TEACHING LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT
LA MONTANA DE FUEGO
 
 
 MOLLY AUSTIN        CAROLE HENRIOT        MATTHEW FREEMAN
 

EDCI 4900
SUMMER 1999
INSTRUCTOR:  Dr. DENISE EGEA KUEHNE         
 



 
  
 
INTRODUCTORY MATTERS
 

        1. RATIONALE (Matt)

           We are using a whole-language, context-based approach because it has been shown to be an effective way to achieve the goal of proficiency in the target language. Proficiency is the ability to communicate in real-life situations or complete authentic tasks in the target language. There are several aspects of the approach we are using that make it effective. First, the approach provides opportunities for students to practice the target language in various contexts. Creating a context, from which to teach and for students to practice within, gives direction and meaning to activities and promotes proficiency. Students should still review accuracy in more structured activities. However, the content-based approach benefits all types of activities. Students gain proficiency as they acquire knowledge (and gain new knowledge) in a context that provides communication opportunities. Students are allowed to go beyond a stage of having mere head knowledge of grammar or vocabulary but an inability to effectively communicate in an authentic encounter. Students also can learn much about the countries of the target language by using contexts that are rich in culture. To sum up, this approach helps students gain the skills of a working ability to use the language in real-life situations.

           We chose the book, La Montaña de Fuego by Thomas P. Lewis, because it can be used as an effective tool for creating a context to teach from and lead into several content areas. Actually, the various content areas that we were able to relate to this rather short story were a very surprising aspect of the project. Also, the book was culturally rich as it was based upon a real event in Mexico. We feel the book’s level of difficulty was appropriate for the novice/intermediate level we are aiming at. Since the book is not very long, it can be read in class and would not frustrate students approaching a challenging text for them in Spanish.
     

    2. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT:
    (Including information from Curriculum Guidelines, Louisiana Department of Education)

We expect the students to learn and retain content knowledge in the target language in the following areas: We expect the students to accomplish: We expect the students to be able to do: We expect to learn:

 
 
PROJECT OUTLINE
 

 LA MONTAÑA DE FUEGO     

WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE SETTING

 WEEK 2: GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE  WEEK 3: CHARACTERS
   
WEEK 4: INTERACTIONS AROUND THE WORK PLACE WEEK 5: SCIENCE AND VOLCANOES WEEK 6: LA FIESTA LATINA  


 
 
IMPLEMENTATION PLAN & TIME LINE
 

           This project could be carried out at any particular time of the year, since it does not carry any meaning for a particular calendar celebration. Overall, the project would take between 5 to 6 weeks to be completed depending on the speed at which the students progress through the different activities. Even though it might be manageable to center the whole class’s instruction around the story book, it might be better to use it to cover part of the instruction and have other activities prepared on the side for general or regular class lessons.

 
 

LEVEL OF THE STUDENTS

               The students who will be working with this project will be at a 9th and/or 10th grade level. These will be continuum students, who have already five years of Spanish classes behind them. The activities, which are developed in this project, coincide well with their general curriculum and instruction they are to receive at that level. However, for its richness of themes, the book could be adapted in order to be used at any level.
 
 
DIVISION OF LABOR
 

                Each member of the group participated in sharing ideas for the creation of the activities. However, we were individually responsible for further developing two activities. In the process of development, we shared ideas and gave each other suggestions to complete our individual sections of the project. This project is above all the result of teamwork.

  


 

DEVELOPING YOUR PROJECT
 

1. SETTING (Carole)

       For the setting activities, the class will have read up the book until page 15, which will give enough basic information for the students to answer these following questions: Where and when does the action take place? Who is the main character? From both the reading and the illustrations, students will be able to see how the village is built and organized.

The story of La Montaña de Fuego is set in a small village in Mexico. El Campesino, the main character, lives in a small house. The town is built around an old church and the market place. A school and the villagers’ houses are all grouped around the main plaza. The idea of a small rural village indicates a time when people lived mainly from their agricultural productions.

However, it should be the teacher’s task to confirm to the students that Mexico is not only rural, and that life in the cities is probably very different. Also, if the text only presents the church, school, and the market place as the main centers of interest in the village, the students can be brought to suggest that other activities must be part of a village’s life and that not all villagers work in the fields.

Many activities can be drawn out of what seems to be a simple setting. The two activities that our group chose to develop in our project were chosen for particular reasons. The building of a model of the set allows the students to become involved in the classroom and concerned with a story that they might not find very attractive at first. Also the idea of having the real set of the story in the class, being able to refer to it, and using it throughout the study of the book by adding models and characters can make the story more tangible and the activity something to be proud of.

As for the geography activity, it allows the students to open their minds towards other countries and their cultures (something I believe is needed in classroom). Part of the activity also involves the Internet, which offers them a new door to access the world of others. They will be able to go back to those sites and learn more on their own if they wish to.

Many more activities can be developed from the setting, and especially from the Volcano. A lot of activities allow students to learn their foreign language in another context.
 

2. CHARACTERS: (Matt)

3. INTERACTIONS/EVENTS: (Molly)

       La Montaña de Fuego is the story of el campesino who lives in a small town in Mexico. From the beginning of the story, the characters express their displeasure at how boring their little town is. Of course, these complaints are quickly put to an end when a volcano erupts in their town, causing the people of the town to have to evacuate. When the people settle in a new town, they must make adjustments rebuilding their homes and lives. They have a party celebrating the fact that they were saved from the volcano. From the new village, they can still see the smoke from the volcano in the sky, causing a new industry – tourism. The children to wonder if there will be another volcano and el campesino decides that one volcano is enough for him.

       There are many relations among characters that could be used for activities. For instance, the family relations between el campesino, his son, Pablo, and his wife can serve as a starting point of discussing immediate as well as extended family relations (Activity 4). The story also demonstrates the importance of the church and priests to the villagers as the church bells are run to warn the people about the volcano and as the people pray, carrying crosses. This is a very important interaction to point out, given the great percentage of Hispanic people who are catholic. The role of the military is another important one demonstrated as soldiers come to the town to order the people to evacuate their homes immediately Given the large number of natural disasters that occur in Latin American countries, this is a process of great significance. After they rebuild in a new town, the people celebrate together, dancing, singing and playing music. As shown in Activity 7 of this project, this is a rich opportunity to demonstrate various aspects of culture including celebrations, dancing, music, and food. Later, the interaction of tourists (who come to see the volcano) and the villagers is another of great significance, exhibiting the importance of tourism on the economy of Mexico.
 



 
FIELD TRIP & VISITORS
 
 
          The opportunities for field trips and visitors provided by La Montaña de Fuego are quite abundant. Simply within the context of this project, the students will have the opportunity to go to the library to research countries, maps, culture, and volcanoes. They will also take a trip to the geology lab to learn more about volcanoes, and they will go to the home economics room to learn how to make flan. If possible, another potential field trip would be to take the students to an actual farmer’s market.

            There are also a couple of occasions that call for the participation of visitors. These visitors could be parents of students or simply members of the community, but would need to be native speakers of Spanish. Activity 6 calls for two speakers to come discuss typical parties/celebrations and typical music and dances from Mexico, and it may also be helpful or necessary to have a parent come and assist the teacher in the baking activity if there are too many students. Depending upon the teacher’s knowledge and abilities, it may also be necessary to have a speaker help with activities involving the internet (Activity 2, librarian) as well as the activity in the geology lab learning about volcanoes.

 



 
 
ASSESSMENT
 
Informal assessments:

   Throughout the project, there will be informal, on going assessment as the teacher occasionally questions the students to ensure comprehension as well as to determine the students’ level of understanding.

Formal assessments:

General Team Progress:

       Through the process of preparing this project, we have learned much about ourselves and about teaching. We have learned how to use the Internet to find interesting projects, authentic materials, and information about Spanish speaking countries. The importance of context has become clear, and we have discovered that many interesting and contextually rich activities can originate from one source. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we realized that through the process of teaching, one is still learning.

 

ACTIVITY 1
(Carole Henriot)

Building the Setting for La Montaña de Fuego.

       After a first reading of the book up to the page 15, students should be able to have acquired superficial and general knowledge about the setting of the story.
As an overall assessment, the following questions could be asked to the class in order to evaluate their understanding of the story:
--Where does the story take place? --¿Dónde se situa la historia?
--Whom are we talking about? --¿De quién se trata?
--Where does he (el campesino) leave? --¿Dónde vive el campesino?
--What can you find in the village? --¿Qué se puede encontrar en este pueblo?
…Etc

1. CONTEXT
 
What students already know
What students will learn
VOCABULARY
el pueblo, la casa, la iglesia, el mercado, la escuela, la gente,  

el campesino.  

México

.el campo, la hacienda, el edificio  

.activity vocabulary: el modelo,  

cinta pegante, el pegante, el papel de colores, las tijeras, icopor (styrofoam), palitos de madera.  

.theme verbs: cortar, pegar, dibujar, construir, 

GRAMMAR
.Use of the verbs ser y estar  

.Use of the present tense

.Use of the simple future in planning:  

(vamos a + infinitive)  

.Introduction to present conditional in asking for things: "podrías…"

CONCEPTS
.superlatives  

.colors, numbers

.Interrogative pronouns.
 

2. OBJECTIVES
       During this activity, students will be able to become familiar with the setting of the story by constructing it. They will learn the vocabulary from the community described in the text as well as the vocabulary, which concerns the materials used in the classroom for the manual construction work. The students will have to participate orally among them asking for information about the projects or for materials they need to proceed.

3. MATERIALS 
Students Will Need
Teachers Will Need
The material should be provided by the teachers: 

colored construction paper, 

pencils and eraser, 

color pens and markers, 

scissors, glue, scotch tape, Popsicle’s sticks, q-tips and other things that could help in the construction of the fields and general environment…

A prepared setting ‘Horizon’ built from construction paper with a Styrofoam base, which will allow for the setting elements to stand on it. 

The Horizon should show the ground and mountains should serve as background. Students will be working from this setting ‘horizon’. 

 

4. FORMAT
           When students enter the room, the setting "Horizon" should be placed flat on a table in the back of the classroom in order to first intrigue the students regarding its purpose, and secondly so that it is accessible later to place the two-dimensional drawing onto it. The students, depending on the size of the class, will be divided into groups (of three, two or individually, depending) so that each task is equally divided and that the whole village is being constructed.

5. (STEP BY STEP) PROCEDURE

--Introduction: First the teacher will encourage students to ask questions about the setting ‘horizon.’ The answers will help clarify the use of the setting ‘horizon’ in relation to the daily activity.

--Organization: Students will be divided into groups. Each group will pick out from a ‘magic basket’ the part of the setting they are supposed to construct. Each paper picked out will have the part of the village written down. The teacher will go around each table distributing the materials and helping the students start with their project.

--Project:

6. PRODUCTIONS

       The production of this project is a two-dimensional model of the setting of the book. This model will stay in the class during the whole project on La Montaña de Fuego. As he/she goes along with the reading, the teacher will be able to refer to the model of the setting as other parts of the story bring along new elements that could be added to it. The teacher could also test the assessment of the students in the introduction of the classes by asking questions about the different elements growing on to the model. The story can become more real to the students.

7. ASSESSMENT

       The assessment will be on-going as the project of constructing the model progresses. As students work on the drawing and building of the set, they will have to ask for different materials which the teacher will encourage them to ask in the target language, allowing him/her to check the assessment of the students.
The following questions can be used by either the teacher or the students among them in regard to the concepts introduced by this activity (simple future, present conditional, interrogative pronouns):

--Where are the scissors? (¿Dónde están las tijeras?)
--Can I have the glue. (Me podrías pasar el pegante, por favor?)
--How could I place this building on the set?(¿Comó podría poner este edificio en el modelo?)
--What are we going to do tomorrow? (¿Qué vamos a hacer mañana?)


 ACTIVITY 2
(Henriot Carole)

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

        The students having become more familiar with the story, the teacher can introduce them to its geographical setting in Mexico. The following activity is designed to interest the students in geography by helping them become familiar with Spanish speaking countries in the world.  The story being set in Mexico, we will use it as a starting point to learn the map of South America.

1. CONTEXT:
 
What students already know
What students will learn
VOCABULARY
-Vocabulary from activity 1 
-Vocabulary about crafting 
 
 
-Names of countries 
-Geography Vocabulary: cardinals, continents 
GRAMMAR
-Use of the verbs ser y estar  
-Use of the present tense 
-Use of the simple future in planning: (vamos  a + infinitive) 
-Introduction to present conditional in asking for things: “podrías…” 
-review ser y estar 
-apply future tense 
CONCEPTS
 .superlatives 
.colors, numbers 
.interrogative pronouns 
-ask directions (donde..) 
 
2. OBJECTIVES:

    After this activity students should be able to be more familiar with the Spanish speaking countries in the world. With the following activities, the lessons will be reviewed and put into practice so that finally an overall written assessment could be given asking to locate the Spanish speaking countries on a world map.  This activity concentrates on general geography notions, the following activity will focus on the culture from these countries.

3. MATERIALS:
 
Students Will Need
Teachers Will Need
-pre-cut squares of construction paper 
-velcro or tape 
-markers, colours 
scissors
 -A wall map, and round globe 
-transparencies of Spanish 
  speaking countries 
-a video or slides about the 
   Spanish world. 
-a map of South America with each country’s outline drawn 
-tape 
 
4. FORMAT:
        According to the size of the class and the number of countries, students will be divided into groups or individually.

5. PROCEDURE:

--Organization:
    The class will be led by the teacher. Once the students have been assigned a group or divided individually, they will pick a pre-cut construction paper, which they will be responsible for.

--Procedure:
    The teacher will open the class by looking at a video or slides from Spanish speaking countries.  Later, using a world map, questions about where in the world is Spanish being spoken will be asked to students. She/he will try to get the students to participate as much as possible in answering the questions from their general knowledge without her/him putting any input at first: (the teacher will tell them to pay attention for future use of the information)
-Where in the world is Spanish spoken? Continents, names of countries (As many as possible) Can you point out on the map where?
-Where was Spanish first spoken?
-How many countries are there?…etc
-Where does the story of La Montana de Fuego take place? Which country? Can you see/place it on the map?

    Starting with Mexico, the teacher will assign each group/individual to cut into their construction paper around their pre-drawn country. (this could be done by the teacher previous to the class!).  The teacher will go around the table making sure that the correct names are put on the puzzle pieces based on the wall map and the previous discussed data.

6. PRODUCTION:

        Then, students will stand up and will play “human puzzle.” A student from each group will have the country taped on their back. In a free area of the classroom, the rest of the class will have to indicate each one of them how to place themselves in order so that at the end of the ‘game’, the students, who will have been taped a country on, should form South America.
This puzzle game could be repeated several times throughout the project to review the countries, cardinals (más al Norte!, al Sur!, tu eres al noreste de Brasil…etc!!!)
Any information already viewed in class can be used to help place the students into the right place.  They may or may not be timed for extra excitement!

7. ASSESSMENT: oral, on-going
        -As they participate in the first part of the classroom and later in the ‘puzzle game’, students can be evaluated as the activity progresses.  If the game is repeated, the students’ knowledge can be assessed again.
 


ACTIVITY 3
(Henriot Carole)


GEOGRAPHY PROJECT:
MAPS OF SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES AND SOME CULTURAL FEATURES.

       This activity is part of a general geography lesson, which will take place over several days (three to four). In a lesson previous to this activity, students will have become familiar with the different Spanish speaking countries by looking at different maps of the world. The lesson could be organized in such a way that the teacher introduces the students to basic geographical knowledge by showing a video, looking at a world map or a globe. Later, a map showing the different parts of the world where Spanish is being spoken could be shown on a overhead-projector, the students having their individual maps. The study could be narrowing toward the different continents so that a distinction could be made between Europe, North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean Islands.

   As an introduction to this class’s activity, the teacher could ask the following questions in the target language to estimate the students’ knowledge from the previous class:

1. CONTEXT:
 
 
 
What students already know
What students will learn
VOCABULARY
.El mundo, los cardinales,  .Geografía: el mapa, el planeta, el globo,  

.Nombres de los paises en español y sus habitantes,

GRAMMAR
Verbs ser y estar
CONCEPTS
Basic geography knowledge from other classes .Spanish speaking countries  

.Learn and identify geographical and  
cultural factors of the target language  

.Describe and understand customs and  
symbols of the target cultures  

.Use community resources to research  
topics related to culture of the target  
language

 

2. OBJECTIVES
       After this activity, students will know where the target language is spoken. They will be able to place the Spanish speaking countries and their capitals on a map. They will also have learned to use the Internet to look for general information concerning geographical, cultural, and other aspects of foreign countries. Moreover, the students will identify aspects of other countries’ cultures. The use of the Internet will make the study more fun and more real for the students.

3. MATERIALS: see examples
 
Students Will Need
Teachers Will Need
. Copies of world maps without the names (World, Europe, the Caribbean, and the 3 Americas: North, Central, South) 

. Color pens or markers 
. note cards 
. poster paper, glue, scissors…

.The original copies of the virgin maps, and a copy of the maps with names of countries, capitals, oceans and seas 

. Access to computers with Internet browsers such as Netscape (library) 

-a list of sites such as: 
. www.latinworld.com 
. www.teachspanish.com/flags.htm 
.http://star.ucc.nau.edu/ES/CentAm.html

 
4. FORMAT:
       According to the size of the class, students will be divided in pairs or individually, and they will work with the Internet. If there is none or not enough computers in the classroom, this activity could be done in the school’s library where students can have access to a sufficient number of computers. The librarian could help the teacher in explaining how to use the Internet and how to get into the different sites.

5. PROCEDURE:

--Organization: Once the students have been divided into their groups, each one of those will pick out their assignment from a ‘magic basket’ where the Spanish speaking countries will be divided according to the number of students. Here are the main groupings that can later be divided up into smaller groups if there are more students:

--Project: Each group will identify the Spanish speaking countries they have been assigned to work with. They will be responsible for ‘exploring’ the Internet in order to find at least three different cultural features for each country. -Cultural emblems (Mexico: Tequila, rancheras, Aztecas)
-National sayings (Costa Rica: "Pura Vida"!)
-Music: traditional folklore (Merengue, Salsa, Flamenco) modern artists (singer: Ricky Martin!, actors…)
-Art: Ancient civilization (Maya, Aztecas, calendars), painters (Picasso), sculptor (Botero)
-Literature: the name of a famous writer (Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina)
-Cooking: traditional recipes (paella…etc)
-Myth or a legend…Etc

Anything is possible!!!

6. FIELD TRIP:
       As mentioned before, this activity could include a field trip to the school or city’s library where computers are in larger numbers for all of the students to have access to them. The librarian could explain basic computer tasks for those unfamiliar with them. The librarian can also help the teacher getting the activity started as well as supervising it.

7. PRODUCTION:
       The outcome of this activity will have to be achieved on the third day of the lesson. The students would report their data by presenting it to the class in the form of a poster. The sites being available in the native or target language, the outcome will have to be in the target language. These posters will be a display of the research and their findings. Pictures from the Internet or magazines, photos and texts, colors…etc can all be used to show creativity and interest in the subject. The posters can include the whole section with all countries assigned or individual posters can be made for each country.

   The billboard, which will later be joined to the other groups’ in a patchwork fashion will be posted in the class or in the school.
   A bibliography of the different sources will have to be written on the side. Finding and using other net sources should be encouraged as valuable and could be taken into consideration for the evaluation.

8. ASSESSMENTS:
--Besides the on-going assessment that will be checked by the teachers, as students work on their project, an evaluation can be made from the posters. The criteria involved will be creativity, sources, and general understanding of the task.

--Another assessment will be a written test on the map. Students will have to identify the Spanish speaking countries on a virgin map as well as the capitals of each country.

--Yet another way to evaluate the students’ assessment would be to make them write a paper, which topic could be to plan out a trip to a Spanish speaking country.



 
ACTIVITY 4
(Matt Freeman)

LEARNING ABOUT ANIMALS:
 

1.CONTEXT: Personifications of animals (as part of the characters)

Vocabulary: students know names of animals listed in Spanish; students will learn any unknown words while listening to spoken descriptions of animals. Grammar: students will know present tense and learn more present tense, maybe irregular verbs as well. Concepts: students will know what the animals are and be familiar with them; students will not learn new concepts.

2.OBJECTIVES:  To listen to personified descriptions of animals and choose the correct animal from three choices.

3.MATERIALS:  Students will need answer form; teacher will need to read descriptions from worksheet.

4.FORMAT: Whole class

5.PROCEDURE:  Simultaneous: teacher reads descriptions twice; students listen and mark the best choice on their answer sheet. Teacher will go over answers with class immediately following the exercise.

6.ASSESSMENT: Same as activity; a formal oral test with items similar to those from the activity.

Example items:
       # Yo soy un animal con cuatro patas y una cola. Soy fuerte y puedo jalar cosas pesadas. Ayudo al
           campesino arar la tierra. Yo aro mientras el campesino camina atras. Mi trabajo no es facil.
A) el buey B) el conejo C) el leo

     # Yo soy un animal no domesticada. Duermo en los arboles. Me encanta correr para arriba y para abajo de los
         arboles. Para comida, me gustan nueces. Tengo cola larga con muchos pelos.
A) la vaca B) la ardilla C) la aguila
 
    # Yo soy un animal que vive en la finca. Tengo cuatro patas. Mi pellejo es de lana. De vez en cuando, el pastor me corte mi pellejo porque le gusta la lana. Yo vivo con otros animales de mi tipo y siempre sigo a los de mas
A)la serpienta B) el oso C) la oveja
 
   # Yo so un animal salvaje. Tengo cuatro patas y soy muy fuerte. La verdad es que no hay ningun animal que me haga dano. Vivo en lugares muy frios. En el invierno me gusta dormir. Se llama un tiempo de hibernacion. Tambien me gusta comer salmones.
A) el oso B)el leon C) el cerdo


       7. ASSESSMENT: - the written items of the worksheet (identify and answer questions); informal oral  assessment (for interviews)
Examples of Assessment:

Written activity

Students will be shown puppets of each character and asked to respond by writing sentences using info from the following columns. They will be asked to first say what the profession is, then where the character works, and what the character does.

Choose the correct response:
Mechanico prado ayudar gente enferma
Medico colegio sembrar semillas 
Granjero mercado leer libros 
Estudiante panaderia usa el horno
Vendedor de frutas oficina de desarollo municipal  arreglar carros
Panadero hospital disenar edificios
Arquitecto taller animar a la gente.comprar 
Example: Jorge es mechanico. Trabaja en el taller. Arregla carros.
(Jorge is a mechanic. He works in the shop. He fixes cars.

Oral activity:

        In pairs ask and respond to the following questions; one to another according to the characters they have created, including information about what their character does for a living, one student asks the questions (already written on their handout) while the other student takes notes, and then they reverse roles in the interview. The teacher will ask for a few volunteers to present the character he/she interviewed to the class.

¿Qué tipo de trabajo tienes? (what type of job do you have?)
¿Dónde trabajas? (where do you work?)
¿Qué haces alli? (what do you do there?)
¿Crees que el dinero que ganas es justo para el trabajo que haces? ¿Por qué?¿Por qué no?
(Do think the money you earn is fair for the work you do? Why, why not)
¿Recomendarías que alguien entrara en tu carrera? ¿Por qué?, ¿Por qué no?
(Would you recommend for someone to enter your carrer? Why, why not?)


ACTIVITY 6
(Matt Freeman)

 

FAMILY TREE AND FAMILY RELATIONS

1.CONTEXT: Family tree, family relationships

Vocabulary- students know basic family relationships; students will learn more advanced family relationships.
Grammar- present tense, no new grammar learned.
Concepts- students know family relationships; students will learn how to read a family tree (if not already known.)

2.OBJECTIVES
   - Identify family relationship(s) between two or more relatives; look at family tree and identify person when given a specific relationship to find.

3.MATERIALS
   - For students - worksheets with family tree, fill in the blanks and space to write a paragraph -For teachers- notes

4. FORMAT- First as class, then as individuals.

5. PROCEDURE:
   - Teacher will explain family tree and family relationships and introduce new vocabulary to students, saying, if chooses, not well-known relationships in English but explain where they are on the tree in Spanish. As a class, complete the fill in the blank sentences. As individuals, the students will write a paragraph about their immediate and extended family. They will be asked to use key words; if one of the words does not apply to them, they should state so.

6. PRODUCTION- Written paragraph about their family structure.

7. ASSESSMENT: Formal-

   Fill in the blanks (which will be gone over immediately following activity as a class) and written paragraph (collected individually) to be sent to their penpal.

Example of activity/items:

1. Jorge es               de Maria.

  1. Eduardo tiene dos tias. Ellas son
  2. Esther es la visabuela de
  3. Etc. these will correspond to family tree.
--Write a paragraph about your family structure (the relatives you have or do not have)
       Include in your paragraph, tio, tia, abuelo, abuela, hermanastro, hermanastra, hermano politico(a), hijo(a), visabuelo(a), madre, padre, madre/padre politica, etc.


ACTIVITY 7
(Molly Austin)

AT THE MARKET

1.CONTEXT
 
What students already know
What students will learn
VOCABULARY
Related to fruits, vegetables, and farming Related to money exchange, bargaining, and counting
GRAMMAR
Direct & indirect object pronouns in the present tense, past and imperfect tenses Direct and indirect object pronouns in authentic discourse, interrogative pronouns, present conditional
CONCEPTS
Farming and agriculture
Negotiating the acquisition of goods
2. OBJECTIVES
   After this activity, students will be able to count/make change as well as deal with the vocabulary and math involved in shopping and bargaining.

3. MATERIALS
 
Students Will Need
Teachers Will Need
Play money 

The teacher should also provide the ‘shoppers’ with shopping lists and the ‘merchants’ with fruits and/or vegetables (either cut from construction paper or real/plastic, if possible)

to arrange room to resemble a farmer’s market with many tables throughout the room on which to display the farmers’ fruits and vegetables
4. FORMAT
   This project can be done in pairs as well as individually (depending on class size) in the classroom. The fruits and vegetables will be grouped together on tables in the classroom to resemble a farmer’s market.

5. PROCEDURE
   Students will be assigned roles to play. Some students will be merchants while others will be shoppers. The shoppers will be given a shopping list as well as play money with instructions to try to purchase everything on their list with the money that they have. The merchants are also given money (to make change) and are instructed to try to sell as much of their fruits/vegetables for as high of a price as possible.

6. ASSESSMENT
   The teacher will evaluate each student’s oral production as s/he walks around the marketing trying to buy/sell goods.



 
CELEBRATION
(Molly Austin)
           The following activities deal with planning and having a party. On the first day of the project, a speaker from Mexico will come to talk about various aspects of a typical party (preferably with slides and/or props). The second day, the students will learn about decorations and construct piñatas. On the third day, another speaker will come to discuss dance and music. This speaker would bring music and/or instruments and show students typical dances. This lesson involves learning about typical Mexican cuisine and includes and activity cooking flan. On the last day of the project, the students will have a party in the classroom, cafeteria, or gym incorporating all of the things they have learned during the week (including typical music, dance, decorations, food, and clothing (if they wish). The students could invite another Spanish class to attend their party.


ACTIVITY 8
(Molly Austin)
FIESTA MEXICANA

1.CONTEXT:
 
  What students already know What students will learn  
Vocabulary Holidays and Celebrations Health and Leisure activities
Grammar    
Concepts Celebrations, Friends, and Social life Social customs of the target language
 
2. OBJECTIVES:
        After this activity, students will have a better understanding of the content and traditions of an authentic Mexican fiesta.

3. MATERIALS:
 
Students will need
Teacher will need
  Possibly an overhead projector, slide projector, television, or access to the internet (depending upon what the speaker needs)
 
4. FORMAT:
        Depending upon how the speaker chooses to do the presentation, the students may need to go to the library to use any special equipment (such as the Internet).

5. PROCEDURE:
        The teacher will invite a speaker from Mexico (parent or member of the community) to talk to the students about typical aspects of parties in Mexico. This will serve as an overview of decorations, music, dance, types of parties, clothing, etc. to prepare the students for the week's activities. The speaker will use whatever format is most comfortable for her/him (slides, video, Internet) and will last approximately 20 minutes. The teacher can bring any material he/she finds useful or necessary.

6. PRODUCTIONS:
        Students will be asked to write about the last party they attended (or saw on television/movie) and compare it to the ones they learned about from the speaker.

7. ASSESSMENT:
        Students will be assessed on classroom participation and on the paper they have written. They will be evaluated on grammar and vocabulary as well as their understanding of the presentation.
 


ACTIVITY 9
(Molly Austin)
LA PINATA

1.CONTEXT:
 
  What students already know What students will learn  
Vocabulary   Review of vocabulary used in Activity 1
Grammar Present tense 

Ser and Estar

Simple future 

Present conditional

Concepts Celebrations, colors, and numbers Social customs of the target language, interrogative pronouns
 

2. OBJECTIVES:
    After this activity, students will be able to build a piñata and they will review many of the skills covered in Activity 1 (including understanding directions/commands and asking for materials).

 3. MATERIALS:
 
Students will need
Teacher will need
Teacher will provide students will scissors, balloons, paste, newspaper strips, string, paint, and colored tissue paper  
 
4. FORMAT:
        Students will work individually or in pairs in the art room (if possible) or in the regular classroom (if need be).

5. PROCEDURE:
    Following the teacher's example and instruction, students will learn to make piñatas for the fiesta.

6. VISITORS:
        Parents or other classes can be invited to join this activity

7. ASSESSMENT:
        The assessment of this activity entails much of the same as in Activity 1. If the students understand what is happening in class, they will have successfully made a piñata. They will also be responsible for asking for the materials that they need, thus reinforcing skills acquired in the first activity.


ACTIVITY 10
(Molly Austin)

CANTAR Y BAILAR

1. CONTEXT:

     
      What students already know What students will learn
    Vocabulary Holidays and Celebrations Leisure activities
    Grammar  
    Concepts Celebrations, friends, and social life Social customs of the target language
     
2. OBJECTIVES:  After this activity, students will have a better knowledge of Mexican music and dance.

3. MATERIALS:

 
Students Will Need
Teacher Will Need
 their ears and maybe some candies to pass time Television, slide projector, internet access, musical instruments, stereo, CDs of Mexican music
 
4. FORMAT:
        The entire class will listen to a presentation from a native of Mexico, possibly in the music room or gym.

5. PROCEDURE:
        A speaker will come to introduce the students to various musical instruments typical to Mexico. The speaker or teacher would preferably bring actual instruments so that the students could see and touch them.
Next, the students will be exposed to typical music and shown different dances to try.

6. VISITORS:
        The speaker(s) could be a parent or simply a member of the community who is from Mexico.

7. ASSESSMENT:
    Students will be assessed on their classroom participation.
 


ACTIVITY 11
(Molly Austin)

COOKING LESSON

1.CONTEXT
 
What students already know
What students will learn
VOCABULARY
Related to holidays and celebrations Related to health and leisure activities
GRAMMAR
Direct and indirect object pronouns in the present tense, past and imperfect tenses Direct and indirect object pronouns in authentic discourse, discourse elements for conversations
CONCEPTS
Celebrations, friends, and social life Social customs of the target culture
 
2. OBJECTIVES
       After this activity, students will have a greater understanding of certain aspects of Mexican culture including music, dance, food, and parties. The students will also have a better grasp of the vocabulary associated with these things.

3. MATERIALS
 
Students Will Need
Teachers Will Need
Recipe book of typical Mexican foods Ingredients for flan 

Flan that has been cooked before class

4. FORMAT
       Activity will be done in the Home Economics classroom with the whole class participating or broken down into groups, if the class is large.

5. PROCEDURE
       For this particular activity (on the fourth day), the class will talk about typical Mexican foods and they will learn how to make flan (in addition to being given recipes for other typical foods). Through TPR and repetitions/gestures, the teacher will demonstrate how to make flan. Each student will have a copy of the recipe (along with recipes of other foods for their enjoyment) so that they can follow along with the teacher who will occasionally ask questions (such as which ingredient is next or how much should be used) in order to check student comprehension.

6. VISITORS
       If the class is large, additional help may be provided by another teacher and/or a native speaker so that the class can be divided into smaller, more manageable groups.

7. PRODUCTIONS
       After the party, the students will be assigned to write a letter to their "email-pal" describing the party.

8. ASSESSMENT:
       There will be on going, informal assessment throughout the project as the teacher asks questions to check for student comprehension. The students will be formally assessed on the email messages they are assigned to write to their email-pal.



 
 
RECIPES /RECETAS
 (Molly Austin)
Ingredientes: Procedimiento:
  1. Se lava la semilla y se muele muy fina.
  2. Se cuela, se endulza y se agrega el melón cortado en trozos pequeños.
  3. Se agrega el agua y se mete al refrigerador 3 horas antes de servir.
ENSALADA DE ARROZ CON POLLO
4 porciones

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:
Combinar en una ensaladera todos los ingredientes menos las hojas de lechuga y rovolver.
Acomodar las hojas de lechuga en un platón y poner la mezcla de ensalada en el centro. Adornar con perejil.

 

CAMARONES AL LIMON VERDE

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Limpie los camarones, saltéelos en la mantequilla con la cebolla, sal y pimienta.
--Agregue los gajos de limón, fría unos minutos más y retire del fuego.
--Incorpore la crema y sirva.

 

CHALUPAS MEXICANAS
(para 4 personas)

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Hacer la salsa con tomates, cebolla, ajo, chiles verdes, sal y pimienta, freír las tortillas, colocarles la carne deshebrada, y cubrirlas con salsa.
--Para servir, adornar con queso fresco desmoronado y hojas de lechuga.

 

CHILES RELLENOS AL HORNO

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Rellenar los chiles con el arroz, colocarlos en un platón refractario.
--Licuar la crema, cebollitas y sal, bañar los chiles con el caldillo de jitomate, encima vaciar la crema y espolvorear el queso añejo.
--Hornear por 10 minutos a 190 C.

 
ENCHILADAS VERDES

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Asar y pelar los tomates y los chiles, desvenar estos y molerlos junto con el cilantro y los cacahuates.
--Freír bien esta mezcla y agregarle un poco del caldo de la pechuga.
--Deshebrar la carne.
--Freír las tortillas y pasarlas por la salsa, rellenándolas luego con la pechuga.
--Se doblan en cuatro, se les vierte encima mas salsa, el queso rallado y la cebolla picada.
--Al servirse, si gusta, se puede cubrir con crema agria.

 

TAMALES

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Hierva en 2 tazas de agua, las cáscaras de tomate con el aníz. Cuele y separe el agua.
--En un recipiente ponga la harina de maíz, añada sal y polvo de hornear.
--Semiderrita la manteca y viértala en la mezcla anterior.
--Comience a amasar añadiendo poco a poco tanto el caldo de pollo como el agua donde hirvieron las cáscaras de tomate, hasta obtener una textura uniforme y se logre que una bolita de masa flote en agua sin desbaratarse.
--coloque una porción de masa en cada hoja de maíz y envuelva.
--Acomode en una vaporera y cueza durante una ½ hora.
 

FLAN DE FIESTA

Ingredientes:

Procedimiento:

--Se licuan los huevos con las leches y la esencia de vainilla.
--Se vierte el azúcar sobre un sartén a fuego bajo. Mover hasta que se vuelva líquida y tome un color café claro.
--Vertir poco a poco el azúcar líquida en un molde refractario, ladearlo para que paredes y fondo queden cubiertas de caramelo.
--Vertir sobre el molde las lecshes licuadas. Se saca, desmolda y refrigera.



 
 
REFERENCES 
(Henriot Carole)

 
--Blyth, Carl S. Untangling the Web. St. Matin’s Guide to Language and Culture on the
Internet. St. Matin’s Press, New York, NY: 1998.

--Harper, Jane, Lively Madeleine, and Williams Mary, Ed. The Coming of Age of the
Profession. Heinle & Heinle: Boston, MA (1998).

--Jarvis A., Lebredo R., Mena-Ayllón F.; Ê Cómo se dice…?
D.C. Heath and Componay. Lexington, MA: 1990.

--Lewis, Thomas P.; Sandin, Joan (Illustrations). La Montañ a de Fuego. Harper Collins
Publishers. 1997. (translation by Osvaldo Blanco).

--Omaggio Hadley, Alice. Teaching language in Context. Second Edition.
Heinle & Heinle: Boston, MA (1993)

--Shrum, Judith L. & Glisan, Eileen W. Teacher’s Handbook- Contextualized Language
Instruction. Heinle & Heinle: Boston, MA (1994).

--Baton Rouge: Louisiana Department of Education, Division of Students Standards and
Assessments. Articulation Through Standards: Louisiana Curriculum Guidelines for
Articulated Foreign Language Programs Grades 4-12. (1998).

--Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century (1996).
Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc.

--Cuaderno de Mapas. Laminas Latino.

 
 
INTERNET SITES
 (Henriot Carole)

-http://www.education.index.

-http://www.cortland.edu/flteach

-http://members.aol.com/maestro12/web/toplinks.

-Radio: Http://comfm.fr/

-Food: la Cocina Mexicana: http://www.mexico.udg.mx/cocina.

-Audio sites: http://chili.rt66.com/ozone/countries.htm

-Index of Spanish newspapers: Http://endirecto.infosel.com.mx/

-Humanities web-sites: Http://edsilement.neh.gov/

-CLNET-Spanish Education resources: http://latino.ssnet.ucla.edu

-Basic Spanish for the virtual student: http://www.umr.edu/~amigos/virtual/

-Web Spanish Lessons: http://www.june29.com/spanish/

-Temas, online Spanish Lessons: http://www.oocities.org/collegePark/campus/2024.

-Spanish Language resources Page: http://www.self-staner.com/ah/Spanish.

-International Penfriend Club: http://www.advertising-america.com/club.htm

-http://www.latinworld.com

-http://www.teachspanish.com/flags.htm

-http://www.star.ucc.nau.edu/ES/htm
 

  



 

 
 
 

GOOD LUCK! 
 

 

PS: ORGANIZATION, ILLUSTRATIONS AND FINAL DECORATION TOUCH-UPS WERE REALIZED BY CAROLE!