Submitted by Dan Dunagan

Objectives:

Content:
Students will...

• CON 1. Identify a political representative in order to address him/her in relation to the topic of the death penalty.
• CON 2. Demonstrate an understanding that the death penalty is legal in the U.S.
• CON 3. Present three arguments in favor of the death penalty or three arguments against the death penalty.

Cultural:
Students will...

• CUL 1. Display an understanding that U.S. citizens are free to express their opinion.
• CUL 2. Understand that their classmates’ opinions about the death penalty are probably as divergent as the overall U.S. population’s opinions on the death penalty.
• CUL 3. Demonstrate an understanding that most technologically advanced, “modern” nations have abolished the death penalty while most third-world, developing nations still permit it.

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...

• Lang CO 1. Use the conditional mood to express possibilities and uncertainty with conjugated verbs such as podría, sería, exoneraría, recomendaría, extraditaría, castigaría, sentenciaría, and tendría.
• Lang CO 2. Use nouns (la pena capital, el castigo, la víctima, la justicia, la venganza, etc.) and adjectives (culpable,  inocente, vicioso, involucrado, civilizado, prohibido, etc.) related to capital punishment in order to explain points of view about the death penalty.
• Lang CO 3. Use polite introductions to note respect when addressing politicians or professional organizations with phrases like Distinguido Señor Senador, Estimada Señora Representante, Respetable Señor Director, Tengo el agrado de dirigirme a usted, Permítame saludarle, Tengo el gusto de dirigirme a usted, and Tenga la bondad de considerar esta solicitud/este misivo.
• Lang CO 4. Use the subjunctive mood to request with phrases such as espero que (Ud.) considere mi propuesta, quiero que (Ud.) tenga la oportunidad de…, le solicito que (Ud.) vote…, and es preferible que…

Language: Content Compatible
Students will...

• Lang CC 1.  Use present tense verbs to understand and express opinions with chunks such as yo creo que, estoy a favor, estoy contra, and no debe de tener.
• Lang CC 2.  Use vocabulary to explain methods of execution such as la silla eléctrica, la guillotina, and la inyección letal.
  • Lang CC 3.  Use “inverted” verb constructions to describe personal opinions with words like gustar, disgustar, sorprender, molestar, and ofender.
• Lang CC 4. Use nouns and adjectives to describe main points relating to the death penalty with terms like la pena de muerte, el castigo, civilizado, prohibido, la justicia, el delito, inocente, culpable, and merece.

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will...

• LS 1.  Compare and contrast
• LS 2.  Debate a topic with a peer 
• LS 3.  Paraphrase
  

Time Frame:

Two 47-minute periods

Materials Needed:

• Appendix 5-1 – Instructions for the Presentational task – Letter to a member of Congress or a Hispanic organization
• Appendix 5-2 – Rubric for the Presentational task – Letter to a member of Congress or a Hispanic organization
• Appendix 5-3 – Instructions for the Interpersonal task – Debate about the death penalty
• Appendix 5-4 – Rubric for the Interpersonal task – Debate about the death penalty

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Purpose:
To understand there are defendable arguments both for and against the death penalty.

Preview Phase:

Targeted Standards & Objectives

Description of Activities

Standards 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1, 4.2 Objectives CON 2-3 CUL 1 CUL 3 LS 1 Lang CC 3

Review activity from the previous day.  Briefly discuss U.S. death penalty policy and associated statistics.  Compare U.S. death penalty policy with the policy of other countries.  This is done informally by direct questioning from the teacher.  This will take one or two minutes. Students review the inverted form verbs by briefly discussing what they like and dislike about the death penalty.  There is no grouping done for this activity.  The students complete this discussion in the permanent seating groups in which they find themselves.  This will last for two minutes.

Focused Learning Phase:

Targeted Standards & Objectives	Description of Activities
Standards 1.1, 1.3, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1 Objectives CON1-3 CUL 1 CUL 3 LS 1 Lang CO 1-4 Lang CC 1-4	Presentational – Letter to a Congressman or Latino organization Students are required to write a letter to a Spanish-speaking congressperson or a Latino organization in order to present a point of view in relation to the death sentence.  The letter is also meant to convince the congressperson or Latino organization to support the writer’s ideas.  Instructions for this task are found in Appendix 5-1. The instructor will spend the first five minutes of the focused learning phase explaining the requirements and rubric for this task. The students will have two class periods to work on the first drafts.
Standards 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1 Objectives CON 2-3 CUL 1-3 LS 1-3 Lang CO 1-2 Lang CO 4 Lang CC 1-4	Interpersonal task - Debate While the rest of class is creating drafts of the presentational task, two students at a time will be thrust into a situation of having to defend or support the death penalty in a debate against a classmate.  The instructor will decide who will present each side of the argument.  Thus, students must need to know the arguments from both sides.  The instructions are found in Appendix 5-2. The students will be matched based on oral skill level.  Each student will have thirty seconds to present his/her argument.  Then, there will be a one minute “lucha libre” in which each tries to persuade his/her opponent of the strength of the argument.  The debates will last for two class periods.

Expansion Phase:

Targeted Standards & Objectives	Description of Activities
Standards 1.1, 1.3, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1 Objectives CON 1-3 CUL 1, 3 S 1 Lang CO 1-4 Lang CC 1-4	Letter to a congressperson – Draft One is due in two days.

Assessment:

• Interpersonal task – formally assessed (see Rubric in Appendix 5-2)
• Presentational task - initial draft due earlier (see Rubric in Appendix 5-1)

The draft will be peer reviewed in class. The instructor will also review the drafts and provide feedback. (a copy of the peer review is found in Appendix 5-3)

Attachments:

NOTE: some attachments are in PDF form (get Acrobat Reader)

Appendix 5-1: Instructions for the Presentational task
Appendix 5-2: Presentational task - Rubric
Appendix 5-3: Instructions for the Interpersonal task
Appendix 5-4: Interpersonal Task - Rubric 

A Lesson from the CoBaLTT Project
/cobaltt
Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
University of Minnesota