an archive of lesson plans

Tag: spanish

SP INT SPORTS

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: 

Goal of the class: The students learn vocabulary related to sports and Spanish athletes

Class structure:

Warm-up:

  • What sports do you like to practice?
  • Have you ever played basketball? How was it?
  • What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Why?

Activity 1: Vocabulary check

In pairs they have to decide how to say these words in Spanish:

-soccer

-basketball

-tennis

-swimming

-cycling

-track and field

-skiing

-snowboarding

-surfing

-boxing

Activity 2:  In pairs/as a group

-Do you know any famous Spanish athlete?

-What sport do they practice?

-What was the biggest prize they have won?

Activity 3:

What of these athletes do you don’t know? Find information about them and share it with the rest of the class.

-Rafael Nadal

-Pau Gasol

-Andrés Iniesta

-Mireia Belmonte

-Alberto Contador

Activity 4: 

-Do you like to watch the Olympic Games?

-What Olympic sport is your favorite?

-What is the country with more Olympic Medals?

Backup: 

Have you ever been to a live sport event?

How was the experience? What do you remember about that day?

Resources used:

Powerpoint, google

What worked well? What did not work?

This class worked pretty well, they shared they experiences with each other. The only problem for me was that I was expecting 4 students and only 2 arrived, so it was not as dynamic as I expected.

ES FA22 INT Animals and pets

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 INT: Safari

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed:

Travel, animals and future tense

Goal of the class:

The students revise animals vocabulary, travel and present and future tense

Class structure:

Activity 1:

We go on a safari. The students have to decide in pairs a safari trip for the Language residents. They have to decide where to go, who many days, find the flights, accommodation and things to do.

Once they found all the information, they have to present it to the class.

Activity 2:

What animals would we see on a safari?

The students brainstorm about all the animals they know and I give them the vocabulary they do not know.

Activity 3:

What is your animal spirit?

The students take a test in Spanish to discover their animal spirit. Then, they share it with the rest of the class. The LR also takes the test, so their information can also be shared.

Activity 4:

Animal stories.

I give each student cards with 4 random animals. They have to come up with a story for kids where those three animals are characters.

Backup activity: animals taboo

The students play taboo with the cards previously used in the activity 4.

Resources used:

Animal spirit test:

https://www.arealme.com/spirit-animal-quiz/es/

What worked well? What did not work?

I would add a warm up as: what is your favorite way of traveling. However, I did not do it because the previous class to this one was about traveling. The class went very well and the students were very talkative. They made me play a Taylor Swift video about a safari. I was not very happy about showing a song in English in the class, but the video had a very interesting plot, so I made them explain what happened in the video in Spanish once the video was done. We did not have enough time to do the backup activity.

ES FA22 INT/ADV Movies and series

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. 

ESINT SP2022 Money, money, money

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Conditionals and money

Goal of the class: The students revise the conditionals, subjunctive and vocabulary related to luxury/material things

Class structure:

Activity 1: 

Revision: conditionals and subjunctive

Activity 2:

The students had to tell me conditional situations they would think about, and we would translate it to Spanish and/or correct it.

Activity 3:

What would you do if you had 3 millon dollars?We make a list of all the things they would go. It was great to revise vocabulary.

Resources used: Lounge TV and powerpoint

What worked well? What did not work?

I would add a warmup to this class. This was not a easy class for them because we revised grammar. However I think it was helpful for them.

ESINT SP2022 Music

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Music

Goal of the class: The students get to know the music their classmates like and they discover new songs in Spanish. They also (if they didn’t know before) get to know who Rosalia is.

Class structure:

Warm up: Interview your partner

  • When do you listen to music?
  • What type of music do you like?
  • Do you always listen to the same type of music?
  • Do you play an instrument? Which one? Which one would you like to play?
  • If you had a band, what type of music would you play?
  • What characteristics of an artist do you like?
  • Do you think music represents a country’s society?
  • Do you like artists that do social criticism?
  • Do you know Spanish speaker artists?

Activity 1:

They students write down in the blackboard some information about the Spanish speaker artists they like.

  • Name
  • Nationality
  • Music genre
  • Favorite song

Activity 2: La voz

First I showed them a video of La voz Spain and then they have to be the new judges. Students are asked to turn around from the projector. I play some songs and they write down their new ‘’playlists’’ on the blackboard.

Activity 3: Rosalia and cultural appropriation

  • Who is Rosalia?
  • Look her up on Instagram?
  • What do you think about her when you see her photos?

We played the video of Malamente and they identify all the typical Spanish cultural things in the video.

Resources used:

We played a little bit of this video because I wanted them to know who are the coaches in La Voz Spain:

This songs in YouTube:

  • Paquita la del barrio – rata de dos patas
  • Canelita: Juanito Juan
  • Manuel Carrasco: no dejes de soñar
  • Rels B: Reina de Pikas
  • Natos, Waor, Recycled J: sudores frios
  • Bad Bunny y Sech: Ignorantes
  • C.Tangana: Paris
  • Manolo Garcia: pajaros de barro
  • Maná: rayando el sol
  • La Oreja de Van Gogh – Muñeca De Trapo
  • Juanes: A Dios le pido
  • El sueño de Morfeo: esta soy yo

Rosalia: Malamente

What worked well? What did not work?

I think this class went well. The students enjoyed discovering new songs in Spanish and they also had the opportunity to talk about the kind of music they like and share this information with their classmates. I also think it was a good idea to do this class after the Spanish traditions one, so they already were able to identify the cultural examples in Malamente’s video.

ESADV SP2022 Literature and poetry

Language resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Literature and poetry

Goal of the class: The students learn about Spanish literature and poetry

Class structure:

Activity 1: No juzques un libro por su portada

I show students the book covers of 6 Spanish literature classics. After randomly reading the back cover of the books, students have to match them to the book cover.

Activity 2: La Celestina

I asked them if they knew this book. I showed a draw my life video of La Celestina and they asked me questions about the plot.

Activity 3: Helicón

In pairs, create a story with this text as inspirations. Then, each pair will share their story with the rest of the class.

  • Si la memoria no me engaña y puedo considerarme aún un hombre cuerdo, con la normal capacidad para interpretar los signos del calendario y del reloj, precisaré que fue hace diez días y nueve horas exactamente cuando cometí el error.

Activity 4: Poetry

  • Who is your favorite poet? In any language.
  • What do you think it is more important when translating poetry? Keeping the rhym, the meaning or the images?

Activity 5: Your favorite poem

Which one is your favorite poem?

In pairs, they have to choose a poem in English and try to translate it to Spanish.

Activity 6:

Poetry in Spanish.I brought to class two books. One is a bilingual edition of Neruda’s poems and the other one is Lorca’s Poeta en Nueva York, so they can take a look at the poems. 

Resources used:

La Celestina:

Blackboard

Poems of Love, NerudaPoeta en Nueva York, Lorca

What worked well? What did not work?

I would add a warm up to this class, but I think the class went well. The students loved to share their opinions related to literature and poetry and they also found very challenging the translation part.

ESADV SP2022 Music and poetry

Language Resident: Natalia Cano

Class theme/topic discussed: Music and poetry

Goal of the class: The students discuss their opinions and come up with a story in Spanish

Class structure:

Activity 1: Reggaeton or poetry

The students have to decide if these fragments are reggaeton or poetry.

Tú eras tóxica como veneno

Pero me falta el aire desde que no estás

Quizás no me trajeses nada bueno

Pero al menos no nos la pasábamos mal

Es un placer conocerte

Quizá tú me traigas pena

Pero no puedo perderte

Me gustas cuando callas porque estas como ausente, y me oyes desde lejos, y mi voz no te toca. Parece que los ojos se te hubieran volado y parece que un beso te cerrara la boca.

Hoy te odio en el secreto, ante todo lo confieso

Si pudiera te pidiera que devuelvas todos los besos que te di

Las palabra y todo el tiempo que perdí

Me arrepiento una y mil veces de haber confiado en ti

Quisiera que te sientas como yo me siento

Quisiera ser como tú, sin sentimiento

Quisiera sacarte de mi pensamientoQuisiera cambiarle el final al cuento

Y que yo me la llevé al río
creyendo que era mozuela,
pero tenía marido.


Yo sé que lo nuestro es cosa de ayer

Y me pone contento que te va bien con él

Yo ni te extrañaba ni te quería ver

Pero pusieron la canción que te gustaba ponerY me acordé de ti, cuando me hiciste feliz

¡Ay, qué trabajo me cuesta
quererte como te quiero!
Por tu amor me duele el aire,
el corazón
y el sombrero.

Ella y yo, dos locos viviendo una aventura 
castigada por Dios. 

Un laberinto sin salida
donde el miedo se convierte en amor

Activity 2: Now is your turn

In pairs they have to choose two fragments of poetry, or a song and the rest of the class has to guess what they are.

Activity 3: Estopa

I give the students the beginning of a well-known Spanish song:

Era una tarde tonta y caliente

De esas que pega el sol en la frente

Era el verano del noventa y siete

Y yo me moría por verteThe students have to imagine a story with this text as an inspiration, when they finish, I showed them the video and the ‘’storyline’’ of the song.

Resources used:

We used the projector for the poetry/reggaeton fragments.

Video la raja de tu falda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wECwsE4yNSQ

What worked well? What did not work?

I might add a warmup to this class, but I also think that activity 1 worked a little bit as a warmup.

They discussed a lot during the first activity, so I think it was nice. With the second activity one of the pairs decided to put a fragment of Lorca’s poetry. So, we look the poem up and discussed it a little bit too.I really liked activity 3 because the students had great ideas in their stories, and they were quite disappointed by the actual song.

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