Submitted by Kay Edberg

Objectives:

Content:
Students will...
· identify Spanish-speaking countries of the world
· identify locations of tropical rainforests in the Americas
· identify other physical features in these countries
· identify major geographical features of Latin America

Cultural:
Students will...
· identify the cultural group(s) native to the country

Language: Content Obligatory
Students will...
· use verbs in the present tense (3rd person)
· use estar, vivir and hay
· answer simple questions (either/or, ¿Dónde está?, yes/no)
· use vocabulary related to location
· use (por el) norte, sur, oeste, este, aquí, allí
· use appropriate geographical terms
· use montañas, ríos, volcanes, océano, lago, selva tropical, etc.
· use vivir in 3rd person plural of preterite

Language: Content Compatible
¬∑ use appropriate question words like ¿Dónde?, ¿Quiénes?, etc.
· use proper word order to construct simple yes/no questions

Learning Strategies / Social and Skills Development:

Time Frame:

approximately seven one-hour class periods

Materials Needed:

(these are included in the Attachements section below)
· map of Central America
· map of South America
· map of Spain
· map of rain forest regions: http://www.snowcrest.net/geography/slides/biomes/index.html
· rubric for evaluation of oral reports
· oral presentation recording sheet

Description of Assessment (Performance Project):

Los Países: Procedure

1. Provide students with copies of the maps. Using transparencies of the maps, write in the names of the Spanish-speaking countries. Students should write in the names of the countries along with the teacher and repeat the correct pronunciation of each after the teacher.

2. Write the following on an overhead or transparency: El Caribe, Norteamérica, Sudamérica, Centroamérica, Europa. Ask the following types of questions to elicit responses from the students and check comprehension: ¿Dónde está Perú? ¿Estaá en Sudamérica? ¿Está México en Sudamérica? ¿Cuáles son los países del Caribe?

3. Some additional activities and games to practice countries include:
A la Pizarra Place two sets of maps on opposite sides of the board. Divide the class into two teams. Select the first two students (one from each team) to go to the board and fill in any of the countries' names. When they finish, they should quickly run back to the next team members' desk, touching it to allow them to run up to the board and fill in any other country. Play continues until one of the teams has successfully labeled all of the Spanish-speaking countries. Special rules: if a student cannot think of a country while at the board, s/he must touch the board and the desk of the next student on his/her team for play to continue. If a country is incorrectly labeled, the team member who is at the board may correct it and add his/her country. Only one correction is allowed per turn.

Somos los Paises is another activity that can be used. In this activity, students are assigned a country location and must lock arms with the students who border their countries. The activity begins with each student announcing where s/he is. It might be helpful to teach students the question ¿Donde estas? and the response Estoy en ____. For this activity, Caribbean countries border each other. Spain may or may not be included. If it is, the student will stand alone.

4. La Selva Tropical - Show the colored maps via the computer. Ask the students ¿Dónde está la selva? to elicit the response Está en ___. Have them draw in the rain forest on their maps. Then draw in and/or label the following geographical features: el Río Amazonas, el Mar Caribe, el Océano Pacífico, el Océano Atlántico, los Andes. After these are labeled, ask students questions like ¿Dónde está el Río Amazonas? to practice the countries and the geographical features. When this activity is over, pair students and have them practice by asking each other questions like ¿Dónde están los Andes?, ¿Están en Sudamerica?, ¿Están en Bolivia?, etc.

5. Assess with a blank map quiz in which students fill in the above-mentioned items.

6. Begin teaching additional geographical vocabulary: (por el) norte, sur, este, oeste, montañas, ríos, volcanes, océanos, lagos, selva tropical, and any other vocabulary the teacher deems relevant. Use the illustrations provided or draw your own. Show each, having students repeat the correct pronunciation after each. Give each of the illustrations to different students throughout the class and have students point to the correct illustrations as vocabulary is repeated and practiced. Have students draw each item in their notebooks and practice in pairs.

7. Each student should then choose a Spanish speaking country that has rainforest regions. S/he will draw a map of the country including major geographical features. Students should also practice using the word hay to describe the features that exist in the country. The teacher should model this by using a map of the United States and describing its physical features. Students should practice in pairs by asking about major geographical features that might be in their partner's country.

8. The students then will orally describe the country by identifying significant geographical features and the location. The teacher may also choose to ask some questions to clarify student information. A sample oral description might look like the following:

Mi país es los Estados Unidos. Está en Norteamerica. Tiene cinco lagos por el norte, y el Río Mississippi por el centro, el Rio Colorado por el suroeste. Hay montañas en el este y oeste. Hay selva tropical en la Florida. Hay volcanes en Hawaii. Hay océanos por el oeste y este. El Océano pacífico está en el oeste y el Océano Atlántico está en el este.

9. Assess their maps and oral descriptions with the included rubric. During the oral presentations, the rest of the class should complete the listening activity sheet, filling in information about the countries their classmates have researched.

Assessment:

1. Students will fill in Spanish-speaking country names and geographical features of Latin America on a set of blank maps.

2. Students will research a Spanish-speaking country and create a map of that country that includes the following: regions of tropical rain forest, rivers, mountains and other geographical features. They then will present an oral report describing the country and its cultural features.

References and Resources:

Maps of the Americas can be found on the internet as part of The Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/americas.html

Rainforest locations:
http://www.snowcrest.net/geography/slides/biomes/index.html

Attachments:

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

Map - Central America
Map - South America
Map - España
Lesson 1 Rubric
Oral Presentation Recording Sheet

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