Spanish Language and Culture B

Date: December 2, 2019

Time: 55 minutes

Teacher: Cristina Ascencio

Unit: Lazos de amistad

Unit Description: This is Chapter (Colección) 2 in the Nuevas vistas: curso dos textbook and

will focus on “Lazos de amistad”, or what values are important in friendship. Students will read

various short stories that have to do with love and friendship and how also learn about famous

Mexican-Americans, their contributions to and their importance in American society. This

weekly unit lesson plan will focus on the poem “Naranjas” by the Mexican-American writer

Gary Soto. Students will be do a close reading of “Naranjas” and, after completing the close

reading strategy “Mira Piensa Busca Lee Aplica” (MPBLA), they will be able to identify the

main characters, themes, and ideas of the text.

We will start reading “Naranjas” when we return from the Thanksgiving break, which will be the

week of December 2.

The week of December 9 we will read the short story “Cadena rota”, also by Gary Soto.

The students will take final exams the week of December 16 so no new material will be covered

in class. The students will then be on winter break from December 20 – January 6.

The week of January 6 we will continue with Colección 2. The students will be introduced to the

author Gregorio López and they will read the short story “Una carta a dios”

The students will begin a project about Mexican-Americans in the United States during week of

January 13. Students will work in groups of 4 to collaborate on the project, which they will

present at the end of the week. The students will also watch the film César Chávez.
The week of January 20 will be a short, 3-day week. Monday will be a holiday and Friday will

be a student-free duty day. This week students will work on el acento diacrítico and they will

watch the film Selena.

The week of January 27, students will read “La muralla” by Nicolás Guillén. This reading will

culminate in a group project in which the students will make and present a poster based on the

poem.

All information from this unit will appear on the final examination in May, which will be the

summative assessment. During this unit, the teacher will give the students formative assessments

such as comprehension questions, quizzes and various group and individual projects that the

students will hand in.

“Lazos de amistad” is an important unit because friendship and love are important to all humans,

especially adolescents who are going through so many life changes. The first two readings in the

unit, “Naranjas” and “Cadena rota” deal with the universal theme of young love, which is

something that some students may be experiencing for the first time. The unit also highlights the

importance of Mexican-Americans in American society and their important contributions to this

country. Many students are either recent immigrants or children of immigrants and it is important

fot them to see themselves reflected in the tapestry of the United States. Furthermore, it is

important for the stories of immigrants and their descendents to be told, for immigrants from all

over the world are what help make this country unique.

Essential Question: Who is Gary Soto and what is his importance in Chicano American

literature? How does the theme of friendship manifest in the poem “Naranjas”.

World Language Standards: WL.CM 7.1 Interpretive Communication

WL.CL7.2 Cultural Products, Practices, and Perspectives

WL.CL7.3 Cultural Comparisons

WL.CL7.4 Intercultural Influences

WL.CN7.1 Connections to Other Disciplines

WL.CN7.2 Diverse Perspectives and Distinctive Viewpoints

Resources and materials: Nuevas vistas: curso dos textbook Chapter 2

PowerPoint presentations

Graphic organizers

Handouts

Google Classroom

Contextual Information about the Class

Spanish Language and Culture (LAC) B is the second in a sequence of classes for native and

heritage Spanish speakers. The emphasis in this class is reading, writing and oral expression in

preparation for eventual enrollment in AP Spanish Language and Culture.

First period of LAC B consists of a total of 39 students. There are 30 girls and 9 boys. There are

12 9th graders, 13 10th graders, 7 11th graders and 7 12th graders. All students are

Hispanic/Latino, with the majority of Mexican descent. There are a few students who are of

Guatemalan and El Salvadoran descent. All students are either native or heritage speakers of

Spanish. There are 14 EL students and 25 heritage learners. There are no students who have an

IEP or a 504 Plan.

Second period of LAC B consists of a total of 37 students. There are 16 girls and 21 boys. The

class consists of students in the 9-12 grades. There are eight 9th graders, eighteen 10th graders,

four 11th graders and seven 12th graders. All students are Hispanic/Latino, with the majority of

Mexican descent. There are a few students who are of Guatemalan and El Salvadoran descent.
All students are either native or heritage speakers of Spanish. There are 15 English Learners and

22 heritage learners. One student has a 504 plan and there are no students who have an IEP.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Activities

Monday

1. The title of the unit is “Lazos de amistad” (Friendship Ties). I will open class by having a

class discussion about friendship. Students will be asked what their definition of

friendship is and they will share their ideas with their elbow partners. They will then

complete a quick write assignment about what friendship means to them. They will share

their answers with the class. They will hand in their answers at the end of class.

2. Students will be introduced to the Mexican-American author Gary Soto. Students will

read a short biographical sketch about the author on page 90 of the textbook Nuevas

vistas. In addition, I will provide the students with a short PowerPoint presentation about

Gary Soto, along with a brief 5-minute video about the author.

3. I will introduce the framework about poetry and what elements will be the most

important – such as symbols and imagery – to keep in mind while reading “Naranjas”. I

will provide the students with a guided notes handout that they will fill out as a class. The

students will keep this handout as a reference guide for the reading of “Naranjas”.

Tuesday

1. I will review the reading strategy “Mira, Piensa, Busca, Lee, Aplica” (MPBLA) with the

students. This strategy was previously introduced in class during the week before

Thanksgiving break and includes both pre and post-reading strategies to help with

understanding of a short text. Students will be provided with a handout on which they

will write relevant information.

2. The MPBLA close reading exercise will be a whole-class assignment. I will guide

students in explaining the purpose of the worksheet and I will use the overhead projector

to guide the students in the completion of the worksheet.

3. The first step of the MPBLA close reading activity is “Mira”, or look at the text before

reading. The students are asked to look at the title and make predictions about the

reading. What do they think is the significance of the title? What does the title tell the

reader? Look at the text – what type of text is it?

4. The second step is “Piensa” (Think) about what the text is about. Students will think

about what the text is about and they will write down their observations about what they

think the text is about.

5. Students will then read the poem on page 91 silently before moving on to the third step of

the MPBLA close reading strategy, which is “Busca” (Look for), in which students look

for important vocabulary and new words.

6. The fourth step of the MPBLA close reading strategy is “Lee” (Read). We will read the

poem out loud as a class. I will have a student read 5-10 lines of the poem, then we will

stop to discuss and analyze the relevant information and main ideas that we just read. The

students will then fill in the relevant information on the handout: “Ask questions about

the text” and “Reflect about what you just read”.

7. While reading the poem, I will display a PowerPoint slide on the screen that displays

relevant images from the poem: oranges, a nickel, chocolate and December.

8. The last step of the MPBLA close reading strategy is “Aplica” (Apply), in which students

will identify the main theme of the poem, why the poem was written and the point of
 view of the poem – who is the narrator and why is his point of view important to the

poem?

9. Once the MPBLA worksheet is complete, students will hand it in as a formative

assessment. I will correct it and enter grades into Aeries.

Wednesday: (Modified day – 38 minutes)

1. Students will answer comprehension questions about the author Gary Soto and the poem

“Naranjas”. The activity will consist of seven questions relating to Gary Soto and eight

questions relating to the poem “Naranjas”.

2. Students will use pages 90-91 in the textbook Nuevas vistas to complete the questions.

3. I will walk around the classroom as the students answer the questions to check for

understanding and to make sure that students are on task and completing the assignment.

4. Students will hand in both sets of questions at the end of the class period.

Thursday

1. Students will then be given instructions to write their own short poem in which they

imagine a second date between the narrator and his girlfriend. Students will be given a

prompt on the screen and they will have to write a poem that consists of 15 lines.

2. The poem will have to contain the following relevant information: When the second date

takes place, what the couple do and where they go on their second date.

3. Students will volunteer to share their poems or I will pick students to share their poems.

Friday

1. Students will take a quiz which will consist of biographical questions about Gary Soto

and the poem “Naranjas”.

2. Students will then be given time to complete assignments that they were not able to

complete during the week. They will then hand in these assignments for credit.
 Título de historia:_________________________________
Siempre usa oraciones completas al completar esta hoja.

M
El título -

ira

El tipo de texto/estructura -

P
¿De qué se trata? -

iensa

B
Vocabulario importante -

usca

Palabras nuevas -
L
Haz preguntas -

ee

Reflexiona sobre lo leído -

A
¿Cuál es el tema principal?

plica

¿Por qué se escribió este poema?

¿Quién es el narrador? ¿Por qué es importante su punto de vista?

 Preguntas de comprensión – “Naranjas”

Lee el poema en la página 91 y contesta las preguntas siguientes usando oraciones

completes.

1. ¿Cuántos años tiene el narrador del poema?

2. ¿En qué mes del año toma lugar el poema?

3. Después de encontrarse con la muchacha, ¿a dónde van los dos jóvenes?

4. ¿Cuánto dinero llevaba el muchacho?

5. ¿Qué escoge la muchacha y cuánto cuesta?

6. ¿Con qué le paga el muchacho a la vendedora?

7. En las líneas 37-39 del poema, el narrador dice: “la mujer y yo nos miramos, y ella sostuvo mi
mirada, sabiendo muy bien de lo que se trataba.” ¿Qué es que la vendedora entendió en ese
momento y qué hizo por el muchacho?

8. Al final, ¿qué se come la muchacha y qué se come el muchacho?

CONOCE AL ESCRITOR:
GARY SOTO
• Nació en Fresno, California en 1952
• Estudió en Fresno City College y luego en
California State University, Fresno (BA, 1974)
• Estudió en UC Irvine (MFA, 1976)
• Fue profesor en UC Berkeley y UC Riverside
• Ha publicado más de 40 libros
• Vive en Berkeley