Unidad Didáctica: El Fútbol y la Copa Mundial

**New packet here for 2014** and website with resources.

After finishing a three week Diversidad de la Gastronomía unit, and having 5 days before vacation (one of which I was going to be out of school running the Boston Marathon), I decided to do a mini-fúbol/copa mundial unit. I have done this unit before, but usually have more songs and spend a longer time on it. I hadn't planned on doing it because I thought some of the songs might be outdated, but the familiarity of one of the songs, Waka Waka, and the style of music of the other, Grito Mundial, made it engaging for the students. It was also the perfect feel-good music that we needed this week. Although I was only there for three of the days and did not teach it the way I normally would (because of being in a complete daze the entire week because of what happened at the marathon), I thought I would share it here.

These are the essential questions for the unit (unit packet here):

1. ¿Qué es la Copa Mundial?  ¿Por qué es tan importante en Latinoamérica?
2. ¿Quiénes son algunos cantantes que cantan del fútbol?  
3. ¿Qué son los mensajes de las dos canciones?  ¿Cómo son diferentes y/o similares?

The focus of this unit was on these two songs:

Waka Waka por Shakira

El Grito Mundial por Daddy Yankee

Before delving in to the songs, students investigated the World Cup, answered questions about sports related songs in our culture (comparisons!), and looked up information about Shakira and Daddy Yankee (see unit packet p. 2-4 & 16 ). We discussed all of this information in class as well. Then, students did a cloze activity and we talked about the videos. We also did some analysis of the song lyrics and the videos. (see unit packet for questions, some from a Zambombazo/Zachary Jones wksht.). (Students translated the songs too (gasp), but I think I am finally going to move away from doing that!)

The songs have a lot of similarities and differences. They are both related the la Copa Mundial and the videos both feature soccer players. Both focus on the unity that is created by la Copa Mundial. Waka waka is directed mostly at the players, while El Grito Mundial is directed at the fans and the world. There are many others as well.

There are other things that can be extracted/learned from El Grito Mundial, particularly from the video, such as what reggaetón is and where it comes from. We watched this video from the PBS series Latin Music USA. Students also learned about capoeira, which is featured in the video, by watching an excerpt of Black in Latin America: Brazil: A Racial Paradis? (Capoeira description starts at 8:25). We also discussed what carnaval is and what it's roots are.

And, although I didn't use La Vida Tombola by Manu Chao this year, I have used it in the past (see other unit packet p. 18-25). The students have not really liked the song, but I use it because it is a good one to compare and contrast with the other two songs. And I am fascinated with Diego Maradona and love Manu Chao! These are some of the other things that students can learn when using this song:

• Manu Chao is a multilingual singer, who is from France. His parents were Spanish and left Spain because his grandfather was persecuted during the time of the Franco regime.
• Diego Maradona is a very important figure in Argentina, partly because he helped unite the country in 1986 by helping the team win the World Cup after a devastating time period in Argentina. 

This is an exam that I used last year for this unit. I would revise it a bit, but thought I would share it.

There are so many other fútbol related songs! Here are a couple other resources to check out to find some of them:

• Alt Latino Podcast: Juanes, the World Cup and Seven Great Soccer Songs
• Alt Latino Podcast: This Week on Alt Latino: Special Guest Manu Chao
• Remezcla: Your Guide to Clásicos De Fútbol Rivalries: Club Atlético Boca Juniors vs. Club Atlético River Plate
• Radio Ambulante: La Caida de River (podcast)
• Remezcla: Your Guide to Clásicos de Fútbol Rivalries: Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Águilas de América (check out the video at the bottom to make a fútbol <---> quinceañera connection)
• Sí sí Colombia: 10 canciones para celebrar la selección
• Fútbol para recordar al mundo que hay indígenas en Costa Rica
• And of course, Zambombazo Etiqueta: Fútbol

Do you have a favorite song about fútbol that you use in class? Have you taught about la Copa Mundial? If so, please share! I am really looking forward to having some more material as we get closer to La Copa Mundial 2014 en Brasil!

Another good song to maybe add (Thanks to @spanishplans for suggestion!):

A couple of fantastic commercials to use with this unit, perhaps to introduce and start the unit??

Gol Televisión: Sin gol, no hay fútobl (transcript)

Gol Televisión: El Mundial 2014 se juega en Gol Televisión (transcript & worksheet)

Unidad Didáctica: La Diversidad de la Gastronomía

el aceite de oliva

el maíz

el asado argentino

las papas

Update 2/15/16 - I have changed this unit a bit by omitting the commercials and adding a movie and a few other songs. Click here to see the resources and a link to the new unit packet.

After having just finished a pretty heavy, somewhat depressing unit about La Narcoviolencia in México. I decided that I need to do something uplifting, light and fun.

So, I took Cristina Zimmerman's lead and decided to do a unit about La Diversidad de la Gastronomía with a focus on Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Spain. (unit packet here) We spent about 3 weeks on the unit.

These are the essential questions for the unit:

1. ¿Cómo se varían / comparan los ingredientes usados en la comida típica de los siguientes países: México, la Argentina, el Perú, y España?
2. ¿Qué impacto tiene la ubicación geográfica en la comida de una cultura/un país?
3. ¿Cuál es la percepción de la comida hispana aquí en los Estados Unidos? ¿Es una percepción correcto o incorrecta?
4. ¿Hay maneras diferentes para promocionar la comida en la televisión de cada país?

The first day we did the Zambombazo activity called Vine Vi Venci: Abecedario de comidas. There is so much culture in those videos! It was a great way to start the unit.

Since the units in my Cultura y Civilización class all have music in them, I decided to use two Lila Downs songs to start the unit. We focused on México to start and used these two songs with the amazing music videos --- lots of culture just in these videos! From the songs and music videos, students explored and learned about a variety of things including: mole, la importancia del maíz, mezcal, Oaxaca, Montealban, los Zapotecas, chocolate, geografía, y una variedad de comidas.

El Palomo del Comalito por Lila Downs (wksht)

La Cumbia del Mole por Lila Downs (wksht)

Before watching the video for La Cumbia del Mole, students watched this video: Mole Michoacano con el Chile Mayor for homework and tried to write down as many ingredients of mole as they could. The video is short, so they had to watch it 3-5 times.

Some of the other authentic resources related to Mexican food that students saw were the following:

• Article and infografía: ¿Cuáles son los alimentos básicos en la dieta de los y las mexicanas? 
• Video: Conoce el mercado de San Juan en la ciudad de México
• Programa y actividad del programa "Delicioso"
• Comerciales para Bodega Aurrera y Comercial Mexicana. (transcripts here)
• Los sitios de Bodega Aurrera y Comercial Mexicana (wksht)

This was the first (basic) assessment of the unit.

After spending six days on Mexico. We switched gears and starting looking at Peruvian food. We started by looking at this infografía: La riqueza de la gastronomía peruana en cifras. Students made a list of the top 5 foods and the top 3 drinks and then made Google Presentations describing the foods. The next day they viewed other classmates' presentations, read the descriptions aloud and said what food it was. Here is an example of one of the presentations:

  

Next, we spent a couple of days talking about Inca Kola using this article and these commercials, and the song in the third one (Lejos de ti):

Inca Kola: Amor de verano 2013 - ¡Beto y Anita! (larga versión)

Inca Kola: Amor de verano 2013 - ¡Beto y Anita!

Lejos de ti - el comercial de Inca Kola

Some other authentic resources related to Peru that students saw were these two infografías:

• La joya de los Andes (la papa)
• Su majestad el cebiche

After Perú, we used this funny commercial to transition from Peru to Argentina. It was a great way to talk about accents and cultural perceptions of different countries.

"El Argentino" McDonalds

Students investigated Argentine food and this is what this slideshow helped guide them after:
                 

Next, we watched these commercials and did this worksheet and this one (from Zambombazo). (along with a few speaking activities related to the commercials).

Jugos Arcor – Adolescente

Jugos Arcor – Nene

Jugos Arcor – Abuelo

Nueva Publicidad Banco Ciudad 2012 - "Pizzería"

Students then investigated Spanish food and this is what this slideshow helped guide them after:

             

We are finishing the unit tomorrow and we will use this commercial and worksheet.

Anuncio de España: Coca-Cola contra el sedentarismo ¿Y si nos levantamos?

Another thing we did during the unit was EAT and DRINK. Students had yerba mate, inca kola, jamón, arroz con frijoles, dulce de leche, olivas, and chocolate con chile.

This is the final assessment for this unit. This was a successful, engaging unit and I think it could be broken up in to 2 or 3 units, particularly the Mexico section!

What are your favorite authentic resources for a food unit? Please share

Three Activities for a TV unit

In my Spanish 3 class, we just finished a unit titled "¿Viste el partido en la televisión?" If you use the Realidades level 2 textbook, you might know it as chapter 6A :) The chapter vocabulary focuses on sporting events, contests, and verbs of emotion. I am tied to the textboo, but trying to incorporate authentic resources, so I developed three tasks/assessments related to the chapter, two of which incorporate authentic resources.

The first was a presentational task/assessment (full description and rubric here). Students had to write a description of their favorite television show, record themselves and make a video with images illustrating what they said. After they made the video, they put it on their blog and then viewed 2-3 other students' videos and answered the following questions:

1. ¿Qué es su programa favorito?
2. ¿De qué se trata? ¿Cómo es?
3. ¿Qué pasó en un episodio recién?
4. ¿Cómo es similar y/o diferente de tu programa favorito?

I will share some examples here when I get permission :)

The second task was an interpretive task/assessment. Students watched this segment of an episode of¿Qué dice la gente? (la versión de Uruguay, love the way she says "toalla" - great to point out that accent to students). They had to watch it 2-3 times and did this worksheet. First they had to watch and fill in a form with10-15 words that they heard. Then, with a partner, they read aloud the clues, so that they knew what they would be hearing. They listened to it on individual computers with headphones, so they were able to rewind and listen as many times as they needed in order to fill in the worksheet. This program is excellent because there is so much repetition and their answers are also shown on the board so students can read it too. I was absent the day students did this, but the results were good. (Here is another worksheet for another episode of ¿Qué dice la gente?)

The third task was another interpretive task/assessment. This one involved using a very engaging authentic resource - the Univisión website. Students worked on this for an hour in class and they were very engaged. I like this activity (and so did the students) because it is scaffolded and there is lots of comprehensible input. Each student had a computer and some had headphones, and here is what students had to do:

1. Look for cognates (there are many) and write down 10 of them. This gives them a way to ease into the authentic resource without being intimidated. By doing this, they will learn new words and make connections.
2. Look for people and things and write down 5 that they see. This is also easy, and they will be able to see lots of similarities to what they would see on an English speaking television website.
3. Click on any link, look, read, listen and write a short description of what they is there. This is a great thing to do because students might click on more than one thing and usually they are looking at things that they areinterested in = engagement.
4. Explore the shows (in bar at the top all the way to the write), click on 3-4 different shows, watch some clips, read some captions, read the description  do the following for each show:
1. write the name of the program
2. write what type of program it is
3. write a short description of what is on the program
4. write three adjectives that describe it
5. write if it interests you, fascinates you, bores you or if you love it.
6. write if it is similar to a program in English.
5. And finally, (I didn't actually have them do this this time, but will next time), students can compare and contrast the Univisión website to a similar one in English.

This third activity was excellent. Students were watching shows, listening to Spanish, reading and making connections. They were also able to explore what was interesting to them since they were working individually.

These three activities were fairly simple (and nothing revolutionary), but they were very successful. Student effort and engagement were high and they Spanish that they produced was very good!

And, just as a reminder of the standards, these are the ones that these activities touched upon

Communication

• Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversation, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions and exchange opinions
• Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics

Cultures

• Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied
• Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied

Connections

• Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its cultures

Comparisons

• Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own
• Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own

Communities

• Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
• Standard 5.2: Students who evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment