Blogs+-+Activity

Describe an activity for one of the target language blogs that you found.
 * BLOG ACTIVITY **

For Blog Activity 4, I plan on having my class of French IV students plan a 3-day visit in Paris. This will give them a real-life idea of what is involved with traveling. Students will also develop an appreciation for, and knowledge of, some famous tourist sites.
 * FROM CARRIE: **

Students will use the Paris travel site []. Students will be required to research and include the following plans: 1. Hotels: Students should look at what different hotels offer in the form of accommodations/luxuries. 2. Restaurants: Students should browse menus and use dictionaries to learn new food vocabulary. 3. Sites to visit: Students should include a brief history of the site, as well as what they will visit here and why. 4. Travel details: Students should research the Paris Metro routes and walking plans. Students must keep a running list of costs and time it takes to visit, eat at, or travel to and from various locations. Finally, students must use the blog included on this site to read and respond to comments, and to ask questions of their own. This will give them a better idea of the value of their trip as well as helpful hints to keep in mind while visiting Paris.

Blog Activity #4: from Anneliese Carter __**German IV - Spring Break in Germany**:__ Spring break has 10 days therefore students must plan for– 2 travel days and one recovery day back home before school starts, leaving them 7 days in Germany. They will be grouped into pairs for travel partners and will travel to Germany over Spring Break. Flights will be pre-arranged and students will arrive in Frankfurt am Main and take off again from the same airport. They must schedule a round trip through 3-4 cities that will take no more than 7 days. Each pair will need to keep track of the following: Students can use maps, photos, hotels, restaurants and tourist information from the web site: German IV - Spring Break in Germany []. Once their trip is complete, they can present their trip in the form of a Power Point to the rest of the class. Students will understand what is involved in planning a trip to Germany - all the aspects that must be considered from reservations to logistics to costs. A better understanding of what they would see in each city and an appreciation for historical sites in Germany.
 * __Cities__**: What cities do they plan to visit and what about the distances from one to another, is this practical and how long will it take? Why did they choose this city for their trip?
 * __Transportation__**: How will they get from one city to another, how long will it take them, and what will it cost?
 * __Hotels__**: Where will they stay in each city and how much will it cost them?
 * __Food__**: Where will they eat and what are the costs for each meals? Is breakfast included in their hotel, what about lunch and dinner?
 * __Sites to See__**: What will they do in each city, what will they visit and why have they chosen this site? Is there an entrance fee?

__From Carol__ My activity can be used for any of my blogs. I would probably assign a group of 5 students to each blog. I would use this activity with my Accelerated Spanish II students. __First reading__ Student #1 Read the article and add 3 cognate words to the comment portion of the blog with their English translation. Then add one word from the article that is totally unknown to you.

Student#2 Look up and identify in English the unknown word from student #1. Add 3 cognate words of your own with their definitions. Do **__not__** repeat any cognates used by the previous student. Add your own unknown word.

Student#3 Look up and identify in English the unknown word from student #2. Add 3 cognate words of your own with their definitions. Do **__not__** repeat any cognates used by the previous student. Add your own unknown word.

Student #4 and others Continue as above.

__Second reading__ Student #1 Read the article and add 3 verbs to the comment portion of the blog with their English translation as conjugated. Infinitives are also fine to use.

Student #2 Read the article and add 3 other verbs to the comment portion of the blog with their English translation as conjugated. Infinitives are also fine to use.

Student #3 and #4 Continue as above. __Third reading__

Use the defined vocabulary to reread the article. In Spanish add a 3 sentence comment to the comment box. Please state an opinion and use as much new vocabulary as possible. Audience:** I would use the dessert recipe blog (http://www.recette-dessert.com/) with 7th graders, but this site could be adapted for use in all levels.
 * From Mary H:
 * Objective:** Reading for comprehension. Writing in the target language. Cultural awareness of the importance of food in the French culture.
 * Pre-Activity:** Brief discussion of favorite American desserts, what ingredients are used, when is dessert eaten, for what occasions. Compare and contrast with French/Francophone traditions.
 * Activity:** Students would access the blog on the using the mobile lab in my classroom. I would pass out index cards to each student. Working in pairs, students would choose a particular dessert and read the list of ingredients. There would of course be words that novice level learners do not understand, but in dessert recipes there are many cognates. Then the student pairs would write out the recipe IN ENGLISH. Roaming around the room I would check their progress. Students could then present their recipes to the class and we could vote on the most promising recipe. A volunteer (or two or three) could make the dessert for the class. After we taste the recipe, students would be required to post a comment on the blog in simple language.
 * Post-Activity:** This could be an ongoing (and delicious) project by choosing a different recipe every month.


 * From Mary T:**

Activity for Spanish I near the beginning of the year My school is rural. Many students like and have horses. [] shows some horses in Goya’s art. It also has links to other artist’s horses in their art.

Goal: Introduction to blogs Practice me gusta, no me gusta, me gusta más, etc. Practice descriptive vocabulary — colors, sizes, numbers, etc.

Activity: 1) The student needs to go to the website [] and read it in English. 2) The student needs to say in Spanish something about each of the 3 Goya works of art that are in color in the blog comment box. This can be a like or dislike of the artwork. The comment needs to include something about the colors, size, quantity of the horses or people in each piece of art. The student needs to indicate which piece of art he/she likes more than the others and why. Following Day: In class we will read some of the blog comments. This can lead to reviewing the names of the artwork and to personalizing some questions about student likes and dislikes of horses. Some students will know the names of the kinds of horses in the art. Some students will have looked at the links on the page and be able to talk about a preference for another artist’s pieces or art with horses. We can look at this Velasquez horse and mention the interesting tidbit about how the horse’s eye seems to follow you as you walk across the room in the Prado.


 * __FROM JEN:__

Objective:** To have Exploratory Language students explore and discover the usefulness of the French blog []. 1. Find the //Mot du jour// (word of the day) and define it. Copy the example sentence in French and English that uses the //mot du jour//. Please listen to the word, also. 2. Underneath **Pronunciation**, choose //Lecon du jour// (lesson of the day). In two sentences, summarize the French //Lecon du jour//. 3. Go back to the page where you found //mot du jour.// Under **French links and resources,** open **audio lab**. Open the **audio dictionary**. Listen to //l'anniversaire de marriage.// Then, on the right side of the page, click on **love language**. Scroll down and click on **French terms of endearment**. Choose five terms of endearment, and write them in French and English. 4. Under **Free French Help** choose **French pen pals**. Choose **A la francaise**. Once under **A la francaise**, choose the blog titled**, Spanish is Easier than French. . . Not**. Read at least 5 blog entries and summarize them. Include the name of the blogger and a brief (one sentence) summary of their opinion. 5. Spend the end of the class time purusing the blog []. Describe a point of interest where you would like to spend more time researching.
 * Teacher** will make arrangements for students to use the computers in the media center/computer lab. Have students bring headphones to class.
 * Students** will work with a partner to complete a scavenger hunt. They will find the following at []: