Mini Lesson on The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona Spain

Teaching about culture!

I'm currently teaching my Spanish II students about their travel vocabulary and we're talking about Barcelona, Spain. One of the topics we've talked about is the famous architect Antonio Gaudi - this video is about "La Sagrada Familia" Gaudi's masterpiece which has been under construction for three centries.

This is a video about "the collapse of the Sagrada Familia" but its a video that was created to help gain support for people to complain about the government approving the construction of an under-ground train system, which would run right under the Sagrada Familia.

I could show my students this video and use it to spark a class discussion and even possibly have them write a e-mails supporting this organization.

They could find more information about this cause and the Sagrada Familia at: sossagradafamilia.org

Casa Batallo - Barcelona, Spain

Casa Batllo by vgm8383 Attribution-NonCommercial License

This is a great image I could use with my Spanish II students.

We are currently talking about their travel unit and concentrating on Barcelona, Spain. I've already introduced them to Antonio Gaudi and he was the mastermind behind Casa Batallo. I could show them this image and have them write down any words they'd use to describe the picture and then if they liked the design or not. I could then show them other pictures of the house (inside, outside, roof, etc.) and have them make additional observations.

Next, I could show them a famous house from U.S. history and culture like the white house or traditional home and have them compare and contrast the two using a Venn Diagram.

Finally, I could have them have a class discussion where they will have to express their opinions and observations.

Interesting article from The New York Times

From The New York Times: "Twitter Can’t Save You"

A technology skeptic argues there is nothing inherently liberating about social networking. Indeed, the opposite may be true.

http://nyti.ms/eDymtL

Just another interesting viewpoint on the future of the Internet and Social Media networks.