Girls Around the World

I recently posted about This is 18, a photo series from the New York Times that follows girls from various countries. Here are a few more resources where you can learn about girls around the world.

Girlhood Around the World is a series of articles about what life is like for a girl in a different country.

#15girls is a series of articles and radio news pieces that profile teenage girls around the world.

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer one of the following questions in complete sentences based on these images.

• Skim the title of the articles and the summaries. List 5 things that you've learned/realized/wonder about as you preview the articles. 
• Select one of the articles or audio pieces and read/listen to it and summarize the article in 4-5 sentences. 
• Explain how your life would be different if you were in the situation that is highlighted in one of these articles. 
• Explain how your life is similar to the situation that is highlighted in one of these articles. 

Getting Around Latin American

Many people in Latin America get around in ways we are not familiar with in the United States. Watch the video below.

Latin America: Getting Around from Cultural Jambalaya on Vimeo.

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 3 of the following questions in complete sentences based on these images.

• How do you get around now? Is it different depending on where you're going?
• Did you know about any of these ways of getting around Latin America? Which one? Are there other ways you've heard/seen?
• Put the modes of transportation in the order you'd like to take them, with 1 being the best. Explain your order.
• Look up more information about transportation in Latin America and share what you've learned.

This is 18

This is 18 is a photo series from the New York Times that follows girls from various countries. to highlight how being a young adult looks different around the world.

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on these images.

• Check out the mixtape and listen to the songs - select your top 3 and explain why you liked them. What 
• View what they eat for breakfast and compare it to your breakfast. Which breakfast looks the most appetizing? The most different? Would you eat all of them? Explain.
• Read about Obdulia from Mexico. Summarize what you've learned about her. Find more information about her indigenous group and share what you learn.
• Read about their family traditions. What is a family tradition that you have?
• What is one thing you learn about a country, city or culture that you didn't know before?
• Scroll through the interactive and choose one girl to analyze carefully. What is something interesting you learn about her? What details draw you in? Explain.

San Valentín Infographic

A few years ago I posted about phrases related to Valentine's Day and I recently came across this infographic.

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on this infographic.

• How are you celebrating Valentine's Day this year? How have you celebrated it in the past? What is your ideal way to celebrate Valentine's Day?
• According to this infographic, who spends more money, males or females? How much (in US dollars)?
• Translate to English the top 4 things that males receive and give.
• Translate to English the top 4 things that males receive and give.
• What is something that surprises you on this infographic. Explain.

Flags of The World

Vexillology is the study of flags. What makes a good flag? Watch the video below to find out.

How many flags can you identify? 

Take one or more of these quizzes 

Can you match the flag to the country? or "The hardest world flag quiz you'll ever have to take" 

This Flags of the world website provides details about all the flags of the world

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and complete 2 of the following tasks

• Watch the Ted Talk video and describe 2 flags discussed in the video. 
• Describe the meaning of these three flags - The US flag, the Pennsylvanian flag, and the Pittsburgh flag. 
• Take one or both of the quizzes Can you match the flag to the country? or "The hardest world flag quiz you'll ever have to take" and include the screenshot of your score. 
• Pick 5 flags on the This Flags of the world website and summarize the meaning of the symbols. Why did you select those flags?
• Make a flag that represents you! It can be drawn and photographed or made on a computer. Include a description.

Back to School Around the World

It's always interesting to compare education around the world, from how students get to school to what they eat at school.  Originally from this article, here are a few photos from the first day of school from around the world.

Children play at school in Toribio, department of Cauca, Colombia, on Aug. 29. Colombia began its first day of peace with the country’s largest insurgency after a ceasefire went into effect, ending 52 years of warfare. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Fourteen out of fifteen sets of twins, from the Inverclyde area, pose for a photograph in Clyde Square in Greenock, Scotland, ahead of their first day at school, Aug. 15. Pictured are, back row left to right, Emma and Grace McEleny, Fraser and Nathan McGrath, Jackson and Elizabeth Reid, Brooke and Skye Smith, and Andrew and Thomas Stewart. Middle row left to right, Charlotte and Morgan Goyal, Orlagh and Niamh Keen, Charlie and Olivia Lyne and Olivia and Rhogen McCurry. Front row left to right, Craig and Stuart Arthur, Caragh and Sophie Doig, Jude and Luca Donnachie, Jessica and Lauren Egan and Max and Nyah Glover. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Pupils at the “Tamra HaEmek” elementary school wait for the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, on the first day of the school year, in the Arab Israeli town of Tamra, Israel Sept. 1. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Ukrainian children from cadet’s lyceum attend the first day of school, which marks the traditional start of the academic year in Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 1. September 1st is The Day of Knowledge marking the beginning of every school year in Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/EPA)

Students wish themselves good luck during a ceremony marking the first day back to class at Lycee National school in the Petion-Ville suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 5. Half of Lycee’s students didn’t return to school. Those students’ parents complained they can’t afford the tuition, uniforms or school supplies. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press)

Palestinian schoolgirls sit in front of a mural on the first day of a new school year, at a United Nations-run school in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Aug. 28. The mural reads, “Freedom of movement is my right.” (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Children attend the Kurulen Primary school in Vuwani, Limpopo, after it opened its doors for the fist time in three months on Aug. 4, with only a few students pitching up for the first day of school. Kurulen Primary school, was one of the 25 schools that was set alight during the recent violent protests. (Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images)

Refugee schoolchildren attend a lesson on the first day of the new school year at one of the UNRWA schools at a Palestinian refugee camp al Wehdat, in Amman, Jordan, Sept 1. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on these images.

• How do the images of these schools compare to the first day of your school day?
• Select one of the images and explain current events happening in that country right now. How might those current events affect education?
• Select one of the images and research about school in that country. When is the school year? How many years of education is typical in that country?
• Select 3 photos and describe the outfits you see students wear. Do they have uniforms? If not, does it look like the clothes they are wearing are part of a dress code?

Comparing Cost of Living Around the World

In the last blog post we looked at how people lived in different parts of the world. Now we are going to look at more details about the Cost of Living around the world. This helps explain how far a dollar will go in different cities in the world. 

Numbeo is a website where you can look at different data from around the world. 

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and complete 1 of the following tasks based on this website.

• Pick 3 different countries and create a chart comparing the 
• McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal)
• Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat
• 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)
• Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)
• Based on this information - explain which country you'd like to live in or visit. Explain why you chose that country. 
• Pick 5 different countries and create a chart comparing one particular data point 
• Put them in order from most expensive to least expensive
• Based on this information - explain which country you'd like to live in or visit. Explain why you chose that country. 
• Use the Cost of Living Comparison  to compare Pittsburgh to another city in the world. Take a screenshot of the comparison (similar to the one above) and write a paragraph comparing/contrasting the information on the two different cities. 
• Pick a different topic in the horizontal navigation of Numbeo (like Crime, Quality of Life or Travel) and explore that topic. Explain in a paragraph and screen shots what you learned.