La muchacha y la ardilla Script

So remember how I mentioned that I have an intern this quarter? Well, she's awesome. It has been SO GREAT to have someone to talk through ideas with. Two brains are better than one, that's for sure! We just finished a killer CI-friendly introduction to -AR preterite verbs (since I am backtracking and trying to do a systematic introduction of the preterite tense now that we've already read a novel in the past tense...oops).

We worked together to write this script (it was an embellishment of a story idea that one of my students wrote on a day that they were complaining that we never do interesting stories anymore) that focuses almost entirely on -AR preterit verbs, and Julia (my intern) suggested using this short film for a MovieTalk that pairs with it just beautifully. We wrote up a reading based on the action in the film that also includes almost exclusively -AR preterit verb forms. Flush it out with some targeted grammar activities, and voilá! A beautiful introduction to the -AR preterit conjugations. Download the five-day plans here. If you want, you could also add on these -AR preterite verb notes, although they are not included in the plans since many teachers don't prefer to use them or have their own that they like to use already.

LA MUCHACHA Y LA ARDILLA

TARGET STRUCTURES

• se acercó a - s/he approached (came close to)
• se la(lo) llevó - s/he carried it away with him/her
• vio que había - s/he saw that there was

PRACTICE SENTENCES

1. El muchacho se acercó a la muchacha porque ella era muy bonita.
2. El ladrón agarró el diamante y se lo llevó.
3. El hombre vio que había una camisa nueva en el clóset de su esposa.
4. El bebé se acercó al perro, y el perro se levantó.
5. Mi madre vio que había un mosquito en la sopa al restaurante, y por eso el camarero se la llevó.

STORY SCRIPT: LA MUCHACHA Y LA ARDILLA

Había una vez una muchacha que se llamaba Maya, y ella caminaba al parque para jugar antes de regresar a casa para comer con su familia.

Mientras caminaba, ella vio que había un animal en la distancia. Era una ardilla. Ella se acercó a la ardilla. Ella miró la ardilla y pensó, «Esta ardilla es preciosa. ¡Voy a llevármela!» Ella agarró la ardilla, la besó y se la llevó.

Entonces, Maya caminó un poquito más con la ardilla y vio que había otro animal en la distancia. Era una vaca. Ella se acercó a la vaca. Ella miró la vaca y pensó, «Quiero leche. ¡Voy a llevármela!» Ella agarró la vaca, la besó y se la llevó.

Entonces, Maya caminó un poquito más con la ardilla y la vaca y vio que había otro animal en la distancia. Era una mosca. Ella se acercó a la mosca. Ella miró la mosca y pensó, «Este pobre mosca no tiene amigos. ¡Voy a llevármela!» Ella agarró la mosca, la besó y se la llevó.

Maya caminó un poquito más con la ardilla, la vaca y la mosca cuando pensó, «¡Ay! Tengo hambre! ¿Qué hora es?» Ella miró su reloj y exclamó, «¡Ay! ¡Ya son las ocho de la noche! ¡Tengo que regresar a casa para comer!» Pero entonces vio que estaba en un bosque. Ella buscó el camino, pero no vio nada que reconoció. Ella caminó durante horas, buscando un camino. Ella tenía mucha hambre y tenía frío también. Ella no tenía comida ni tenía chaqueta. Ella pensó, «Si yo no encuentro comida, yo voy a morir». Entonces, ella miró los animales. Los animales miraron a Maya. Ella les dijo, «Lo siento». Entonces, ella mató a la ardilla y la comió. Ella mató a la vaca y llevó su piel como chaqueta. Pero ella no mató a la mosca porque no quería quedarse sola en el bosque. Ella vivió en el bosque con la mosca por cinco días, cuando por fin llegó la policía y la rescató.

ENGLISH:

There once was a girl named Maya, and she was walking to the park to play before returning home to eat with her family. While she walked, she saw that there was an animal in the distance. It was a squirrel. She approached the squirrel. She looked at it and thought, “This squirrel is cute. I’m going to take it with me!” She grabbed the squirrel, kissed it, and carried it away with her. Then, Maya walked a little more with the squirrel and saw that there was another animal in the distance. It was a cow. She approached the cow. She looked at the cow and thought, “I want milk. I’m going to take it with me!” She grabbed the cow, kissed it, and carried it away with her. Then, Maya walked a little more with the squirrel and the cow and saw that there was another animal in the distance. It was a fly. She approached the fly. She looked at the fly and thought, “This poor fly doesn’t have friends. I’m going to take it with me!” She grabbed the fly, kissed it, and carried it away with her. Maya walked a little more with the squirrel, the cow, and the fly when she thought, “Oh dear! I’m hungry! What time is it?” She looked at her watch and exclaimed, “Oh my! It’s already 8:00pm! I have to get home to eat!” But then she saw that she was in a forest. She looked for the path, but she didn’t see anything familiar. She walked for hours, looking for a path. She was very hungry and very cold, too. She didn’t have food or a jacket. She thought, “If I don’t find food, I’m going to die”. Then, she looked at the animals. The animals looked at Maya. She said to them, “I’m sorry”. Then, she killed the squirrel and ate it. She killed the cow and wore its skin as a jacket. But she didn’t kill the fly because she didn’t want to be alone in the woods. She lived in the forest with the fly for five days, when the police finally arrived and rescued her.