Parents+-+Padres

= Welcome - Bienvenidos = **I'm so glad that your student has decided to study Spanish.** **On this page I have included some reasons why that is a good decision. This site changes from time to time. You'll find downloadable documents, links to information available on the web and even a few videos you might find interesting. My goal as a World Language Teacher is to help your student acquire the language proficiency skills needed in the 21st Century. That includes using Spanish in AUTHENTIC, REAL-WORLD WAYS and it means lots of technology. These skills will enhance your student's social and professional lives and may just be the reason why they get the job over another equally qualified, but monolingual speaker. It will add to their global cultural awareness and lifetime opportunities. Students who complete the Lincoln-Way AP program will have the basic Spanish language skills to use in whatever career they may pursue. I hope that you'll encourage them on their journey.**  **The College ADVANCED PLACEMENT Advantage! When your student takes advantage of the High School AP language classes, they average 1 semester of college credit (or more) for each High School year invested in language learning. EX: 4 years of language = 2 years (or more) of college credit. At the University of Illinois, for example, a student receiving a 4 or 5 on the AP Exam can earn 10 hours of college credit for the AP Spanish Language or AP Spanish Literature course. Many Lincoln-Way students have earned enough credit hours at various universities to enter the 3rd year of a college program, making it easier to add a second major or Spanish minor to their degree program. These students have saved $8000 and more on college tuition expenses.** media type="custom" key="6672019" = WHAT CAN YOU AS PARENTS DO TO SUPPORT YOUR STUDENT IN MY CLASS? = media type="custom" key="7402557"
 * **Encourage your student to use this Class WIKI to supplement the information we're using in class. From the LW home page, a link can be found under "STUDENT" and "TEACHER WEB PAGES" to this site. This WIKI will link your student to his/her textbook site which has additional practice and games to learn vocabulary and grammar as well as videos to watch on culture and practice tests which are great review. Other links will be especially helpful to the AP students as they prepare for their exams.**
 * __MAKE THE CONNECTION AS A FAMILY__ - You can support your student's learning about hispanic culture. Each chapter's topic is a city (Spanish 2), a region (Spanish 3 Honors) or a country (Spanish 4AP) where Spanish is spoken. Part of that chapter will include learning about the foods and beverages popular there. The cultural portion of the Chapter Exams always include a question about the topic. Click on the "FOOD CONNECTION" and you can download and print a list of the foods studied along with a list of Chicago area restaurants where you and your student (and family or friends) can actually try the foods studied. You can also find recipes here on the Class WIKI (under their Class link) for the chapter. After trying the food at home or in a restaurant, your student is sure to get the answers right on the exams!


 * You can also make a "CULTURE CONNECTION" through art, music, architecture and sports. Each chapter includes various cultural topics pertinent to that region, country or city. For example, Spanish 2 students will study San Antonio, Texas. They'll learn about an artist, Carmen Lomas Garza, who is an hispanic-american whose paintings depict traditional mexican celebrations here in the United States. Your student can visit the National Museum of Mexican Fine Arts here in Chicago (Pilsen) and see one of her paintings call the Quinceanera - a girl's 15th Birthday party. In Spanish 3 when we study the Carribean, you might try a Salsa or Merengue lesson! Another connection might be through sports. The summer of 2010 was big for Spain: World Cup 2010, Wimbleton (Nadal), Tour de France (Contador) and even Formula 1 car racing!


 * **__Your student will often be assigned to use the Internet to access AUTHENTIC MATERIALS. "Authentic" refers to spanish-language materials that a native speaker would use.__ The materials assigned will be appropriate to skill level but will seem difficult at first. In class, your student will be graded on their listening and reading comprehension skills of authentic materials and this practice is important. For those students already at the AP Spanish level, this "Authentic" material is what the Spanish AP Language Exam consists of. Practice is critical to your student's success. On a regular basis, Authentic material will be assigned together with a comprehension task (read a menu, explore a travel site, read a newspaper or magazine article, listen to a radio broadcast, watch a TV news video, etc.). In the past, some parents have enjoyed the global nature of the web materials - on topics that range from sports to news to travel.**


 * **TECHNOLOGY USE - In addition to second language abilities, technology is also a 21st Century Skill students will use in my class. They will at time be assigned a choice of projects that use online, web-based technology sites designed for educational use. If students DO NOT have access to the web at home, these activities can be completed in my classroom before or after school. Students will also need to use technology for some of their assignments, including emailing me at miprofeAP@yahoo.com . Students have also provided me with an email address that they check frequently which may be used for additional teacher-student communication.**

= HOW DOES YOUR STUDENT BENEFIT FROM STARTING FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN HIGH SCHOOL? = = A few facts: = ==Studying a World Language is #2 on the list of [|21st Century Skills] are students need to succeed in the future. Click on the document below to learn more about why US students benefit from language study.==

Where is Spanish Spoken? Check out this map of the Spanish-speaking or "Hispanophone" World. The Wikipedia link provides more information and statistics you may find interesting.
 || || Why study Spanish? - **//[|www.aatsp.org] American Assoc of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese//**
 * File:Map-Hispanophone World.png ||
 * There are 328,518,810 Spanish speakers worldwide, putting it second only to Chinese for total number of native speakers.
 * In the US, it is used by some 35 million people or around 10% of the US population. This makes the US home to the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world.
 * Spanish is the fourth most widely geographically used language in the world, spanning 44 countries.
 * It is the official language of 21 countries.
 * It serves as the most commonly taught foreign language in the United States.
 * 68.8% of high school students and 52.2% of post-secondary students with world language programs choose to study Spanish.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It serves as an official language of the United Nations, the European Union, World Trade Organization, and North American Free Trade Agreement.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It is the third most commonly used language on the Internet (after English and Chinese).
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hispanic citizens make up 15.4% of the US population and the second largest ethnic group.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">There are more than 5,000 elected US officials who are of Latino/Hispanic origin.

Spanish has been spoken in the US for centuries, and it is used in many different ways today.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It began being used in what is now the US in 1513 (almost five centuries ago) by Ponce de León. Spanish was the language spoken by the first permanent European settlers and explorers.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish explorer, traveled from Florida to the Gulf of California 267 years before the Lewis and Clark expedition.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Spanish is a part of our popular culture, with shows like "Dora the Explorer," "The George Lopez Show," and "Ugly Betty," as well as the language of major networks such as Univisión and Telemundo.
 * <span style="display: block; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Spanish influence is evident in place names: states such as Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Montana, Florida, California, and Arizona all come from Spanish words; cities and regions such as Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, Alcatraz, Toledo, Sante Fe, and Las Vegas, to name a only handful, are also of Spanish origin.