Elsa M. Calderon
Focus:
A Tropical Fruit: the Mango Summary: This Lesson Plan postdates the sections on the culture of Puerto Rico and the geography of Puerto Rico. Students will be exposed to a tropical fruit: a mango. They will observe it, touch it, and sample it. They will observe and/or sample other tropical fruits such as “guavas,” “quenepas,” and “parchas.” They will observe other tropical foods, known as “viandas” or root vegetables: “yame,” “platano,” and “guineo.” They will sample, blind-folded, oranges and lemons. (naranjas y limones) They will describe the color, shape, and taste of the foods in Spanish. They will memorize what is in the mystery bag or “bolsa misteriosa”. They will read “refranes” about tropical foods. They will write their observations and preferences in their journals. They will sing a song about oranges and olives. (Naranja dulce, limon partido)
Student Objectives:
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1. Students will identify and sample some foods of the Caribbean. (frutas y viandas)
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2. Students will expand their Spanish vocabulary and develop writing skills.
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3. Students will read “refranes” and poems about tropical foods.
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4. Students will develop memory skills in Spanish, with “la bolsa misteriosa.”
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5. Students will sing a song in Spanish.
Materials:
Fruits, such as mango, guava, passion fruit, lemons, oranges, available at Super Stop and Shops or small “bodegas” or “colmados”. Fruit juices, Goya, of tropical fruits. On large paper: “El Mango,” by Isabel Freire Matos, and “Quenepa,” by the same author. Student notebooks for new vocabulary. Small cloth bag for “la bolsa misteriosa.”
Activities:
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1. Teacher brings out the mystery bag: “la bolsa misteriosa”. Inside are the following: mangos, guavas, passion fruits, oranges, lemons, banana, plantain, “calabaza,” and “yames,’’ Teacher asks in Spanish the following questions of each item: Que es? / Como es? If students do not know the name of the food, the teacher supplies it: Es un mango. Es una parcha. Es una guayaba, etc. The teacher then solicits answers about the color, shape, and ripeness. Como es? De que color es? De que forma es? Esta madura o no? Then the teacher puts all the items back in the bag and asks the students to remember: “Ahora, vamos a aprender de memoria las cosas en la bolsa misteriosa.” Students volunteer. If the answer is correct, the student gets one point for class participation. Teacher repeats this activity for several days so that the students develop their memory skills in Spanish.
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2. On the second day of the “bolsa misteriosa” the teacher extends the activity with a new question: Como es el sabor de esta fruta? Teacher explains two new ,words: “dulce” and “agrio.” Acceptable responses are: “Es dulce. Es agrio. No se.” If a “quenepa” is available, teacher explains bitter-sweet: “agridulce.” Teacher asks for a student volunteer to record the answers on the board and tally the points for each fruit, under “dulce” and “agrio”. Based on this activity, the teacher decides what fruit or fruits to introduce to the students for the science experiments. (predict and observe)
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3. On the third day of the “bolsa”, the teacher repeats the memory game, asks the same questions, and introduces the juices or “jugos.” The teacher has four juices: mango, guava, lemon, and orange. Students work in pairs. One student blindfolds the partner. The blindfolded student drinks from a straw and tries to guess what he is drinking. The partnper must ask: Que jugo es? The other student answers: Jugo, jugo, yo no se; creo que ___ es. If the answer is correct, he gets one point. If the answer is incorrect, he drinks another drink. The pairs fill out a short worksheet with points for the correct answers. After this activity, the teacher summarizes what the class knows. Lo que sabemos de las frutas. Lo que sabemos de los jugos.
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4. After the students are familiar with the vocabulary, the teacher presents a short poem: “El Mango” or “La Quenepa”, by Isabel Freire Matos. The class listens to it, repeats it, and breaks up into groups for choral memorization exercises. Each student gets an opportunity to memorize the poem and say it in front of the class.
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5. The teacher explains that they will learn a song that is familiar to children throughout Latin America: Naranja dulce, limon partido. Teacher models it for the students, line by line. After the students have repeated the song, the teacher shows the song on a large sheet of paper and distributes individual song sheets. After this activity, the class sings the song on a daily basis, at the end of the Spanish class.
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6. The teacher explains what “refranes” or proverbs are. The teacher asks the class for proverbs in English. (A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; etc.) The teacher gives the Spanish equivalents: “Un pajaro en la mano vale cien volando.” The teacher asks the class if they know any sayings in English about food. The teacher accepts all responses. (e.g., Beber y comer, buen pasatiempo es.) The teacher asks where the students learned or heard these Spanish sayings, since “refranes” are part of an oral tradition, and are not necessarily found only in books. Possible sources are: the radio, the television, a Hispanic neighbor, a Spanish-speaking classmate, etc. The teacher explains that in this unit, the class will learn many “refranes” in worksheets, the class will have for homework a research task about “refranes”, and the class will record all these “refranes” in their notebooks. Finally, each student will choose to either act out or illustrate two “refranes” of their choice. (See Appendix. A)