Unit Plan Peter va a Colombia

Overview:

This unit consists of the teaching of an introductory level chapter book written in Spanish titled, Peter
va a Colombia. The storys almost exclusive use of the present tense makes it possible for students to
navigate the chapters in the book, understanding the sequence of events in a straightforward,
chronological order. The main goal of the unit is to get students to begin to feel comfortable when
working with longer texts in the target language that may seem daunting without the appropriate
scaffolding. Through the use of TPR-S and role-playing, students will actively engage with
vocabulary from the book that will help them better understand the plot, as well as act out scenes from
the book to provide them even more context for what is happening in the story. The entire 4MAT
cycle may not finish with each lesson, but with each lesson there will be a small continuation from
what was done in the previous lesson, and by the fourth and fifth lessons, much less time will be spent
in the earlier quadrants, and more time will be focused on the students productions.

Big Question(s)/Theme What exists beyond our

(Think universal or cosmic) immediate surroundings?

Why do we travel?

Unit questions How is Colombia different from

the United States?

How do cities in Colombia

differ from one another?

Lesson Title/topic (May not be Que se hace en Colombia?

a grammar thing!) (What is there to do in
Colombia?)

Standards addressed SI.3

(cut & paste full sentence
description)
The student will understand
simple spoken and written
Spanish presented through a
variety of media and based on
familiar topics.
1. Identify key words, cognates
and some formulaic expressions
when listening and reading.

Performance assessment -
Interpretive
Comprehension
questions
Drawing
vocabulary/scenes that
were read aloud/acted out
Objective (s) - observable
What do you want the students
to..?
Write objectives here.
Be able to do?
Students will be able to
1. Demonstrate learned
vocabulary through drawings
2. Construct simple, one-
sentence summaries of scenes
SI.7
The student will develop an
awareness of common
perspectives, practices, and
products of Spanish-speaking
cultures.
1. Identify main viewpoints of
the cultures, such as those
relating to the concept of time,
education, transportation, and
the roles of family members.
Performance assessment -
Interpersonal
Comparison of answers
to comprehension
questions
Sharing of post cards or
comic strip with a
partner
Assessment (s)
Pre-assessment:
Students will be given a
worksheet in which they will be
asked questions about the
climate of certain regions of
Colombia, as well as key
vocabulary that will appear
throughout the story
This same exact
assessment will be given
Performance assessment -
Presentational
Reading post card aloud
Acting out scenes from
chapters
Creation/physical use of
gestures for vocabulary
Differentiation plans
When recording what is
being acted out, students
can either write out in
sentences what is
happening, or they can
draw pictures that
represent the actions of
their peers (Product).
The writing of the
postcard can include as
 when the book is
3. Navigate a chapter using completed to assess how
context clues to understand the much the students will
overall meaning of the text have learned since
4. Create an informal, written starting.
narrative about traveling
Formative assessments:
Students will be asked to repeat
gestures throughout TPR that
will allow the teacher to gauge
their understanding of the
vocabulary.
Students will also be asked to
produce summaries of the
chapters and/or answer
comprehension questions that
will test their plot knowledge.
many stops as the
students feel comfortable
using transition words.
For example, those who
can only use three
transition words will
only choose three
destinations. However,
those how can manage
using more in context
will be able to construct
larger narratives
(Readiness).

Summative assessments:
Students will produce a
postcard that will show their
understanding of the sequence
of events and vocabulary in
context. They will be sharing
this assignment orally with the
class.

Know ?

Students will know

1. Know vocabulary related to

travel and the geographic
locations from the book

2. Different regions bring about

different climates (in both the
U.S. and Colombia)

3. Landmarks and famous

locations in Colombia

Understand?
(relate to big questions from unit
and above)
1. Engaging with vocabulary
physically provides the
information within a meaningful
context
2. Many cultural differences and
similarities exist between
Spanish-speaking countries and
the United States
Q 1 R - Includes an activity that
is emotionally engaging;
bringing students into the theme.
May require physical movement
of student. Emphasis is on
INPUT. This activity serves as a
focus throughout the cycle.
Q1L
Activity asks students to process
input. Students may be asked
simple comprehension questions
(yes/no), for instance.
PROCEDURES/incl. Materials/Technology/Time
differentiation estimate
Students will watch the tourism Video:
add for Colombia on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch
titled, Colombia Magical ?v=VH2YG559lGQ
Country.
The use of emotionally
engaging activities
lowers students
affective filters and
allows them to prepare
to be more participatory
in class (Krashen).
TPR of new vocabulary will
take place following the
introduction of the video.
Students will be asked to write
down vocabulary words for
things they see during the
Colombia Magical Country
video. Examples of vocabulary
they should know that appear in
the video are:
la playa el museo el
coche el barco las
montaas la ciudad la
iglesia etc. (Remember).
Students will also take this time
to write down the words for the
vocabulary that was taught

Q2R Activity asks students to
show more comprehension.
Activity should revisit Input
and use nonverbal output to
show understanding.
Q2L Expand input. Original
Input is revisited as example of
broader theme. May include
explicit instruction. Draws
attention to patterns, form
focused information. Gives more
models.
during the TPR (Understand).
Students will be asked to draw
what they saw in the video that
maps to the vocabulary that
they have preciously learned,
as well as the new vocabulary
for the chapter (Understand).
The students will be put in pairs
and will be asked to share their
drawings from the previous
class with one another before
moving on to the next activity.
They will stay in these pairings
for the explicit instruction
(Student Interaction).
Four constructions are used
commonly throughout the book
and will be taught at this point
in each lesson respectively.
1. The construction ir+a
To practice using this
construction, students will
create an itinerary for their ideal
summer vacation, using the
vocabulary they drew pictures
for (Create).
2. The use of hay
To practice using this
construction for both singular
and plural nouns, students will
create a Venn Diagram to show
a comparison between things
that exist in Colombia and the
U.S. (Create).
3. The construction
ir+a+infinitive

3L
Activity moves to directed
output.
Guided practice.
Following input models
for development.
3R
Activity calls for more
output.
Output given in different forms.
Practicing variations of
formulaic dialogues, for
instance. Acting out scenes.
Evaluate forms.
To practice this construction,
students will create a bucket list
for Things I will do before I
die (Create).
4. The impersonal a
To practice this construction,
students will prioritize a list of
people and places they want to
visit over their summer break,
practicing using the
impersonal a when visiting
people (Create).
Students will summarize what
happened in the chapter. This
will happen in many different
ways throughout the unit. In the
first two lessons, the class will
summarize as a whole, recalling
a sequence of events from the
chapter with a single sentence
(Remember). For the last two
lessons, the class will
summarize and make
predictions about what they
think will come next in the
book (Analyze).
For the fourth chapter of the Props
book, students will act out
(Apply) scenes from the
chapter, which will help them
make more sense of what is
going on in the story as they put
themselves into the story and
create a meaningful context
(VanPatten).
The task at hand for those who
arent acting will be
differentiated based on product.
While students are watching

4L Activity focuses on formative
independent work. For instance,
students write and edit their own
stories.
4R - Activity includes
performance which
demonstrates students
command of desired skills and
knowledge.
their classmates act out scenes
from the chapter, they have the
choice of turning in either
drawings of what is happening,
or written explanations of what
their classmates are performing.
The students will create a
postcard, acting as Peter, which
will be sent home to his parents.
The postcard will include a
sequence of events that outline
major stops that were made
while Peter was abroad. This
will be combined with the
previously learned transition
words, as well as the four main
constructs that were taught
throughout this unit (Create).
The students will get together in
groups of four and share their
postcards with one another.
After receiving feedback from
their peers, they will create a
small comic strip that details the
events that were written in the
postcard to serve as a non-
linguistic, visual representation
of their written work. This will
accompany them when they
read their postcard aloud for the
class (Create) (Student
Interaction).