CoBaLTT Unit Plan

Travel to Cuba
Lesson 01: Background

Submitted by Amy Buttner

Objectives:

Content:
Students will:
· become familiar with Cuba (location, size, flag, background of people, important exports, etc)
· gather information about Cuba using the Internet in order to create a slideshow

Cultural:
Students will:
· broaden their ideas about what life is like for Cubans
· identify what music and dance styles are popular in Cuba
· name food eaten by Cubans

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will:
· use the following terms:

el líder
la isla
la población
la gente
el embargo
los productos de exportación el baile
la música
la arquitectura
los carros
la religión
la capital la geografía
cubano/a
la comida
el dinero
el gobierno
el país la bicicleta
el peso
el tipo
el deporte
la ciudad
el caribe
la bandera
· accurately use the following adjectives to describe: popular, típico, común
· consistently use interrogatives ¿qué?, ¿cómo?, etc. to answer questions
· correctly use the third person singular and plural forms of ser to state information and describe
· accurately use the third person singular form of estar to express location
· consistently use hay to tell what there is in Cuba
· correctly use the indefinite articles in the singular form (un, una) with hay

Language: Content Compatible

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:
Students will:
· work cooperatively with a partner or group to research, create and present a slideshow

Time Frame:

Two to three 50 minute class sessions (plus additional time if the slide presentations will be viewed during class)

Materials Needed:

· computer lab with Internet access
· Quia website activity (http://www.quia.com/jg/128315.html)
· attachments #1-#7
· Spanish-English dictionary (choose one online)
· projector for slideshow presentations

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Context:
The teacher will want to introduce and practice the vocabulary words previous to going to the computer lab. A vocabulary sheet (See "Attachment #1") is provided in the attachments for this purpose. There are also opportunities during the lesson for students to practice the vocabulary. The advantage with this list is that many are cognates. The teacher may wish to use the list as an extension activity in identifying characteristics of cognates.
Tasks
Since most tasks in this lesson are dependent upon the individual's motivation and work ethic and will be done in a computer lab setting, it may be useful for the teacher to preview his/her expectations and directions for the activities before going to the computer lab as it seems harder to keep everyone's full attention in the lab because of its distractions. Task one should be completed before going to the computer lab.
Task 1
Students will engage in an activity to activate their background knowledge on the topic of Cuba in general. The K-W-L chart (See "Attachment #2") allows students to see their progress as they move through the lesson. The "K" stands for what the student knows, the "W" for what the student wants to learn and the "L" for what the student learned. The teacher will ask the students to fill in the "K" column to generate conversations and access prior knowledge.
This will be followed by a discussion of what students recorded. The teacher can add his/her knowledge of the the country to enhance the students' comments. The Lanic site provided in the resources is a good site with extensive information on various aspects of Cuba. See also other sites listed under resource materials. This activity also lends itself to a discussion of any stereotypes the students might have and where those stereotypes come from. It may also be interesting to have a dialogue after the unit is completed to see if their viewpoints have changed and how.
The "W" column can be filled out immediately after the discussion or following the internet search when they have been exposed to more information that might create further questions for them. The "L" column should be done upon completion of the unit.
Task 2
In this activity, students will be researching Cuba. A worksheet that will guide their search is included (See "Attachment #3"). Students should practice the vocabulary that will be used on the worksheet prior to doing the search. Online vocabulary practice is available by accessing http://www.quia.com/jg/128315.html. If for some reason you are unable to access the site, consider creating your own activity at the Quia site (http://www.quia.com/). It is relatively easy and will not take long and you can then personalize the activity. I highly recommend it but do note that after February 25, 2002, teachers will need to be members to create activities on Quia. Students should practice both the question words activity as well as the other terms. Target vocabulary is listed in the content-obligatory list above and in the vocabulary list (See "Attachment #1").
After students feel they have adequately practiced the vocabulary, they may proceed with the search. Suggested resources for the search are listed in the resource section. Be sure to inform the students that they should write down the sites referenced for future use in their slideshows. It is important that students have an adequate amount of time to surf a variety of sites as what they learn beyond what they have to fill in on the worksheet is also valuable to the overall experience. Students should look up basic vocabulary words (sugar, coffee, etc.) that they will need to fill in their worksheet (See "Attachment #3") in a Spanish-English dictionary to complete their answers in Spanish
Task 3
In Task 3 students will be completing a worksheet to practice interrogative words (See "Attachment #4") This sheet is based upon the content that students should have encountered during their research in task 2. Also, Attachment #5 is a worksheet designed to review the vocabulary students are to be learning during the lesson. These sheets may be completed as homework assignments or in class.
Task 4
For this particular task the students will need to be in the computer lab again. The students will be both practicing how to a create a slideshow presentation and searching for material to include in it. The guidelines for the presentation can be found in Attachment #6. Before beginning the session the teacher should pass out the guidelines and discuss them with the students so they are clear about what they need to accomplish. It may also be wise to show the students the rubric the teacher will be using to determine their final grade at this time, as well as a sample slide show to illustrate what a successful looks like. The teacher should gauge the students' familiarity with the slide show program they will use and provide a tutorial as needed. As students practice with the program, they can be continuing their search for pictures and information as required by the guidelines.
Task 5
Students will be presenting their slideshows to the class. Attachment #5 is the rubric for scoring the presentation. Possible Extensions to this lesson:
A typical dish eaten in Cuba may be prepared for the class.
The teacher may bring examples of traditional and popular music from Cuba for students to listen to. A Cloze listening activity may be created if the song has lyrics. Students could also listen to various songs and fill in a sheet about whether they like it or not and identify the instruments they hear, the speed of the music etc.
Further research about traditional dance and music in Cuba, or any other topic the student be interested in, may be investigated to add to students' general knowledge of Cuba.
Students may be asked to bring in current events they find about Cuba.
Students may create a travel brochure about Cuba.

Assessment:

The assessments for this lesson are embedded in various tasks throughout. The final assessment will be the creation of the slide show presentation for classmates. The guidelines for the presentation are found in "Attachment #4" and the rubric is "Attachment #7."

References and Resources:

General information on Cuba
http://wwwgoogle.com
(Do a keyword search inputting Cuba. This site gives good hits)
http://www.encarta.com
(encyclopedia information on the country in general)
Extensive list of sites on many aspects of Cuba
http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/

Attachments:

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

Attachment #1 - Vocabulary List
Attachment #2 - KWL Worksheet
Attachment #3 - Cuba Search Worksheet
Attachment #4 - Interrogatives
Attachment #5 - Vocab Practice
Attachment #6 - Slideshow Student Guide
Attachment #7 - Slideshow Rubric