Field Teach 1 lesson plan

TE 408: Spring 2009

Kate Cavanaugh

Context: In this unit, the students of this Spanish 3 class will be learning about ‘myths,
legends, and phenomena. They will be trying to incorporate some of the verb tenses
learned into a project they will be working on, which will be to write and design a
complete children’s book, which will later be given to a charity. In order to do this,
students will need to learn one of the last tenses with which they are, as of yet,
unfamiliar, the present perfect tense. Students will have been introduced to the tense just
the day before. I will provide a short review of the tenses and introduce the new,
irregular forms.

Content Objective: Ss will be able to correctly recognize and conjugate the (irregular)
forms of the present perfect tense of the indicative mood.

Language Objective: Students will speak, write, and listen in the TL (Spanish) to
accomplish the CO.

Materials: Powerpoint presentation, projector, white board/markers/erasers, song clip by

Gale Mackey.

Activity 1: Intro/review of tense

1. I will begin by asking students a few questions about what they remember of
how to form the present perfect tense. They will also be asked to take notes,
using the unit packet provided by their teacher (CT).
2. Together, and using the white board, we will conduct a brief review of how
the tense is formed and for what it is used, with student participation the
predominant form of instruction.
3. From here, I will start the Powerpoint presentation and introduce the irregular
forms of the past participles involved using a song by Gale Mackey who
creates music to help students learn the irregular grammar aspects of Spanish
(in the TL). Lyrics will be written on the powerpoint slide so students can
follow along. We will repeat it a few times, having students try to figure out a
pattern among similar irregular verbs to aide them when confronting a new,
unfamiliar verb in the future.

Transition: Notes to ¡Verbos Rápidos!

1. I will direct students to line desks up in rows facing the white board

Activity 2: Introduction of ¡Verbos Rápidos! game:

1. Most students are already familiar with the game, so I will briefly remind them of
the rules. They will be allowed to collaborate with group members.
2. Ss will walk/run up to the board and conjugate the verbs given correctly in the
present perfect tense we are working with.
 3. The first team to get all forms correct will win the round. After several rounds,
group/team with the most rounds won will get 2 points extra credit toward
participation.

Standards: This activity lends itself to the Communications section of the ACTFL
Standards. Students will be able to communicate in various forms (speaking, listening,
and writing; Standard 1.1). This also applies to MiWL Communication Standards 1.1 and
1.2. (Interpersonal and Interpretive Communication, respectively.) Students will be able
to make comparisons between the differences, and similarities, of the ‘perfect’ tenses in
English. (ACTFL Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of
language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.)

English: This lesson will not require much, if any, English. It may be necessary at some
point to switch to English to further explain the pattern of the irregulars or the meaning if
students are still struggling with the concept. However, as these students are third year
and understand their teacher’s instruction in Spanish, they should be able to grasp the
review in Spanish.

Support of CO & LO: This lesson aligns itself with the objectives of having ss listen
and speak to one another, as well as taking notes and writing on the board for the ¡Verbos
Rápidos! game. The review of their completed conjugations at the end requires students
to use the new verb tense in a verbal and written manner.

Visual Aspects: The Powerpoint provides a pre-defined list of irregular verbs, written
out in a logical pattern so as to aid students in correctly identifying similarities. The song
will also allow students to try to hear the pattern while reading it on the projected
Powerpoint slide. The info provided on the board at the beginning (our brief review) will
give a recap of the tense students will need to complete the activity. The layout of the
teacher-made packet will also make it easy for students to notice a pattern.