Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

TOPIC EXPLANATION
(and aligned
objectives)
Telling time *Warm-up = review numbers
(1C2)
* Review numbers 1 – 30
Today we are going to learn how to tell time, and we will need to remember our numbers
through 30.

Cuarto and Media: like saying a quarter after three or half-past six.
In Spanish, we are going to use special words for time when saying 15 and 30.

In Spanish, we you tell time we use the word “cuarto” for 15 and the word “media” for 30.

Telling time in Spanish is easy, once you get the hang of it.
**NOTE: YOU MAY HAVE TO TEACH HOW TO TELL TIME ON A CLOCK (the hour hand, minute
hand) EVEN TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS. If students do not know this first, it may be
frustrating for students.

*The RIGHT side of the clock (when the minute hand is between 0-30) works just
telling time in ENGLISH.

Introduce TWO PHRASES.

Son las (hour) y (minutes).

Es la una y (minutes).

Practice with phrases using minutes 0-30.

Differentiate: Can present students with analog clock and numbers written next to the 1 (y
cinco) 2 (y diez) etc. for students who may not understand how to tell time on an analog
clock.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

*The LEFT side of the clock (when the minute hand is between 31-59) we have to
do a little MATH.
In Englsih sometimes we say its 5 till 9. Or 10 of 6. When we say this, what do we mean?
The numbers we hear are 5 and 9, but is it 5:09? or 9:05? No. It is 8:55. We are subtracting 5
minutes from 9:00. In Spanish, this is always how we talk about time on the LEFT side of the
clock.

Introduce TWO PHRASES.

Son las (hour) menos (minutes).

Es la una menos (minutes).

*Because we subtract time, the HOUR we hear is really the NEXT HOUR. Example ocho
menos cinco  8:00 – 5  7:55. We hear 8 but we have to subtract ONE when its MENOS.
WE also hear 5, but its not :05, it’s minus 5. **MANY students would benefit from graphic
with menos cinco on the 11, and menos diez on the 10 etc.

Practice with phrases using minutes 31-59.

*PRACTICE with scaffolded questions. Spanish to Numbers then Numbers to Spanish.

Easy to Difficult. 2:00/ 7:00/ 1:00/ 12:00/ 5:05/ 2:10 / 4:17 / 1: 23 / 8:30 / 3:15 / 11:55 /
9:35 / 5:40 / 4:43 / 12:50

*NOTE: LEFT and RIGHT based on MINUTE HAND.

Optional: Introduce time expressions (son las/es la/media) through a powerpoint story with
visuals so students can figure out what the KEY words mean. Example: Picture – woman
waking up “son las siete y media 7:30” & teacher says “me levanto” pointing at 7:30 while
saying “seite y media”

Subject *Define “subject” & “subject pronoun” in English

pronouns The subject of a sentence tells ________ is doing the action.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

(2A1) Example: Marla listens to music. Marla = subject

*Subject pronouns replace people’s names to indicate who does an action: I, you, he,
she, we, they
Example: She listens to music. She = subject pronoun

* Teach the subject pronouns in Spanish

Here are all the subject pronouns in English. Then show all the subject pronouns in Spanish
in chart form with the singular side and the plural side. Tricks to remember the subject
pronouns:
- “tú” rhymes with “you”
- “”we” is the largest group of people because it is talking about everyone else & yourself &
“nosotros” is the longest subject pronoun

* Explain the difference between singular & plural subject pronouns

Teacher asks what students see in common between the left and right side. Emphasizes the
difference between singular and plural subject pronouns. Singular subject pronouns talk
about 1 person and plural subject pronouns talk about more than one person.

* Good activities to reinforce subject pronouns:

- TPR gestures (e.g. “yo” point to yourself, “tu” point out, etc)
- Be sure to first say the words and do the gesture while students just do the gestures,
THEN teachers says words & gestures and students repeat words & gestures, THEN teacher
says word and students do gestures, optional teacher does gesture and students say words

- Ms. Jackson song (lyrics to memorize the subject pronouns set to Ms. Jackson – see
wiki)
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Conjugate *Review subject pronouns

ser to
describe * Define “ser” & explain its importance
people (2C3) Ser means to be so it is an important verb because it allows us to describe people by saying
“I am”, “you are”, he is”, etc. All we have to do is learn these phrases.

*Present the chart (Yo soy = I am, Tu eres = you are, etc) and explain that it is
very important not to mix and match verbs from the chart
Yo soy Nosotros somos

Tú eres

Él / Ella es Ellos/as/ustedes
son

Example: “eres” = are and “son” = are, but you can’t say “Tú son” you have to use the
verb that is next to subject pronoun in the chart
*Tricks for remembering which form of “ser” goes with which subject pronoun
- “yo” has a “y” and “soy” has a “y” (try having students come up with these tricks)
- “es” looks like “is”
- “nosotros” is the longest subject pronoun and “somos” is the longest form of “ser”

*Practice with call and response “when I say “yo” you say “soy” “yo!” “soy! “yo!” “soy!”
…

Match * Introduce adjective vocabulary first (avoid adjectives that end in “n” & “ista” at
gender/plural this level)
ity of an
adjective *Define “adjective” in English
(2C4) A word that describe speople, places & things” is an adjective

In Spanish, adjectives that describe boys end in “o” and that describe girls end in “a”
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Adjectives that describe boys are called “masculine” adjectives because “masculine” means
“male”
Adjectives that describe girls are called “feminine adjectives” because “feminine” means
“female”

Example: ADJ FOR BOYS END IN –O ADJ FOR GIRLS END IN -A

Keith es estudioso. Jazmyn es estudiosa.

Gary es muy simpatico. Courtney es muy sympatica.

*Explain the exception for adjective that end in “e”

The only time you DO NOT change the ending is when an adjective ends in “e” . Adjectives
that end in “e” NEVER CHANGE

Example: Keith es inteligente Jasmine es inteligente

• On a separate day introduce plurality

*Define plural
Plural means more than one. In English, we make things plural by adding “s”. Example” boy
 boys”. In Spanish, they do the same thing. Just add “s” The only difference is in Spanish
they make adjectives plural too.

Example: Ella es atletica Ellas son atleticas

In a way, they say “The girls are athletics” – they make the adjective plural too

-Note: May use color coding or other visual cue for students to understand words have
gender. If use color coding, can also color code definite and indefinite articles later and
revisit gender and plurality.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Conjugate -*Review subject pronouns

Tener (3A2)
* Define “tener” & explain its importance
Tener means to have. We know it is an infinitive because it ends in ER. We will use this verb
a lot in Spanish to talk about what color eyes or hair we have, what classes we have, what
we have to do, and several other topics this year.

Tener is irregular.
This means that is doesn’t perfectly follow the rules of regular verbs.
(May want students to use conjugation rules an then compare their answers with the correct
ones you present from the table.)

*Present the chart and HIGHLIGHT the irregularities. Most of the forms look pretty
similar to how you would normally conjugate an ER verb.
Yo tengo Nosotros tenemos

Tú tienes

Él / Ella tienes Ellos/as/ustedes

tienen

*Practice with call and response, white boards, conjugation races, relevant
question and answers, or other conjugation review activities.

Conjugate *Review subject pronouns

Estar (3B1)
* Define “estar” & explain its importanc
See if students can guess what ESTAR might mean based on what they already know:
Remmeber the question “Como estas?” Or the phrase “Estoy bien.” If I ask “Como estas?”
What am I asking you? If you say Estoy bien o Estoy mal, what are you saing?
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Estar means to be so it is an important verb because it allows us to describe how we are

feeling and where we are located by saying “I am”, “you are”, he is”, etc.
Focus on what you are using ESTAR for that day, feelings or locations. If a student asks,
address broadly the difference, but say you will get more into that later…today, you are
focusing on estar.
Estar is slightly irregular.

*Present the chart (Yo soy = I am, Tu eres = you are, etc) and explain that it is
very important not to mix and match verbs from the chart
Yo estoy Nosotros estamos

Tú estas

Él / Ella esta Ellos/as/ustedes

estan

Highlight the irregularities (estoY and the accents!!) Accents are important because
sometimes words mean two different things with or without an accent. (Give examples: Si,
Esta, Como…)

*Practice with call and response, white boards, conjugation races, relevant
question and answers, or other conjugation review activities.

Ser v. Estar *Reivew that SER and ESTAR are both infinitives meaning TO BE.
(3B1)
*Review forms of SER and ESTAR

*What’s the difference.

In Spanish, there are two ways, to say “I am” and “You are” etc. So what’s the difference?
See if students can recall using estoy or soy and when they used it. If so , maybe students
can guess toward difference, if not…tell them.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Ser is more permanent Estar is more temporary.

Yo estoy – I am (right now)
Yo soy – I AM (part of who I am)

Ser
D - Descriptions
O – Origin
C - Characterisitcs
T – Time** (Seems temporary, so need to memorize this one)
O – Occupation
R – Relationships (She is my sister.)

Estar
Feelings/Mood
Temporary conditions
Location

FTL = “Feel the Love” – easy way to remember the three components of estar – everything
else is SER

*Practice with ENGLISH sentences FIRST.

I am from DC. (Ser or Estar).
Where are you?
- I am at the movies. (Ser or Estar)

*Next, practice with SPANISH, in context of what they know.

First choose SER or ESTAR, then CONJUGTE it.
Soy de Guatemala.
Estamos en la clase de matematicas.
Estoy feliz.
Michael Jordan es alto.

Make nouns Definite vs. indefinite articles

 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

and articles
plural (3B3) Definite – talking about a specific thing
Indefinite – talking about a non-specific thing

1. Find the noun

2. Make noun plural:
a. End in a vowel, add “s”
b. End in a consonant, add “es”
c. End in “-ión” add “es” and take away accent
d. End in “z” add “es” and change the z -> c
3. Check for an artictle:
a. el (not él)
b. la
c. un
d. una
4. Make the article plural.
a. el (not él) -> los
b. la -> las
c. un -> unos
d. una -> unas

Describe *Review that all objects in Spanish have a gender.

objects using In Spanish, some objects are feminine (girl objects) and some are masculine (boy objects).
indefinite It’s completely random what object is which gender, but you can tell by the word for “the”.
articles (3B4)
Review definite article for “masculine” words “él” and for “feminine” words “la” . Show a
pencil “el lapiz” with a bowtie on it and a calculator with a girly face & bow to illustrate this
concept. Another good visual is to show masculine words in blue and feminine words in pink.

Usually masculine words end in “o” and feminine words end in “a”

*Explain the words for “a” in Spanish

The masculine word for “a” is “un” and the feminine word for “a” is “una”
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

The easy way to remember is feminine words end in “a” and “una” ends in “a”
You can tell if a word is masculine or feminine by the word for “the”
Example: el lápiz  un lápiz la leche  una leche

-AR Verb *Review INFINITIVES

Conjugation Review that an infinitive is a verb, meaning TO …. (run, swim, write)
In Spanish, verbs end in -AR,- ER, or -IR. We know something is a verb when it ends in AR,
ER, or IR.
Examples: nadAR – to swim
corrER – to run
escribIR – to write

Infinitives tell us an action, but infinitives are verbs without a subject. -- We do not know who
does the action with an infinitive.
Example: Nadar, by itself does not tell you who swims.

*Teach SUBJECT PRONOUNS

Subject Pronouns allow us to talk about WHO does an action.
Show examples in ENGLISH first, as some students may not be familiar with the grammatical
concept of subject pronouns.
Example: In the following sentences, circle the SUBJECTS or SUBJECT PRONOUNS. Ask
the question, who is doing the action?
He plays basketball.

Then, put the SUBJECT PRONOUNS in the chart, explaining, it will be very useful for us in
Spanish class. **Review or teach the difference between Tu and Usted** Also, explain the
meaning and use of Ustedes (and Vosotros, if necessary.)
I We Yo Nosotros
Nosotras
You Tu
He, She They El, Ella, Ellos, Ellas,
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Usted Ustedes
*Define CONJUGATION
Conjugation is just a fancy word to say we are giving verbs a subject.

When we conjugate cannot say I to swim or Yo nadar, we have to change the verb to agree
with the subject.

We see this in English, too.

Example: Verb – to sing. I sing. You sing. She sings.

In English, the ending of the verb sometimes changes depending on WHO you are talking
about, but the rules aren’t really clear.

In SPANISH, the ending of regular verbs change following CLEAR rules, so you can tell the
sublect based on the ending of the word!

*Present AR VERB ENDINGS in the PRESENT TENSE.

Yo Nosotros O AMOS
Nosotras
Tu AS

El, Ella , Ellos, Ellas A AN

Usted Ustedes
*Explain the STEPS to CONJUGATION
In order to go from an AR infinitive (nadar – to swim) to say a specific subject swims, you
follow the following rules:
1. Take of the AR ending.
2. Find out the SUBJECT of the sentence.
3. Add the AR Verb Ending for the given subject.

Example: Yo nadar. Step 1. Yo nadar Step 2: Yo nad Step 3: Yo nado.

Use gustar
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

and encantar • Review of the use of gustar

in singular - A mi, a ti, a él, a ella (a nosotros , a uds, a vos, a ellos, etc)
and plural - Making it a question
contexts - Negating/affirming
(4A1) -
• Introduce the verb “encantar”
- Explain it meaning “to love”
- Pitfall: this is not romantic love
- Emphasize “to really like” and that rules parallel “gustar” rules
- Possible to emphasize the strength of encanta through motions/acquisition

• Introduce the use of gusta vs. gustan, encanta vs. encantan

- a= singular objects, an= plural objects or lists
- emphasize that the use of a/an depends on the objects being liked or loved, not
WHOM is doing the liking or loving

How do we tell if it is a/an? Gusta and Encanta are for sigular nouns or infinitives. Gustan
and Encantan are for plurarl nouns. We can tell if it is singular (one thing) or plural (more
than one thing) but looking at the endings or at the word for “the.”

• Review Plural and Singular nouns

- el, la, los, las
- +s for words ending in vowels, +es for words ending in consonants

• Reviewing/Introducing Definite articles

- which are singular, which are plural

• Extension : this is taught in food unit, but applies to all preferences.

Conjugate *Review –er/ir endings & the steps to conjugate a verb

preferir and
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

querer (4A2) *Define the “stem” of a verb

The stem of the verb is the part of the verb that is left after you take away the ending.
Example: Beber stem = beb / tocar stem = toc

*Preferir & querer are stem-changing verbs

This means that you conjugate them following the exact same steps as with regular verbs
EXCEPT there is one more step. Step 2 after cutting off the ending = the “e” changes to “ie”
when you conjugate it

Make it a very visual process and think aloud as you apply the steps to “preferir” –
underline the “ie” or color code it to make it stand out.
Conjugate –IR *Warm-up – ask students to conjugate the verb “ir” using the steps we’ve learned
(5A2) for er/ir verbs
Students will see that if you cut off the ending there is nothing left, so we cannot conjugate
“ir” normally. It is an irregular verb.

*Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t follow the rules of conjugation. This means
we have to memorize how they are different.

Example:
Yo voy Nosotros vamos
Tú vas
Él/ella va Ellos van

*Here are some tricks to memorize irregular verbs

“Ir” means “to go” like “Vvvvvvvvroooooooooom” – so we can remember that “ir” when
conjugated starts with “v”. Once you remember that, the endings are the same as with
regular verbs.

PRACTICE: CHANT vvvvvvvvoy, vvvvvvvvvvas, vvvvvvvva ….

Conjugate Warm-up – Review stem-changing verbs

jugar (5A5)
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

*Jugar is a stem-changing verb – let’s see why by conjugating “jugar” following

the regular rules

Example: Yo jugo What does “jugo” mean? Juice! We don’t want to say “I juice”

*When we conjugate “jugar” we have to change the “u” to “ue”

SHOW CHART and make a show out of changing the “u” to “ue” by underlining it or
color coding it

IR + a + Topics to Review:
infinitive -Ir
(5C1) -Infinitives

Conjugating IR (to go)

Yo voy
Tu vas
El/ella/usted va
Nosotros vamos
Ellos/ellas/ustedes van

Infinitives: Form of verbs that end in –AR, -ER, or –IR. Is the form of the verb that is not
conjugated, i.e. not changed so that it agrees with a subject. The “to” form of ther verb:
Cantar- to sing, Comer- to eat, Preferir- to prefer.

Ir + a + Infinitive
- There are two ways to talk about the future in Spanish: the future tense, and ir + a +
infinitive
- Ir + a + infinitive is a way to talk about what you are going to do.

How to use it:

1. Conjugate “ir” for your subject
2. Add the “a”
3. Use the infinitive form of the verb/ action you are going to do
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

Ex: I am going to eat= yo voy a comer

He is going to dance= el va a bailar
Use • Discuss objective. What is a possessive adjective?
possessive - Have someone define the noun “possession” (ownership)
adjective in - Define an “adjective” (describing words)
singular and - Define that possessive adjectives describe ownership
plural forms -
(6A3) • Have students identify these adjectives in English as they come BEFORE the
noun:
This is ________ pencil. (my pencil.)
Now sean is holding it, it is ______ pencil (his pencil).

• Introduce the Spanish “short” possessive adjectives as they come before the
noun.
-mi, tu, su, nuestro, vuestro, su

• Have students identify these adjectives in English as they come AFTER the
noun:
The pencil I am holding is __________.
Now sean is holding it, the pencil is _______________.

• Introduce the Spanish “long” possessive adjectives as they come after the
noun.
-mio, tuyo, suyo, nuestro, vuestro, suyo

• Spiral the fact that in Spanish, adjectives must match the word they are
describing.
- Example that connects to prior knowledge: chicO guapO, chicOS guapOS, chicA
guapA, etc.

• Remind students that these words are adjectives too, so they must match in
their singular/plural/masculine/feminine forms.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

- mi libro/ mis libros…. Libro tuyo, libros tuyos

• Reinforce with whiteboard practice.

Describe how Topics to Review:

family • Introduce Family Members in Spanish:
members are (Can be creative by using a TV family and speaking in Spanish from the point of view
related (6A4) of a character. IE Yo so Bart. Homer es me padre OR you can introduce your own
family through pictures, etc.)

Abuelo-grandfather
Abuela- grandmother
Madre- mother
Padre- father

Hermano- brother
Hermana- sister
Tio- uncle
Tia- aunt
Primo/a- cousin
Sobrino/a- niece/nephew

Hija/o – son/daughter
Nieta/o- grandson/daughter

In order to make any of the family members above plural add an S. For example, to
say uncles instead of uncle  tios)
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

* Review or Introduce Possessive adjectives

mi- my mis-my (if talking about more than one person, aunts, uncles, etc.)
tu- your tus- your (talking about more than one person )
su- his/hes sus- his/her (plural
nuestra/o- our nuestras/os-

-Practice using possive adjectives with family members.

* Review meanings of “little words”

el/la/los/las= the
de=of,
es=is son=are

*NOTE: In Spanish there is no such thing as an ‘s. We cannot say my aunt’s daughter. We
have to say the daughter or my aunt.

How family members are related:

-First practice using the family vocabulary to solve “brain teasers” about family
relationships.

La hermana de mi madre es mi __________________.

El padre de mi primo es mi _______________________.
El padre de tu padre es tu _________________________.

-Next try to our Spanish to write our own sentences.

First, Think about what you are going to say in English.
Ex: The daughter of my mother is my sister.
The mother of my mother is my grandmother.

Then translate the sentence into Spanish.

- La hija de mi madre es mi hermana.
- La madre de mi madre es mi abuela.
 Intro Spanish Topic Explanations

(While this directly translates, it may be difficult for students to pick up because in ENLGISH,
we usually say my mom’s sister is my aunt or my aunt is my mom’s sister no the sister of
my mother is my aunt.)