Language Resident: Franco Rivas Quiroz
Level: Intermediate
Class theme/topic discussed: Wild animals
Goal of the class:
Students will be able to:
- Identify and categorize vocabulary related to animals and pets.
- Use conditional and past subjunctive to talk about possible scenarios
- Discuss the benefits and risks of having a pet.
- Compare, contrast and rate animals using a given criterion (danger to humans)
Class structure:
Warm up:
Juego de la Canasta: In a circle, one of the students chooses a subcategory of the main theme (example: body parts of animals, wild animals of the sea, dangerous insects, etc.) and each one will say a work without repeating what someone else said. When someone repeats a word or says something that does not belong to that category, that person loses and start another subcategory.
Activity:
Students answer the questions in small groups: If you had been an animal in a past life, what animal would you be?
They discuss the following questions:
¿Cuál es tu animal salvaje favorito? ¿Por qué te gusta tanto?
¿Has tenido alguna experiencia cercana con un animal salvaje? ¿Cómo te sentiste?
¿Crees que las personas deberían intentar tener animales salvajes como mascotas? ¿Por qué? ¿Qué animal tendrías de mascota?
“¿Cuál te asusta más?”: Students see pictures of 6 animals that might dangerous to humans. In groups, they compare them and rate them in terms of which one would be more dangerous and which one would not be as much; creating a list. They later share it with the rest of the class and compare their rating with the other group. If their results are different from the others, they will make a little debate in order to show the others why they think it is how they are determined.
Discussion:
Students discuss the following questions about ethics on animals. After that, the class is divided two groups and they do a little debate on 2 different postures.
¿Qué tan diferentes son otros animales a los humanos?
¿Hasta qué punto es válido que no sean tratados como sujetos de derecho?
¿Qué soluciones podrían existir para evitar el maltrato a animal?
¿Qué piensas sobre los zoológicos? ¿Son buenos o malos para los animales salvajes?
¿Deberíamos dejar que los animales salvajes vivan en libertad o deberíamos mantenerlos en cautiverio para su protección?
¿Qué responsabilidad tienen los gobiernos en la protección de los animales salvajes?
Wrap up:
Students wrap up the debate and give their final thoughts on the topic
Resources used: Powerpoint presentation.
Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?
Some students were very passionate about the topic, especially in the debate. However, there were some students that were not as engaged. But the class went well. While they were in groups, I went around helping with vocabulary and trying to ask direct questions to the students that were not participating as much.