The recent ban on soda in New York City has gotten a lot of attention. Most of this acclaim is from those who strongly support or oppose the ban. This creates a situation in which opinion is a very relevant factor. I will use this strong presence of opinion to my advantage as a Spanish teacher.
Spanish and many other languages have a verb form that is called the subjunctive. This form is used when the speaker uses an independent clause that expresses emotion, doubt, desires, or opinions. The subjunctive then appears in the dependent clause and is formed differently than the normal, indicative form of the verb.
After the students have a grasp on the indicative and the subjunctive has been presented to them over the course of several lessons I will test their ability to use the subjunctive. I will achieve this by introducing a soda ban article in Spanish so that they can get some reading practice and get some background knowledge on the topic. The students will then be asked to present their own opinions concerning the soda ban. They will have an opportunity to express doubts (that it will even work or not), emotion (if they fear that the ban will spread to our hometown), desires (to drink a soda right now), and opinions (they think that the idea is ridiculous). They will be assessed on their ability to apply the subjunctive form correctly in their paragraph that takes a stance on the situation at hand.
This is also a great opportunity to introduce various vocabulary terms concerning business and health. The vocabulary will pertain to various parts of speech and will be a diverse representation of opinions and stances with which the students might agree. By this I mean that I will include vocabulary that will be used to negate arguments (and agree with them), express great joy (or anger), express doubts (or strong beliefs). The students will also be presented adjectives and nouns that will be useful in describing the world of business and politics as well as the description of the human body.
The use of current events is a great way for students to feel involved with the topic and feel a need to express their opinions over them. This presents us with a great opportunity as teachers to exploit this desire to express themselves. We can capitalize upon it and have them express new opinions using new knowledge and procedures.
Really interesting take, Grahm. I liked your musing about current events making students feel involved - I wholeheartedly agree and think teachers should make a more concerted effort to utilizing current events topics in classrooms. Considering how interconnected our world is now, there's no shortage of great ways to fit current events into the classroom dynamic. How you utilized the subject of the soda ban to your Spanish class also made a ton of sense and I'm looking forward to reading more about your teaching strategies in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of building a lesson or series of lessons connecting the subjunctive and its various uses and the soda ban. Maybe in combo with Musetta's theme of occidentalizacion...?
ReplyDeleteI love your idea about using the soda ban as an opportunity to teach the subjunctive! I really struggled with figuring out a way to make the ban relevant to foreign-language learning, but that's perfect. Discussing current events is a great way to explore the use of hypothetical statements and opinions.
ReplyDeleteI think you have devised a great lesson plan. It is very creative and insightful. I'm impressed that you have thought so deeply about how to teach this lesson already. Taking advantage of your unique position as a spanish teacher is really awesome. I think it would be very effective and it's great practice for the students that incorporates both American issues (more familiar) with a spanish lesson which may be unfamiliar or difficult. Great job Grahm!
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