Lesson Plan 2: Introduction_to the Present Progressive______

Lesson Overview: To give students a model of how the present progressive works in English and especially in Spanish, with –ar, -er, and –ir verbs. Also, to help students gain knowledge of how to recognize and how to use this construction in Spanish.

Learning Outcomes:

-Learning Performances:

-Students will review Jungle vocabulary list and remember more words

-Students will be able to define what the present progressive is

-Students will learn how to conjugate the present progressive for –ar, -er, and –ir verbs

-Students will be able to construct their own sentences using the present progressive, both

in speaking and in writing

-Students will be able to understand others who use the present progressive (mostly

through listening)

-Students will gain insight into the Ecuadorian jungle culture

-Linked to Standards

-Students will identify and use Spanish appropriately to perform a variety of tasks, in a

variety of contexts, and utilizing a variety of content (Standard 1)

-Students will use a variety of strategies to communicate in a non-English Language

(Standard 2)

-Students will process and produce written discourse effectively in Spanish (Standard 3)

-Students will use Spanish as a means of expression (Standard 4)

-Students will extract meaning and knowledge from authentic non-English language texts

(Standard 5)

-Students will connect Spanish language and culture through texts and discussion

(Standard 6)

Materials Needed:

-Cuentos de la Selva by Horacio Quiroga

-Computer with Latin music

-CD Player

-Overhead Projector

-Overhead vocabulary transparency (see Handout 2)

-Chalk for writing on the blackboard

-Copies of partner activity to give students

Instructional Sequence:

-Introducing the Lesson: As students enter the classroom, Latin music will be playing softly in the background. As students enter the classroom, I will instruct students to take our their notebooks, ready to take notes. Once the bell has rung, I will turn on the overhead projector to review yesterday’s vocabulary jungle vocabulary words. We will review the words by me pointing to each picture and asking students to recite orally what vocabulary word it represents. (If students do not remember a certain word, I will help them out, then ask them to repeat it again). This will take approximately 5 minutes. After this, we will quickly review the previous night’s homework assignment: a crossword puzzle designed to help students learn the meanings and spellings of their new vocabulary words. I will then collect it. This will take approximately 5 minutes.

-Body of the Lesson:

  1. I will begin instruction by first calling on a few students to ask them questions such as “What are you doing right now?” “What is your friend doing now?” “What is your mother doing now?” This may seem silly to students, but after a few such questions, I will point out to students that they are always using the same construction: a conjugation of the verb “to be” paired to a gerund with an “ing” ending. This will take approximately 2.5 minutes
  2. I will instruct students to begin taking notes in their notebooks for the remainder of my explanation. I will write on the board the topic “Present Progressive”, and explain to the class that this is the name of the construction we were just using. I will explain that in English, we use the present progressive for both present and future events (“I am going right now” vs. “I am going tomorrow”), but in Spanish it is only used for events currently in progress. This will take approx. 2.5 minutes.
  3. I will then introduce the present progressive conjugation in Spanish. I will begin by explaining that, like in English, there are two separate parts to creating the present progressive in Spanish. There is the conjugation of “to be”, like English, and a gerund. I will begin by asking the class to remember how we conjugate the verb “estar” (to be). I will ask them to recite aloud the various conjugations and write what the class says on the board. I will then explain the concept of the gerund and how to transform basic verb forms into gerunds (-ar verbs drop –ar and add –ando, -er and –ir verbs drop their endings and add ‘iendo). I will mention there are a few irregular gerunds, but that we won’t get into this until tomorrow. I will demonstrate with a few examples, using verbs that the class has already learned like trabajar, escribir, and beber. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
  4. I will then introduce a partner activity aimed at helping students practice using the present progressive construction. Students will work in pairs doing this activity together as I walk around, monitoring progress and clarifying any misconceptions. In the activity, one student will read a statement using the present progressive, and the second student must look at the drawing and decide whom the sentence is describing. Student pairs must work together to uncover who all eight people in the drawing are. I will monitor progress. This will take approx. 5 minutes.
  5. I will then end the partner activity by asking students to volunteer some of the things that either they or their partners said during the activity. This will take approx. 3 minutes (if time).
  6. I will then explain to students that we are going to read a short story that has to do with the jungle. I will use the text Cuentos de la Selva by Horacio Quiroga. We will read the flamenco story . I will read the story aloud to students and they will listen attentively. Every paragraph or two I will briefly summarize in English. This will give students the experience of listening to an authentic Spanish text. This will take approx. 12 minutes.

-Concluding the Lesson: To conclude the lesson, I will ask students to volunteer some sentences in the present progressive about what is happening right now in the classroom. Then, I will explain the night’s homework assignment: to write five sentences about what they and other people are doing (in the present progressive). They can choose to write about whomever they want: themselves, family members, friends, or even celebrities. The only rule is that each sentence must use the present progressive. This will take 3 minutes.

Assessing Student Understanding: Students will be assessed by me monitoring their participation in the partner activity. I will also check periodically during my actual explanation of the present progressive, looking at students’ expressions and asking them whether they are confused or ok with the material. The homework assignment, as stated above, will be to write ten sentences about what they and other people are doing in the present progressive. Students will apply what they have learned and practiced in class, along with the notes they should have taken during my explanation of the present progressive in Spanish.

Rationale: I wanted students to make their learning of the present progressive, a relatively dry grammar topic, relevant, so the partner activity asks students to describe the happenings in their own lives. I also wanted to tie the grammar into the major unit topic: the Ecuadorian jungle. Students will gain speaking and listening practice through working with a partner and more visual-oriented students will benefit from the present progressive activity (Handout 3), in which an illustration is used. I thought by reading a short story, students would get interested, absorb some information about the Ecuadorian jungle and culture there, and apply their grammatical knowledge to a real text, hopefully reinforcing it. I am not sure whether the music at the beginning effectively ties into the rest of the lesson plan, but I would like to make playing music before the bell a tradition in my classroom. By choosing Incan traditional music, I am further enhancing their cultural knowledge of Ecuador and South America. In the homework assignment, students will practice what they learned independently and hopefully be creative, having some fun with it.

Concerns for Focal Students: There is a lot of grammar in this lesson, and so I am afraid that I will lose students like Chris and Chavonna. I am worried that they will become overwhelmed and react to that by getting off-task. I will monitor both of them especially and give them, especially Chris, extra help if needed. I also must hold Moris’s interest, as I fear this may be dull for him since he is fluent in Spanish. I will try to get him to volunteer some responses for the rest of the class, especially if the rest of the class is struggling, since he will naturally use this tense correctly in speech. For Jenny, I do not anticipate a lack of interest or any disruptive behavior. Rather, my principle concern for her is that she will feel confused but not say anything to tell me so. Therefore, I will try to watch her subtedly and perhaps ask her one-on-one, in a less intimidating environment, how she feels about the new material.

Handouts: (see attached documents)

Present Progressive Practice Activity: Partner A

Trabaja con un/a compañero/a para aprender quién hace cada acción. La persona A lee en voz alta cada frase y la persona B escribe el nombre de la persona que hace cada acción en el espacio en su hoja. Entonces la persona B lee y la persona A escribe. Traten de averigüar quién hace cada acción según el dibujo.

Work with a partner to find out who does each action. Person A reads aloud each sentence and person B writes the name of the person who does each action in the space on his/her sheet. Then person B reads and person A writes. Try to find out who does each action according to the drawing.

  1. Alberto está mirando el periódico.
  2. Susana está hablando por teléfono.
  3. Gabriela está ayudando a su hermano en un juego de la computadora.
  4. Veronica se está sentando en una silla cerca de la computadora.

Present Progressive Practice Activity: Partner B

Trabaja con un/a compañero/a para aprender quién hace cada acción. La persona A lee en voz alta cada frase y la persona B escribe el nombre de la persona que hace cada acción en el espacio en su hoja. Entonces la persona B lee y la persona A escribe. Traten de averigüar quién hace cada acción según el dibujo.

Work with a partner to find out who does each action. Person A reads aloud each sentence and person B writes the name of the person who does each action in the space on his/her sheet. Then person B reads and person A writes. Try to find out who does each action according to the drawing.

  1. Galo está viendo la televisión.
  2. El gato está diciendo “miauuuuu”
  3. Ricardo está jugando un videojuego.

8. Brayan está mirando un libro.