Submitted by Mary Bartolini
Objectives:
Content:
Students will:
- Identify ways to take care of water.
- Identify environmental problems related to water (pollution, drought, flood).
Cultural:
Students will:
- Recognize problematic situations related to use of water in different countries.
Language: Content Obligatory
Students will:
- Use the nouns contaminación, inundación and sequía to identify environmental problems with the phrases Hay contaminación, Hay una inundación and Hay sequía.
- Use the first person plural of the verb poder (can) and the infinitive of the verb cuidar (to take care of) to express solutions to a problem with the expression podemos cuidar el agua si ...
Language: Content Compatible
Students will:
- Use exclamation marks to emphasize expressions like ¡Cuidemos el agua! ¡El agua es importante!
- Use past tense first person singular of the verb aprender to express what they learned about water with yo aprendí que ...
Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will:
- Work cooperatively in small groups.
Time Frame:
Day 5 (one 45-minute period)
Materials Needed:
- Pictures
- KWHL chart
- Paper, construction paper, markers, color pencils, glue, scissors, magazines.
Description of Assessment (Performance Project):
Preview Phase
Students sing the song “Yo soy el agua” showing different representations of water with body movements.
Teacher reads the KWHL chart.
Teacher and students go through the chart to recall initial ideas and to write what they have learned during the unit.Focused Learning Phase
Teacher shows different pictures of places where students could observe lack of water or contaminated water.
Teacher and students talk about these problems:¿Qué podemos observar en esta figura? (What can we observe in this picture?)
¿Hay algún problema aquí? (Is there a problem here?)
¿Cómo se sentiran las personas que viven allí? (How will the people who live there feel?)
¿Qué pasará con los animales? (What will happen to the animals?)
¿Quién será el responsable de este problema? (Who’s responsible for the problem?)Teacher asks students to think about solutions for these problems and writes students’ thoughts
¿Cómo podemos solucionar este problema? (How can we solve the problem?)
¿Cómo podemos cuidar el agua? (How can we take care of water?)
¿Qué debemos hacer? (What should we do?)Expansion Phase
Students work in pairs to create a "save the water" poster message with a catchy phrase like ¡A cuidar el agua!, ¡Cuidemos el agua!, ¡Viva el agua!, ¡El agua es tu amiga! and to illustrate it showing one way to take care for water.
Students present their poster to the class.
Technology alternative:
A similar activity can be completed with a semantic/concept mapping software such as Kidspiration or a multimedia software such as Kid Pix, or even a word processing application, if available.
Assessment:
The teacher will observe students’ interactions during discussion and informally check their “save the water” posters to ensure comprehension of concepts and language use.
References and Resources:
Conduct an Internet search to collect appropriate pictures if necessary.