Rafaela Lorente
Sandra Lorente
“La Escuela Secundaria en Costa Rica” (level: Spanish I)
Objectives: #1 Communication; #2 Culture; #3 Connections; #4 Comparisons;
#5 Community.
1.1 ) Students will use the verb “gustar” and other already learned verbs in present tense
in order to describe their classes and other school activities.
1.2 ) Students will be able to name all their subjects in Spanish.
1.3 ) Students will review and practice time expressions (la hora).
1.4 ) Students will be able to use many adjectives in order to describe their classes and
their school.
2.1; 3.1; 4.1) Students will watch a video about some Costa Rican schools and will
compare aspects of their own school with those observed in the Costa Rican schools.
Some of these aspects are: schedule, subjects, buildings, extracurricular activities,
students’ physical aspect, etc.
2.2; 3.2; 4.2) Students will analyze and discuss some deeper aspects of the Costa Rican
culture. These aspects will be related to the education system and teenagers’ life style.
Materials: video tape of Costa Rican schools, a copy of a Costa Rican student’s class
schedule, overhead with vocabulary, VCR, overhead projector.
Procedure:
DAY I:
1. Start the unit with a brief introduction about Costa Rica. Include geographic
location, physical aspects and climate. The teacher can do this by showing the
class a map and by asking students what do they know about the country.
2. Introduce some of the vocabulary about school subjects through a transparency.
This vocabulary should only include those subjects that are cognates. The
students listen to the pronunciation and repeat.
3. Ask students about their classes using the vocabulary they just saw. Use
questions like: “¿quién toma una clase de historia?”, “cuántas materias tienes este
año?, “¿a qué hora empieza_____?”, “¿a qué hora termina?”, “¿cuál es tu clase
preferida?”, “¿qué clase es muy difícil?”, “¿qué clase es muy fácil?”, “¿qué clase
es aburrida?”, “¿qué clase es divertida?” (practice with other adjectives)
4. Show a transparency with the schedule of a Costa Rican student and ask questions
(e.g. “¿cómo se llama este estudiante?”, “¿cuántas clases toma?”, “¿a qué hora
empieza…?”). Start drawing attention to the subjects that are not cognates. Try
to use these words more often when asking students.
5. Pair activity: the students work in pairs and ask their classmate questions in order
to draw his/her schedule. The teacher can write some examples of questions on
the board. To evaluate, ask a few students questions about their classmate’s
schedule.
DAY II:
1. Warm- up/ review: ask students some questions about their classes like the day
before in order to review what they have seen.
2. Attention point: when asking students about their classes, start asking them what
do they need for certain classes. E.g. ¿qué se necesita para la clase de
matemáticas?, ¿necesitas un lápiz?, ¿necesitas un cuaderno de dibujo?, etc. (help
students with the vocabulary by asking “yes/no” and “or” questions)
3. Activity with school supplies
4. Grammar explanation: GUSTAR. Teacher will draw a smile face on the left side
of the board and under it will write sentences like “Me gusta la clase de historia”;
“Me gustan los deportes” “A Sandra le gustan los estudiantes de la clase” “A
nosotros nos gusta la profesora” etc. making sure to cover all the pronouns (te,
le(s)..). On the other side ob board, the teacher writes a sad face and write s few
examples with negative statements (“No me gusta estudiar”).
Teacher ask a few students if they like certain things (example: Cristina, ¿te gusta
la clase de álgebra?”, “John, ¿qué dos clases no te gustan?”When finished, ask the
class about the students’ answer ““qué clases no le gustan a John?” After making
sure, that all the pronouns have been covered, teacher asks students questions like
“What are the pronoun uses for él o ella?, Where does the no go when expressing
dislikes, what are the two possible endings of gustar and how do we use them”.
Teacher gives then a gramatical explanation.
5. On board, the teacher writes a list of activities and things, ask students to get in
pairs and to alternate asking each other wether they like those things. At the end
each student will write five complete sentences about their partner’s likes and
dislikes ( “A Joe le gustan las hamburguesas”)
DAY III:
1. Los deportes y otras actividades: Introducción de vocabulario. Teacher will show
pictures with people practicing different sports (playing basketball, football, etc)
and other activities (hablar por teléfono, tocar la guitarra, etc)
2. Reading : Una carta de una estudiante costarricense. Teacher will call on different
students to read the letter aloud.
3. Questions about the reading. Students will work with a partner and prepare
answers to 8 questions about the letter. This will be done orally. Then, teacher
will use ask different students for the answers. At this point, teacher can add other
questions (ex: ¿y por qué le gusta la clase de inglés? ¿cómo es el profesor de la
clase?).
4. Students get with partner again to discuus about their clases and acitvities
5. Teacher and students will discuss differences found between the Costa Rican
schedule and vacation. a) Students have more classes. Teacher explains that they
don’t have the same classes every day as students in the USA do. b)Costa Ricans
have their longest vacation during December because it’s the summer there.
DAY IV:
1. Show a video about Costa Rican schools and students. Ask students what
differences they noticed in the video: (1) about the buildings and facilities; (2)
about the students. Then ask students about some of the similarities they
observed in the video. The students can watch the video again and write other
things down to help with the discussion.
2. In groups the students write a summary of the discussion. They must make a list
of the differences and the similarities between the American and the Costa Rican
schools and students.
DAY V:
1. Quiz