 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
||||||||||
|
Can you believe that the 2009-2010 school
year is almost over?! It really flew by (at least in Spanish
class)! The NYS Comprehensive Spanish Regents Exam
is: TUESDAY,
June 22 12:00 –
3:00 You will need a pen to make your answers
permanent, READ THIS WHOLE PAGE! There is a link to practice Regents at the
bottom. Remember: You have learned a LOT of Spanish this
year. The Regents Exam is just an
opportunity to show what you can DO with the Spanish you’ve learned. There are NO grammar or vocabulary
sections. The only parts of the exam are: ·
SPEAKING
(24 points, already completed, yeah!) ·
LISTENING
(30 points, 15 multiple choice questions) ·
READING
(30 points, 15 multiple choice questions) ·
WRITING
(16 points, two 8 point brief letters/story) Here are some tips and resources to
help you prepare. PLEASE REVIEW YOUR VOCABULARY LISTS
FROM THE ENTIRE YEAR! LISTENING:
·
Remember
to stay ahead of me and pre-read the question and the possible answers. You
will have time between the readings, so once you’ve decided on your answer
and have listened to me read the passage twice, read ahead. Then . . . ·
Listen
with your ears AND eyes the first time.
The second time use your ears while looking over your choices for
answers. Remember to think about your
answer and don’t just base it on hearing ONE or TWO words that are also
answers. THINK about whether an answer
makes sense or is just a distraction from the REAL answer. ·
Stay
focused! It may be hot and
stuffy. The pace may seem slow. DON’T ZONE OUT! READING:
These readings serve a different purpose than the readings we’ve done
during the year, so it’s a good idea to approach them differently. You (obvi!) won’t be reading aloud, discussing
the passage with a compañero, nor will you be looking for CHISPAS! It’s more of a “search and encounter”. So read the questions and possible answers
ahead of time, then read the ENTIRE passage.
Re-read the questions and be sure that you can identify exactly where
in the passage your answer comes from.
This will avoid you just thinking, “Well, I THINK it mentioned killer
whales SOMEWHERE, so that must be the right answer.” Uh, let’s call that “Plan B”. Instead, make sure that the answer you’ve
selected is CONNECTED to something specific in the passage. IMPORTANT:
The Regents test-writers don’t actually expect that you will
understand ALL of the passage. They
want to see if, based on the amount of words you DO understand, can you
UNDERSTAND the important parts of the passage. Strategy:
If you can’t find an answer, it is mostly likely BETWEEN the previous
and the next answer in the passage.
The questions are USUALLY chronological. The reading passages also tend to be very
“positive”, so the question and correct answers also tend to show their
subject (person, place or event) in a positive light. If the question is, “What is the State of
Michoacan famous for?” the correct answer probably won’t be, “3. A high rate
of violence caused by drug trafficking gangs.” It’s more likely to be, “2. The rich and
diverse indigenous cultures that have existed in the region since before the
arrival of the Spanish.” WRITING: This section is “only” worth 16
points, but you should totally OWN ALL
of those SIXTEEN points. Every.
Single. Point. REMEMBER: YOU MUST WRITE TWO . . . TWO . . . TWO (how many, Sr. Warren?) TWO compositions! IMPORTANT: ·
Do
NOT take any parts from the rest of the exam and use it as your own in the
composition. ·
Review
the vocabulary lists before the exam.
Pick out the structures that you are most comfortable with and you
feel would be useful in writing about a variety of situations. ·
Use
the verb times (tenses) that make the most sense for the task. Use the tenses that you know best and will
highlight what you can do best with your Spanish. ·
Keep
things SIMPLE. You and I both know
that your writing this year was very impressive. Now stick with what works best. Stay away
from ENGLISH and DON’T INVENT WORDS! If you choose to write a STORY, DO
NOT DESCRIBE THE PICTURE (don’t write a dialogue either)! Remember to think of it as a comic strip
SERIES of pictures. What came BEFORE
this one picture? What is
coming after this picture? A story BASED on the picture can be in the first (YO) or third person (él, ella). Also, be sure to include: Name(s)
of character(s) . . .Weather . . .
Feelings/Emotions . . . What s/he
is/was wearing . . .Day, Time, Month, Season . . . What is GOING TO HAPPEN after the
picture? What ISN’T PICTURED can also
be included. You’re the AUTHOR, not an
observer. If a child is crying, SHE’S
NOT HAPPY. Include the WHO, WHERE,
WHEN, WHY, HOW and you’re almost done with your story. Now, use this link to access the New
York State website with past Regents exams. DO these practices. Lots of practice. Then check your answers. It’s as simple as that. There are three parts that you’ll
see: ·
Comprehensive
Examination (it’s the test booklet itself).
You can print this out and treat it like an actual exam. Underline, write on it, jot down notes. ·
Teacher
Dictation (that’s what I’m going to read aloud to you the day of the
exam). It’s not much help as a
listening comprehension, but you may find it useful to read along as you
listen to me on the practice recordings that I’ll link to. Or not.
You can just test your listening skills. ·
Scoring
Key (check your answers). Send me an
e-mail if you don’t understand an answer and I’ll see if I can explain it. http://www.nysedregents.org/Spanish/ I will put up links to do some
practice LISTENING sections as well.
DO THEM. DO THEM A LOT. Click here to go to a page with the listening
practice |