SUBJECT: Spanish
GRADE: High School
TECHNOLOGY: Newsgroups
BY: Scott Holcomb

USING NEWSGROUPS IN SPANISH CLASS

 

Target Grade/Subject:

A Spanish III class in which the students are creative and social. They are at the formal operational stage of development, however they still need some concrete (hands on) activities for reinforcement. As described in the Standards of Learning for Spanish III, the students are developing their proficiency in the three modes of communicative competence: interacting with other speakers of Spanish, understanding oral and written messages in Spanish, and making oral and written presentations in Spanish. In general, the students enjoy interacting with others and expressing their own opinions and ideas in Spanish. They dislike more traditional book-learning and memorizing material which seems to them to have no application in the real world.

Objectives:

Targeted SOLs

Person-to-Person Communication

SIII.1 The student will engage in original and spontaneous oral and written communications in Spanish.

  1. Express own opinions, preferences, and desires, and elicit those of others.
  2. Use level-appropriate vocabulary and structures to express ideas about topics and events found in a variety of print and non-print sources in Spanish.

SIII.2 The students will demonstrate skills necessary to initiate, sustain, and close oral and written exchanges in Spanish, applying familiar vocabulary and structures to new situations.

  1. Participate in sustained exchanges that reflect past, present, and future time.
  2. Exchange detailed information in Spanish via conversations, notes, letters, or e-mail on familiar topics.
  3. Use paraphrasing, circumlocution, and non-verbal behaviors to convey and comprehend messages in level-appropriate Spanish.

Communication across Communities

SIII.10 The students will improve Spanish language skills and expand cultural understanding by accessing information beyond the classroom setting for recreational, educational, and occupational purposes.

  1. Expand Spanish language skills and cultural knowledge through the use of media, entertainment, and technology.
  2. Locate and use Spanish resources, such as individuals and organizations accessible through the community or the Internet, to broaden cultural understanding.
  3. Given access to a Spanish language newsgroup, students will select and respond to a message, adhering to the criteria of the rubric given to them by the teacher.
     

Materials:

Computers in the computer lab

Netscape (an internet connection)

Spanish-English dictionaries (should be available so that the students can use them while reading and composing messages

Rubric
 

Lesson Description:
 

1. Take students to the computer lab and assign each one to a computer.

2. Write news.campusnet.org and alt.usage.spanish on the board and instruct students to open Netscape and click on the two conversation bubbles in the right-hand corner of the window.

3. Once the window appears, have students choose Edit, then Preferences, then click the + sign in front of Mail & Newsgroups. Next have students click Newsgroup Servers, then the Add button on the right, then type news.campusnet.org in the Server: field. Then tell them to click the OK button to return to the Netscape Message Center screen.

4. Instruct students to click on news.campusnet.org on the Netscape Message Center screen, then choose File, then Subscribe to Discussion Groups. In the Discussion Group field, tell students to type in alt.usage.spanish, and then click Subscribe. Once alt.usage.spanish appears on the Netscape Message Center Screen, tell them to click on it.

5. Explain that this is a newsgroup which is a specialized electronic environment in which people can exchange ideas about a specific topic by posting messages.

6. Tell the students that the class is visiting a newsgroup which focuses on the Spanish language and culture.

7. Point out that this newsgroup allows them to communicate with native Spanish speakers, enabling them to not only improve their Spanish skills, but also to learn about people of different cultures.

8. Explain the objectives of the lesson and hand out the rubric.

9. Tell the students that to read a specific message all they have to do is click on it and it will appear in the box below.

10. Allot approximately twenty minutes for students to read and choose a message. Let the students know that dictionaries are available if they need them.

11. After 20 minutes, instruct students to click Reply, and then Reply to Group, and then to type their response in the screen that appears.

12. Tell students they have approximately 40 minutes to respond to a message following the rubric they have been given.

13. After 40 minutes, instruct students to finish their response and then click Send.
 

Evaluation Procedure:

Newsgroup Rubric
 
 
The message you choose to respond to: Exceeds Expectation Meets Expectation Does Not Meet Expectation
Is in Spanish

(5 pts)

The message is completely in Spanish

(4-3 pts)

Some words are in Spanish but there are others in English 

(2-0 pts)

The message contains no Spanish

Contains a question or idea concerning the Spanish language or culture

(5 pts)

The message contains 1 or more questions or ideas concerning the Spanish language or culture

(4-3 pts)

There is a question or idea but it does not address the Spanish language or culture

(2-0 pts)

There is no question or idea addressed in the message


 
Your response: Exceeds Expectation Meets Expectation Does Not Meet Expectation
Is in Spanish

(5 pts)

Your response is completely in Spanish

(4-3 pts)

Some words are in Spanish but there are others in English 

(2-0 pts)

Your response contains no Spanish

Contains proper grammar (correct verb conjugation, agreement, etc.)

(5 pts)

Your response contains 1 or no grammar mistakes

(4-3 pts)

Your response contains 2-4 grammar mistakes

(2-0 pts)

Your response contains 5 or more grammar mistakes

Is written on a Spanish III level (includes level appropriate vocabulary, complex sentences, a variety of verb tenses)

(5 pts)

Your response contains 5 or more examples of Spanish III level writing

(4-3 pts)

Your response contains 2-4 examples of Spanish III level writing

(2-0 pts)

Your response contains 1 or no examples of Spanish III level writing

Is relevant to the chosen message (i.e. Did you answer a question that the message asked? Did you give your opinion about an idea that the message discussed?)

(5 pts)

Your response includes an in depth answer or opinion that pertains to the topic of the chosen message 

(4-3 pts)

Your response includes a vague answer or opinion, or it diverges from the topic of the chosen message 

(2-0 pts)

Your response does not include an answer or opinion