Spanish I is an introductory level course that emphasizes the use of the essential elements of understanding, speaking, reading and writing Spanish. Significant emphasis is placed on developing good pronunciation skills, acquiring a basic vocabulary related to the topics covered and speaking and writing in grammatically correct forms.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

• What is the purpose of language?
• How is the structure of a language related to its function?
• What kinds of beauty does language create?
• How do we express our values and beliefs through language?
• How do culture and language interact?
• How does language influence who I am?
• How does language influence perception and understanding of diverse cultures?
• How does competency in language empower us in decision-making?
• How does language influence the development and interaction of civilizations?

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What are some simple school related objects and phrases we can name in Spanish?
• How can we recognize cognates?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• recognize cognates.
• list all Spanish speaking countries and their capitals.
• introduce yourself to a fellow classmate or teacher.
• ask simple information questions.
• count from 0-10.
• use Spanish days of the week.
• recite and recognize the alphabet in Spanish.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• summarize the information regarding a country in the Spanish-speaking world and present it to the class.
• apply the knowledge of the Spanish alphabet to correctly spell and pronounce words.
• recite the numbers from 0-10.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• categorize the Spanish speaking countries by similarities and differences.
• contrast the information obtained on Spanish speaking countries to the U.S.
• compare the information obtained on the Spanish speaking countries to the U.S.
• recognize and understand the masculine and feminine gender of nouns.
• combine numbers to make telephone numbers and simple math.
• recite a phone number.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• recognize cognates and be able to read chapter vocabulary aloud.

WRITING The student will . . .

• spell vocabulary words correctly with correct Spanish diacritical marks.
• write simple sentences using the unit vocabulary.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• greet and introduce each other in Spanish.
• correctly pronounce the name of all Spanish speaking countries and their capitals.

MAP SKILLS The student will . . .

• know and locate Spanish-speaking countries and their capital cities.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How is time used differently in Spanish speaking countries?
• What is the significance of names, especially the two last names in Hispanic society?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• conjugate the verbs ser.
• ask and answer questions with “¿De dónde+ser…?” and “¿Cómo estás?” and “¿Cómo está usted” and“¿Qué tal?”
• state a greeting in Spanish.
• express likes and dislikes.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• state the equivalent of their names in Spanish.
• translate Spanish subject pronouns into English.
• explain the usage of two last names in Spanish.
• identify the significance of names in Hispanic society.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• compare and contrast ser and estar.
• discuss the usage of two last names in Hispanic culture.
• analyze the besoand abrazo in Hispanic culture and “personal space”.
• compare and contrast likes and dislikes of young people in different cultures.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read in Spanish information regarding greetings and numbers in sentences of an introductory level.

WRITING The student will . . .

• write and explain who the people in their community are and where they are from.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• state origin of self and others
• state where they are from and where they currently live
• discern people within their community.
• express likes and dislikes.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does one express his/her class schedule in Spanish?
• How does one express information about his/her school activities?
• How does one describe the weather and seasons in Spanish?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• choose the correct gender of adjectives.
• learn personality traits in Spanish.
• identify features in Spanish.
• recognize appearance traits in Spanish.
• recognize cognates.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• learn the indefinite article.
• describe themselves or a friend using words learned in this topic in simple sentences.
• ask questions regarding personality traits.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• describe professionals within a community including appearance, personality and clothing.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read and understand a short reading selection based on chapter vocabulary.

WRITING The student will . . .

• spell vocabulary words correctly with punctuation.
• write simple sentences using the topic vocabulary.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• prepare a short dialogue in which they describe a friend or people in the community.
• describe clothing and colors.
• describe appearance, features and personality of themselves and others.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does one communicate information with or about friends in Spanish?
• How are the linguistic and syntactic structures of Spanish used to describe friends?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• ask/tell age, birthday.
• conjugate tener.
• use possessive adjectives learned in class.
• count from 11-100 in Spanish.
• recite the months of the year in Spanish.
• identify family members in Spanish.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• use the verb tener correctly to speak about their age and birthdays.
• describe relationships within a family.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• bring in a picture of their family and write a short description for each family member in Spanish.
• compare and contrast different family members.
• use a Spanish calendar correctly.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• understand the principal message of simple illustrated texts that use ability appropriate vocabulary.
• understand passages that use chapter vocabulary.
• understand written messages and notes related to friends.
• infer meaning of new vocabulary from contextual clues.

WRITING The student will . . .

• spell vocabulary words correctly with appropriate diacritical marks.
• write simple sentences using the topic vocabulary.
• describe a group of friends in a narrative.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• ask and answer questions describing friends.
• dialog about friends.
• ask birth dates-ages and reply-answer.
• recite short passages.
• use correct pronunciation intonation.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What is the importance of the extended family in Hispanic society?
• How do we express the simple future and careers in Spanish?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify relatives in Spanish.
• list numbers up to 100.
• name the months of the year in Spanish.
• list careers in Spanish.
• use tener idioms.
• demonstrate the use of estar with adjectives.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• extend the use of numbers to writing phone numbers in Spanish.
• construct a family tree.
• illustrate the various professions named in Spanish.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• discuss the importance of the extended family in Spanish speaking countries.
• analyze Spanish phone numbers and the way names are listed in Spanish phone books.
• apply the numbers from 31-100 in addresses, phone numbers etc.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read short selections regarding family in Spanish.

WRITING The student will . . .

• prepare short skits in Spanish regarding the interaction of family members.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• orally give their telephone numbers in Spanish.
• enumerate their family members using only Spanish.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How do people in Spanish-speaking countries dress?
• How do different cultures value clothing and dress?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify different articles of clothing in Spanish.
• describe the colors and styles in Spanish.
• conjugate stem changing verbs e-i.
• use indirect object pronouns.
• count numbers from 1 to 1 million in Spanish.
• learn ordinal numbers in Spanish to ten.
• examine the tú command form.
• give directions.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• use verbs gustar and encantar to select clothing in Spanish.
• prepare price tags for items in a store in a Spanish country.
• discuss currencies of Spanish-speaking countries.
• interpret a floor plan of a building.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• discuss the differences and similarities in clothing style in the Hispanic and American cultures.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read a directory catalog in Spanish.

WRITING The student will . . .

• use ordinal numbers to describe a shopping trip on Saturday to the mall.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• use Spanish to describe a person’s clothing.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What activities do Hispanic people take part in?
• What are some pastimes common to Hispanic people?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify activities that are done by Hispanics outside of school.
• describe a typical day for a typical Hispanic youth.
• conjugate in the preterit tense.
• learn indirect object pronouns.
• identify specific information within a paragraph in the target language.
• list your weekend activities.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• apply the vocabulary and cultural information learned to prepare a chart of activities and pastimes.
• complete sentences in the preterit tense.
• develop a brief composition about a the things you do on a typical Saturday with family and friends.
• compare activities that you do in Ridgefield with typical activities of an Hispanic youth.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read a simple story or historic legend in Spanish.

WRITING The student will . . .

• use the vocabulary learned in this chapter to do activities in writing.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• tell about a trip they took and the activities that they participated in using the target language.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• How does one describe the environment to someone who speaks Spanish?
• How is the reflexive verb used in Spanish and what is its purpose?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• conjugate stem changing verbs in the preterit e-i and o-u.
• describe people, places and things giving location.
• identify rooms in a house.
• list demonstratives pronouns.
• match activities to their descriptions.
• conjugate reflexive verbs.
• demonstrate the use of the affirmative TU command regular form.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• explain the use of reflexive verbs.
• classify verbs as regular, irregular or reflexive.
• cluster furniture in the appropriate room in the house.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• discuss the influences that Spanish speaking immigrants have made on the culture of the U.S.
• use the reflexive verbs in daily rituals.
• compare typical U.S. house designs to the design of a house in a Hispanic country.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read the material presented in Spanish and read a house plan in Spanish as well as reading in Spanish about Hispanic communities.

WRITING The student will . . .

• write in Spanish about their daily routines using reflexive verbs.

FOCUS QUESTIONS

• What is the role of food in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries?
• What are the differences and similarities in foods from the different regions that speak Spanish?

CONTENT OBJECTIVES

INITIAL UNDERSTANDING The student will . . .

• identify foods common to certain regions and countries that speak Spanish.
• describe typical meals in Spanish.
• conjugate more stem changing verbs from e-i in Spanish.
• learn tener idioms.
• name snacks.
• order in Spanish.

DEVELOPING AN INTERPRETATION The student will . . .

• create a menu for a specific Spanish speaking country using unit vocabulary.
• use stem changing verbs correctly.
• illustrate with pictures and /or descriptions foods from Spanish speaking countries.
• extend, accept and decline an invitation.
• describe specific Spanish foods such as gazpacho.

MAKING CONNECTIONS The student will . . .

• interpret a recipe for a food common to a particular region.
• discuss the relationship of food and culture.
• compare food from the different regions and/or countries that speak Spanish.
• contrast the difference between Hispanic meals and those in the U.S.

SKILLS

READING COMPREHENSION The student will . . .

• read in Spanish information regarding foods in sentences of an introductory level in Spanish.

WRITING The student will . . .

• use the vocabulary learned in this chapter to do activities in writing as listed in Suggested Activities.

ORAL PRESENTATION The student will . . .

• make a two-minute presentation in Spanish on about foods in a specific Spanish speaking country using vocabulary taught in this unit.