La Familia Calabaza

As a comment to this post, please add your descriptions of Isabela's family. Here are some suggestions for information you may include:

A general physical description
A birthday
Astrological information and matching personality characteristics
Things they like to do
Who they live with and what their house is like (coordinate this with other members of the class)

¿Quién es Mbungo? Una Biografía Breve…

Mbungo es africano. Es bajo y delgado, tiene pelo negro con ojos negros. Es a menudo muy serio, pero raramente está mal. No se ríe mucho, pero ni grita mucho tampoco. Es normal.

Mbungo tiene dieciseis años. La fecha de su navidad es el catorce de maio, como George Lucas. ¡A Mbungo le encanta las peliculas Star Wars!. Mbungo es el hijo menor de la familia. Su hermana Victoria tiene veinte años, y asiste a la universidad. Tiene muchos otros hermanos y hermanas que viven en sus propias casas, con sus propias familias. ¡Mbungo tiene sin duda una familia grandísima!

A Mbungo le gusta la comida japonesa. Es afortunado, porque sus padres trabajan en un restaurante japones. Siempre llevan a la casa arroz, sopa con pescado y tofu con legumes. ¡Es comida deliciosa!

Mbungo y su familia viven en una casa amarilla que es parte de un centro comercial cerca de PVPA. No tienen carro. Necesitan caminar para comprar cosas. Mbungo necesita caminar a la escuela. Caminan por toda parte de la ciudad. Son atléticos por que caminan mucho.

Mbungo es buen alumno y saca buenas notas en sus clases. Toma biología, matemáticas, inglés, historia mundial, español y música. Practica la batería desde tres años. Pasa dos horas la noche en estudiar, y completa su tarea antes de dormirse.

PREGUNTAS (publicar como un comentario por este mensaje)

1. ¿Cuál es la nacionalidad de Mbungo?
2. ¿Cómo es él?
3. ¿Qué le gusta hacer a Mbungo?
4. ¿Cómo es su familia?
5. ¿A Mbungo le gusta pescado?
6. ¿Cómo viajan Mbungo y su familia?
7. ¿Es Mbungo estudioso?
8. ¿Cuál es el signo astrologico de Mbungo?
9. ¿Según la información que tienes, qué son las caracteristicas personales del signo astrologico de Mbungo?
10. ¿Conoces una persona con las mismas caracteristicas o el mismo signo que Mbungo? ¿Quién es?
11. ¿Qué son las caracteristicas personales de tu signo astrologico?
12. ¿A tu opinión, tienes las caracteristicas de tu signo?
13. ¿Cuál es tu opinión de astrología? ¿Crees en la exactitud de astrología? Porqué o porqué no?

Horóscopos y Entrevistas

Mbungo's bio will appear shortly, but for now, I wanted to give you some information you might be interested to explore:

StoryCorps® is a project that honors and celebrates lives by allowing people to be interviewed (and recorded) by others in their lives. There's a lot of information here to explore, and even a link to a section in Spanish. Check it out [HERE].

This site [HERE] offers you some more detail about the characteristics of the astrological signs in Spanish. Added to what you've already seen, it might get you some good vocabulary to use for your homework on this topic. You might also decide to do some searching on your own for other sites. If you come across one you think is valuable, pass it along. You get LOTS of class participation points for it! No, really. LOTS!

Keyboard Shortcuts for International Characters

Press the keys shown (EX: Hold the CTRL, then type the accent), release them, then type the letter to get what you need:

CTRL+` (ACCENT GRAVE), then the letter = à, è, ì, ò, ù, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù

CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), then the letter = á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý

CTRL+SHIFT+^ (CARET), then the letter = â, ê, î, ô, û, Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û

CTRL+SHIFT+~ (TILDE), then the letter = ã, ñ, õ, Ã, Ñ, Õ

CTRL+SHIFT+: (COLON), then the letter = ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ, Ä, Ë, Ï, Ö, Ü, Ÿ

CTRL+SHIFT+@, then a or A = å, Å

CTRL+SHIFT+&, then a or A = æ, Æ

CTRL+SHIFT+&, then o or O = œ, Œ

CTRL+, (COMMA), then c or C = ç, Ç

CTRL+' (APOSTROPHE), then d or D = ð, Ð

CTRL+/, then o or O = ø, Ø

ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+? (do these all at the same time) = ¿

ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+! (do these all at the same time) = ¡

CTRL+SHIFT+&, then s = ß

Note: If you type extensively in another language, you may prefer to switch to a different keyboard instead.

Keyboard Shortcuts for International Characters for Macs and IE

Here are some links to show you the codes to use with Macintosh system software, Windows software (including Internet Explorer) and HTML programs, like this blog site.

http://www.starr.net/is/type/kbh.html

http://desktoppub.about.com/library/weekly/naccents.htm

Bienvenido al Blog Español II de PVPA!

Welcome to the PVPA Spanish Blog! On this site, you will find a variety of tools here to support your language learning. You can also practice your writing here, as well as look at examples from other students past and present.

To post your work here, just post it as a comment to the assignment it goes to. You are also encouraged to offer replies to posts from other students (even ones in other classes). Just keep to the same standards of behavior here that you would be expected to follow in the classroom in real life.

All students using this site are expected to follow the well-established rules for proper online etiquette. Just as you are expected to do in class, keep your language positive and affirming. Remember, you're here to support each other! Negative, condescending, confrontational or otherwise inappropriate comments will not be tolerated, and can have an adverse effect on your class participation grade.

Your posts on this site are meant to support learning by providing everyone a chance to see how Spanish can express thoughts and feelings to communicate about real-world issues. Your posts should represent your best work.

Your work on this site will be graded a little differently than your normal practice work. Spelling and grammar, to the degree you have been exposed to them, do count here. Your work will often be submitted in draft form in a separate assignment before it is posted on this blog. In addition, because we are all dependent upon each other for this component of learning, you will also be given a separate grade for Class Participation. For this grade, you will be expected to participate fully in the assignments by offering responses to other students’ work. The feedback you provide and receive is an integral part of the learning experience here. It provides you with the opportunity to 'hear' and share ways of thinking. The rubric used to evaluate the work you submit here is a bit different than what is normally used for your work. See below:

--BLOG SUBMISSION RUBRIC--

CRITERIA: Response Shows Evidence of Familiarity and Analysis of Assigned Readings (graded as homework):

4 : The student has clearly read, understands, and has analyzed the assignment and posts, and has helped others to do the same through responses. In addition, the student has shown a level of creativity and expression that goes beyond the minimum required for credit.

3 : Content of responses obviously indicates that student has read, understands, and has analyzed the assignment and posts.

2 : Content of responses shows little evidence that student understands or has analyzed the assignment or posts, or there is a consisten pattern of error in the post that must be addressed.
1 : Little evidence within the response that student has read, understands, or has analyzed the assignment or posts, or an incomplete response.

__________________________

CRITERIA: Engaged Fellow Classmates in Meaningful Discussion and Dialog (graded as part of Class Participation):

4 : Responses to fellow students are engaging and meaningful. They offer appropriate support or contribute to further discussion within the context of the assignment.

3 : Responses to fellow students are engaging and meaningful, and within the context of the assignment.

2 : Responses are less engaging and/or meaningful, though within the context of the assignment.

0 : No responses to fellow students, or responses are not within the context of the assignment given.