tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72107768322523965292024-03-13T21:32:49.301-06:00Spanish Bilingual EducationThis blog is dedicated to Spanish teachers working in the International Spanish Academies in Alberta as well as all language teachers. I will be sharing resources, strategies, and viewpoints about language teaching.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-49894087119557358962017-02-13T23:29:00.000-07:002017-02-14T22:37:36.881-07:00A short film for the Spanish class: Cuerdas<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pedro Solís is an animation film director, scriptwriter and producer from Spain. In 2010 he won the <i>Goya Award</i> for the best animation short film, <i>La Bruxa</i>. The Goya Awards recognize the best Spanish and Latin American films every year. He is also the producer of the animated film <i>Tad, the last explorer.</i> In 2014 he won the <i>Goya</i> again for his very personal animated short film, <i>Cuerdas</i> (Ropes).</div>
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<i>Cuerdas</i> tells us the story of a young child who suffers cerebral palsy many years ago in Spain. The child cannot move and is always in his wheelchair. At that time children who suffered this condition were either not given the right treatment or did not have access to the right therapies. The main character in this short film is sent to an orphanage where Maria, a young girl, starts spending time with him and taking care of him. Maria will use "cuerdas", ropes, to help him move and play games. Their bond and friendship grows stronger and Maria dedicates more of her free time to be with the new student.When Maria becomes a teacher for children with severe disabilities many years later, she still wears a rope around her wrist in memory of her friend. </div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/81592059">CUERDAS trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5470837">lafiestapc</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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There is a short dedication at the end of the film: "<i>A mi hija Alejandra, gracias por inspirarme esta historia. A mi hijo Nicolás, ojalá nunca me hubieses inspirado esta historia." </i>We discover then that the story in the short film is inspired by the director's children. Nicolas, who was born with cerebral palsy, was always supported and taken care of by Alejandra, his sister. The real story is explained in this video.</div>
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The short film has an <a href="http://cuerdasshort.com/" target="_blank">official website</a> where we can learn further details about the film, its production, where to buy it, and also about the book <i>"Cuerdas"</i> where we can get a different perspective of the story. Furthermore, fifteen per cent of the book sales will go to the association where the real Nicolás goes to receive his treatment.</div>
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Cuerdas is a good choice to work in the Spanish class and offer the opportunity of creating multiple activities. I have transcribed the script and it is available for download here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxZmHq-Y1LFNTklKdm1ULW8xc1k" target="_blank">Guion</a>. If you use the script, please provide me with credit to this blog. Thank you.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-54802048635984052017-02-04T21:59:00.001-07:002018-09-13T15:58:45.212-06:00Short Films at the University of Alberta<br />
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|It has been a very long time since I've posted on this blog... Life gets complicated, we need to assume new commitments. I have been planning to start posting regularly but it's sometimes an uphill battle!</div>
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A week ago I visited Olenka Bilash class at the University of Alberta. Dr. Bilash has been working with future language teachers in the province of Alberta for years and she is a 100% committed to language teaching pedagogics. A visit to her <a href="http://sites.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/Best%20of%20Bilash/" target="_blank">website</a> is always a source of valuable information for everyone involved in language teaching.</div>
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I talked to the future language teachers about my experience working at Austin O´Brien High School in the Spanish Bilingual program, particularly Film Appreciation in Spanish. In this subject I follow a CLIL approach: students learn Spanish through the study, analysis, and production of short films.</div>
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One of the activities I do in the class is to use of 30 second long short films to encourage students to use Spanish <i>spontaneously</i>. These films are part of the <i>Jameson Notofilmfest</i>, a film festival specialized in short films with a section called <i>Triple Destilación</i> for short films no longer than 30 seconds. Every now and then we watch one of these short films and students need to answer the same questions: "who", "what", "when", "where", "why", and finally "what is the message of the director." Even students who feel intimidated about using Spanish in public find the activity doable thanks to the length of the shorts. </div>
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These are some of the short films I have used but there are many others in the already 14 editions of the festival. <br />
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This Argentinian short film is full of irony and engage students in discussion about the era of the Internet: <i>Flatmates 3.0:</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">With this one we can laugh at the way we create links with each other thanks to social media: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;"><i>Chico conoce chica:</i></span><br />
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"><i>Corto de café </i> is a great example of the black humour Spanish speakers are so fond of.</span></span><br />
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Some shorts are a bit surreal and use our knowledge about films to their own advantage: <i>Time lapse</i><br />
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Or have an unexpected ending using a play with the words: <i>Algunos hombres siguen sin aclararse</i><br />
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There are many more available in the <a href="http://www.jamesonnotodofilmfest.com/" target="_blank">festival website</a>. If you spend a bit of time browsing through the films, I'm sure you will find ones that your students will enjoy and find meaningful!<br />
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-44002265681779475082014-07-25T13:27:00.001-06:002014-07-25T13:29:17.963-06:00Vacation in Asturias, Spain<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hola! I am currently visiting family in Northern Spain but have been monitoring my blog. Thank you very much for those of you who are taking interest and doing your "summer reading"! I'll be starting a new teaching position at a Spanish bilingual high school in September and at the beginning of the school year, I may not update the blog as often. Please <i>do</i> visit the blog regularly though since I will be writing about new resources that I'll be purchasing in Spain this summer.</div>
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In the meantime, have a wonderful summer! Attached are two photos of my beautiful province, Asturias in Northern Spain! Enjoy!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLThMMlcKC_e5Ex_KUvltGuOLDye1PmAXPCb8xjc-GnEH2YLSYD-6lYk7FJL1TdOu2brvJIoVKzDpLlx9bqMKmf29s5rRTaGCMIA438beWGRwHLFbzYHcQEOdqgCpUm9LVgsYkehAekE/s1600/Oviedo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLThMMlcKC_e5Ex_KUvltGuOLDye1PmAXPCb8xjc-GnEH2YLSYD-6lYk7FJL1TdOu2brvJIoVKzDpLlx9bqMKmf29s5rRTaGCMIA438beWGRwHLFbzYHcQEOdqgCpUm9LVgsYkehAekE/s1600/Oviedo.jpeg" height="61" width="400" /></a></div>
Panorama of old town in Oviedo<br />
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Panorama of the coast in Llanes, Asturias</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-87587431161115035662014-06-21T19:37:00.001-06:002014-06-21T19:37:05.210-06:00Graphic novel on Chernobil tragedy: Chernóbil - La Zona<div style="text-align: justify;">
On April 26th 1986 the 4th reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded. I was at university at the time and still recall the TV images, the lack of clear information and the discussions about the effects on the explosion. We soon learned that it was the worst nuclear catastrophe in history and the amount of radioactivity released into the atmosphere was equivalent of hundreds of Hiroshima bombs. </div>
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The effects of this massive radioactive release reached locations over 2000 km away but the worst part was for the citizens of Pripyat, the city where most of the workers in the power station lived. They were exposed to extreme radiation for days until the Soviet authorities finally decided to intervene. Originally these were precautionary measures which involved removing the residents for a few days; however, they will later be told they can never return again. As a result of the radiation exposure, many workers involved in the cleaning of the area died. The cancer rate increased exponentially - thousands of children were born with malformations and a huge piece of territory in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia is still unable to grow vegetables for human consumption.</div>
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The consequences of the radiation will be present in this area for hundreds if not thousands of years. However, the local authorities have opened the doors to controlled tourist visits in the hope that this will bring money and opportunities for the now almost empty area.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsVRfQGe7wIzXcso1_qF8Y1azfmgqdrdaCndikdekceGUvSU_H9uljDhx2eR-USNq84Z8PqMiQJCpyMMe5wxBT069YxxNy6aLN5u9vc8Xyuma6Tl5KLAVFgLUQkopG1F64JWqPJTkfhk/s1600/chernobil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsVRfQGe7wIzXcso1_qF8Y1azfmgqdrdaCndikdekceGUvSU_H9uljDhx2eR-USNq84Z8PqMiQJCpyMMe5wxBT069YxxNy6aLN5u9vc8Xyuma6Tl5KLAVFgLUQkopG1F64JWqPJTkfhk/s1600/chernobil.jpg" height="320" width="225" /></a></div>
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Francisco Sánchez and Natacha Bustos published a graphic novel in 2011 that tells us the story of what happened back in 1986 from the point of view of the people directly affected by the tragedy, the people working in the nuclear power station and their families in Pripyat. </div>
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Francisco Sánchez visited an exhibition about the catastrophe in 2006 in Barcelona and he was impressed by the experience. The topic almost became an obsession for him and he spent years researching about the causes and effects of the event. He wanted to see and portray how the catastrophe has broken the lives and dreams of many people and their children. In 2009 he visited the area to gather graphic material and learn about the actual situation after almost 25 years. The graphic material would be used by the drawer to show the atmosphere of a soviet city very accurately in the novel.<br />
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Most of the previous information was taken from the following<a href="http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20110418/chernobil-zona-recuerda-25-aniversario-coincidiendo-accidente-fukishima/425596.shtml" target="_blank"> website</a>.</div>
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The publication of the graphic novel in 2011, 25 years after the catastrophe, coincided in time with the accident in Fukushima, something both authors commented in the presentation of their novel. And again, not all the information about what happened in Japan has been released to the public.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W8A_oJhE-c101yUSeFtxxODy2HNaqh27nlcjBOc-4B8MzqVzlAxyJ4TWkcX4gZkp_BsXelqebVZ1jTXkn_WzzPWCpVKVicCODZonzhC63u8SeqRk5d633WJLGX_cz5k0Tp5zu2yOV4I/s1600/natalia_bustos_chernobil_la_zona_p3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6W8A_oJhE-c101yUSeFtxxODy2HNaqh27nlcjBOc-4B8MzqVzlAxyJ4TWkcX4gZkp_BsXelqebVZ1jTXkn_WzzPWCpVKVicCODZonzhC63u8SeqRk5d633WJLGX_cz5k0Tp5zu2yOV4I/s1600/natalia_bustos_chernobil_la_zona_p3.jpg" height="262" width="400" /></a></div>
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The graphic novel can definitely be used in a bilingual or IB program. It is linguistically attractive and deals with many topics that are relevant to the program of studies and our students' lives. Students will definitely enjoy researching and commenting about most of the topics in the novel:</div>
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<li>What are the roles of governments in a crisis?</li>
<li>Can international help be a solution in a crisis?</li>
<li>To what extent should individuals be able to exercise their freedom of speech to access information during a crisis? </li>
<li>How can we harness energy while minimalizing negatives effects on nature?</li>
<li>Which people are most vulnerable during a crisis?</li>
<li>How can we apply what we've learned to deal with future problems?</li>
<li>How the catastrophe has affected nuclear programs in Canada and all over the world? </li>
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We can get more information about Chernobyl and its terrible effects on the website of <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/mexico/es/Campanas/Energia-y--cambio-climatico/Falsas-soluciones/Energia-nuclear/Chernobyl/" target="_blank">Greenpeace Mexico</a>.</div>
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"La noche temática" is a program on the Spanish TV which usually analyses controversial issues from several points of view. A documentary or film that deals with the chosen topic is also shown in the program. Over 25 years after the catastrophe in Chernobyl the topic was 'Alarma nuclear' in which the French documentary "Déchets, le cauchemar du nucléaire", was shown. Unfortunately, many years after Chernobyl things are far from being solved. You can watch the documentary in Spanish in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrWY7rurndc" target="_blank">link</a>. I could not find an English version but there is a German version with English subtitles available.</div>
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I highly recommend this graphic novel to work with our students in Spanish. It depicts the tragedy in Chernobyl from the point of view of the people who suffered the most. It can be a great starting point to start a research project with our students.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-66109100250229918652014-05-21T11:03:00.001-06:002014-05-21T11:03:23.161-06:00Two autobiographical graphic novels for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'd like two introduce two graphic novels that have two of the features that I have considered important in previous posts: they portray personal stories and deal with controversial issues that can lead to discussions and research in our classes. The authors, Cristina Durán and Miguel Ángel Giner, are a couple of artists from Valencia, Spain. They have produced numerous artworks since 1993 in fields such as text books illustration, publicity, comics, etc. at their own art studio.</div>
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In 2009 they published their first autobiographical graphic novel, <i>Una posiblidad entre mil</i> (A chance out a thousand). Cristina and Miguel Angel have their first child, Laia, but her life is at risk starting when she was born due to health issues. Their daily routine consists of visiting hospitals, rehabilitation units and doctors. There is only one chance in a thousand for the baby to survive and she fights to grasp it with all her strength, affecting everyone around her with her zest and optimism for life.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gfU4YgCDJxziN-jUsYZ928NursFUtd6Mi8pysmNmSg25PvmMvcFTkDLiveL9KkOCYBiyGVf1Zx25A1XO0W1BAFsJ2MU7hx3-9tOxS2whP_YNJw1c_TlPW2i_fsTsHToIx5JoVQajD3Y/s1600/posibilidad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gfU4YgCDJxziN-jUsYZ928NursFUtd6Mi8pysmNmSg25PvmMvcFTkDLiveL9KkOCYBiyGVf1Zx25A1XO0W1BAFsJ2MU7hx3-9tOxS2whP_YNJw1c_TlPW2i_fsTsHToIx5JoVQajD3Y/s1600/posibilidad.jpg" /></a></div>
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The novel follows the authors' physical and emotional trip until Laia starts to go to school. We witness their devastation when they have to assume Laia´s condition that will affect her for the rest of her life. But we also witness their determination to shower their child with love and care through this often harsh journey.<br />
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Some of the the discussion themes in the novel are:</div>
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<li>Parenthood</li>
<li>The integration of handicapped children and the acceptance of the differences</li>
<li>The role of family and society</li>
<li>The importance of determination to achieve our dreams</li>
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<i>La Máquina de Efrén</i>, published in 2012, is the continuation to <i>Una posibilidad entre mil</i>. The graphic novel continues the journey initiated after Laia's birth. Cristina and Miguel Ángel always wanted to have one more member in the family, an adopted child. Both authors tell us the process of getting an adopted girl from Ethiopia. We experience their excitement, their anguish through all the bureaucratic process and the joy of achieving their goal of having one more child in the family. We also witness their trip to an unknown country for them, Ethiopia, and share their respect for a country full of problems but full of dignity too.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7dVH6P5yZClNKNz-9SsZ5EcJ5gyXC4cRDSoe13I2W0BVNcFQvLI0SC8NzX-9OSbCoJ14Wc28_maEKdsKVO154RCqyqhhp5LW7ULGCJY9mxz0Q4MdoSOKeUlAZLz131WCbUiPqhhLl6U/s1600/maquina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO7dVH6P5yZClNKNz-9SsZ5EcJ5gyXC4cRDSoe13I2W0BVNcFQvLI0SC8NzX-9OSbCoJ14Wc28_maEKdsKVO154RCqyqhhp5LW7ULGCJY9mxz0Q4MdoSOKeUlAZLz131WCbUiPqhhLl6U/s1600/maquina.jpg" /></a></div>
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As in <i>Una posibilidad entre mil</i>, there are numerous topics to discuss with our students:<br />
<ul>
<li>Parenthood</li>
<li>Responsibility</li>
<li>Adoption</li>
<li>First world versus third world</li>
<li>Multiculturalism</li>
<li>The right of everyone to happiness</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgC7texQlj818l8O2vd5pphQ4joe11ovrB73sAvtTRmE-54MvEqXop9LOaLHWxyK26maIOKjgStyXmmr8E2wMcSWm-34eCei7U8puG3NEFpqfd4VK3BQi4GOZb29WadyOY7BD9EcjUUQ/s1600/pagina103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisgC7texQlj818l8O2vd5pphQ4joe11ovrB73sAvtTRmE-54MvEqXop9LOaLHWxyK26maIOKjgStyXmmr8E2wMcSWm-34eCei7U8puG3NEFpqfd4VK3BQi4GOZb29WadyOY7BD9EcjUUQ/s1600/pagina103.jpg" height="320" width="222" /></a></div>
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Our students will definitely enjoy following Cristina and Miguel Angel's emotional journey through parenthood, compromise and commitment to their family and values. They will get attached to the characters and will realize about the importance of learning to respect the differences and being able to accept everyone. </div>
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The authors talk about their work together and about adoption in <a href="http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20120423/cristina-duran-miguel-giner-bou-cuentan-proceso-adopcion-hija-comic/517884.shtml" target="_blank"><i>La máquina de Efrén</i></a>.<br />
The graphic novels' <a href="http://unaposibilidadentremil.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
The authors' study <a href="http://lagruaestudio.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
<a href="http://i%20ssuu.com/lagruaestudio" target="_blank"><i>Pillada por ti</i></a>, a free online comic on violence against women by the same authors. <br />
<a href="http://www.elmundo.es/elmundosalud/2010/12/09/noticias/1291881547.html" target="_blank">Article</a> in newspaper<i> El Mundo</i> on <i>Una posibilidad entre mil</i>.<br />
<a href="http://issuu.com/lagruaestudio/docs/unaposibilidadinicio/3" target="_blank">First pages</a> <i>La máquina de Efrén</i><br />
<a href="http://issuu.com/lagruaestudio/docs/unaposibilidadinicio/3" target="_blank">First pages</a> <i>Una posibilidad entre mil</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-47230673388370494732014-05-14T15:56:00.001-06:002018-09-14T10:44:46.606-06:00Short stories by Gabriel García Márquez for <div style="text-align: justify;">
On April 17 Gabriel Garcia Márquez died in Mexico city. Little is left to be said about one of the most influential writers of the 20th century and, more importantly, one of the most read and beloved worldwide.</div>
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Naturally, the best we can do with a writer is to read and to enjoy his or her stories. And García Márquez was a master storyteller. He used the power of imagination to write his realistic yet magical stories. He also could go deep into people´s hearts and show all the power and contradictions of people´s souls. Furthermore, he was a master of the language rivalling that of Borges. </div>
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I am aware of the difficulty of reading a full novel like <i>A Hundred Years of Solitude</i> in Spanish in a secondary school. Luckily for us, García Márquez wrote several novellas, that we could use, and many short stories which students in an IB or bilingual Spanish program can fully understand and enjoy. His first short story, <i>La tercera resignación</i>, was published in 1947 and the author continued writing short stories for almost his entire life.</div>
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I'd like to introduce 5 of his short stories, although I am sure that many others can be used.</div>
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In the book<i> Doce cuentos peregrinos, </i>short stories<i> Espantos de agosto </i>and <i>Me alquilo para soñar</i></div>
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I recall Garcia Marquez explaining what magic realism is in a interview on television. He mentioned that if we say: "<i>vi un burro volando"</i>, nobody would ever believe us. However when we can give many details about a magical or unrealistic situation, everyone would believe us no matter how absurd it is. In the interview he said that if he wrote in a novel "<i>vi 276 burros volando"</i>, everyone would believe him. Something similar happens in the short story, <i>Espantos de agosto</i>. The main character visits his friend´s house in Tuscany with his family. The old house was built by a member of the nobility during the Renaissance and it is haunted. As a reader I was not impressed. But when the narrator tells us how they visit the 85 bedrooms in the house, I started to believe that such a house must have at least one ghost and probably more.<br />
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<i>Me alquilo para soñar</i></div>
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Garcia Marquez also mixes detailed reality with real-life characters with his magical and ironic world in this story. A lady who has been able to foretell the future of her family since childhood is hired by a rich family in Vienna. She was asked to tell them their fortunes through interpreting her dreams. Garcia Marquez meets her in Vienna and she warns the author to leave the city because he was in danger. When her boss dies years later she moves to a house in Portugal from where s<i>he can see the whole sea up to the Americas</i>. Then she will meet Garcia Marquez in Spain during Neruda's visit and we realize that her powers are still intact.</div>
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Book, <i>Los funerales de la Mamá Grande</i>, <i>Un día de estos</i></div>
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Garcia Marquez liked to portray Latinoamerica as a land where the supernatural is intertwined with every day reality at all levels. But he was also very critical with the social and political situation of his country, Colombia, and by extension of all Latinoamerica. This short story is a good example to explore this with our students.<br />
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Book, <i>La increíble y triste historia de la cándida Eréndira y de su abuela desalmada</i>, the short story <i>Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes</i>.</div>
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This short story is another good example of magic realism. The fate and luck of a poor Colombian family changes when they find an old angel after a storm and take him home. The angel becomes a celebrity and people "<i>from all over the world"</i> come to see him. Things get so complicated that even the local priest has to intervene. After many years living in very poor conditions, the strange angel flies away and the family is relieved.</div>
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<i>Ladrón de sábado</i></div>
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This is a beautiful story full of irony and humour. Hugo is a thief who only robs houses on the weekends. One weekend he robs Ana´s house, the conductor of his favourite music radio program when she is at home. He feels so comfortable that he decides to spend the weekend with Ana and her daughter, taking advantage that her husband is away on a business trip. Soon, his weekends will be busier than usual.</div>
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There are thousands of websites where we can get information about García Márquez' works, his life and his political opinions. I recommend to have a look at these three web sites:<br />
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<li>El País newspaper published several articles about the author after his death, we can track his life and his works in <a href="https://www.blogger.com/His%20life:%20http://elpais.com/especiales/2014/gabriel-garcia-marquez/" target="_blank">this article</a>. </li>
<li><a href="http://www.democracynow.org/es/blog/2014/4/23/entrevista_exclusiva_con_isabel_allende_sobre_gabriel" target="_blank">Interview to Chilean writer</a> Isabel Allende, also after his death.</li>
<li><a href="http://cambio16.es/not/4745/america__por_garcia_marquez_y_vargas_llosa/" target="_blank">Conversation</a> between the Nobel Prizes winners García Márquez and Vargas Llosa, which took place in 1967. They discuss about writing, magic realism, Latinoamerica, their literary influences and many other issues.</li>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-7447713562519963372014-05-06T16:39:00.000-06:002014-05-06T16:47:58.941-06:00Online journals on biligualism, CLIL and language teaching<div style="text-align: justify;">
A very good way of learning about new developments in second language teaching is to regularly read online journals. Fortunately, most of them are either free or just require a reasonable fee for teachers and school districts. As I said, it is essential to keep updated in new developments and to learn about experiences in schools all over the world offering CLIL, bilingual and/or second language courses.</div>
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The online journals I (try to) follow regularly are the following. I have copied/pasted the excerpts of the aims for your information.</div>
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1. <a href="http://www.ugr.es/~portalin/" target="_blank">Porta Linguorum</a>, Universidad de Granada.</div>
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Numbers published: 21 numbers so far. </div>
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Aim: Porta Linguorum is an international inter university journal specialised in foreign language didactics. It aims to publish empirical studies, critical revisions, and theoretical models related to the factors that influence the teaching and learning process.</div>
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Free access.</div>
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2. <a href="http://encuentrojournal.org/index.php" target="_blank">Encuentro, Universidad de Alcalá</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 22</div>
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Aim: The goals of <i>Encuentro</i> are didactic and methodological training, together with the development of reflection and classroom research on the part of language teachers. These goals also govern the content of the journal: applied linguistics, language teaching and learning, the presentation of research and innovations, values and interculturality, literature teaching, and related matters.</div>
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Free access.</div>
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3.<a href="http://laclil.unisabana.edu.co/index.php/LACLIL" target="_blank"> Latinamerican journal,</a> Universidad de La Sabana.</div>
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Numbers published: 7</div>
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Aim: LACIL is a peer-reviewed journal focused on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), multilingualism, interculturalism, and Call, throughout Latin America and around the world.</div>
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Free access.</div>
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4.<a href="http://asian-efl-journal.com/teaching-articles/" target="_blank"> Asian EFL Journal</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 76</div>
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Aim: The Asian EFL Journal is published monthly and presents information, theories, research, methods and materials related to language acquisition and language learning. </div>
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Free access.</div>
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5. <a href="http://www.icrj.eu/" target="_blank">International CLIL research journal</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 7</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Aim: The ICRJ is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">an electronic refereed journal which acts as a platform for researchers across the world who work on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Research in this field is often published in a range of journals reflecting different disciplines. The ICRJ attempts to consolidate insights and research findings into a single publication so as to enhance accessibility to those in the field.</span></div>
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Free access.</div>
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6. <a href="http://clilmagazine.nl/" target="_blank">CLIL journal</a>.<br />
Numbers published|: 4<br />
Aim: to provide an easy accessible and high level resource of information for teachers working on or interested in working in CLIL programs.<br />
Subscription required but the journal can be read online for free.<br />
Free access.<br />
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7. <a href="http://www.webs.ulpgc.es/lfe/current_issue/current_issue.html" target="_blank">Revista de lengua para fines específicos</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 19</div>
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Aim: LFE invites submissions of original full-length articles, short articles and book reviews from scholars in the field of languages for specific and professional purposes. This includes areas of discourse analysis, pragmatics, sociology, contrastive analysis, global languages, development and implementation of specialized corpora and software, learning and teaching techniques and methodology, curriculum development, among others.</div>
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8. <a href="http://ijb.sagepub.com/" target="_blank">International Journal of Bilingual education and Biligualism</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 18</div>
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Aim: The International Journal of Bilingualism (IJB) is an international forum for the dissemination of original research on the linguistic, psychological, <a href="http://www.todoele.net/jslt.html" target="_blank">http://www.todoele.net/jslt.html</a>neurological, and social issues which emerge from language contact. While stressing interdisciplinary links, the focus of the Journal is on the language behaviour of the bi- and multilingual individual.</div>
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Subscription required.</div>
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9. <a href="http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/22128441" target="_blank">Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education</a>.</div>
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Numbers published: 2</div>
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Aim: JICB aims at publishing research on language immersion and other types of content-based language education programmes that are subject matter-driven and subject matter-accountable. The journal provides a forum for research on well-established immersion and content-based programmes as well as research on new initiatives within the broad field of content-based language education.</div>
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Subscription required</div>
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10. <a href="http://www.todoele.net/jslt.html" target="_blank">Journal Todoele</a>.</div>
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Numbres published: first issue on June 2014</div>
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El objetivo principal de la publicación es crear un forro de debate para investigadores y profesores de español de todo el mundo que contribuya al desarrollo y enriquecimiento de un campo en constante crecimiento. En ella se recogerán trabajos teóricos e investigaciones sobre todo lo relacionado con el español como lengua extranjera.</div>
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Subscription required.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-76743016820713885862014-04-14T08:49:00.002-06:002014-04-14T08:50:25.768-06:00Resources to understand the Spanish Civil War (Review!)<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is a summary of all the novels, short stories and graphic novels about the Spanish Civil War that I showcased in previos posts. Naturally, there are many other texts and resources that we can use to introduce the topic of the Spanish Civil War in our programs.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-68977472176148140212014-04-07T14:22:00.000-06:002014-04-07T14:22:57.133-06:00Cielo Abajo, the battle of Madrid in a novelCielo Abajo by Fernando Marías<br />
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Fernando Marías is a writer and publisher. He has written novels, film screenplays and short novels for young adults. He has also received numerous awards among them: <a href="http://www.anayainfantilyjuvenil.com/core.php?opcion=premios" target="_blank">Anaya award</a> for young adult novels 2005 and the National Award to the best <a href="http://www.mcu.es/premiado/busquedaPremioParticularAction.do?cache=init&layout=PremioNacLiteraturaInfantilJuvenilPremios&params.id_tipo_premio=96&language=es&TOTAL=37&POS=30&MAX=15&action=goToPage&PAGE=0" target="_blank">Book for Children and Young Adults</a> 2006 (Premio nacional de literatura infantil y juvenil), both awards for <i>Cielo Abajo</i>.</div>
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Plot<br />
Joaquín Dechén has lived all his life in an orphanage in Ávila province. When students are 15 they leave the orphanage with a letter to either become a priest or join the army. Joaquín joins the army when Franco, with a part of the Spanish army, rise against the republican government. In the army Joaquín meets famous pilot Luis Cortés, who becomes his mentor. Luis sends Joaquín to Madrid to spy on Ramiro and Constanza, Luis' dearest friends before the war.</div>
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Joaquin discovers the terrible effects of the war on innocent people and realizes that Luis, a Francoist supporter, has not kept his word of defending the republic. Joaquín is torn between this harsh reality and his loyalty to Luis Cortés, the man who taught him everything. Things get more complicated when he falls in love with Constanza, a beautiful, sensitive woman expecting a child. Out of love he decides to help the republic but when both Costanza and Ramiro die in a bombing he joins the Francoist army again. The couple leaves a daughter also named Costanza in the same orphanage where Joaquin lived.</div>
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After the war Joaquin is a respected pilot and spends time looking for the young Costanza. Joaquin tries to help her as much as he can but she disappears from his life again after having a daughter also named Costanza. When he is an old man, after the second Costanza´s death, he renews his relation with the third Costanza, a young independent woman who learns from Joaquín the passion for planes.</div>
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Joaquín writes his story in a book that he plans to give the third Costanza as a present. This story was discovered by a young unsuccessful writer who gets a part-time job decorating old Joaquín's apartment. While he was painting, a book comes in the mail for Joaquin. As a young writer, he couldn't resist taking a look and we follow the story while he reads the book and tells us how he meets Joaquín and young Costanza. We realize that Joaquín is giving him a present too, a good story to write a book about it.</div>
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The book is beautifully written and introduces lots of themes that we can use for discussion in a novel study:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Love (platonic, filial, admiration...)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Loyalty and betrayal: Luis/Ramiro and Vicente Rojo</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Personal growth and the search for an identity. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The search for dreams</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Culpability</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Revenge</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Loneliness</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The evolution of the role of women in Spain</li>
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The novel depicts the so-called battle of Madrid in the fall of 1936. The Francoist troops were planning the assault to Madrid. Joaquín witnesses the meetings to coordinate the defense of the capital. Historical figures who took part in the battle appear in the novel such as Varela, Lister and Vicente Rojo. Joaquín is impressed by Vicente Rojo's integrity. He was a high rank military man but unlike Franco or Luis Cortés he remained loyal to the government because he had given his word to defend the Spanish republic. He organizes the defense of Madrid and coordinates all the different armed groups that existed at the time.<br />
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<i>Cielo Abajo</i> can be a good text to do a novel study with our advanced students. It portrays important historical facts very accurately but it also tells us a beautiful love story. </div>
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More links<br />
<a href="http://www.fernandomarias.com/" target="_blank">Author´s website</a><br />
<a href="http://www.anayainfantilyjuvenil.com/catalogos/proyectos_lectura/IJ00182501_1.pdf" target="_blank">Anaya publisher study guide </a><br />
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/webquestcieloabajo/guia-didactica" target="_blank">Webquest on the novel </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.canal-literatura.com/Entrevistas/Fernando-Marias.html" target="_blank">Interview in Canal Literatura</a> </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-82570293533980300632014-03-31T22:00:00.002-06:002014-04-07T14:44:48.640-06:00Two novels set in the Spanish Civil War <div style="text-align: justify;">
To finish with resources about the Spanish Civil War, I'd like to introduce two novels aimed at young adult readers. Both books are love stories set at the time of the Spanish Civil War and we also follow the main characters' lives after their traumatic experience in the war.</div>
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Noche de Alacranes by Alfredo Gómez Cerdá.<br />
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Alfredo Gómez is one of the most prestigious and popular writer for young adults in Spain. He has published over 80 books which have been translated into many languages. I have introduced some of his books in previous posts and again I recommend the short novel <i><a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2013/02/three-books-about-discovering-reading.html">Barro de Medellín</a></i> to students in a bilingual or IB programs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiii3t9nmIWAEfLqe1tICEh2yEJYQSfyxLQpehWsTzjgblieBbcFt6JKq7OVXStPslXKFQVZRYdajmau4RkUb1hehPws1Jn_QL7tPs195VRw48615Up6SCYx2fZ4J97CceRTF0AxZov0SE/s1600/noche+de+alacranes1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiii3t9nmIWAEfLqe1tICEh2yEJYQSfyxLQpehWsTzjgblieBbcFt6JKq7OVXStPslXKFQVZRYdajmau4RkUb1hehPws1Jn_QL7tPs195VRw48615Up6SCYx2fZ4J97CceRTF0AxZov0SE/s1600/noche+de+alacranes1.jpg" height="320" width="196" /></a></div>
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Plot<br />
An old woman, Catalina Melgosa (aka Delgadina) is invited to talk to high school students in León, a city in Northern Spain. The retelling of her young life during the Spanish Civil War makes her have a <i>Noche de Alacranes</i>, a night of insomnia. During this sleepless night she recalls her teenage love for Emilio and how she got involved in the war. She keeps memory tokens in a cookie tin. Looking at these tokens triggers flashbacks about momentous events in her life. </div>
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As a teenager Delgadina lives in a village in León province and is in love with Emilio. Both come from different social backgrounds as Emilio belongs to one of the richest families in the area. When the war starts the region is soon taken by the Francoist troops and a period of repression starts. Many young men escape to the nearby mountains to continue the fight, among them Delgadina's brother. They are known by the name of 'maquis' fighters and Delgadina becomes their contact with the rest of the world, taking food and other supplies to them and being their mail.</div>
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When the group of 'maquis' fighters kidnap Emilio, a Franco supporter, Delgadina helps him to escape out of love. Soon after, all the 'maquis' fighters are killed by the Francoist police and Delgadina escapes to France where she gets married and has a family. Many years later, she returns to León as a widow and gets the invitation from the high school. The event is shown in the local newspaper where Emilio learns Delgadina has returned. Soon, they meet for a coffee 50 years later.</div>
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The novel shows the repression that the Francoist troops and police took on the citizens who supported the Republican government. It also portrays the life and fate of the 'maquis', the guerrilla groups who continued fighting Franco for many years even after the end of the Second World War. But the novel is also a beautiful love story between two young innocent people who were merely puppets engulfed by war and the social and political turmoil in Spain. The novel also reflects how fate influences our lives to an incredible extent. Finally, the novel serves to educate new generations and encourage them to take interest in 'Memoria Histórica', which has become a political policy in Spain.</div>
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More links:<br />
<a href="http://servicios.educarm.es/templates/portal/ficheros/websDinamicas/154/bmodelodeguia3.pdf" target="_blank">Reading guide</a><br />
<a href="http://www.almezzer.com/" target="_blank">Author´s website</a><br />
<a href="http://www.conoceralautor.com/entrevistas/ver/MTk4Nw==" target="_blank">Interview to the author</a><br />
The author speaks about <a href="http://www.conoceralautor.com/libros/ver/MTk4Ng==" target="_blank">Noche de Alacranes</a> <br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-71746532474361115892014-03-19T19:40:00.000-06:002014-03-19T19:40:29.796-06:00Los Surcos del Azar, a graphic novel for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have been showcasing resources about the Spanish Civil War. It is a very interesting topic to work with our students because they are familiar with the historical events around that time in Europe. It is important that they are aware how these events are interrelated and the fact that the Spanish Civil War cannot be understood outside the rise of totalitarianism in European countries.</div>
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I also like graphic novels for many reasons. They can help students to get used to reading in a second language and enjoy it. Another important reason is because authors tell us personal experiences which students can relate to easily. There has been a great production of graphic novels in Spanish speaking countries in the last years and we can use them in our Spanish classes.</div>
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Paco Roca is one of my favourite authors. I have introduced his award winning graphic novel <i><a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2013/03/graphic-novels-for-spanish-class.html" target="_blank">Arrugas</a></i>, which I highly recommend . Today I'd like to talk about his latest work, <i><a href="http://www.astiberri.com/ficha_prod.php?cod=lossurcosdelazar" target="_blank">Los surcos del azar</a> </i>, which explores the lives of Republican soldiers after the Spanish Civil War and their involvement in the Second World War. It is not the first time that Paco Roca uses the Spanish Civil or post-war as the setting one of his stories. In <i><a href="http://www.astiberri.com/ficha_prod.php?cod=elfaro" target="_blank">El Faro</a></i> we read the story of Francisco, a young republican soldier. He became involved in the war by being conscripted like many other young Spaniards. After the war he flees and meets Telmo, an old lighthouse keeper who lives his life freely. Telmo will guide Francisco to a world of adventure and discovery until Francisco finally finds his place in the world away from his traumatic experience in the war.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhieZTJn9X5Lu5O5-haJMGCnxB7DxST0N09c7mQQ3iTY8eoqkCAr0sVNQ1-LVLscBehzyTThL9YdxY0RwrpCsVZPxS1Dt0sSFoXDzmMpYr6WwsLHoqoNdB1ASLp-IfOIzHy4vVXPOJ0d4/s1600/los+surcos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhieZTJn9X5Lu5O5-haJMGCnxB7DxST0N09c7mQQ3iTY8eoqkCAr0sVNQ1-LVLscBehzyTThL9YdxY0RwrpCsVZPxS1Dt0sSFoXDzmMpYr6WwsLHoqoNdB1ASLp-IfOIzHy4vVXPOJ0d4/s1600/los+surcos.jpg" height="400" width="280" /></a></div>
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Paco Roca was also the artist in <i>El Angel de la Retirada</i> published in French with a storyboard by French writer Serguei Dounovetz. More information in a previous entry.</div>
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<i>Los Surcos del Azar </i>was published in 2013. It is probably his most ambitious work up to now and again depicts the lives and fates of the Republican soldiers who had to leave Spain after Franco´s victory in 1939. The title is taken from a poem by Spanish poet, Antonio Machado in his book <i>Campos de Castilla (Proverbios y Cantares II)</i>:</div>
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¿Para qué llaman caminos</div>
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a los surcos del azar?...</div>
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Todo el que camina anda,</div>
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como Jesús, sobre el mar.</div>
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Antonio Machado had to leave Spain in 1939 entering France on foot accompanied by his ancient mother with the rest of refugees. This scene is portrayed in the novel as a token of the helplessness of the situation for the refugees. The poet and his mother died a month later in the small town of Collioure, which has become a place for pilgrimage.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDS9jpIOAhSzPP1YL-Y0YpyBAguFLM1w0JJZZ16nHZbuJUF4mb3D5vLencCTecEaCw67gKeKybfT8ZMy-Se2-Rphg1FLNeNQc5uhb4G6f0G18poFpt5e1tfhyphenhyphenRh32_gwMHJNakEgSLck/s1600/machado2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDS9jpIOAhSzPP1YL-Y0YpyBAguFLM1w0JJZZ16nHZbuJUF4mb3D5vLencCTecEaCw67gKeKybfT8ZMy-Se2-Rphg1FLNeNQc5uhb4G6f0G18poFpt5e1tfhyphenhyphenRh32_gwMHJNakEgSLck/s1600/machado2.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></div>
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In this <a href="http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20131203/paco-roca-luchar-libertad-tan-necesario-como-respirar/808540.shtml" target="_blank">article</a> Paco Roca explains how he started the project after meeting Manuel Fernandez and Luis Royo in Paris in 2008 during the presentation of <i><a href="http://www.casadellibro.com/libro-la-nueve-los-espanoles-que-liberaron-paris/9788466620703/1217223" target="_blank">La Nueve, los españoles que liberaron Paris</a></i> by Evelyn Mesquida. They were two of the few survivors of the company and Paco Roca found the story fascinating. Probably, we would have seen many films about their lives, had they been from a different country. </div>
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The author started to research about these historical facts and found Miguel Campos, another member of <i>La Nueve</i> who disappeared mysteriously just after the liberation of Paris. The novel follows Miguel Campo´s life through his conversations with the author, like a documentary and 70 years after everything happened. We learn that he is one of 1,800 lucky ones who could board the ship <i>Stanbrook </i>in Alicante port in 1939, where over 15,000 people where waiting for other ships which never came. Then we follow his steps in Oran, Algeria and how the French authorities put them in concentration camps to build the never completed Sahara railways.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeYGvGEUEU76EOppOLQEyRHHX0mBOPrXbkdHgK7Bk16jG4mWJzuCK4L2629v8TB7KfRV_QN0i6mh5sNnzAlUim5kfG6Kv1RnBlK047OJHO5gWZBZo15LAK7KTSd8IIL48A5J5MdHOVas/s1600/Alicante.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeYGvGEUEU76EOppOLQEyRHHX0mBOPrXbkdHgK7Bk16jG4mWJzuCK4L2629v8TB7KfRV_QN0i6mh5sNnzAlUim5kfG6Kv1RnBlK047OJHO5gWZBZo15LAK7KTSd8IIL48A5J5MdHOVas/s1600/Alicante.jpg" height="400" width="277" /></a></div>
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With many other exiled Spanish he takes part in the Tunisia campaign against General Rommel and then the group of Spanish republicans joined Leclerc's army to form <i>La Nueve</i> company. The company is taken to England for training and after the D-Day they start their trip to Paris taking part in uncountable battles. When the French leader de Gaulle learns that a revolt has broken up in Paris against the Nazis, he asks the alleys to attack Paris. It is August 1944 and the Americans are not willing to enter the French capital out of fear of the reprisals on the civil population by the Nazis authorities. However, de Gaulle insists and orders Leclerc to enter Paris. <i>La Nueve</i> company, like in many other French cities before, is the one leading the attack reaching Paris city hall on August 24, 1944. The German garrison surrenders the day after (source Wikipedia). The bulk of the Alley troops parade in Paris on the 26th.</div>
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Most of the members in <i>La Nueve</i> company have been fighting since 1936, and some will still participate in the battle of Strasbourg and will eventually reach Hitler´s Eagle Nest. However, the main character Miguel decides to abandon the war to head back to Spain with his partner to fight Franco. When his partner dies in a car accident on the way to Spain he decides not to fight any more, settling in France and mourn his dead partner and also his lost country. </div>
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Paco Roca convinced Miguel to talk about all these events 70 years later. He had kept silent for all this time and not even his closest friends knew anything of his struggle. He was a deserter after all! The graphic novel is presented in the form of a documentary. Paco Roca asks questions to Miguel and there are continuous flashbacks to the facts he is recalling. We also are present at the process of getting to know each other until Miguel trusts the author completely.<br />
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The real history of Miguel could be the plot for films or TV series however it was lost like the rest of the members in <i>La Nueve</i>. The graphic novel unveils the story of a group of people who lost a war and along with it their home and their country but who never gave up trying to liberate Europe. It is also the story of Miguel who also lost his family, his partner and was condemned to a life of silence. The story is told in a realistic way, like a documentary, showing the injustice of wars and the cruelties committed by the contestants.</div>
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I highly recommend the graphic novel for an ADULT reader.<br />
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More information about Paco Roca's work in <a href="http://www.guiadelcomic.es/r/paco-roca.htm" target="_blank">La guía del cómic</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20131203/paco-roca-luchar-libertad-tan-necesario-como-respirar/808540.shtml" target="_blank">Interview in RTVE</a>.<br />
<a href="http://blogs.elpais.com/papeles-perdidos/2013/11/paco-roca-viaja-con-los-republicanos-.html" target="_blank">Article</a> in El Pais newspaper.<br />
Paco Roca´s <a href="http://www.pacoroca.com/works/comics" target="_blank">website</a><br />
Post on <i><a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2014/02/la-division-nueve-enters-paris-unknown.html" target="_blank">La Nueve</a></i> company<br />
Conference by Evelyn Mesquida on <a href="https://vimeo.com/49224505" target="_blank">Vimeo</a><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-49591108437298400202014-03-16T09:35:00.000-06:002014-03-16T17:04:39.944-06:00eduPLEmooc course Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje (PLE) para el desarrollo personal docente<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have just finished my work at the <i>eduPLEmooc course Entornos Personales de Aprendizaje (PLE) para el desarrollo personal docente</i>. It was a unique learning experience. It was a Massive Open Online Course so anyone interested in education with enough command of Spanish could have joined in. There was a large number of participants from many different countries and various education fields and this fact made the course even more interesting.</div>
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The main goals of the course were to give participants an experience of interconnected learning that will allow them to:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">build or redesign their PLE (personal learning environment)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">reflect on issues such as digital identity and personal learning processes</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">contact education professionals through the numerous virtual communities created during the course. </li>
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The course journey was exciting and very informative. I enjoyed being challenged learning how to use new tools to accomplish new tasks. Another plus was that we had to work with our peers in different projects and to share all our works through social media. The chart below shows my personal experience during the course:</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" height="600px" mozallowfullscreen="" msallowfullscreen="" oallowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" src="https://www.examtime.com/p/598242-My-PLE-mind_maps?frame=true&zoom=0.872" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Going into the details of the chart:<br />
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<li style="text-align: justify;">One of the main goals of this course was to reflect on the new role of education in the 21st century.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">New challenges arise after this process, mainly trying to integrate everything I learned in my classes and using media and ICT tools to enhance students' Spanish learning.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">One of the projects I´d like to work on is the design of an option subject for the Spanish bilingual program where students learn to create their own PLE.</li>
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I highly recommend the course for teachers working in the Spanish bilingual programs. I assume the same course will be offered in the near future. To get updated information visit the website of <a href="http://www.ite.educacion.es/" target="_blank">INTEF</a>.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-36872589643741224122014-03-04T21:56:00.001-07:002014-03-07T09:29:50.973-07:00Juegos Inocentes Juegos, a novel recently published for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the main goals for this blog is to showcase resources that can be used in Spanish bilingual or IB programs (not only novels, short stories or poems to work in class but also resources for independent and enjoyable reading in Spanish). Today I am going to talk about a short novel published in 2013 by Ricardo Gomez. Gomez visited Alberta in 2012 when I was in Spain so I was unable to attend his school visits. However, it is an author I discovered some years ago and I have wanted to talk about in the blog for a long time.</div>
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Ricardo Gomez has written poems, books for adults and books of the so called "literatura infantil y juvenil", books, aimed at children and young adults. I know that numerous authors, including Gomez himself, disagree that such literary category exists. They believe that there are only good or not so good stories but the term can be useful to understand that we mean stories that young readers can find attractive. Ricardo Gomez is definitely a special case among writers because he portrays teenagers and their world in a very accurate and realistic way (not in vain he was a Math teacher in secondary schools in Spain until 2004). <span style="background-color: white;">As he mentions on his website, he felt he was reborn after taking the decision of becoming a full time writer.</span></div>
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We can learn more about the author on his <a href="http://ricardogomez.com/#" target="_blank">website</a>. I particularly recommend to have a look at his conferences on mathematics issues that he has discussed in schools and universities. These are also <a href="http://ricardogomez.com/ver/matematicas" target="_blank">available online</a>. The conferences deal with attractive topics like the relation between literature and maths or how to make maths more entertaining for students. There is also a section to raise awareness about the situation of the refugees in the Sahara desert. Of special interest is the Bubisher project which tries to support children´s education bringing them a mobile library to the refugee camps where they live.</div>
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There is also a reference to all of his books in his web, some for adults and some for children and teenagers, although the author says he wonders if there is a separation between both. I will talk in another post about some of the books which can be helpful for our bilingual programs: <i>La Selva de los Números</i> and <i>Las Hijas de Tuga</i> which tell us the story of the discovery of maths by Tuga, a very smart turtle. I will also speak about <i>Ojo de Nube</i> and <i>Cuentos Crudos</i>, which deal with issues which affect us all, and <i>3333 </i>set in a not so distant technological future.</div>
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<img src="http://www.leeresunbuenplan.net/wp-content/uploads/Cubiertas/portada-selva-numeros.jpg" height="320" width="192" /> <img src="http://static-mundoreader.s3.amazonaws.com/web190/247/9788467543247.jpg" /></div>
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<i>Juegos Inocentes Juegos</i> was published in 2013 and won the <i>XIII Alandar</i> award for books for teenagers, given by<a href="http://www.edelvives.com/premios/alandar-literatura-juvenil/libros-premiados" target="_blank"> Edelvives publisher</a>. Sebastian, spelt without an accent as it is normally in Spanish, is seventeen and lives with his divorced mother. He goes to a high school, is not a good student and he keeps to himself at school. But Sebastian has a double life that makes him different from the rest of peers: he has been testing video games for a multinational company and getting a lot of money out of it.</div>
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We then learn about his monotonous life with his mother at home and at school but also all the problems his family went through. He doesn't have many friends and does not get along with teachers. It seems that his virtual life is more realistic and rewarding than his actual life. But the video games can hide something much more sinister. Sebastian is very good, cool and intuitive with the games. Little by little we learn that some of the prototypes that has been trying are drones (UAV, unmanned aerial vehicles) used to fight in wars. And soon, without Sebastian being aware, he will be participating in real battles killing real people in an unknown country far away. At the same time that this is happening Sebastian is becoming more sociable and meets Patricia, someone he is really attracted to. At the end we see all the damage caused to the small community far away by the drone attacks and how Sebastian was just part of a superpower's plan (readers slowly realize that the attacked location is Afghanistan).<br />
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It is not a book with a plot full of action, the rhythm is quite paused. We follow Sebastian´s story through the chapters, alternated with chapters where the life in the small community in Afghanistan is portrayed and the chapters in which military men are designing the new warfare. The book also brings up important topics like the fine line between reality and fiction, the power of the 'governments' over all of us, the growing difficulty of intimate personal communication, the growing pains teens experience, the lack of opportunities for the young generations in Europe and so on.</div>
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Another important reason why the book can be good reading for our students is the precise language used by the author which is very appropriate for second language learners. At the same time Ricardo Gómez knows the young people´s slang and he uses it in his books very accurately.</div>
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I highly recommend <i>Juegos Inocentes Juegos </i>for<i> </i>our students in a bilingual program though it is an equally interesting story for independent reading.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-12327016439885094602014-02-24T18:13:00.000-07:002014-02-24T18:13:00.927-07:00La División Nueve enters Paris!! An unknown historical episode for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some years ago we had one presenter in my school in Spain who was an an old man who had fought in the Spanish Civil War. His main aim was to share his life experiences during and after the civil war. It was the first time that I heard about the concentration camps in Southern France that held around half a million Spanish citizens in very harsh conditions in the beginning of 1939. When World War II broke out some months later, most of these people who fought for the Republican government in Spain were offered 3 alternatives: to be sent back to Spain and stand trial, to build trenches and walls to protect the French borders in the <i>Maginot Line</i> or to join <i>La Legion Étrangere</i> and fight the Nazis as a separate unit.</div>
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Our presenter in the school, as most of the Spanish refugees, joined the L E. He told us what it was like to be in a second war. Some months later, he was taken prisoner by the Nazis and sent to a work camp in Central Europe. Conditions were terribly harsh and the prisoners had to work long hours producing boots and uniforms for the German army. There are two things that stayed in my mind about his experience: one was the extremely harsh treatments that people of other races received (since they were deemed even more 'inferior' than the Spaniards). He recalled how the Hungarian gypsies in the camp were treated with particularly harsh methods. Another memory was that it took him two years after leaving the camp to start gaining weight, because his body had been so worn out.</div>
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When they were set free in 1944, he returned to his old battalion and continued fighting until the end of the war in 1945. It was the first time I heard about the stories of the Spanish exiled in Europe after the war and their involvement in World War II. After Hitler´s defeat, they were ignored by the Allies, by France and naturally, by the Francoist regime in Spain. To make things even more devastating, the Allies' promise to rid Spain of Franco was never fulfilled. For 60 years their story was forgotten and they never got any recognition. People from lots of nationalities fought against Hitler but the Spanish republicans were the only ones who had no country to go back to.</div>
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In the 1990's people in Spain started to wonder about the fate of these people and their role in World War II. This way, to the astonishment of many Spanish people, we discovered that the Spanish soldiers from la <i>Division Nueve</i> were the first allies to enter Paris and reach Paris city hall.</div>
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In 2010 French film director Alberto Marquardt produced a documentary about two of the last survivors from la <i>División Nueve</i>, Manuel Fernandez and Luis Royo. In the documentary, both remember their incredible experience as teens living in the Spanish republic to becoming adults through the turbulent Second World War. Through this short time span, they lived through the Spanish Civil War, being exiled in early 1939, being imprisoned in the concentration camps in France or in Northern Africa, and entering Paris as the liberators in August 1944.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/sCTzkiBmMFU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In the Instituto Cervantes' website in Paris we have the opportunity of following the division <i>Nueve's</i> footsteps and experiencing their entrance into the city hall in Paris on August 24, 1944. It was the <i>Guadalajara</i> tank that reached city hall first. The website also includes links to websites and articles related to this historical events. <a href="http://paris.rutascervantes.es/ruta/lanueve">Rutas Cervantes</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7U8zPc-Vq6s?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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A novel that recreates all this historical period very accurately is the best seller, <i>Soldados de Salamina </i>(<i>Soldiers of Salamis</i> in its English version) by university lecturer and writer Javier Cercas. The author mixes fact and fiction to recreate the life of Antonio Miralles, a fictional Republican soldier who saves the life of Sanchez-Mazas, one of the founders of the Falange political party. Sanchez-Mazas recalled this episode in his life years later when a republican soldier spared his life .</div>
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After the war, Miralles would follow the same fate as our aforementioned heroes: living in concentration camps, and 5 more years of war in campaigns in Northern Africa and with <i>La Nueve</i> against the Nazis. 50 years later a journalist (the novel´s author) contacts him to learn more about his episode with Sanchez-Mazas. Miralles is now an old man who lives in a seniors' home in France and he recalls his experiences to the author. Although this story is similar to the story of Manuel Fernandez and Luis Royo depicted in the documentary produced by Alberto Marquardt, the novel depicts these experiences through the author's eyes. As this novel is fictional, the different layers that the author adds to the story may make history even more multidimensional to young people.<br />
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<a href="data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBxQTEhUUEhQUFhUXGBcaGBgYFxgaGBwdHB0XHBcYGhkYHCggHBolHBcdITEhJSosLi4uHB8zODMsNygtLisBCgoKDg0OGhAQGiwcHBwsLSwvLC0sLCwsLCwsLCw3LCwsLCwsLC03LCwvLC8tLDcsLCwsMCwtLCwsLS0sNSwsLf/AABEIARcAtQMBIgACEQEDEQH/xAAcAAAABwEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgMEBQYHAQj/xABGEAABAwIEBAMECAEKBAcAAAABAgMRAAQFEiExBkFRYRMicTKBkaEHFCNCscHR8GIVM1JygpKywtLhJENz8RY0NVN0g6L/xAAbAQEBAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDBQQGB//EADIRAAICAAUCBAMHBQEAAAAAAAABAhEDEiExQQQTBVFhkXHR8BQiUmKBocEVQpKx4Qb/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMtWdIpu8mtERw+knVpP90VG4/gyW37ZAAR4qsspSDqVJSDBgHVX41zU70NONFYaw1Baz+J5vDUvJGujhQNdssCes8tZCIw+Wi5mEgjy8ymcpX6BZCfj0qct7UKyfawlaEqBU03uVPISkmYEloCSQPNrEU9RZIF4ywttvwVMoU4otoCyCzneeK4zIKHM4gGE+HljcGRjPz5/byDcfIqjljDKXQTJVEQNPahW8wcsDTdK+glK5bKSBJPlQr+8hK/80e6p+6w7Il5SnE/ZLyGLdkkny6gEjrtPKg5hYCoK0uZHUJWkMNNmCUDMSlU5CVZdJ10MSJ3HOnr9ftwZeXgrc1xKDWq2+EWhcANs1E7ZRV9wngjD1Jk2jB/sCqsVMODPOBnn+9xXAJr0ni3A9glJIs2Sf6vuA3qNwrg6zX7diyP7Jp3EMjPP9FX7/fXoDGOCbNJAbtGR7j+tQuIcKWjKMy7VokkADzCSf7VTuoqgzFimuKFbDcYNh+XS2bSR/Ev5eaqPiOGsgnKiOmp+etO8hkZU81dSamF2KJ0SPif1rn1FJ0Cfma13ETKRBBrid/Spr+S4+4fnRFYeBuD8TTuIZWQx2osVMGwHQ/E0DhyenzNXuIURSVHrXPEJqUNkjaPmaXbw5A1KSR1k1O4hRCoVFCrHb4S0RolR9Ca7TuxLlZvP1EEjnWdfS6wUOW0SDlWQRMjzJgg8jW1W9kANqjcc4WtropVcNBwpBCZKhAO/skVyiqZpuzzS2+tMQtYjaFKG+8QdJmnDGKuoaLKVJ8M7pLbatZmQVJJBkA71uVzwFh4H/lk/33P9dR6uBbDc24/vuf6q3nRjKzGv5UgRC/ZCSfFXBA5RO3bvTmzxDxHWkwsBTzUy4pQJzJBJB0JMD4CtXT9H9io/zGn9dz/XT5jgHD0KSsMQpJCgfEd3BBBjP1FM6GUbu4LldkDnVuwY6b0dNsFiab3H2eorlVHSyaCc29BWRHQVA2WMDrUXxK64tP2ayDRslFqRlUZ3rPfpJuVJfYbQASqYB2KiQkfjUvwzfLSIcOtV36VHYetXRsM3xBQam6KVjHFkOKbTBLYHiKgAZjGiQBtO3vq18LfR6HkJdupGbVLY0MfxdJ6U14EwUXt24+oHwUqCiD95e6RpyG593WtgCaKIbM9vvo1YM5ApPv29JouB/R022oKXCo5EaHpIrRgmgU1qiWVtzhpgzLSDO+g9aau8JW5iGk6bGKtKk0mW6ULKBf8AAjJnKCJ+VRF3wEIGUwdZ0/fOtRWim6mARUopiGK8HOIEjWN+fvqEtQtpRA94NbrfWgg6T+FZjxfhWRZVyVz6GoWiGbebUScpSdJAMUKYQsciaFAeo6TdIilSKav10MDG6HOom4EmBT25WZ1orUAHrWTQiwnINd642orVOwo3gkmTtTLHMSDKITqs6ADeaEJBzFUoUlsEFR2FNuIAsoOXc7UwwXCNfFcJLh+XYVPhwHyqoDMrJbwcyqka1akIUenvpzjuDnLmRrGtViz4oDZKXUkEVmqNWT4wxXtT8KgeM2vEbQ1utTiQn1Mj84pS845biEgzSvBFoq5dN277CCQjurmR2E/E9qtAu3DGGptWEMp2SNTzKjqon31NA02bbkDalkII2rZgVCqBNcBNGNAEKqRUsHY0dZ7UgUgnXQ9edQoHCYoqBp2o5T3mkXlAUAxvTOlV3GbBKkmRNWBVwNZFQGN3kpVEDl093v2rLNIzHEbTw1lKTmHI12nGIpUCJjaPSNxQqA9GKqOuV0qhwhMqOppsu9RMGuhhDMa10W/WnTToUdE0niV0lptS1QABNQpD8QYui1bzK1PIcyaqfDra7lw3D20+QcqhnbleIXWs5Adugq+MICEhCRAAqFHra4pwlM0xQacNvAVSDtp3LorUVW+KuEEP/aN6K/H1qxBYI1NES6Ub6poDFcTwBxpUEVqPBS0eA22hQhtMED+l94+8yaW4gsA60rLElJj1rMcRTcWa5CyJG6T8j2qFNvTcZaUN2KxSy47fkJcIUn4Ed9Ku+D4uX0pUk+o5zyE0sUXlq4BpQvVm2PcSqtlBIB1kg8vQ1BXX0jv7ICRp059atko14ucyoR0oweRyI+NYPccY3LipzR2G1SWH3t6rzJBB09D6CpZaNkdIqPuHDVNZx65TBdbUNNxqPfzFSdhjKXZAOo3B0NLFD10qIiarPEjGVBJJBgfHWrU0QRMbUzxi1DqCk7kdKlAyJ68M+bXpQpLE7NbaylQIiY03oVqgbynFkPPrZnVFPjZJTsJqjfXA07cLHthQ/wC1X7DLvxGkq2JHOi1IwAZRWa/SXjZUoW6D3VHyFX7Fbvw0LUowAD8qyXCkePcLuHPZBnXryFRhFk4XwwMNAq9pWp/Spcvdqjmrkq15U6sm3H1ZW07bqPsj1P5UKKpWTASCT0G9TlngBIBcVH8KfzNPsIwlDOu6zuo/l0HapBRrSRlsikNMs8iT1OtKXAbUATtzimOMNSFEUrwq6l61RJkjyr02UPaHuOlQBHLHKJbVmT0OvwrFOJmHlXSkkHMtflAOhJMae/lyrZeKX/qiEuoTLYVC0+pEESRHMe8VCYww2Vs3GXMlJS4kjKN+RJ5TGnaoUx02RCAvMgyojKFDxBHMo3g8jWhfRY2VB2fulMT75p7bYRhyXS8ZBnMEFYKUnckAch3MVasMtG2GVuCE5znOkctPlQpQ/pJDYiD5yST8hVA8E7mrniWa7uTHszE9utS1/wAPNqdabywgInTSTI1JHaT7qAziyt1uLCEJKlHYD8ak0M3TTSXwHEtGYWDI6dZAnTWtE4Wwlq2WpazmKgU7DQT05D9KYucAsKcKk3I8IkwiJV/VmYjTeKpCvYbxeoAJcEjmam0PtvKztLyK76H/ALVF4zwqgvBDCsxV28o6zThPBL6PZ1/evrUKSTWOKQfONRvFSjeKleyTrtUXa8MuCPEnSpQ2JSNCY+XwoBk9hwdJ6DmqJM78tqFM8ZcKVAHMBy8xHTpXalAXatFG/cSr2dVH0qY4c4jzXDjX3fun00pjxPibLLxJzhTiPaCQRHxppwjbNqJWlxCl66DePQ61QTv0gX4TbqEiVafrWf4YSoJQNtzSvEpfefLcKXB0SkTp6CrdwZwS4B4lxKByR94+vT8abkHfD2BF0So5W+257CrkwyhpISgBKRyFJrWEJhIgJGgqLucQJGhA/e1XYm4lxTi62UBxsyEmVJ6p2PvG/upLh/idFwohJ2TJ+QH51WuLMRAaIJ8x21071VOB8X8G7EglLkpMCe4MD0+dQpsOIKgHnUTwdKX7pIICCpCwnnKh5uwEj8alHbhCk6nlVFvcdRbXqFAyFIKFQdN5BPWPzqguXEmCtXCftAVRt5lfLWBULgWEf8G6wskoK1pTmOoTPX1mqzj/ANIKiClrTqqrJwZiKnLRokyTmk/2lVCjTCuCG0rErUuDMbDQ8+tTXGC4ayJE8vyqasgAkmqZxZjKUkjc9P1oBfh6zSAZHcmpy2ZSoifd21qk8P4u6rQNqKZ3OwHc1dMCu0qURBCuhG3f0oA2J8NJdOYKUhR5pOh9RtUOvgZwkZrhz4D9aviRpXAsJ3q0Syv4LwyljaSTuTzqcTbAClPriOoppcYiKEOOgUxej303usU13HrUbc40EiVQBsJjelloaY/ahSkn1/KuVEX/ABSCrrv0oVCjTiofWGUrQPM3MxuU8z7jHzqs4LZuuvIQxPiE6EGI7kjYCpuxxEJBGkHrsD1I5xyFWf6PFspccKT51TqQBI0nKBsJoQvGB4Sm3bA9pwgZ3D7Sj3p84+BvSTlxAqm8bcQBpMJV5u2471qyFouVJPMVBYutDaSeXOs4ueNHlAToeo59iKjMS4kcdEE6VChuIsX8RRA2FXDhVNoxbJdC0eMUypRIzCRsOnSsuWuaJmPWlELNj/ETi1KSlw5ZO2lV3xiTqaRUaLmq0BVKq0j6PL7/AIdaJ1Qo/BWv4zWYlVWLgq7KXijktP4a/hNRmi7XfG/hBSIMjQg9arTWOtOPBT+iSdYonEraVSN3pkn+inWEkzry05RVZQyomAJPaoDWnuJbMtENrAgaACDSfBWIqcdXK5iCOsTVBwzCi6YykbCRr8uta1wVw83bJJJzLVGY/gBVBarZ+R+VFeukxrSbjOXbaou+WT1+f40IFvH0/dj8TVbxTFiBAI1jn6ztR8Sv8p1P61XlLzjMNRqJkTyGvxqFBcYkqNVK359DULcXmkAmJ560+unynTKNufw57xUQ6JM6R6UAgWiszt8qFP3gBA206H46UKAj7lPQ03RdLQZSoj30Za6buGqQtNtx7cBGRZzaaK+9/vUU5feKoqWqSetQhNEmgH13l5UzBosk0ta2ylqCUAqUdgKqIImuTVv/AJKSygJWlKln2iQD7gT0pkvB21a6pnp+hpYortEVUzc4FBIDnxH6Gmq8HWOafn+lLKR4FPcIcKHm1bQtP460E4Yv+H4n9KXThbg1OXcc/wDagJzEG0rWcq9VK0nbffN600VhS21SqNjqD19n36TVjssCZcWbi6Vlt0kwmcuY9NPu/M1NJwbCnTCHI/hDqgPgTUKUvDcSU2oEGCDMjfTl6a1a7Hi0qWkfFRMDlrEaR+FFufo+aVqy+odNQofkaYu8A3SDLa2ljlJKT+dAX7DeIA4DrIkDvtrPvrl2o6xVFY8a1UEPIKc8bQZjTcfhVpsb0KHuO+nyqAZYipJ0WkR2317jlUNc3CArw2UKAChrJOpjqdOtOcceBUQDMRt/S6a+75VHWjkpUMpJJOxGh93ppQoyvlHMoLOZQOpJ7bTTIiJ5TOvSlLtQ9Cffzppd3MaCffyPw2qkOOqg6UKin7iTvQoUWWabOGnLiKbrFUyIGixRzUxgeBl5K1zCU6DuelQCWA4Eu5Vpoge0r8h1NX+0sEMpytIAMan7x9TTTghgpQ6kjmKsK0DJpvUKVLE0KmFGo4GPdU7iITuqdajylISRGtAMlHrRHIVtpR3kEU1WCKpBxbNxvrS9w1I0FMPrBGlPLN3MYJqFHOLpcdtWko80STzJmOnKRVet8MuB5kNOGOYSqB11FaDwtCELEDQnXrrynpVjsMcSk5FmI8uo07R1FUGV2OIXCBoFRoOdW7CuJVHKlwZSdP3Jq9seGsSAPgKa3liyTJSCoDtpPrQlkLc3LLmhTKjokzrMbg1D+OWgW/bCZOYaq6kGdKnrlhpKgqdEjYEieukxVQxPGgpflUMvmG3yPw3qFGFzcqdWcpyzJIPIesaV11/I2QlUH5npr0pgq4HtZtNY0HvBqLv76f1oUWur+Y1Omk/l+NRa7rcUgpzzaUTJrHM1pIh0KJ2oU+tbZMeaQewNChR64g02cp26o0ilKlGBzqGRK2tiogbSQJOwrTGMHShgIaVMD2up5mqU3ahow5v+FTOB42WjlJlH4VCk/wAOMkBwK3mnmIpUE6UfCXkrlSedO30gjWgKdeOzooUzuWtQUmpfFG0TA35VFWrClLidJ1PagErltZ1IpoWSd6nHLpkT7WVOmY8z2FNC42U5glQE7nnVA0RhhVrIjuacs2LbaxnUVfwp/M0takFQGUydT2HWmeMYiGpS3BWd1dOwqAknsRSy4vKAkKAIGpJ5Hc9RUHcYyc4MyAZHTTYe6odtCnF5lKJM1JI4TeUkLC0gfxEg+u0VQTjvE6lSEeSJH7+FJ3XFiikBK4KemxiI3qqOWDmcIBClEgCCdTyGtNL5pTai2oglJg5TKZ5idjVoFhvuIisDPqfU6fOoG7xGdRpNMCqklCpRRwb1W0mkVOTRUtmlUtVQEQmae21tMbz++VKW1rUpbW/UxP7ihBNm0Ma0Km2QUiAfyoVCkHknnU1w3lDyAoAgEk9tDrUSpydAIojTykK0MUIXbH8MadWpwuZewE0wThDWTyrUtXRMfnT7Ckh1kzvrNV1xZbcME71AWrAQm3SpZzx0VH5Ua44jJMIaJn51Fi68RORW8SDOh7Ggm9U0AkpSdNDzoBVays5lJynoTSVw6ENkjc/P/amV5feVRqPvHyQkDcCgCBwurlWw5cqcrdJMn2RsOXYUkw0B5RBURqeg51240SIOkwJ+ZoCZVdhhny6uLEk9PWqY+sqV1PLpVgxdtSGkk/eFR2HWfMiVH2RzJO1UE1wtg4Ucy9kwT37UrxHjGY+E1ttpuT09KkMUcFrbpbT7aoKvXn86gcOtyCtwiVBtSwI1APlR7ypQPoO9AV5WIqQolBhQPtA6+g7UzuELyhZ2VMHuDBpJVOrJ0QptUlJ1PaPvDuN+4kdCNEGqNRSyWdJpzaYWtXiBOqmyD2I/Sg3bk+yYPNJ0/YqFGqU69PWnTMSDHvp01YHmCfUU/tcMJMAHcaClgbMtlWyQJ5/sVKt22kx0p0LEo0JAPQkfgJP72qTs8MM6gqUOQHlHb1+VQDFi2WR5UE+mooVYv5OP3lBPafyG1coDHP5VXv5fh/vXVYsuZhPwP60xM0A2pRCUgqJ2ABJ9wGtdaRytk5Z8WvtiEBvluD/qppfcUOrVJS0NeSVAf4qinWlSUkEEbgiCPUUgttUZoOUmM0GCek7T2pSFsnBxc8CDkaMdlf6qDnFjyjmyt+kKj/FUGWTHP4VzKRVyomZknecSOqABSj3T+tdPFbkz4bf/AOv1qEcOuu9FLZ6VMqLmZOp4tciPDb3knzSenPalXeLXFhP2TYy9J19dar7bc967I6j4iqooZmWzEONnHikrabhIAABMaUay46W0vOGGyQDlkq0nn61VskelJsq10NMqGZlmf4ydWsLdSFwRoVGCOmg0FK23HjiS4SyklzLJzkQAZgac9qqqtN4FJqFXIhmY9ViZ/oj40ZGKFJBCRprv/tUaVV0GmVFtlqwPjIsLKiylYLeQjORIB0k5TsPL6UxueIVrVmCEp3gA7DpMVBlXWuZ+lMsRbLMxxgtIgokf14/y0r/45WBo2R/9k/5aqWu9cBqZUMzLnh/HWRwOOMeJGoHiRr19g61YF/S0AITa5R2d/VFZYozQSaZYi2aQ59JQWf5hQ/tg/wCWhWfswaFXtxGZkqjlWrfRfnOH3KbBbDeIF0auxPhwiMsg6e1EgiZnlWTg1aOHLfCXGSm9euWHwskLQjOgpjRICUKI6kkDXYxpWSFmxezvrjErBjFmm4UrKFICYcSDmXKk7nQAjSAdAJk2Bji5xzGlYYttk2Si4z4XhjQIaUue+qCI2g9qq2PcdW7Zw9uy8V5uyUF+I7IU5yKRIBAykjUDcQNKk08S4K3eKxRL1yp8hSk23hkQtSChRzFOXYn7xGpOulAI4NZpZw7H2key24tCZ10TmSJJ30G9UPgv/wBQs/8A5LH+NNW7g/iezXbYi1fPlg3jhV5ULWRmkqgpSRoTGtR6WMLtbizetr5x7LctFwLaUkJbEqK/YBOoAgTvVIX654xdXja8MebZctFq8MpUiVashySSYPm0gjY1TODOFkfy48iP+Hs3XnTm1AS2ohoEnmFZTPRBqfuMYwVGIqxQ3jrrk5kspaXGbww2NSgfd6kCTUXg3Hdpb2t7cKSh66vX1FVscwAaJVCVLykFMKWe+YVCkV9MVo2p1q/ZH2V7bhY0jzpSAZ6HKUe8Kq/cb8ZO2V7a26W2FsONNFxK0EqOZakKyqBgaJG4NU3HuLbO/wAIWz4bVo8w4FW7CSopUkjzZSEACQtenUDrU/xNe4PeXTF07iIT4KGwWktqJVkUpcTlnUqiAOVAK2fCFo3jlzLSSyzbi4Q1HkC1QPZ2gEKIGwJHQVG4ZjgxuxxAXVuwlds14zC20kFPlcITJJP/ACwDsCCdKb4f9JVurF37h0LTavteBmjzJSIyrKRrBObQSRmHSkEX+G4VZXjdpefXHrtvwkBKICEwsArO0gOEnmYEAa0BYsEYuGcKs3MHtbV9Tic10V5SvPpKdVpmFZhE6ZQAKyHjR5a7x1Ttqi1XIzMpSUBJjeOZVvmG8yKuPDmF4f4TTrWNOWjkJLyCChWYbhACkyBsJzz8qiPpZx9m+vi7byW0tobCiCCspKyVwRMeeNelaQZRlUCe1GUDXUTFaIJqooFKrrjaajQE1UWjqGtcihQzZTzB9QaAZVpoe1BulErIiCKtEDobIJB0oUdtySST0/OhQD9CK0jgZi2RhV5dv2jFytl1ISHUpOhDQjMUkgeedqztsVpfAbLb+E3tqp9hlbryMvirCRADJmJkjykVzKMuKsNtLnCk4ja2ybVxLnhuNoPkO4kAACZKTIA0JBmBFm4ttGLRxttjAG7tKmkLLiGlQFEqBR5GViYSDv8AeGlQHFT9vZ4QnD27lq4eU6XFlogpSJJgkEwdEiDqdTAq6cVpu3nW1WOKWzDYaQkoLidVgrJV7KuRSPdQGE4y8hx91aGBbpKtGU7NxAKRonmDyGpNahcYPa2FpZqRhJxHx2kuOvjMvLISfLlQvKNdPZGm5JJrMses1N3Tra3EOLSs5loMpUo+YkHSd/jNafwphN60hhdpjFqbXyqcSpchGxWgIWlXcboPYVWRGcjDW7y+DNo0plDzoQhsqKihM+YknWQAVEcojWKt30wcJ21uGH7JCUtErYcCNg4gnf8Ai0WCf4BVow/EbI4rf4mFoLFs0AFJKftHCmHFNifMcoyzsc+9M7W9w/EMPvrS0VcBcm6H1goBLhOY5CFHcpgj+PvUspUuLMEYawjDXm2kpddB8RY3VpOtVbh3ClXV0ywnd1xKfQbrV7kgq91aniPDDmIYPhiLd23SWkZleK4U6EQIypVr8KS4B4b/AJLfubq+W0U2zAKS0rOCXJzZZCTnCUxEf8wVbFEL9L/CtvbLYeskJSwvxGlhJJSHWlEK1J9owoH/AKZp9jvATKsCt71huH0tNuvEFRzoKftCQTAic+nIGpTxLG/wu8tbJy4Wtom6T4+XOVklSskb5oUD3c70o7xanD7PBVrBcZXbONvITBJSUMx5SQCQY35ZhzpYIhfALLGAru3m5ulJQ4lRUsFCVrQEpyyBOQyZEyo9BUfjHDVqhnBFJahV3k8fzr88m3B0KvL/ADivZjfsKseIcUfX8IxV/VKPHaQ0gxKW0m2yiBzMlR31UelR/Eax4PDMH/2v8VnSxQT6QPo6atbu0Ww2fqjzzLTiMy1ZFKWkEFZUVZVpJgzoQdRIqrcdcNNt4uuys0ZUlTCG05lKguIb1zLJV7SidTpWoK4oQjHbqwuoLD6rdTebZDyW2SiOmYpTHRSU9TTduwR/4ixC9eMM2TLa1KiYUWEQY5wgLMdctLFFO+l/ga3sUW7tmCGyVNO+dSvtAJSTmJgkBUgQNBpWZgb1uyPqWJWOI2lncvXDyyu7AdQUqSuQYRKR5SoBMcs3esFWa0mGjh0oprrhrgNACuCjD1oBOtAL2zWae0fnQoW6iJihUYJIq0riEFSgkCSSAPU6AfE0FDanGFfz7P8A1W/8Sa5zlli2WMbYniuHO27haeTlWIJEg6HUbEimK4rSsfs/FxZwG2VcgNpOQLyAHKIUpRMRyg9djEUhxFgVsym1uV2wZCngh9nxCtGUhfmCkncBM6R3rzMLxWLjBTX3ppPSt2rqrvjyr1Pol0rt09E/rijOMtPL7C3WktLdRlS6nM0qUnMNDIgyPaG8b1er7hVi2N+882FMtpT9XSVKAKljTUGTCiE89Jps7w404cKbSCn6w0VOHMozCELUQFEhOk7CNe1aXiuFJpxvLy6/Jm8+Fvo/L1H2WS0e/wD2jP1p51wNa8jWp4vweyWLkotV26mUqU24Xs4dCZJlOY5ZA9dR3FRj9lh1taWbr9s46t9uTldWBMJJUfOI1UNBpqa1DxXCmlljJtuqWW9r/FW3r6EfSyW7S9/kZ7GuoHfSp48LXQb8X6q7kiZyiY65faj3UbhZlDl9bgp8peR5SZgAyBJ32jvFTvFPF11bYk8UOnKhQSG1ElqMqd0AgTJmd5reN1ON3VhYSV5c2vxqtOfUkcKGXNJvetCjqAIrmWJq+8LcPN3LLt46wt8qdUEMMqyDUypU5gQAVQBPLnTp7gthOIWzRSvwX0LX4alELQUpJKcyTOhjn11NZl4rgRlKDu4p+XCtpa37pL1Kulm0muf5M8yRHM6/vrRgB8auacIsLm5RaWzb6Fh1aXHVrkZG5zZUyZJiAYEbmdqjeIVYcAW7Vu4DqXMhJUClQBIURJOpjTQb+6usOujOSgoSt67LRcN68+5l9O0rtFWUde3euFZM6mDvqf2a008G2zzLnh295brQ2Voce0CiBMFMmO4gU0wDhO3VZtPuM3Fyp3NIYUkBsAkRGYEnTvrXH+rYGVvXRpVpyr8648zX2Wd0Z2hwpMgq9QY/CuJXrr2p5fJSh1xKEuISFEAORnAnQLECFdqZKr0k7SZ87WtAX8/02+VGQmd9P3rSZH7/AH60ZIJ5VpAOWxEg0EopVCPhzo4b/wBvStEEmidaFK+FJMdq5WWVDxw7VYcD4kYt0JC7Jpx1CipLpUQZnQmUnaBEfAb1XFiiEV8+NgQxo5Z7fFr/AE0ahiSg7RZbHjNSX7h19sOpuE5HEBRT5RIASddACR36014h4oaetW7Zm28BDThUkZyvSFiDImTnmZqAKdKQX8q4rocBTU1Gmq5daKlpdaLTY3351VlmxrjFdzZsW6kkeHGdeac+UQnSNOvrFHd4yP8AwBbRlVaIy+YyF+VKTtsCEke+qlFKJR1qrocBJJR0Vv8AyTT90yPHnvf0i1Y5xFZuocLdkUPO6qWXVFKTMkoHUnsJnXpTDHuIUv29oyEKSbdBQokghRhAkR/V+dQazSZFbh0eFDK1f3Xatt8Vy3wHjSld8+g8tL5TbiHEGFIUlSTylJkVdTx/aeJ9a+pH65ljNn+zmMub1jT2ZjSaz4p71xLZJ0qY/R4WO05r00bWnKdcCGNKC0LhgfF6A06zetrdbdcLstqyrStWqogjQnXfTXeaPY8V27V82+0w6lltKhlK86ySlSc3mMCZEieU1Tkg/dB91KFrTWB2Mz8ttOutYfQYLzaOpJpq3Wqp6bWa789PQlsP4hLF79abE/aLVlPNKyqUkiYMK761L4hj1j4iHrW2dS8H0ukuL8misykASrQkdBHyqnlsdR+VHUQIEz0/ZH5VuXSYcpKTu0q0bVrydbkWNJKjRz9IFmFvOJbvCt5BSQpSVISY0ypzwB1PbaonhnHrG3bbJTepdRCleE79m4rfzJzpEaREbaa1TVOA7CKSUuNtv31rjHwzAjFxV06/ufCpL4G31M2709iU4nxL6zcuv5cniEHLPIBIHvgSe9R6EpGp2pJRmj5o3A25j8K+6EIwiox2SpfocJNt2+Qqj00rgVXSaImtkFvFo6HtNT1pua7GtWwPrd2SZHSPnQpvbnf3fnXay2B85RVUopWmtEUO9QgkKK4ilU0R2hBBaK6DXFCiE1SgUIrldCaCEnaKAMluuhHTX5fiKTza1xa6AXcUQIEAcwNuxPWkCvSuTMURQoUKTQmhXUAc6yUGalGUZiBvqPxE0Tw+fLvS1p7adPvJ/EUexVubI/wRhaVFKm1BQAJ+0c0BKYMzt5h8+hrrvA+GASW3NZ/5jnLkddD61Yb94pWSVpCUnzApkwEZjAyz7KVGZ7copBx37soCpUoBTYSrwy4lMBCkzzgnqR61+Cj1XUtJ9yev5n8j2nhYf4V7EM7wBhqR5kOASB/OL5ifwpM8B4ZE5XRBAPnXuZ7dj8KnUurUT9o35ZABbiTJCB5k6iRGYaaURy6BBWktJRIKQUa+yDqCiYygqzbRzgVV1PVbd2Xu/kO1h/hXsQo+jzD1JUUh2Ug/fUOR6jt8qxke7b9/vvXoy1V5XRoYRySkCQkhQlIg6jrptXnAive8Cx8XEeIsSTlWWrd7pnxdZCMcuVVuL2h393512hZjf3fnXa98+EeKVRSK5QoZs5mNEKj0oUKEsTWTzFFPLShQqksCFDWi5h3oUKGgqa4oUKFBZ0V1RMRyG1ChVFhMnXpSraKFCgs4ueXpRrUedH9ZP4ihQrEtmai9Uejr3DEOFZJIKmlNGNoVOsERmEn40k7gqFZZJBTkgpCUxlUVRAEQZII5jvQoV/L1jTWiex+jyoO3hYBkrUYMjQaeZSo0GuqvkKTTg8JCfEVISE5oT7ISURERsZnr20oUKd6fmMiDrsggOKB3QoZQIG25/pK0ifXevNwFChX6r/zUnJYrf5f5PM8R0y/qSOC2hczxyy9Oc9T2oUKFfp2ecf/Z" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>The novel´s language is quite complex for secondary students, this should not be a mandatory reading but to be recommended to students with a good command of the language to enhance their learning. No matter if you read the Spanish or English version of this novel, it will prove very fascinating if you are genuinely interested in the Spanish Civil War. We can also show the adapted film produced in 2003. There are quite a lot of activities available online about the film that we can use:</div>
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<li><a href="http://espagnol.discip.ac-caen.fr/IMG/pdf/lele_soldados_de_salamina.pdf" target="_blank">Activities about the novel and film</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mecd.gob.es/dctm/ministerio/educacion/actividad-internacional/consejerias/reino-unido/tecla/2009/10-09b.pdf?documentId=0901e72b80b52c91" target="_blank">Activities in Revista Tecla</a>, Ministry of Education</li>
<li><a href="http://www.cinespagnol-nantes.com/2012_j1.5/images/stories/festival/cycles/scolaires/fiche_soldados_de_salamina.pdf" target="_blank">Activities from Spanish film festival in Nantes 2012</a></li>
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In my next post I will speak about the recently published graphic novel, <i>Los surcos del </i><i>azar</i>, by Paco Roca . The story goes back to the same events and shows the life of another of the republican soldiers who took part in the liberation of Paris.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-12947849410933230912014-02-17T22:56:00.000-07:002014-02-17T22:58:12.382-07:00Spanish Civil War 4, The Photojournalists<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Spanish Civil War was unique in many ways. It was the first war that was fully covered by journalists with their camera at hand. <em>Photojournalism</em> was born during the Spanish Civil War in the sense we understand it today. Nobody better than <em>Robert Capa</em>, <em>David Seymour</em>, aka <em>Chim</em> and <em>Gerda Taro</em> can embody the ideal of the journalist who gets involved in conflicts to show the world the tragedy of wars. The three of them committed their lives to show what was happening in the wars and especially the suffering of civilians.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38s72HkHmBoQs2W0pFgJtVo1_EbB5JE4uo46osj_ZKj1obovBKlWc_Afv6ML-j9QplvXLM3O0uenB0zl8inYhsEuZCuXMNEAmkrFocuwNEzJM7gCUv8M7f4pNejbUEfP2tjkLlVt6Apg/s1600/Guerra+Civil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38s72HkHmBoQs2W0pFgJtVo1_EbB5JE4uo46osj_ZKj1obovBKlWc_Afv6ML-j9QplvXLM3O0uenB0zl8inYhsEuZCuXMNEAmkrFocuwNEzJM7gCUv8M7f4pNejbUEfP2tjkLlVt6Apg/s1600/Guerra+Civil.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/certo/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">xornalcerto</a></div>
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There are many parallelisms in the life and works of the three journalists, not in vain they worked together in different periods of their lives, shared a deep friendship and, in the case of Taro and Capa, they were romantically involved. The three of them were born in a convulsive time in different parts of Central Europe into Jewish families. A time that saw changes in borders, the fall of empires and the rise of anti-Semitism in most European countries. <br />
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Following their wish for freedom they spent their lives taking pictures as photojournalists in numerous wars and military conflicts in the 20th century. A life that any Hollywood star would have signed for a movie. The parallelism continued up to the end of their lives. The three of them died very young while working as reporters in a war: <em>Gerda Taro</em> in July 1937 near Madrid during the Spanish Civil War; <em>Robert Capa</em> on May 1954 during the first Indochina war and <em>Chim</em> in November 1956 in Egypt during the 1956 Suez War. </div>
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The website by <a href="http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=CMS3&VF=MAGO31_2_VForm" target="_blank">Magnum Photos</a> offers a great collection of photos by these 3 journalists. In these collections we can have a look at photos from the Spanish Civil War but also other armed conflicts where they were sent as reporters. There are also other collections of politicians or even movie stars. <em>Magnum Photos</em> was created as an international cooperative in Paris in 1947 by photographers. Among those photographers were Capa and Chim. The images below belong to their funds that can be visited in the provided links.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNDeJK3_5AGl_BVZKm73tECYoTH6UZy_9uRpBLcoVMzRdsc4oycKgabJdg11SGtjK1tzIr6QZGcUnJrHkfeFtINii8QDht7Iin_Z7K21i42juNBOgniR9n3Amse96U3YorFOi1vZ9tNw/s1600/Teruel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a></div>
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<span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiganatoo/" style="background-color: #0063dc; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">tiganatoo</a></div>
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Another good source of graphic information is provided by the website of the Ministry of Education of Spain. The <em>Junta de Defensa de Madrid</em>, the organism that centralized the defence of Madrid after the coup d'etat in July 1936 created a photo archive. The idea was to show the world the disasters of the war and the suffering of the civilians. During the years of Franco's regime in Spain the archive was not available for political reasons. Today the <a href="http://pares.mcu.es/ArchFotograficoDelegacionPropaganda/inicio.do" target="_blank">collection</a> is accessible online as an homage to the victims of the war.</div>
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For over 60 years most of the negatives taken by Capa, Chim and Taro during the Spanish Civil War were lost. After the ending of the Spanish civil war in April 1939 the negatives were kept in 3 small cardboard suitcases made by Chim. Then they went through an incredible journey until they were put under the custody of General Francisco Aguilar González, the Mexican ambassador to the Vichy government in 1941–42. It is unclear how this happened but the negatives were kept at Mr. Aguilar´s home until 1995. After not less vicissitudes, they were placed at the International Centre of Photography with most of the rest of the works by the three photographers. We can learn about this almost unreal story in the <a href="http://museum.icp.org/mexican_suitcase/castella/" target="_blank">ICF website</a>.</div>
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A documentary that recalls the story of the 3 photojournalists in Spain and the journey of the 3 cardboard suitcases was produced in 2011, <em>La Maleta Mexicana</em> by director <span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">Trisha Ziff</span>. The fate of the thousands of Spanish refugees after the war and their struggle for surviving in the concentration camps in France until Mexico opened its doors to receive them is well portrayed and documented with real testimonies of the refugees. The documentary offers a great deal of valuable information for our Spanish class. The trailer of the documentary:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="283" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/47452761" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">And here we can see an interview to the director:</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/64272524" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe></div>
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/64272524">ENTREVISTA CON LA DIRECTORA TRISHA ZIFF</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/ambulanteonline">AMBULANTE</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">I would not like to finish this post without mention </span><em style="text-align: justify;">Agustí Centelles</em><span style="text-align: justify;">. He was a photojournalist before the war and he showed what life was like in Barcelona in the years prior to the Spanish Civil War. When the war started he continued taking pictures of Barcelona during the first days after the </span><em style="text-align: justify;">coup d'état</em><span style="text-align: justify;">. He also covered several battles with his cameras commissioned by the Republican government. After the war, he left for France carrying a suitcase full of negatives and his photography gear. His life in France was like the lives of the Spanish refugees depicted in the documentary </span><em style="text-align: justify;">La Maleta Mexicana</em><span style="text-align: justify;">. He spent several months in two concentration camps where despite the harsh conditions, he managed to build a photography lab and to continue with his work.</span></div>
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After the break of the Second World War he collaborated with the French resistance returning to Spain in 1946. He was never allowed to be a photojournalist any more for political reasons and he focused his work as a photographer on making portraits and working on publicity. In 1976, one year after Franco´s death, he went back to France to recover his old negatives. An outstanding selection of his photos is available on this <a href="http://issuu.com/faximil/docs/2004-cpo-07" target="_blank">Link</a> offered by <em>Faximil edicions Digitals</em>. Going through them we can say that he definitely had the knack of being at the right place, at the right time. </div>
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His sons, Sergi and Octavi, have taken care of Agustí Centelles' work. They donated the funds to the Spanish state and in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Octavi%20centelles%20centelles" target="_blank">Octavi's flickr website</a> most of his work is also accessible.</div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Octavi%20centelles%20centelles" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Octavi%20centelles%20centelles" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTgljJG6VbVbKPSqH7dhyphenhyphenhRl2AuSufgpqIp3O4VSCyiO7WSZCpJ05wmdPWT6Nn8TM6EaaHsmoMnVRLGerTAJfB_icmjTVj6fLuy8eOxWiBp_lCIbQSL7TefTtJBEKitTF3sUJCidxM_BY/s1600/Agusti+Centelles.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<img alt="Copyright" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/icon_all_rights.png" height="15" id="yui_3_11_0_3_1384834889947_419" width="15" />All rights reserved by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/agusticentellesosso/" id="yui_3_11_0_3_1384834889947_422">Octavi Centelles</a> </div>
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The life and work of the photojournalists who worked at the Spanish Civil War can be a good research project for a bilingual or IB Spanish program. Students can integrate themes from Social Studies, Art, Film Studies, and so on to create their project.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-42987775795935220842014-02-10T09:59:00.000-07:002014-02-10T09:59:48.453-07:00More sites for good books in eduPLEmooc<div style="text-align: justify;">
I'd like to continue showcasing websites and blogs which provide information and reviews about books that can be used in a Spanish bilingual or IB program in Alberta. I came across these three resources from the eduPLEmooc course that I am taking. </div>
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Last week we started our group research projects. It was actually very difficult to narrow it down to one topic but eventually, I chose <i>digital storytelling</i>. The working group has over 30 members who come from several countries. They all work in different educational settings and thus, this makes group work more challenging and enriching at the same time. The reasons why I chose the group are these:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">I want to learn about the tools to create digital stories, something I have not had the opportunity to do before.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">I am really interesting in sharing pedagogical approaches on how to better introduce storytelling in a classroom</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">I want to hear about other teachers' experiences, especially in second languages teaching and how they use storytelling to improve the students' writing outcome.</li>
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As the course is a<i> mooc</i>, an open course, we are also showcasing all of our projects to each other. I have been regularly reading what other groups have uploaded and I came across some very interesting links to get information and reviews about books for our Spanish bilingual or IB programs. These are trhe three resources I would like to share today.</div>
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A board in <i>Pinterest</i> kept by teacher, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/tonisolano/lecturas-para-el-aula-de-secundaria/" target="_blank">Toni Solano</a>, who gives us lots of tips and suggestions for good books to use in a secondary school in Spain. I find it very intresting it because there are many references to books for young adults that can be useful for our classes and school libraries. The board is open and anyone is welcome to join and share. </div>
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Some of the educators who have been including suggestions in the Pinterest group also share a G<a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/100518572431327633347" target="_blank">oogle group </a>about books and reading. It is open and the information that everyone supplies is also very interesting. A must-follow for all of us working with bilingual programs in Alberta.</div>
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Some of the many resources shared by the Google Group is the magazine<i> La pagina escrita</i>, published by the foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra. I have already spoken about this foundation when I introduced the J<a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2013/03/jordi-sierra-i-fabra-literary-awards.html">ordi</a><a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2013/03/jordi-sierra-i-fabra-literary-awards.html"> Sierra i Fabra awards</a> for young writers. In the magazine there are interviews and conversations with writers, famous for their books for young adults, many of them have been already introduced in this blog. We can also find book reviews and reading suggestions. However, the section that includes short stories by young writers can be very useful for us as teachers. Every number includes 3 or 4 short stories plus around the same number of poems written by writers no older than 23. Because of the closeness in age, our students will no doubt find these stories very relevant to their lives. These may even inspire them to write Spanish stories of their own!<br />
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<a href="http://www.lapaginaescrita.com/library/revista/"><img alt="No. 6 (enero 2014)" src="http://www.lapaginaescrita.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/1-260x367.jpeg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
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<i>eduPLEmooc</i> has proved to be a great tool to learn form each other and share resources and information. I hope that we will have lots of interesting resources to share very soon about digital storytelling.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-84623178004085988642014-02-05T20:23:00.000-07:002014-02-05T20:23:34.280-07:00#eduPLEmooc, learning about Information overload and new Literacy<div style="text-align: justify;">
The best aspect of participating in an open course like <a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2014/01/eduplemooc-working-on-course.html">#eduPLEmooc</a> is being able to interact and share information and knowledge with other educators who are working in similar programs. Unit 3 of the course focused on the concept of <i>information overload</i> (also known as <i>infoxication</i>). We are constantly bombarded with information. We may become increasingly frustrated when we cannot retrieve the relevant information we want amongst the sea of whirling data.<br />
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The concept of information overload is not new (it was first used by Alvin Toffler in 1970) but the problem became more widespread with the launch of web 2.0. The attached link provides an accurate picture of the problem as well as tips to cope with it: <a href="http://www.infogineering.net/understanding-information-overload.htm">Understanding information overload</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x4GAswRXGZTdhefze_kYvam2SJ6H3SfRCeMF9wZANiyU9gJU_D7MTbiTOD8GsR8jkzgJAdXX1YezJr0ZQAYKC_AkVbm6li2NpVRHhy0CBhX5DnkrD0Dw9KYUo7JJDG7mMg-oKtKHawo/s1600/LicenseAttribution+Some+rights+reserved+by+cambodia4kidsorg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x4GAswRXGZTdhefze_kYvam2SJ6H3SfRCeMF9wZANiyU9gJU_D7MTbiTOD8GsR8jkzgJAdXX1YezJr0ZQAYKC_AkVbm6li2NpVRHhy0CBhX5DnkrD0Dw9KYUo7JJDG7mMg-oKtKHawo/s1600/LicenseAttribution+Some+rights+reserved+by+cambodia4kidsorg.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></div>
<img alt="Attribution" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" /> Some rights reserved by cambodia4kidsorg<br />
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I have been trying to deal with the<i> information overload</i> in different ways but to no avail. In unit 3 we were introduced to new tools that help us filter and organize incoming information. Naturally, these tools may be helpful but the most practical strategies may be to exercise our common sense and be consistent when we use the web. These are some of the recommended resources that I will be using: </div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><i>Pinterest</i> to store together videos, short films, songs that I have been introducing in the blog</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The social bookmarking <i>Diigo</i> to keep track of blogs, websites etc. which are useful and inspiring for work.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Take advantage of filing host services like <i>Dropbox</i> and <i>Google drive</i>. I am getting rid of the USBs (I have around 10)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">#hagstags and lists in Twitter to follow groups which are meaningful to our work.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The last tool I would like to start using is the dashboard personalized platform <i>Netvives</i>. It has been recomended in the course and it seems like a powerful tool to organize content and resources. </li>
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As I said before, one of the key benefits in participating in a <i>Mooc</i> course is the chance to interact with other educators. I have been thinking extensely about the concepts of <i>PLE</i> (personal learning environment), <i>web literacy</i> and <i>ethics</i> on the web and how to introduce these concepts in the classroom. Aitor Alazpita a teacher at IES in Salobreña, Spain, shared with the members of the course a very inspiring <a href="http://alazpita.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">post</a> in which he makes an analysis of the importance of filtering and organizing information from the web and how we need to give these tools to students to organize their own information. The concept of literacy has changed and he introduces the concept of modern literacy developed by David Warlick, which is based on 4 main ideas:</div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'helvetica neue', helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">Exposing Knowledge</span></span></li>
<li>Employing information </li>
<li>Expressing ideas compellinglly </li>
<li>Ethical use</li>
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Warlick, D.F. (2004). Redefining literacy for the 21st century. Worthington, OH: Linworth.<br />
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To read more on the the topic of new literacy visit this<a href="http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=263" target="_blank"> link</a> and/or this <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/dwarlick/literacy-learning-in-the-21st-century" target="_blank">presentation</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPqMIzcFHYCr7LeGSkrGyBilDVOMTRRrR6XXW4Ss42FhyphenhyphenkyzmOPE1yn6sAhwo8UFkajy-0YRsM-4Uko5FipMhjpvSaHupcM8cECKMsaKzSQzrImPEJuHVhr3AlJelaEkk14PFfSg1ePY/s1600/Think.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizPqMIzcFHYCr7LeGSkrGyBilDVOMTRRrR6XXW4Ss42FhyphenhyphenkyzmOPE1yn6sAhwo8UFkajy-0YRsM-4Uko5FipMhjpvSaHupcM8cECKMsaKzSQzrImPEJuHVhr3AlJelaEkk14PFfSg1ePY/s1600/Think.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<dd style="background-color: #fefefe; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; max-width: 871px; padding: 5px; text-align: left;"><img alt="Attribution" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" /> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution License">Some rights reserved</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/togawanderings/" style="background-color: #0063dc; color: white; text-decoration: none;">ToGa Wanderings</a></dd><br />
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How can we integrate all this in our daily work? In Aitor Alazpita's school a new subject area, <i><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/comunicacionyredesnazari/home" target="_blank">Comunicacion y Redes</a></i>, was designed in which students learn the concept of new literacy. They are taught the skills to filter, organize and put together all the information they reach using the web.2, something that will help them to design their <i>PLE</i>. At first I thought that it would be wise to introduce all this content in the SLA class, as part of the daily work. However, to develop a CTS course in Spanish for the students in the bilingual program could help them to improve their literacy skills and create their own <i>PLE</i>. At the same time they improve their Spanish and realize that Spanish can be a tool to acquire skills that can be used for all their learning processes. The course developed at IES Nazarí can be a great source of inspiration to do our own version.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-52735659274119955402014-02-01T21:59:00.000-07:002014-02-01T21:59:20.779-07:00Blogs to get ideas about books for Spanish Bilingual Programs<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">In a bilingual program we have to work with books, do novel studies and analyze poems and songs. We also need, and this is essential to offer a succesful bilingual program, to give students the opportunity to use Spanish for pleasure, to discover other cultures and about themselves. It comes to my mind what </span><a href="http://books.google.ca/books?id=uXW0-Z-LgEIC&pg=PT219&lpg=PT219&dq=Reading+should+not+be+obligatory.+Should+we+ever+speak+Borges&source=bl&ots=pKEyp2VGPV&sig=agC9rIfbFd9ch70K649xBJe11Y8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=da3mUt_4OpKGogSw5YGYDQ&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Reading%20should%20not%20be%20obligatory.%20Should%20we%20ever%20speak%20Borges&f=false" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Jorge Luis Borges</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> said about reading:</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;"><i>Reading should not be obligatory. Should we ever speak of 'obligatory pleasure'? [...] I have always advised my students: If a book bores you, leave it; don't read it because it is famous, don't read because it is modern, don't read a book because it is old. [...] If a book is tedious to you, don't read it; that book was not written for you."</i></span><br />
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From the beginning, I have introduced novels, short stories and comics for our IB or Bilingual Spanish classes. I would use some of these resources to work with students in the classroom to do novel studies, comment or to be used to do projects. We all have limited time so many of the resources I have introduced would be available for students as independent reading. I am trying to accommodate different authors, approaches, styles and countries of origin so every student can find resources that interest them. If we achieve that students see Spanish as a way of approaching reading for pleasure, we have certainly won an important battle.</div>
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I have already singled out around 200 short stories, comics and novels. I'll be introducing these resources in this blog and I want to have them available in my classroom so students can have access to them. Naturally, I want to continue finding new resources and the three blogs I am going to introduce are a great source of information to continue completing our list of resources and be aware of novelties.<br />
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<a href="http://www.letrasyescenas.com/"><img alt="Letras y Escenas: sobre libros" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWP2cuxuB9CfjEXyM1z5G8DubEW2XdE2ulghw4qNjuNI26khnbiBuqVSPoYZwGrbavRbNVP-XQlvxYXr89CnCkJnjXIBKZWr9o6Psg5C36DoQX11v1KL1b3_d1aSUAITVqaFuY3fJMFk0/s400/v5.jpg" height="103" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.letrasyescenas.com/" target="_blank">Letras y escenas</a> is a blog kept by Alba Úriz in which she gives reviews of books. We can find reviews of novels by some of the most famous authors for young adults in Spanish. The list is broad and includes some of the last published titles so the blog is a good way of keeping up with novels. Another interesting item is the fact that the blog has over 2000 followers and their additional suggestions and comments to the reviews make visiting the blog even more worthwhile. </div>
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<a href="http://revistababar.com/wp/"><img src="http://revistababar.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/babar20131.gif" height="65" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://revistababar.com/wp/category/libros/" target="_blank">Revista Babar</a> is a very interesting case. It started as the magazine of the literacy program of Federico Garcia Lorca school in Arganda del Rey, Spain in 1989. The project was led by Antonio Ventura, a teacher in the school at the time. The magazine was published in paper until the year 2000 and since then it is published only online by some of the old students and teachers in the mentioned school. Fortunately for us, all the previous numbers have been digitalized and are also available online. The magazine offers several sections and includes reviews of children´s and young people´s books. New articles are regularly published and there are always references to new novels and classics. All teachers are invited to submit their a book review or to talk about a reading activity developed in their school. This is a great opportunity to showcase a resource we regularly use or talk about our school projects.<br />
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<a href="http://www.literatura.gretel.cat/es"><img alt="Inicio" src="http://www.literatura.gretel.cat/sites/default/files/gretel_logo.gif" height="93" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.literatura.gretel.cat/es" target="_blank">GRETEL</a> is the Research Group on children's and young people´s literature and literature education directed by Dr Teresa Colomer from Universidad Aútonoma de Barcelona. The research group is formed by professors and doctoral students from the same university, secondary teachers as well as some external specialists. The website offers an incredible amount of information and resources about writers, didactic resources, references to PhD research etc. There also is a thorough list of recommended books organized by their target ages. The list includes titles both in Spanish and Catalan as well as the versions in these two languages of books and comics originally written in a different language.</div>
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The three blogs I have just introduced are great sources of information about books and comics that have received a positive review by professors and teachers involved in literacy programs. We can take advantage of their expertise to build up our own resource centre and introduce books in our classes.</div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-79337127640705466422014-01-25T16:47:00.001-07:002014-01-25T16:49:18.617-07:00#eduPLEmooc, working on the course<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have enrolled on the open course <a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2014/01/eduplemooc-opportunity-to-meet-teachers.html">#eduPLEmooc</a> and I have tried to catch up with the activities in this busy period of the year. So far, I find very interesting two ideas that have been discussed in the course:</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Learning never ends and we are responsible for organizing our own learning in a time of dramatic changes in education. Learning has changed and thanks to ICT we can and should be in contact with other teachers to share our expertise and knowledge and learn from their experience. Learning collaboratively is essential to build up our PLE, our <i>Personal Learning Environmen</i>t, which will enrich us professionally and personally.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Building our PLE is essential but we need to be aware of the image we project online and how this image is going to be used by others. </li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9sB03npt4E6MiyjQTXHZRL0sJrk5rv1OGjgZ24Nju-ejoSkP7fWpM7CPbEDGVGeS5w1fgc40BI0ALyLno_INCfEfvWvoJodQAVYzJGm4_yV3O__6f_n_OhQ0G0HmmzoU1C9INNUTs-I/s1600/Mi+nube.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE9sB03npt4E6MiyjQTXHZRL0sJrk5rv1OGjgZ24Nju-ejoSkP7fWpM7CPbEDGVGeS5w1fgc40BI0ALyLno_INCfEfvWvoJodQAVYzJGm4_yV3O__6f_n_OhQ0G0HmmzoU1C9INNUTs-I/s1600/Mi+nube.jpg" height="222" width="320" /></a></div>
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These are the main two ideas so far in the course. Another important aspect of the course is the fact that there is an incredible number of teachers from various backgrounds, countries and areas of expertise who have been actively working together since the course started. To me this has been incredibly valuable since I am taking advantage of my peers' expertise to improve my digital competence and to learn, first hand, about numerous tools which are available online both for improving our <span style="background-color: white;">PLE </span>as well as for working in the classroom.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngLXj83PWYTttaMIT00DopsGGMWJL3DJhJQNXHGhDLox_ab-XCKFOT4bLd7vdXo2vqc826U0WqBjfhdDjwpr-y-3wafe_HvRdG2fXN0enGJLQuWGWNTSAS4slXlwdyPCArPKqKOUbuMI/s1600/Mi+PEL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjngLXj83PWYTttaMIT00DopsGGMWJL3DJhJQNXHGhDLox_ab-XCKFOT4bLd7vdXo2vqc826U0WqBjfhdDjwpr-y-3wafe_HvRdG2fXN0enGJLQuWGWNTSAS4slXlwdyPCArPKqKOUbuMI/s1600/Mi+PEL.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the next weeks I'd like to start contacting some of the teachers in the course who are currently working on language programs so that we can exchange ideas and, hopefully, come out with some projects to use in our classrooms and continue our personal development.</div>
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From the very beginning of the course I have been considering how the concept of PLE can be used with our students and by our students. Although our students use ICT every day, every single moment, it is surprising that they are unaware of the possibilities the web offers them to improve their knowledge, and help them with their learning especially if they work collaboratively. On the other hand, most students also may not realize the importance of creating a consistent self-image online and also its implications this image may have to them. Naturally, my first thought was try to build awareness about our personal image with students in the Internet and also help them create their PLE. And to do all this in Spanish, as part of the Spanish courses in high school. How can we integrate this? This is what I would like to start discussing.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-12915657213435002972014-01-20T08:06:00.000-07:002014-01-20T08:06:59.024-07:00Blogs to get resources about films for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
Today I'd like to talk about websites or blogs which contain information about films and how to use them in a class. Some of these resources were created to teach Spanish as a second language so most of the films and shorts come from Spanish speaking countries. In other cases the blogs or websites are from schools and teachers who use the resources for the subject of cinema studies in Spanish speaking countries. In the latter, over 50% of the films studied are originally in a language other than Spanish. However, all the attached resources are in Spanish and based on the dubbed version of the films.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoGBabcOX-HI8GeR4RwLO3bFRlX-2tavXwo-qYxvbbpZELDipXWuB1qnnB-jiuR5uOs3ck4Utvy6NLMmYeANFysQG1GmDDoNxvjpJP3CFwCl2GHx37F_QA4Y_3JAc_9bVcXpiXAx_1Sw/s1600/bienvenido+mister+marshall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoGBabcOX-HI8GeR4RwLO3bFRlX-2tavXwo-qYxvbbpZELDipXWuB1qnnB-jiuR5uOs3ck4Utvy6NLMmYeANFysQG1GmDDoNxvjpJP3CFwCl2GHx37F_QA4Y_3JAc_9bVcXpiXAx_1Sw/s1600/bienvenido+mister+marshall.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://todoele.net/">Todoele.net</a> is a social network which has over 10,000 Spanish teachers as members. Their main goal is to share resources and strategies to teach Spanish as a second language. The website also gives information about courses, masters and even job opportunities. In the section about cinema there is a list of films with lesson plans created by different Spanish teachers. The activities are organized in levels that follow the European framework of reference. Almost all the films are from a Spanish speaking country an the activities focused on linguistic and cultural elements. The lesson plans were created for adult Spanish learners but many of these films and their lessons plans can be used in a Spanish bilingual or IB program.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.mecd.gob.es/redele/revistaRedEle.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Redele</a><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">is an online magazine published by the Ministry of Education of Spain specialized in teaching Spanish as a second language. It's published annually and everyone working with Spanish programs can send an article to be published. The magazine started in 2004 and in the 25 published numbers so far we can find interesting articles about how to introduce films and short films in the Spanish class. All the previous numbers are available and all articles can be accesses easily.</span></div>
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<a href="http://concedecine.blogspot.com.es/" target="_blank">Con "C" de Cine</a> is a blog dedicated to all the teachers teaching Spanish as a second language who want to use films in their classes. The blog's author regularly introduces films that can be used in the classroom with suggested activities.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://cineele.blogspot.com.es/" target="_blank">Cineele</a> is another blog that also offers suggestions to use films in the class and provides us with different lesson plans ready to be used and organized by levels. The blog also offers a list with links to lessons plans based on films available online under the section <i>"Actividades en la red"</i>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://ceroenconducta.ning.com/" target="_blank">Cero en conducta</a> is a social network maintained by a Spanish teacher, which has the goal of supplying resources and information about the cinema ("the seventh art") to teachers. Teachers can register and participate on the existing working groups or start a new one. Some of the existing working groups are about specific films that can be used in a classroom; some other groups are exploring themes like how to use short films in elementary education. This website is a good tool to contact teachers who are working in similar fields to ours and start a collaboration.</div>
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These are some links to find information about films and how to use them in the Spanish class. Naturally, we all need to build up our own list of short films and films, create some activities and share them with the rest of teachers.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-45202430852002367342014-01-13T19:53:00.002-07:002014-01-13T19:54:42.777-07:00Spanish Civil War 3, Novels and a Short Story<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have been introducing resources on the Spanish Civil War. In this post, I'd like to suggest three novels and a short story which give us good insight about that period of time in Spain and its repercussions.</div>
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Some of these readings were written by members of the International Brigades or the journalists who covered the Spanish Civil War. <u>Homage to Catalonia</u> by <em>George Orwell</em> and <u>For Whom the Bells Toll</u> by <em>Ernest Hemingway</em> are unique resources because they provide readers with an analysis of Spain from the perspectives of foreigners who witnessed the civil war in Spain. I particularly like the reflections of Orwell , and how he felt at lost many times with the unruly ways everyone in Spain had. Despite this, he also praises the generosity of the popular class in Spain and their kindness towards him. These two novels were written in English so they can be used in any Spanish program as suggested texts to learn about the Spanish Civil War.<br />
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<a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=F2etHnfH4Fos5M&tbnid=UByai6JHqKLBcM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fachillesinthealleyway.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F09%2Faita-hall-of-fame-homage-to-catalonia.html&ei=gyuqUq3oHZDxoASd84HgDw&bvm=bv.57967247,d.cGU&psig=AFQjCNHcLP3Bw8yTusxUQHHVA4oMC5C78A&ust=1386970329136809" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img class="irc_mut" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF8weg4x5V-vOd27i2dl1oM8au1TfsQVZokUDnZcZZC3RNRdHz6a9YRaS8YFMVWmO65rA-oq7i-rDPJGyZG4c4Gw2B1GpfWGrItV1FnInmEm8Byqoo8cp55PU-63D-AlO3bfCdDXmH8gU/s400/HomageToCatalonia1.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="204" /></a></div>
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For a bilingual or IB program my suggestions are: the novel<u> Requiem por un Campesino</u> Español by <em>Ramón J. Sénder </em>and the short story <u>La Lengua de las Mariposas</u> by <em>Manuel Rivas</em>. <br />
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The novel takes place in a small village in Aragón, north-east Spain in 1937, a year after the coup d'état led by General Franco and the breakout of the Civil War. <em>Mosén Millán</em>, the parish priest is getting ready for the Requiem Mass which he is going to celebrate in memoriam of <em>Paco</em>, a young peasant from the village. <em>Paco </em>was killed a year before, just after the start of the Spanish Civil War. While his sits in the vestry praying, <em>Mosén Millán</em> remembers various stages of <em>Paco</em>'s life. He recalls his birth, his baptism, the fondness they felt for each other when <em>Paco</em> was a child. Later in life, he blesses <em>Paco's </em>marriage in church but their friendship falls apart when <em>Paco</em> gets involved in politics and tries to improve the lives of the poorest in the village after the arrival of the Republic. To achieve this he clashes with the wealthiest landowners who don't in the village but own most of the land. <em>Mosén Millán</em> disapproves of <em>Paco's</em> behaviour and his support of the Republican government when the Civil War starts. Soon the insurgents take control of the village and <em>Paco</em> flees the place and hides in a farm armed with his gun. <em>Mosén Millán</em> convinces him to give in because he was promised that <em>Paco</em> would be given a fair trial. Despite the promises, <em>Paco</em> is executed without a just trial and a year after only don <em>Gurmensindo</em>, <em>don Valeriano</em> y <em>Cástulo</em>, the 3 people who were responsible for his execution come to his Requiem Mass. <br />
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<a class="irc_mutl" data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=-TZK-7hjeg1woM&tbnid=WYVMvQsyqC-3JM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebook.de%2Fde%2Fproduct%2F1444637%2Framon_jose_sender_requiem_por_un_campesino_espanol.html&ei=oy6qUoKXA4XuoATSyIGoBA&psig=AFQjCNFlX2hN4uECx3KV8-o6EkEkjt1Z0Q&ust=1386970870965785"><img class="irc_mut" height="478" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWtDLDk0L4tctUSZlXLqgHj3GtZB-Ciw7foZK8g_6aBzHJHRBNEA" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="285" /></a></div>
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<a data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=-TZK-7hjeg1woM&tbnid=WYVMvQsyqC-3JM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebook.de%2Fde%2Fproduct%2F1444637%2Framon_jose_sender_requiem_por_un_campesino_espanol.html&ei=oy6qUoKXA4XuoATSyIGoBA&psig=AFQjCNFlX2hN4uECx3KV8-o6EkEkjt1Z0Q&ust=1386970870965785" id="irc_mil" style="border: 0px currentColor;"><img class="irc_mut" height="320" id="irc_mi" src="http://media.ebook.de/shop/coverscans/144/1444637_1444637_xl.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="190" /></a></div>
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<a class="irc_mutl" data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=-TZK-7hjeg1woM&tbnid=WYVMvQsyqC-3JM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebook.de%2Fde%2Fproduct%2F1444637%2Framon_jose_sender_requiem_por_un_campesino_espanol.html&ei=oy6qUoKXA4XuoATSyIGoBA&psig=AFQjCNFlX2hN4uECx3KV8-o6EkEkjt1Z0Q&ust=1386970870965785"><img class="irc_mut" height="478" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWtDLDk0L4tctUSZlXLqgHj3GtZB-Ciw7foZK8g_6aBzHJHRBNEA" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="285" /></a></div>
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This very short novel depicts the situation in many villages in Spain at the beginning of the Civil War very accurately. In many cases, atrocious murders were committed in the name of political stability when really, they were motivated by old resentments. The author uses symbols to represent the different parties involved in the conflict. On one side <em>don Gurmensindo</em>, <em>don Valeriano</em> represent the old traditional Spain, that is supported by the church, <em>Mosén Millán</em>, a Spain who does not want any changes. <em>Cástulo</em> is the new rich, the bourgeois, who supports the Republic at the beginning but soon changes sides for the winners. Numerous other symbols appear in the novel and students can track them and discuss their meanings. There are numerous proposals to work with the novel are available online. This <a href="http://www.edu365.com/eso/muds/castella/lectures/campesino/index.htm" target="_blank">link</a> offers some resources that can be useful.</div>
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<em>La Lengua de las Mariposas</em> is one of the 16 short stories in the book <u>Que me quieres Amor</u> by <em>Manuel Rivas</em>. It is set just before the burst of the Civil War. <em>Moncho</em>, known by the name of<em> Gorrión</em>, tells us about his childhood in a small village in Galicia, north-west Spain. He remembers his fear before going to school because his dad told him about the harsh methods used by the teachers in his time. His first day at school ends in disaster and he runs away after peeing his pants. However, there is new political system in Spain which promotes a different approach to education and tries to give everyone a good education, regardless of his or her social class. <em>Don Gregorio</em>, the teacher, takes <em>Moncho</em> under his protection and soon an intense relationship begins between them. <em>Don Gregorio</em> visits <em>Moncho</em>´s house and together they go on excursions where <em>Moncho</em> discovers the mysteries of Nature. <em>Moncho</em> and the rest of the students are fascinated by <em>Don Gregorio</em> who teaches them to be free and treats them with respect.</div>
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Moncho´s dad supports the Republican government, the same as <em>Don Gregorio</em>. As a token of gratitude for his kindness with Moncho, his dad, a tailor, makes Don Gregorio a suit for free. However, something is starting to change, new people come to the village and Moncho sees that nobody trusts anyone any more. It is the coup d'état. Moncho´s mother takes the initiative and burns all the books spouting ideas in support of the Republic. She also takes her husband to church and tells <em>Moncho</em> that her dad never made a suit for <em>Don Gregorio</em>. </div>
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<a class="irc_mutl" data-ved="0CAUQjRw" href="http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Ox8AlkiICVZ7VM&tbnid=d9Cu81h6boXu3M:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.glogster.com%2Fiescasterfa%2Fla-lengua-de-las-mariposas%2Fg-6l184kaqcs2fpltipbn3pa0&ei=vTKqUpaZKYLtoATCmoKIAg&bvm=bv.57967247,d.cGU&psig=AFQjCNFVNxSO6j6H0iYJ4HuL7kOMnn-i9Q&ust=1386972175369302"><img class="irc_mut" height="403" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcReTR2AevIkr-ot6q6JviUK93tZT7XPgqAll1cifHlxTXTje1OU" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="247" /></a></div>
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A few days later while all the villagers gather in the main square to support the new regime they witness that the new authorities are taking the Republican supporters away to prison. Among them, <em>Don Gregorio</em> is hardly able to walk. The crowd calls them traitors and reds. <em>Moncho</em> wants to insult his old teacher but he can only utter the names of birds and butterflies that <em>Don Gregorio</em> taught them at school.</div>
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This is a beautiful story that deals with values such as tolerance, freedom, the role of education in society. It also shows how these values are fragile and they can be taken away from us and make us hate what we love best out of fear. <a href="http://www.ub.edu/filhis/culturele/luning_anexos.html" target="_blank">These activities</a> based on the short story by <i>Marita Lüning</i>, Landesintitut für Schule, Bremen, can be a great tool to work with our students. The short story is also available in a <a href="http://www.ivoox.com/lengua-mariposas-1-4-manuel-audios-mp3_rf_208540_1.html?autoplay=1" target="_blank">mp3 file</a> online.</div>
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These are suggestions of texts that can help students to learn more about the Spanish Civil War and understand how the war affected people's lives in a tragic way. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-69326613569817765802014-01-07T22:45:00.000-07:002014-01-07T22:45:28.119-07:00#eduPLEmooc, an opportunity to meet teachers in Spanish<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">I have just registered in the </span></span><strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">eduPLEmooc </strong><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">course</span><strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">. </strong><span style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It is a <i>mooc (</i>massive online course) in Spanish for K12 teachers organized by INTEF but which is also open to anyone interested in education and learning technologies.<a href="http://formacionprofesorado.educacion.es/" target="_blank"> INTEF </a>stands for <i>Instituto Nacional de Tecnologías Educativas y Formación</i> and it is the branch of the Ministry of Education of Spain which offers online professional opportunities for teachers with the goals of generalizing the use of ICT in K12 education and showcasing best practices. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">This is the first <i>mooc</i> organized by INTEF and I project that it will become useful for North American teachers wishing to connect with colleagues in Spanish speaking countries while brushing up their own Spanish language skills. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">My main goal for this course is to meet and share experiences with teachers working in bilingual programs and learn from them how they cope with the challenges they face everyday at work. I am particularly interested in how others are integrating ICT in second language and bilingual program classes and how they are using ICT to improve students' production in the target language and to increase their learning autonomy. I would also like to explore how ICT can be used to initiate joint projects with other schools.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">In addition, I am sure that meeting with other teachers involved in developing a new educational paradigm for schools will be a very rewarding experience. I want to hear about experiences in <i>flipped classes</i> and <i>personalized teaching</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">The course starts on the 13th. All the information about the course, its goals and the people conducting it is in available on this <a href="https://mooc.educalab.es/course/entornos-personales-de-aprendizaje-ple-para-el-des/" target="_blank">website</a>. Because the main goal of the course is to increase teacher collaboration, the course offers several mediums to keep teachers and other participants connected: <a href="https://blogs.mooc.educalab.es/b/entornos-personales-de-aprendizaje-ple-para-el-des/" target="_blank">a blog</a>, twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23eduPLEmooc" target="_blank">#eduPLEmooc</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23minubedeintereses&src=tyah" target="_blank">#minubedeintereses</a> etc.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Open Sans, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px;">For those in Canada interested in joining in but who are not familiar with the registering system in Spain, contact me and I'll try to help. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-76147699764353338132013-12-29T17:47:00.001-07:002013-12-30T15:02:27.419-07:00Villancicos, a beatiful tradition for the Spanish class<div style="text-align: justify;">
I have always been a great fan of the <em>villancicos</em>, Christmas carols, they always bring great memories of my childhood in Northern Spain. We used to sing them at school and my friends and I went door to door singing to get some <em>Aguinaldo </em>(free sweets and candy given out after the performance). Perhaps they didn't always give us sweets because of our good singing...I also remember to sing villancicos at home, after the big supper on the 24th when my grandparents came for the holidays and they always wanted to do a bit of traditional singing. </div>
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Some teachers told me that it would not be a good idea to sing <em>villancicos</em> with high school students. If I were in a bilingual program in Spain, I would love to learn some Christmas carols in English in high school. However, the carols help students to learn about Christmas's traditions in Spanish-speaking countries. Moreover, they can help students to improve their command in Spanish. Students can also do some research about what a <em>villancico</em> was in the past: traditionally it was a type of strophe used by poets to write songs not necessarily related to Christmas or religion. It was quite recently when villancico became associated to songs to celebrate Christmas. Students can also find some traditional <em>villancicos</em> and decide which ones they prefer. </div>
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<span class="ccIcn ccIcnSmall" style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" style="color: #0063dc; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Attribution" /><img alt="Noncommercial" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_noncomm_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="Noncommercial" /><img alt="No Derivative Works" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_noderivs_small.gif" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle;" title="No Derivative Works" /></a></span><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/" style="background-color: #fefefe; color: #0063dc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;" title="Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License">Some rights reserved</a><span style="background-color: #fefefe; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martius/" style="background-color: #0063dc; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">M. Martin Vicente</a></div>
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It is not difficult to find most of the traditional carols on the web as well as those composed by renown musicians. These are links where we can listen to a good selection of <em>villancicos</em>.</div>
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<li><a href="http://www.ivoox.com/villancicos-mas-populares-audios-mp3_rf_467518_1.html" target="_blank">Los villancicos más populares</a> with a great selection of traditional <em>villancico</em>s from Spain.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ivoox.com/podcast-villancicos-2013_sq_f189751_1.html" target="_blank">Villancicos 2013</a>, a great selection from Colombia that also includes the lyrics. </li>
<li><a href="https://soundcloud.com/villancicos" target="_blank">Navidad y Villancicos</a>, another great collection.</li>
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I have to admit that I have my favourite ones. These are three of them with lyrics. <br />
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<u>Campana sobre Campana</u></div>
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<u>¡Ay del Chiquirritín!</u></div>
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<u>Pastores Venid</u></div>
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If we are very musical we can download some <a href="http://www.atrilcoral.com/navidad.htm" target="_blank">music sheets</a> and organize a concert with our students. Or we can use a <a href="http://www.guiainfantil.com/articulos/navidad/villancicos/karaoke-de-traposo-con-villancicos-de-navidad-en-video/" target="_blank">karaoke</a> to do a more practical approach.</div>
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The <em>villancicos</em> are great tools to learn about Christmas, one of the most rooted traditions in Spanish-speaking countries. Moreover, they can help students to enjoy lyrics and singing, improve their pronunciation and their sense of rhythm and gain confidence when using Spanish, especially if we organize a small performance for the rest of the school. It is a bit later for this year but we still can sing some <em>villancicos</em> dedicated to the <em>Three Wise Men</em> on January the sixth.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-12807320031765240842013-12-19T08:51:00.001-07:002013-12-19T08:51:53.456-07:00Peaceful Globalization for the Spanish Class<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>Javier Limón</em> is a Spanish musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist and university professor. He is the Artistic Director of the <em>Mediterranean Music Institute</em> from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has worked with some of the most influential Spanish artists such as <em>Paco de Lucía</em>, <em>Bebo Valdés</em> or <em>Diego el Cigala</em>. He has also been very keen to work with young, sometimes unknown, artists from numerous countries in avant-garde musical projects. I'd like to introduce today his last project published in 2013, <a href="http://promesasdetierra.com/index.html" target="_blank"><em>Promesas de Tierra</em></a>. They use music composed by <em>Javier Limón</em> to join together the Sephardic Jewish, Christian and Moorish traditions, which are the foundations of flamenco. The music is performed by young musicians from Spain, Israel, Palestine and other Middle-East countries and the result is outstanding. At this time of the year, to see these young people from different cultures putting their effort together to create such beautiful music is a good way to finish our Spanish classes and wish everyone a happy and peaceful winter holiday.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08433054177281570103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7210776832252396529.post-78584684022443455522013-12-17T18:52:00.000-07:002013-12-17T18:52:32.248-07:00Short Stories to learn about Christmas in Spanish speaking countries<div style="text-align: justify;">
In a previous <a href="http://bilingualprograms-isas.blogspot.ca/2012/12/the-three-wise-men-come-to-school.html">post</a> I spoke about three short novels for children which introduce the topic of <em>The three Wise Men</em>. It is a tradition that is worth teaching in high schools too. </div>
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In the website <a href="http://albalearning.com/audiolibros/cuentosnavidad.html" target="_blank">Albalearning</a> there is a section dedicated to short stories related to Christmas celebrations. Besides, there is a mp3 file for each story so students can listen to the short story while they read. <br />
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<u><a href="http://albalearning.com/audiolibros/alegria/navidad.html" target="_blank">Navidad en los Andes</a></u>, a short story by Peruvian writer <em>Ciro Alegria, </em>depicts how Christmas was and probably still is in a small community in the Andes. The writer remembers his return from school to his parents' house for the Christmas vacations. He describes the preparations for the big meal with very traditional Peruvian products and shared by all the members of the community. Then he enumerates some of the rituals for that special day such as the carols and the dances. It is surprising to me to see that some of the carols that appear in the story have exactly the same lyrics as the traditional carols in Spain. Another tradition where all the family got involved was the layout of the <em>Nativity Set.</em> He tells us about the gathering of the different plants to ornate it, something I used to do when I was a child in Northern Spain. </div>
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<em>Ciro Alegria</em> was a writer who showed the situation of the native Peruvians in his works. The oppression they suffered from the elite Peruvian class, most of them descendants of Europeans, was the main theme in his works. In this short story, he points out that Christmas was the only time of the year when the white leading class mingled with the "indios" and the "cholos", the mixture of native American and European who were the servants in the farms. In the story the author describes the dances and songs performed by all the young girls in the community together, regardless of their race or social class.</div>
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In the same website there are more Christmas stories available, some are classics most of us are familiar with but we can also find some quite unknown stories in Spanish. They are good readings to learn about the vision of the tradition of the Three Wise Men which some famous writers in Spanish had. I particularly like <u><a href="http://albalearning.com/audiolibros/espina/regalo.html" target="_blank">El Regalo de Inocencia</a></u> by <em>Concha Espina</em>. <em>Concha Espina</em> was one of the first female writers in Spain who had great success in her time, she was even proposed for the Literature Nobel prize. She was born in Northern Spain and she shows the customs and traditions of the people from the countryside in that part of Spain very accurately in her works.</div>
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<em>Inocencia</em>, the main character in the short story, is an 18-year-old girl who works as a maid in a mansion. She is pretty but simple and she lived in a small village all her life before starting with her job. On the eve of January the sixth, she is asked to set a table with coffee ready for the the Three Wise Men, who are coming to bring presents and are tired and cold. Everyone goes to bed except for the house masters and when <em>Inocencia</em> gets up after a sleepless night she discovers that the kings had drunk her coffee and left a handkerchief for her as a present. Everyone keeps quiet so she does not find out what really happened. The short story shows the life of the young peasant girls in Spain at the end of the 19th century and the kind of life they had while they worked for rich families, their tasks and duties. <em>Inocencia</em> embodies this hard-working but innocent people who still believed the Three Wise Men were real.</div>
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Attribution" border="0" src="http://l.yimg.com/g/images/cc_icon_attribution_small.gif" title="Attribution" /></a><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" title="Attribution License">Some rights reserved</a> by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/martius/">M. Martin Vicente</a> via Flickr<br />
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My third choice,<u> El Partido de Reyes</u> by Manuel Rivas, is a beautiful short story written by a master of the genre. The story takes place in the 60's in <em>La Coruña</em>, a middle-sized city in Northern Spain. The narrator tells us about <em>Félix</em>, one of his school mates who suffers Down syndrome. <em>Félix</em> always does his best in any activity he takes part in. He loves football and despite his unlimited effort he is just accepted in the role of ball carrier by the rest of students, a task he does with complete dedication. On January the sixth, a holiday for schools in Spain, the students have their big match against the tough boys from another neighbourhood. The big day comes but they are one player short, their captain has deserted the team out of fear. However, <em>Félix</em> has followed the team like he always does and he is brings his new ball, a present brought by the <em>Three Wise Men</em>. After some hesitation, he is asked to join the team. He takes his position, does an outstanding job and even scores the goal for the equalizer after a tough game. To his team mates he becomes the hero that, without knowing, has always been.</div>
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This is a beautiful short story full of tenderness and realism and which depicts very accurately the life of young boys in a small city in Spain. It also includes plenty of themes that we can discuss in our classes: the role of religion, how to integrate students with learning difficulties in a school and in society, what it means to be brave and support your team, etc. On a personal note, the story brings memories of my childhood in Northern Spain and the football games in the rain in winter when we played against boys from another neighbourhood, in many cases on January the sixth.</div>
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The short story is part of a book called <u>"Cuentos de un Invierno",</u> published by <em>Alfaguara serie Roja</em>, which contains 7 more short stories, all of them linked by the recurrent theme of winter. All these short stories can be used for one of our classes and I will write about them soon.</div>
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