Language Residents

an archive of lesson plans

Tag: interests

ES FA22 INT Animals and pets

December 9, 2022 /

Language Resident: Franco Rivas Quiroz

Level: Intermediate

Class theme/topic discussed: Animals and Pets

Goal of the class:

Students will be able to:

  • Identify and categorize vocabulary related to animals and pets.
  • 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: animals of the sea, animals that have tales, activities people do with their pets, 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.

Students are encouraged to speak up when they think someone has said something that is not necessarily part of that category and explain the reasons for that. Whoever is alluded can either refute the other’s claim or lose and start a new subcategory

Activity:

Students talk about their current pet, a pet they had in the past or a pet that they might like to have in the future. They are encouraged to show a picture of it to the class in order to illustrate it. 

In couples or groups, they discuss the benefits and risks of having a pet. They can use the chipboard to remember main points and then share with the rest of the class.

“¿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.

Wrap up:

Each student briefly describes an animal of their preference without saying what it is. The rest of the class asks questions to find out what that animal is.

Resources used: Powerpoint presentation. 

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

Animals seem to be a relatively popular topic and so students will engage with it. Activities went well with no major difficulties. They went through a lot of vocabulary at the beginning of the class so that they could use it later on in the activities. Maybe one of the challenges is that students get very excited and conversations might go off topic a little bit, which i don’t think is necessarily bad. Students seemed to have fun

ES FA22 INT/ADV Movies and series

December 9, 2022 /

Language Resident: Franco Rivas Quiroz

Level: Advanced

Class theme/topic discussed: Películas y series

Goal of the class:

Students will be able to:

  • Express interests using expressions such as “me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”.
  • Describe movies considering elements such as plot, characters, genre and setting.
  • Use the present subjunctive in adjective clauses using expressions such as “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…” 

Class structure:

Warm up:

Juego de la Canasta: In a circle, one of the students chooses a subcategory of the main theme (example: horror movies that start with A, comedy movies of the 80’s, etc.) and each one says a movie or series 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 starts another subcategory. They have to use titles in Spanish only.

Activity:

Students talk about their interests in movies using expressions such as: me gusta, me encanta, me fascina, prefiero, detesto”, etc. The following prompts will be displayed on the screen as well as examples of how to respond. After that, they share it with the whole class.

  • Películas/series que encuentras interesantes
  • Películas/series que consideras raras
  • Tus placeres culpables
  • Películas animadas que te gustan
  • Películas /series que te decepcionaron
  • Películas/series que son aburridas
  • Películas/ series que nunca verías

Movie producers: In groups, students are the producers of a new movie that’s going to be released. They discuss what kind of movie they want to make, how they want it to go, what kind of director they need; using expressions such as: “buscamos a alguien que…” “necesitamos un ____ que…” . They will focus on the following aspects:

  • Genre
  • Plot
  • Setting
  • Director
  • Actors
  • Budget

They will present their idea to the rest of the class

Wrap up:

Adivina la película: They play in groups. In turns, each student gets a random movie genre and picks a card, where there will be the name of a movie. That student describes the movie and his group has to say the name of the movie in order to get a point. The group that has more points wins. 

Each card will not only have the name of a movie, but also 3 words that are related to that movie. Students are supposed to describe it without saying any of those words. If they do, they lose their point.

Resources used: Powerpoint presentation. Printed out pieces of paper.

Reflection: What worked/did not work? How can it be improved?

The topic seemed to be engaging to students. First activities were easy to follow, and for the “movie producers” it was a bit more challenging. They had been practicing the uses of the subjunctive in previous classes so I went around giving them some extra support and asking questions. They ended up doing a great job and they laughed a lot. The activity that probably worked the most was the Adivina la película. The restriction of words that they could use made them have to find other ways to use the language to explain something, and they managed to do it eventually. 

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