Objectives:

As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. identify and use vocabulary related to the house and daily-life activities.
   
2. describe characteristics of characters (based on pictures).
   
3. describe house and grounds (based on pictures).
   
4. restate proverb in other words.
   

back to top

Materials:

1. Student Handout: Tío Grillo
   
2. Vocabulary
   -chancha (common Nicaraguan word for pig)
   -sajurín (sabio) robar el grillo
   -anillo costoso las criadas
   -el palacio adivinar la habitación
   -la alfombra los muebles la cama
   -faltarse el baño la bañera
   -la ladrona el comedor la biblioteca
   -el estanque el jardín la prueba
   -el rabo atrapado desconocido
   
3. Pictures related to the story. (Pictures in the story text can be enlarged on separate pieces of paper.)
   
4. Proverb: "Aquí sí que torció la chancha el rabo."
   

back to top

Pre-Story Activities:

1. Complete activities from standard curriculum related to house and daily activities.
   
2. Display pictures of characters from the story. Have students describe them in Spanish.
   
3. Display pictures of a palace and rooms of a house. Have students describe them in Spanish.
   
4. Have students list activities they do in the different rooms.
   
5. Explain the proverb, "Aquí sí que torció la chancha el rabo." Have students restate it in other words.
   

back to top

Post-story Activities:

1. Set the scene for the storytelling by putting pictures of rooms of the palace on the board. Have the character pictures nearby. (Use a storyteller's tradition: Light a candle to indicate that the story is beginning and blow it out at the end. Students are asked to suspend disbelief while the candle is lit.)
   
   
2. Tell the story in Spanish, involving the students where possible.
   
   a. Students can demonstrate emotions of characters through pantomime.
   b. Students can also repeat key phrases such as "Ya vi el primero, me faltan dos."
   c. Often after a storytelling session, students want to ask questions. Whether they ask in English or Spanish, answer in Spanish.
   
   
3. Ask comprehension questions.
   
   a. Begin with simple yes/no questions. Then describe a scene in 1-2 sentences having students indicate whether it is the beginning, middle, or end of the story.
   b. Ask (who, what, where, when, why, how) questions that they must answer with sentences.
   
   
4. Have students draw their favorite scene from the story. (This might be a good homework assignment.)
   
   a. Display the pictures they have drawn. Have students describe what they see and the action in that part of the story.
   b. Put 5 of the pictures they drew up on the board and ask students to sequence them telling that is happening in each. Then, while students aren't looking, remove one picture and ask them to describe which one is missing.
   c. Pick one of the pictures that the students can't see and play "20 questions." (They must ask questions that can be answered yes or no. They have 20, or fewer, attempts to guess which picture you are holding.)
   
   
5. Prepare a closing activity.
   
   a. Give the students a paragraph or two from the story with words left out. They must fill in the missing words.
   b. As a class, or in small groups, have the students rewrite the story (or a scene, depending on how much detail you'd like and the students' level of Spanish).
   c. Have students act out scenes or the whole story.
   d. In English or Spanish (depending on students' level) ask them to compare this story to others they have read or heard.

back to top