posed to two of your classmates
  4. A final response to the two additional prompts your classmates posed to you

Paso 1. Below, you will see eight prompts. A Spanish instructor has chosen four of those prompts for you to respond to. Listen to the recording the Spanish instructor made, and choose an answer from the word bank that best fits each prompt. You may write it down to reference in the next step. The word bank and prompts are listed for you below so that you can read along with the Spanish instructor.


Word Bank:

Son inteligentes – Son listos – Son liberales – Son responsables – Son terribles – Son vivos – Son perezosos – Son jóvenes – Son cómicos

Prompts:

  1. Traen sus tareas, sus cuadernos, prestan atención, participan en clase, hacen preguntas y sacan buenas notas: ____________ ____________________.
  2. Hacen los trabajos escritos temprano, comienzan sus lecturas con tiempo de anticipación, balancean (balance) sus actividades y manejan (manage) bien su tiempo: ____________ ____________________.
  3. Tienen ideas progresistas, su criterio sobre los conceptos de moralidad son amplios y flexibles: ____________ ____________________.
  4. No tienen mucha edad, se sienten fuertes generalmente, les gusta divertirse y salir con los amigos: ____________ ____________________.
  5. Cuentan historias chistosas, se ríen de todo con gracia y a veces juegan con las palabras (make plays-on-words): ____________ ____________________.
  6. No hacen las tareas, pierden mucho el tiempo (waste time), tienen excusas y generalmente sacan malas notas porque no estudian: ____________ ____________________.
  7. Les piden a sus profesores listas con guías para estudiar, van a la oficina del profesor y tratan de entender el formato de los exámenes, se preocupan por su rendimiento (performance) y promedio académico (academic average): ____________ ____________________.
  8. Salen tarde por la noche, van a fiestas, se emborrachan y al otro día tienen dolor de cabeza (headache): ____________ ____________________.

Paso 2.  In a single audio file, repeat the prompts the Spanish instructor chose and share your answers using ser with descriptive adjectives (if you make mistakes, it is okay and expected; start over from the beginning of the sentence and keep recording). The format for your response should be Prompt Number, Prompt, Respuesta (your answer).

Paso 3. Pick two additional prompts you want to pose to your fellow students (you need to choose from the 4 prompts that the Spanish instructor did NOT use in Part 1). Using a computer or a voice memo function on a smartphone, in a single audio file read the two additional prompts you chose in Spanish (if you make mistakes, it is okay and expected; start over from the beginning of the sentence and keep recording). Post the audio file as a comment to two of your peers.

Paso 4. Just as you have posted two additional prompts to two peers, some of your peers have posted additional prompts to you. In a single audio file, read the additional prompts out loud and share your answers using ser with descriptive adjectives (if you make mistakes, it is okay and expected; start over from the beginning of the sentence and keep recording). The format for your response should be Prompt Number, Prompt, Respuesta, Your answer.

Criteria: The components of this activity add up to 100%.

Pasos 1 & 2. 40% of your grade will be earned for responding to the prompts given in the Spanish instructor’s recording. You will hear four prompts, and you will record a single audio file in which you read each prompt again and use ser with descriptive adjectives to describe the people in the prompts.  Post this audio file to the discussion board (if you make mistakes, it is okay and expected; start over from the beginning of the sentence and keep recording). Each response is worth 10%.

Paso 3. 30% of your grade will be earned for interacting with two peers on their initial posts: you are to record an audio file in which you read the two additional prompts you chose and post this audio file as a follow up comment to two peers. You may use the same audio file for both peers if you would like.

Paso 4. 30% of your grade will be earned for responding to your peers who gave you two additional prompts. You are to record a single audio file in which you read each prompt again and use ser with descriptive adjectives to describe the people in the prompts (if you make mistakes, it is okay and expected; start over from the beginning of the sentence and keep recording). You may respond with an audio file for each peer, or you may combine all of your final prompts and responses into a single audio file. The format for your response should be Prompt Number, Prompt, Respuesta (your answer).

Ejemplo:

Danny listens to the recording. He prepares his answers to the prompts by using the word bank given. Danny then records a single audio file in which he repeats each prompt and gives his answer. He uploads this single audio file to the discussion board. He has earned 40% of the points for this activity.

Danny then finds two peers, Tom and Tim, and he posts two additional prompts as a comment to each of their original posts. He uses the same audio file so that he doesn’t have to record twice. He has earned 30% of the points for this activity.

Danny goes back to his original post and sees that two of his classmates have posted two additional prompts each for him to respond to. He listens to their prompts carefully and prepares his answers. He records a final audio file in which he addresses the prompts of each peer by reading the prompt again and answering the prompt with ser and descriptive adjectives. He has earned 30% of the points for this activity.