Approximately half of my first-year students are sixth graders, and part of the sixth grade science curriculum is learning about the solar system. The great news is that the solar system is interesting to most students and is full of cognates when you learn about it in Spanish! DAY ONE Objective: Students understand the singer's thoughts, feelings, and situation in "Electricidad" Introduce song: "Electricidad" by Jesse & Joy
- Have students watch the music video (download it on iTunes or watch it on YouTube).
- While viewing the video, ask them to shout out cognates in English whenever they see them in Spanish on the screen.
- Walk students through the "Electricidad" keynote (attached to the above linked song post on my website). Point to pictures and use gestures to establish meaning. Circle important structures.
- Listen to the song again, this time playing the keynote with lyrics and pictures instead of the actual music video.
Character Map: Electricidad
- Project character map (in Writing folder) onto Promethean Board or Document Camera, or draw one quickly on the board.
- Ask students the following questions:
- ¿Cómo se siente la cantante? ¿Por qué?
- ¿Qué piensa la cantante?
- ¿Qué dice la cantante?
DAY TWO Objective: Students can talk about the Solar System in Spanish. Campanada: Students write their responses in complete sentences in Spanish upon entry.
- ¿Sabes mucho del sistema solar?
- ¿Sabes los nombres de los planetas?
- ¿Sabes el orden de los planetas?
- ¿Sabes el nombre de nuestro planeta?
- Discuss answers as a class, and be sure to use "sabes"/"sé" as much as possible!
- For question #2, give the students the names of the planets in Spanish: Mercurio, Venus, la Tierra, Marte, Júpiter, Saturno, Urano, Neptuno, Plutón
- Discuss whether Plutón is a planet or not (I refuse to say that there are only eight planets as I was responsible for presenting Pluto on fourth grade Planet Night while wearing my sweet aluminum-foil-covered bike helmet, so obviously it is the best planet and worthy to be included in every list. Still a good idea to say that some crazies think that it's not!)
- When you talk about Earth in #4, introduce the word "vida" (life) and ask if students (1) know and (2) think that there is life on other planets.
"Electricidad": Show Keynote lyrics/pictures
El Universo keynote
- Show students the "El Universo" Keynote (in "Solar System" unit folder)
- For each slide, ask students to describe its contents. Adjectives are great, but see if you can elicit other information...like what there is/isn't, verbs that might accompany it, etc.
- Whenever possible, keep recycling the structures "sabes"/"sé". ¿Sabes el color de este planeta? ¿Sabes si la Luna es un satélite o un planeta? Demand that students answer in complete sentences, not one word answers, so that they are using the "sé".
- Talk about shapes briefly; introduce the word "esfera" (sphere) and clarify that the Sun and the Moon are not circles, they are spheres. These are bonus words for students that are wanting more, not the essentials that everyone must know.
- For the last few slides (the ones that contain questions), have students stand and find a partner. Have them think of the answer silently in their heads while you read the question, then ask for them to race to see who can shout out the correct answer first. For most questions, it will probably be a tie because the questions are not difficult. That's okay. It lets the students move around and shout a bit, which is a good thing.
Electricidad: Show the kids the music video again. They much prefer it to my lame keynote! DAY THREE Objective: Students learn about the moon by reading in Spanish. Campanada: Students write their responses in complete sentences in Spanish upon entry.
- ¿Sabes si la Luna es gris o verde?
- ¿Sabes si el Sol es caliente o frío?
- ¿Sabes si hay nueve u ocho planetas en el sistema solar?
- ¿Sabes si hay personas o animales en otros planetas?
- Emphasize that students should answer using the structure "Yo sé que..." or "No sé si..." (I know that.../I don't know if...)
Electricidad Keynote singalong: Ensure that students know the meaning of "luz"
Article and discussion: La luna
- This article is great for a mini-lesson or review on cognates. There are more than eighteen in this short reading!
- Before handing out the article, give a whiteboard and marker to each pair of students. Have them work together to write anything that they know about the moon on the whiteboard in Spanish. Ask several students to share what they wrote as a refresher from yesterday's discussion.
- Begin the article by asking students to identify the cognates in English, writing the meaning next to the Spanish word. Walk around and monitor student progress as the kids work. This was a huge eye-opener for me, because I realized that some of my students are struggling readers in Spanish because they do NOT recognize cognates! Sitting down with them and analyzing patterns and structures was super helpful to those students. Help individual students identify their cognates before they begin reading, because without the help of cognates, the reading will be overwhelming.
- Have students read the article and respond to the questions on the back.
- After collecting the articles, have students work with their partner again to re-do their whiteboards. They should write whatever they know about the moon, and they should begin with the expression "Yo sé que la Luna..."
- Have each pair of students share their whiteboard with the class.
- Ask questions after each mini-presentation. ¿John sabe que la luna es gris o azul? ¿John sabe que la luna es grande? etc.
Show the Electricidad music video if there is time left.
DAY FOUR
Objective: Students can talk about the Moon in detail Spanish. Campanada: Students write their responses in complete sentences in Spanish upon entry.
- ¿Qué sabes de la Luna? Escribe tres frases por lo menos. (What do you know about the moon? Write at least three sentences.)
- Discuss answers as a class. Again, focus on sabes/sé. As students give you their answers, report to your class that "Bill sabe que..." (Bill knows that).
La Luna Keynote - Show two to three slides at a time while you are reviewing the article to give kids brain breaks.
- Review the moon information with the "La Luna" Keynote (in "Solar System" unit folder). For each slide, read the question aloud, then assign an action for each answer (make sure that students know to wait before they answer!). Ex: Is the moon gray or yellow? If it's gray, touch your nose. If it's yellow, touch your neighbor's nose. Go!
Review "La Luna" article
- Pass back the article from yesterday and discuss it as a class, ensuring understanding by circling important information and giving pop-up grammar points as needed.
DAY FIVE
Objective: Students use their imagination to draw and describe the lifeforms that exist on the moon. Campanada: Students write their responses in complete sentences in Spanish upon entry.
- ¿Piensas que hay vida en la luna? ¿Por qué?
- Discuss answers as a class. Today, focus on pienso/piensas (I think/you think)
¡Hay vida en la Luna!
- Tell students that some people think that there is life on the moon. You are an astronaut and you decide to go to the moon and see if it is true. You discover that it's true--you find life on the moon!
- Distribute the ¡Hay vida en la Luna! worksheet to students (in "Solar System" unit folder). Students will draw the life that they find on the moon, and then describe it. They should describe its appearance, its personality, what it says, and what it does. Have them write out rough drafts and ask you to look it over before they write the final version on the worksheet.
DAY FIVE
Finish Life on the moon worksheets and have students present them to the class. Or, you can have the students do a simultaneous presentation.
