West Windsor-Plainsboro Unit Template
Communicating with Spanish-speakers in the United States
Unit Title: Unit 2: Using Spanish in the workplace and the community
Stage 1: Desired Results
NJ Standards
7.1 (Communication)
 Interpretive Mode: Identify the main idea, theme and some pertinent details in culturally
authentic texts.
 Interpersonal Mode: Use appropriate gestures, intonation and common idiomatic
expressions of the target culture when conversing with others. Ask and respond
appropriately to questions, make requests, and express preferences in various formal and
informal situations using learned expressions and strings of sentences.
 Presentational Mode: Create and present projects using familiar vocabulary and
functions in a guided format.
7.2 (Culture)
 Interpretive Mode: Identify the attitudes and beliefs (perspectives) of the target culture in
the workplace and the community.
 Interpersonal Mode: Discuss contributions of Spanish speakers to the professional
community and the advantages of speaking Spanish in the workplace.
 Presentational Mode: Create and present projects illustrating the various opportunities for
using Spanish in the community.
Transfer Goals
 Interpret written and/or oral texts.
 Engage and sustain conversations.
 Successfully convey information to an audience.
Essential Question(s)
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Why is it advantageous to know Spanish in the workplace?
How can I use Spanish in the community and in the workplace?
How do successful second language readers overcome the challenge of
understanding texts where many words, expressions, and structures are unfamiliar?
How do proficient speakers negotiate meaning?
How can second language learners with a limited vocabulary and grammatical
background effectively explain ideas in writing so that native speakers can
comprehend their messages?
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West Windsor-Plainsboro Unit Template
Understanding(s) Students will understand that...
 Spanish-speakers make strong contributions to professional and political life in the
United States.
 Knowing Spanish is advantageous in the workplace.
 By knowing Spanish, they can make contributions to the community.
 Reading authentic text requires the use of special strategies (context clues such as
pictures, identification of cognates, structured skimming and scanning, predictions,
the making of connections with the students’ lives).
 Engaging and sustaining conversation involves the negotiation of meaning, which
includes a variety of techniques to convey meaning (the use of gestures, body
language, rephrasing, circumlocution).
 The writing and speaking of the target language involves the activation of prior
knowledge combined with the new vocabulary, structures, and idiomatic
expressions.
Knowledge & Skill
Students will know....
 The different Spanish speakers and professional communities of the United States.
 That technology provides a link for communication between cultures.
 That a knowledge of Spanish can be an asset in the workplace and the community.
 The importance of distinguishing between formal and informal interactions in
professional and social settings.
 Specific reading strategies that cause improved comprehension of authentic texts (using
context clues, identifying cognates, skimming and scanning for specific information,
making connections with personal experiences and background knowledge, inferring).
 Strategies to initiate and sustain conversation.
 Key vocabulary and structures to describe, compare and contrast, and discuss.
Students will be able to...
 Identify the different jobs where Spanish is used in the United States.
 Identify what technological components are essential to communication in the workplace.
 Apply comprehension strategies of authentic text about professional and volunteering
situations in the community.
 Distinguish between appropriate formal and informal interactions.
 Apply their understanding of Spanish surnames to the workplace.
 Make requests, ask and respond to questions concerning a professional environment.
 Express preferences about volunteer work and job options through role-play situations
and presentations.
 Internalize vocabulary and expressions related to the workplace, community and
technology.
 Internalize grammatical structures related to the workplace, community and technology.
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West Windsor-Plainsboro Unit Template
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Use research skills to acquire new information.
Stage 2: Assessment Evidence
Transfer Task(s) & Rubric(s) Summary
Performance Task
You are looking for an after-school job/
volunteer activity where you can use your
Spanish. You are reading the classifieds
and need to select the job which most
appeals to you (Interpretive). Your
parents are curious as to your decision,
and they have many questions about your
and their responsibilities. Discuss with
them the details of the job and ask them
about their reactions (Interpersonal). You
would like to get more students involved
in this volunteer activity, so you decide to
make a poster which describes the job to
be posted in your school (Presentational).
Stage 1 Elements Assessed (code)
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Interpret written and/or oral texts.
Engage and sustain conversations.
Successfully convey information to an
audience.
Other Evidence
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Comprehension checks
Monitoring and adjusting
Discussion question (English): How can stereotypes have a negative impact on
relationships between cultures?
Reading comprehension
Vocabulary and grammar assessments.
Role-plays.
Story boards.
Website activities (www.phschool.com).
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West Windsor-Plainsboro Unit Template
Stage 3: Learning Activities
Key activities for achieving Desired Results of Stage One
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Brainstorm professions where speaking Spanish would be an asset.
Peruse newspaper classified ads to find jobs which mention use of Spanish.
Create a class master list of professions which use Spanish.
Students can research specific job requirements and descriptions based on the list
created in class.
Create a poster to highlight a specific profession where Spanish is used.
Interview an adult figure about Spanish in the workplace (assignment in English).
Create a collage that represents the results of your brainstorming and interviews.
Research and present the life of an accomplished Hispanic in a specific profession.
Research volunteer opportunities in your community.
Brainstorm technology essential to the workplace.
Various vocabulary activities related to technology in the workplace (i.e. Create a
shopping list for supplying a new office, design their ideal computer).
Brainstorm uses of the computer.
Survey students’ cell phone use.
Survey students’ computer use.
Discuss students’ e-mail use and web page preferences.
Discuss the use of Spanglish in the workplace (Realidades, p. 328-329).
Activities from Realidades, Ch. 9B.
Situation cards and ancillary materials from Realidades Teacher’s Resource book,
Ch. 9B.
Role-play office scenario interactions (i.e. between client and receptionist).
Obtain personal information from “clients” in order to complete appropriate
paperwork.
Explore opportunities to use Spanish within the community (i.e., telephone help lines,
Internet sites, ATM machines).
Activities as found in Realidades text p. 271.
Conversationally use the verbs dar, deber + infinitive, decir, hacer, pedir, servir,
buscar and tener que + infinitive.
Conversationally use formal commands.
Conversationally use me/te/ le gustaría.
Review of personal information vocabulary and interrogatives.
Vocabulary p. 334 Realidades.
Potential misunderstandings and performance weaknesses to plan for
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Provide specific instructions to avoid misunderstanding of expectations in projects
and presentations.
Importance of the use of formal and informal exchanges.
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West Windsor-Plainsboro Unit Template
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Importance of professionalism in the workplace.
Accommodation/Differentiation ideas
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Modified assessments
Choices in classroom activities/ assignments
Consideration of multiple intelligences
Resource ideas
 Workplace Spanish, Leslie A. Holloway
 Realidades Level 1B, Prentice Hall Chapter 8B p. 249-279, Chapter 9B p. 310-335
 ¿Qué tal? Readers, Mary Glasgow magazines
 Okapi magazines, Bayard magazines
 El Cuarto Misterioso, Part II video series
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