Spanish 3

Spanish 4

Fall 1997

This guide is designed to answer questions you may have about Spanish 4 procedures. Our policies are somewhat different from those used in Spanish 1, 2, 2x and 3. Please read over the enclosed material and familiarize yourself with the approach used in Spanish 4 before the first day of class. For more information, visit the course home page at http://www.unc.edu/courses/span004

Introduction: Spanish 4 at UNC

THE NATURE OF THE COURSE

The following is the newly revised course description of Spanish 4

Spanish 4 is a fourth semester (intermediate) Spanish language course designed to foster both linguistic and cultural competency. The course approach is both student-centered and content-based, incorporating development of basic language skills for communication and the study of linguistic structures into the frame of a course designed to develop student awareness of the Spanish-speaking world.

Speaking

Spanish 4 classes are planned to allow ample opportunities for students to continue developing their speaking skill. Speaking activities are communicative as well as cooperative (pair and group work), and emphasize learning in context. They also foster critical thinking skills and the development of some basic speaking strategies such as circumlocution and rehearsed speech. By the end of the course students should be able to ask and answer questions in present, past, and future; state the main facts related to the Spanish-speaking countries studied, express and support opinions (from others and from themselves) expressed in or inferred from the material studied in class. They will be able to speak about any of the countries studied and be able to speak in detail about two or three of them.

Reading

The reading skill is developed in Spanish 4 primarily through text readings that deal with Hispanic culture including: profiles of noteworthy Hispanic people, Hispanic history, and authentic literary and journalistic selections deemed appropriate for learners of a second language. The course also increases student awareness of basic reading strategies such as skimming for the gist and guessing meaning in context. By the end of the course students will be able to demonstrate that they understand the main facts and opinions stated in the text materials. Students will also be able to demonstrate that they can draw inferences from readings at a similar level of difficulty to those done in class. Students will begin to consider some structuralist critical approaches to the study of literature.

Writing

Writing is developed in Spanish 4 primarily by guiding the students through writing as a process. Students will be able to produce a reasonably grammatical and cohesive five or six paragraph composition on a topic familiar to them, organizing their thoughts and expressing them in a reasonably flowing style, using appropriate conjunctions and other transitional devices. The composition is expected to have the ideas and evidence clearly and succinctly presented; to have few, if any, mistakes that obscure comprehension; and it must read effortlessly.

Students are given additional "non-threatening" practice in writing by being required to make weekly contributions in Spanish to an electronic class discussion group accessible through our course home page.

Listening Comprehension

Spanish 4 course instructors and the audio-video components of the course text provide students with multiple levels of authentic comprehensible input. By the end of the course students will understand almost all if not every word, of reasonably authentic Spanish spoken at almost normal speed but slightly monitored (such as that of TV newscast announcers); they will be able to understand enough to get the gist of professional standard Spanish spoken at near-normal native pace; and, they will be able to get the general idea of authentic native speech ( such as friends speaking in the street ) .

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS INSTRUCTOR

n Follow the syllabus and course policies. Although you have quite a bit of freedom to teach the course from day to day as you see fit, you are expected to closely follow the scope of the syllabus and the spirit of the course policies so that all the Spanish 4 students are treated in a similar manner.

n Tend to your discussion group regularly (at least once every couple of days).

n Attend all three course meetings (please arrive on time and prepared to contribute)

1. Monday, August 18th at 2:00 in DE 210

2. The second meeting you will arrange with your unit-exam-writing-partner(s) (see pg. 8)

3. Monday, November 3rd at 3:30 in the Grad. Lounge (final exam & orals)

n Complete assignments for exams and turn in grades carefully and punctually

n Arrange for your own substitutes except in a dire emergency

n Check your e-mail & mailbox every day before teaching for the day. I will do my best to send you important memos in advance but sometimes this is not possible. I may need to rely on the mail system to get important information to you concerning teaching activities for that very day.

n Carefully proofread the unit exams when they are available. Generally exams will be available to proofread for two days.

n Contact me if you have questions. Please check with me if you have any questions or doubts about anything regarding Spanish 4. The best method to contact me is e-mail: maisch@gibbs.oit.unc.edu

n You should know at the start of the semester that as course coordinator I must keep careful record of how well you meet the "business" responsibilities above, and at the end of the semester report my confidential evaluation of you to the Director of the Spanish Language Program who in turn will use this information in making teaching assignments for upcoming semesters.

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES FOR TAs

The Foreign Language Media Resources Center (Dey 104) offers a number of teaching aids for classroom use: overhead projectors, CD and tape players, slide projectors, TV monitors/VCRs, etc. In addition, they have audiocassettes, videos, and other teaching aids.

Films in Spanish are also available from the Institute for Latin American Studies and the University's Non-Print Collection (in the House Undergraduate Library).

It may be a challenge, particularly if you do not teach in Dey Hall, to arrange to show your class the video on the assigned days. One possible solution is for you to reserve well in advance one of the three video classrooms in Dey (110, 113, 303) for the day you will be using the video in class. Dey 303 is large enough to accommodate two sections of Spanish if you want to make arrangements with another TA.

The Mundo 21 video tape is available for student viewing both in the Media Resources Center in Dey and on reserve in the House Undergraduate Library.

The Center For Teaching & Learning provides to each TA free of charge* during the course of a semester any combination of the following materials that adds up to $35.00:

1 roll of Ektachrome 100 (24 exp.) ($6.00) + developing ($3.50) = $9.50

1 roll of Ektachrome 100 (36 exp.) ($8.00) + developing ($4.50) = $12.50

1 thermal transparency = $1.00

Video Tape = $6.00

*These materials, although free to the instructor, belong to UNC.

You may also sign up to have someone from CTL come and videotape your class. If you decide to do this, it is a good idea to make the appointment early and to check back with CTL a day or two before the appointed day to make sure that they do in fact have someone lined up to videotape your class.

We have a file cabinet in the Graduate Student Lounge for the purpose of providing a place where TAs can share teaching ideas and/or materials such as quizzes, transparencies, realia, etc. If you have a contribution (or many!), please give it to me and I will see that it gets added to the file cabinet.

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS

Encourage your students to use the following resources. If possible, spend a class period in the computer lab in order to introduce your students to the computer programs available.

The listening lab in Dey 109 provides stations with tape players and headsets where students may listen to the tapes that accompany the textbook. Even though the tapes are included in the textbook package this year, students may still choose to go to the lab to listen to their own tapes if they do not have a suitable place or the equipment with which to listen to their tapes. Schedule of listening lab:

8 am - 10 pm Monday -Thursday

8 am - 5 pm Friday

7 pm - 10 pm Sunday

The computer lab in Dey 101 has two programs of interest to Spanish students:

A) The Spanish Microtutor - a grammar tutorial (with three screens of grammar topics listed alphabetically) designed to allow the student to review all grammar or only to select the sections that he/she wants to review.

B) Atajo - a writing tutorial (complete with dictionary that supplies word usage examples and verb conjugations) which instruct the student on how to write a composition.

Unfortunately, only graduate students can use NetScape in Dey. Your undergraduate students must go to a campus lab to get to our home page.

A knowledgeable assistant is always there to answer any questions the students may have regarding these two programs. The hours of the computer lab are Monday -Thursday: 8 am to 10 pm; and Friday: 8 am to 5 pm.

In addition, another valuable resource is the tutoring sessions that meet in Dey Hall twice a week sponsored by the student government. Soon after each semester begins, the student government puts out a flyer that announces the days and times for these sessions. When this information is available, please share it with your students.

Section One: Course Organization

Please refer to the syllabus (Appendix A) to get an overall view of Spanish 4. Remind your students that the syllabus is a legal, binding agreement/contract. You will hold them responsible for following the terms listed. The policy governing each component of Spanish 4 is spelled out in detail in the pages that follow.

COMPOSITIONS

We will do two compositions, each worth 50 points (5% of final grade), and both done "out of class." We have cut from the syllabus the text pages on "process writing," We will propose course-wide alternative themes (some of which incorporate the course pack material) and encourage the use of the class electronic discussion forum as an alternative to class process-writing activities.

We are changing the assignment of themes to allow our students greater flexibility, incorporate the course pack material, and better address the needs of their diverse learning styles, academic interests and tastes. As we have learned by imposing the unit 5 and 6 assignments from the text, some students respond well to creative writing tasks and others do not. We will establish a set of 3-5 possible themes at our opening meeting for each of the two compositions, allowing individual students to choose the themes that they find most appealing. This will also have the fringe benefit of being much more interesting to grade. The first composition will be due in the middle of unit 6, and the final composition in the middle of unit 8. Some of the themes that have been suggested for composition 1 are: 1) una leyenda original (as suggested by the text in unit 5); 2) una comparación del mito de creación incaico (see Inca Garcilaso, course pack) y el mito de creación de otra cultura; 3) la visión del feminismo latinoamericano en la poesía contemporánea (Belli, Alegría & Peralta); 4) el papel de los EEUU en la estabilidad/inestabilidad política de Centroamérica; 5) un Salmo original para los estadounidenses contemporáneos (a imitación de Cardenal) basado en otro salmo bíblico. Themes suggested for composition 2 include: 1) democracia y dictadura: los militares en Chile y/o Argentina (1965-1995); 2) El compromiso político en el arte y la literatura hispanoamericanas; 3) un cuento gótico original (a imitación de Quiroga); 4) una composición creativa titulada "El otro y yo" (a imitación de Borges); and 5) "Movimientos revolucionarios" contemporáneos de Bolivia y/o Perú: ¿terrorismo o revolución justa?

The compositions should be graded on the following criteria (10 points each):

1) accuracy, quantity and detail of cultural content;

2) richness & appropriateness of vocabulary;

3) overall organization (style, creativity, internal logic);

4) grammatical accuracy (use of verb tense, person, mood; adjective, article, noun, agreement);

5) level of sophistication (linguistic richness & authenticity of syntax).

Abreviaturas sugeridas para la redacción de trabajos escritos:

Ortografía ort

falta el acento o acento mal puesto ac

Puntuación

puntuación equivocada, necesidad de puntuación P

Gramática

artículo equivocado Art

falta de concordancia (e.g., sustantivo-adjetivo) Con

pronombre equivocado, omitido o No necesario Pron

uso equivocado de ser-estar s/e

forma equivocada del verbo Vf

tiempo verbal equivocado Vt

modo verbal equivocado Vm

se requiere (o no) la "a" personal a-p

orden de palabras equivocado OP

fragmento frag

forma plural incorrecta pl

preposición equivocada, omitida o no necesaria prep

uso equivocado de por-para p/p

Dicción/estilística

palabra o construcción inglesa ing

palabra no apropriada o equivocada voc

Misceláneo

omitir o pensar en omitir x

insertar ^

significado obscuro ?

lógica defectuosa log

¡excelente! *

ELECTRONIC CLASS DISCUSSION GROUPS

The Institute for Academic Technology at RTP has designed for us individual-class discussion groups that our students can access by going through the course home page (http://www.unc.edu/courses/span004). These will have the following advantages over dialogue journals in notebooks: 1) administration and record keeping -- the group will automatically keep track on a class roll type sheet of the contributions of each of your students throughout the semester and you will not have to carry around piles of notebooks; 2) students interacting with each other will reduce need for instructor feedback to each individual; and, 3) our custom designed discussion groups will have on-screen help in Spanish to show students how to use accent marks.

Additionally, I would like to suggest that we use the class discussion forum as an alternative to in-class process writing activities for the two compositions. This space is ideal for brainstorming in Spanish about the various possible themes we're suggesting for the two compositions. Instructors should also pose "questions" from time to time about issues related to our study of South America, current events in Latin America, and issues of historical and political debate, in order to stimulate and guide student input. Yes, you will have to spend time learning to administer and administering the discussion group, but I honestly believe that it will be less time with greater reward than what was necessary to do a proper job with the dialogue journal.

QUIZZES

As you have read on the back of the syllabus, our policy on quizzes gives each instructor a lot of freedom to decide what to quiz and when. There are a few general guidelines that you should keep in mind when you make up your quizzes.

¨ Give quizzes frequently (I would recommend not fewer than 10 during the semester, but many may wish to give shorter quizzes far more frequently).

¨ Make the quizzes no longer than 10 minutes.

¨ Consider having your students use their own paper and using transparencies or putting the information they need for the quiz on the board.

¨ Vary the type of material tested. For example, consider asking students to do a listening comprehension exercise from Cuaderno de actividades for homework and then use the very same passage in the form of a quiz using the same recording but slightly different questions. Again, this will offer students incentive to do their homework carefully. Since we began asking students to generate vocabulary definitions in Spanish on the unit exams last semester, several instructors have found it helpful to include this activity in several of their daily quizzes.

¨ This semester I would like to ask you include in your various types of quizzes, several short, 10 minute, paragraph-length writing tasks. For example, after having assigned resumes of the Gente and Del pasado al presente sections as homeworks, in the following unit, have students write a resume in class as a closed-book writing task quiz. I think it would be advisable to warn students at the start of the semester that you intend to do this.

¨ Many instructors like to drop the lowest quiz grade. I usually do this in my own class. I do not, however, feel that it is appropriate to drop more than one quiz.

UNIT EXAMS / FINAL EXAM

There will be three unit exams (one after units 5, 6, and 7) and a final exam that tests all four units covered in Spanish 4, with emphasis on unit 8.

Last semester our unit exams and final emphasized generative contextualized language in dealing with cultural content and vocabulary. They also had a listening comprehension section, a grammar section, and a reading passage (see appendix C).

Last semester we assigned 2 or 3 instructors to each of the unit exams and the final. Although it was originally my intention to have only a thorough outline of the unit exam ready by the first week we all had to teach the unit, in every case a complete draft of the exam was made available at that time. This made the semester go very smoothly as we each knew what testing materials would be used so that we could avoid using them in class, we each knew in advance what material would be emphasized, and we had more than ample time to suggest proof corrections to those in charge of the exam before I had to give the final draft to Tom. I see no reason why we could not meet the same deadlines for the unit exams this semester. In making exam assignments, I have been careful to always have at least one instructor on the committee who had experience last year in the course.

Unit exam 5: Argibay & Aaron (full proof by AUG 18)

Unit exam 6: Stern & Poveda (full proof by SEP 15)

Unit exam 7: Quinn-Sánchez & Pattroni (full proof by OCT 8)

Final exam: Romo, Johnson, Padrón & de Fays

The final exam committee should have a full proof of the exam to distribute at the Nov. 3 meeting.

PARTICIPATION / ATTENDANCE GRADE

The participation / attendance grade is worth 10% of the final grade. This grade incorporates attendance and participation. In the past some TAs have been reluctant to assign anything less than 100% as the class participation grade to the majority of their students. Please resist this temptation. The following may help you to view this part of the overall grade more objectively.

For participation: give a

10 to the student that volunteered as much as possible without dominating the class; spoke Spanish at every chance; group work excellent. Performance above expected level.

9 to the student that volunteered very frequently; excellent group work; tried his/her best to say it in Spanish; performance at expected level.

8 to the student that volunteered frequently; good group work and in-class use of Spanish. Performance at expected level.

7 to the student that rarely volunteered; spoke only when called on; used English; yawned audibly. Performance slightly below expected level

6 to the student that was present in class but unwilling or unprepared to participate; hardly spoke Spanish; lack of attention.

5 or less to the student that was uncooperative and/or insisted on speaking English.

Remind any student who starts to miss a lot of class of the course policy regarding excessive absence on the course contract. Two of the ten percentage points for participation will be deducted for each excessive (more than 3) unexcused absence. An unexcused absence is one about which the student either says nothing to you or offers an excuse that you think is not valid. University policy demands that you excuse athletic teams on the road and religious observance; common sense demands that you excuse serious illness and death in the family; as for other excuses they are left to your discretion. I do not feel that oversleeping and working on papers for other courses are valid excuses for missing class. If you like, you can ask for my opinion on whether or not an excuse seems valid.

HOMEWORKS

Each course instructor will make his or her own graded and non-graded homework assignments. I strongly recommend giving short composition and resume writing assignments for several of your graded homeworks. I think it is essential to see a sample of your students' writing as a homework before the first out-of-class composition in order to clarify your expectations, get a sense of the class's abilities, and identify any students who may have serious difficulties with writing. You should announce to your students ahead of time when a homework will be graded. No number of graded homeworks is specified on the course contract but I would suggest that you have no fewer than seven during the semester.

ORAL INTERVIEW / ROLE PLAY

On the days listed as "exámenes orales," there is no regular class. At least a week in advance you will hand out a sign-up list (slots of 15 minutes are sufficient in order to have more than enough time with each pair). Students will be told at the start of unit 8 that each should become an "authority" on all aspects of three countries of his or her choice that we studied during the semester. The students will not know the exact role play situations in advance. During the last Spanish 4 meeting, we will discuss possible topics. It is not necessary for us to all use the same topics or decide on a limited number of topics since students will not be told possible topics in advance. Some of the role plays used last semester include: two friends discuss traveling in several countries in SA, two businessmen discuss investing in several countries in SA, and two professors plan an interdisciplinary seminar on various aspects of several Latin American countries.

The role of the instructor will vary depending on the ability of the students. If all goes well, the two students should be able to discuss on their own the topic chosen. However, it may be necessary for the instructor to nudge the students along by becoming an interviewer in the event that they get too far off the topic or if one student is doing most of the talking.

There will be no formal grading sheet for the oral interviews. You can either tell them verbally of use a scrap piece of paper to jot down their grade. The grading criteria are as follows: 1) Fluency and pace; 2) Accuracy and richness of detail of cultural content; 3) Comprehensibility; 4) Grammatical accuracy; 5) Pronunciation. For ease of grading you can figure 10 points for each criterion, 50 points total.

PRESENTATION OR INFORME

On the first and/or last days of each "lección" one or two students will give a 5 to 10 minute presentation related in some way to the country being studied in that lección. They will sign up during the first week of class to give a presentation at some point in the semester. They can talk about any aspect of the country itself such as the history, politics, culture, or a person from that country. Encourage them to choose a specific topic to avoid a series of generic presentations taken out of an encyclopedia. Encourage students to use the links from our course home page to research their presentations on the world-wide web.

Here are first & last "country dates" for fall 1997:

&AUG 29: El Salvador OCT 10 & 15: Perú

SEP 3 & 5: Honduras y Nicaragua OCT 20 & 22: Ecuador

SEP 8 & 12: Costa Rica OCT 24 & 31: Bolivia

SEP 17 & 22: Colombia NOV 5 & 17: Argentina y Uruguay

SEP 24 & 29: Panamá NOV 19 & 26: Paraguay

OCT 1 & 6: Venezuela DEC 1 & 5: Chile

In order to prepare the students as to your expectations for the presentation, share with them the following guidelines. It's a good idea to insist that students meet with you in the office prior to their presentation so that you can help them avoid grammatical errors in their text and help guide them toward a presentation that will be worthwhile for the whole class. These questions can serve as a check list for students as they prepare their presentations:

1. Topic for discussion

a. Is it related in some way to the lesson?

b. Is it relevant, interesting, and/or thought-provoking?

2. Quality of presentation

a. Are you well-informed about your topic?

b. Do you present the materials freely, not relying on copious notes?

c. Can you help classmates who cannot understand or follow discussion?

d. Can you effectively encourage discussion (are you trying a variety of techniques to motivate your classmates to participate?)

3. Use of the language

a. Is your Spanish grammatically correct?

b. Is your Spanish well-pronounced?

c. Are you presenting new terms and concepts to your classmates before beginning discussion?

The following is a partial list of informe topics that have been successful in past semesters:

abortion stats. (Paraguay) AerialTram - Costa Rica

African slaves/Panamá animales "exóticos" (CA&SA)

birthing rituals Borges

cerámica inca chivas (Colombian buses)

cocaína comida __ (w/ samples or demo)

deportes "exóticos" (CA) deportes precolombinos

esquí andino (Chile) fiestas (how celebrated)

fútbol en __ García Márquez

gauchos grupos étnicos en LA

Guano Wars Guaraní (religion)

Guaraní (idioma) Guaraní (tribu, Paraguay)

Guaraní (Jesuitas) instrumentos andinos

instruments of Aymaras (Bol.) irlandeses en Chile

Islas Galápagos italianos en Uruguay

lagos de Nicaragua Maradona

Mayan ballgame - Tlachi medicine, natural & brujas (CA&SA)

Mita en las Minas Montevideo - Streets

música andina National Parks of Costa Rica

Panamá, canal Perón, Isabel de

Perón, Evita Duarte de Perón, Juan

poesía de/en __ razas (mestizo, mulato, )

Rubén Darío Rubén Blades

ruinas precolombinas Sandinistas

Somoza Standard Fruit Co.

stat. compar. US to __ ($) Tango - Argentina

teología de liberación terremotos en CA&SA

United Fruit Co. USA en Panamá

USA, papel en __ volcanes de CA

Section 2: Meeting Course Objectives in Spanish 4

After the fourth semester of Spanish at UNC, students will be able to go far beyond using Spanish in "survival" situations (ordering food, giving directions, etc.). Share these objectives with students as part of the course introduction. They will be able to:

1. state (orally and in writing) the main facts and opinions from an oral or written passage or video selection;

2. draw some inferences from an oral, written, or video selection;

3. state (orally and in writing) facts about any Hispanic country studied (location, capital, government, economic activities, political and social issues, world-renown figures and their noteworthy contributions to society);

4. state cultural similarities and differences among different Hispanic groups, and between the student's cultural background and other cultural practices in the Hispanic world; and,

5. state and support their opinions about the issues presented in class.

THE ROLE OF GRAMMAR IN AND OUT OF CLASS

Having taught Spanish 4 with Mundo 21 I am even more enthusiastic than I was before about the concept of a content driven course in which the major responsibility for grammar review lies beyond the classroom. The Grammar Manual section of the text presents an excellent source of concise notes in English and exercises for practice that stress the context of Hispanic culture within the corresponding lessons of the main text. I do, nevertheless, have very serious concerns that the text materials do an inadequate job of helping the instructor incorporate grammar and content in the classroom. Most of the time that I spent preparing my Spanish 4 class last semester was spent in addressing this need.

Make it very clear to your students on the first day of class that there is a comprehensive grammar manual at the back of the textbook and that you expect each student to spend time carefully reading the explanations and doing the assigned exercises. It is the responsibility of each student to do the grammar assignments carefully and to ask questions in class if something is not clear.

Avoid giving in to your students if they constantly try to get you to give lengthy grammar explanations in class. If you remember back to Fabián Samaniego's presentation in May of 1995, you probably haven't forgotten his suggestion for responding to any student who constantly tries to have the instructor explain the grammar. Often, it is the student who simply did not read the grammar pages who has "questions" about it. Find out if the student truly has a question about something he/she has thought about or if it's a matter of not having read the material. A polite but effective way to do that is to have the whole class turn to the grammar pages that were assigned and begin to read one or two sentences out loud slowly. Then pause and ask, "Do you understand that?" Read another two sentences and pause to ask again. I can't imagine that you would have to do that more than once before the students got the message loud and clear that you will not allow class time to be wasted for the sake of the one or two students who did not prepare for the day.

Be aware of the fact that your Spanish 4 section(s) will have students that come from very different backgrounds. Some come from programs that emphasized grammar and reviewed it frequently. Others may be shaky on very basic grammar points. It is up to you to be sensitive to the needs of your students. It's very possible that it will be necessary for you to assign additional grammar exercises. If you notice, for example, that your students constantly misuse past participles, you can and should ask your students to review the past participles and to complete the corresponding exercises in unit 4.

Encourage student who want more practice with difficult grammar concepts to use the tutorials and exercises on our course home page, under grammar.

Also, suggest to the students that seem to be struggling with grammar to use the Spanish Microtutor. They may either use the computer lab in the basement of Dey or they may purchase a student diskette (with the Spanish Microtutor) from the Student Stores to use with the computers that are part of the university network.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO BETTER INCORPORATE GRAMMAR AND CONTENT IN THE CLASSROOM: A SPANISH 4 MINI-PROJECT FOR FALL 1997

As I said above, I am concerned that the text materials do not give enough direction to the instructor's task of keeping the classroom focus on both grammar and content. We need to help each other this semester in planning our own classroom activities, particularly warm ups, communicative group activities, and closures that focus student awareness on the incorporation of content and form. Contribute such activities and plans to my personal discussion group on the course home page. I will keep an archive of such suggestions and hope that this works better than the file folder in the graduate lounge. Please contribute!

I often thought last semester when I spent time trying to figure out how I was going to get the students to focus on linguistic features they were supposed to be covering in a given lesson without ceasing the focus on cultural content for a second, that it was unrealistic to expect that everyone would have the time to do the same. We need to share our ideas about appropriate warm ups in order to save time and improve our classes. I know that our classes too often tended to fragment content and form; for example, one moment "Let's talk about Costa Rica" and a bit later "Now let's talk about relative pronouns."

Here are a few examples of the kinds of strategies we need to develop and share with each other. In the first chapter of Mundo 21 we do in 4, we're supposed to be focused on Central American countries AND learning about relative pronouns. The day we were supposed to introduce the cultural content AND the grammar I decided to do an introduction / warm up with a map on which the countries are numbered but their names don't appear. I established a model for each of the relative pronouns. For example (for cuyo) I would get them to say:

Número 6 es Guatemala cuyos habitantes se llaman guatemaltecos.

Número 4 es Costa Rica cuya capital se llama San José.

This is highly contrived, I know, but it paid off. When my students wrote or spoke about countries, they (well, most of them) actually USED relative pronouns.

Later in the semester, we were supposed to be talking about famous Argentines AND learning about "present perfect subjunctive vs. indicative." To review what they studied about people (the Gente section), I asked warm up questions like, "¿Conoces a un argentino famoso que haya vivido en Suiza?," to which they would give answers like "Sí, Borges ha vivido en Suiza." Again, I was thrilled when a young woman did a presentation in class a week later and, as part of her introduction, asked the rhetorical question: ¿Hay alguien que no haya oído de Gabriela Sabatini?

Please remember my personal discussion group for Spanish 4 TAs for your suggested warm ups and communicative group actives that emphasize incorporation of content and grammar. I hope to see weekly contributions from each of you!!

THE FOUR BASIC SKILLS AND CLASS TIME

READING AND WRITING

Reading and writing are major components in Spanish 4. We ask that the students read a lot of material on their own outside of class so that they are then able to work with the reading in class with their peers.

At the beginning of the semester you will want to introduce reading strategies to your students. Stress the importance of pre-reading activities. Before they dive into the actual text, they should stop to do things such as look at the title, look at the pictures/drawings, and read information about the author, if it is provided. They can also skim the text looking for key words and ideas. These are all tools that will help students gain confidence and understand the reading.

English speakers face a lot of challenges when they sit down to write a composition in Spanish. The following is a useful tool that may avoid some of the most common mistakes that we see. Please feel free to share it with your students:

TROUBLE SHOOTING

Prepositions with Verbs

Remember: The use of prepositions differs considerably in Spanish and English. Some verbs that do take prepositions in English do not in Spanish, e.g., mirar (to look at) pedir (to ask for). Conversely, certain verbs that do not require prepositions in English do in Spanish: asistir a (to attend), entrar en (to enter).

Articles

1. Subjects in Spanish almost always take a definite article, especially to begin a sentence.

2. otro = other, another; thus, the indefinite article (un/una) never precedes otro;

3. Many words of Greek origin ending in -ma, -pa, and -ta are masculine despite the final a. Common examples: el problema, el clima, el mapa, el poema, el poeta, el programa, el sistema, el telegrama, and el tema. Other very common words with irregularities in gender are el día and la mano.

False Cognates

False cognates such as realizar, embarazada, sensible, asistir, éxito, actualmente and aplicación have to be memorized.

A Personal

Whenever the direct object is a person, a thing, or a place you wish to personify, it must be preceded by the a personal. Exceptions: after the verb tener: "Tengo dos hermanos" and when the person is hypothetical: "Busco un estudiante que lo sepa todo."

SPEAKING

Most Spanish 4 students have the ability and the confidence to participate in classroom discussions. Your job as an instructor is to serve as the moderator. Your functions as a moderator will vary depending on the personalities of your students. Tailor it to fit the situation you find. You may have a student that is shy and needs encouragement to participate and another student that has a difficult time explaining his/her opinion so that other students understand and yet another student who wants to talk all the time. The whole group may have a tendency to wander away from the topic. You are there to facilitate the discussion by doing your best to make sure that every student has and takes advantage of the opportunity to participate.

Although we do not have a pronunciation tape in Spanish 4, pronunciation is still important. Remember that some of your students are considering majoring or minoring in Spanish. Do not hesitate to correct their pronunciation. You don't necessarily have to correct every singe pronunciation error that you hear. If one student has trouble with several sounds, bring them to the student's attention one at a time so that he/she does not feel persecuted. Encourage all the students to pay special attention to the lab section in each unit that practices correct pronunciation.

Stress to your students on the first day in a friendly way that you consider correct pronunciation very important. Reassure them that you are there to help them with pronunciation and that no offense should be taken if you correct them in class.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

In the classroom, students are constantly sharpening their listening comprehension skills with various levels of culturally authentic comprehensible input. Because we conduct our classes in Spanish, they must focus on what they hear in order to participate and learn. In addition to classroom time, the tapes that accompany the Cuaderno de actividades also provide them with another opportunity to sharpen their listening comprehension skills.

There are several things that instructors can do to assist their students in this process. You can usually gauge the need to repeat or rephrase a statement by the look on the students' faces. If the majority look confused, explain yourself again, using slightly different words.

If you are giving directions for small group work, consider modeling with one student what it is you expect them to do. This will give the students the time they need to process all of the information they have received.

Remember that it is important for students to learn to accept various levels of authentic input. You, as instructor, must not let students demand that you consistently speak so slowly and deliberately that they can always understand all, or even most, of what you say. If you do not regularly speak at near normal pace and to expose them to other culturally authentic input, you will find that your students will complain that they cannot "understand a word of" the videos.

Appendix A (1) - Spanish 4 Syllabus, Fall

ESPA&NTILDE;OL 4 PROGRAMA DE INSTRUCCI&OACUTE;N OTO&NTILDE;O 1997

Visita nuestra página web: http://www.unc.edu/courses/span004

Welcome to Spanish 4, . . . fourth semester Spanish language through Hispanic culture, . . .

·. ABSENCES: After the third unexcused absence, 2 percentage points will be subtracted from the student's final class grade for each additional absence. Attendance will be taken daily. If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed so that you come prepared on the day that you do return to class. If your absence is excused, you must inform your instructor immediately upon return.

·. PARTICIPATION GRADE: Your participation grade reflects your preparation and active participation in class (10%). Please study the pages assigned for the day before you come to class so that you will be able to answer questions and participate in all activities. Active participation means always speaking Spanish in the classroom, contributing significantly to group work, and volunteering as much as possible without dominating the class.

·. COMPOSITIONS: You will write two compositions on a topic of your choice from a list of possible topics that your instructor will give a week before the due dates shown on your syllabus.

·. CLASS DISCUSSION GROUP: You are required to make at least one contribution in Spanish per week to the class electronic discussion group (65 word minimum). The discussion group for your class is accessed through the course home page: http://www.unc.edu/courses/span004

·. FINAL ORAL INTERVIEW: On oral exam days there will be no regular class. Instead, you will sign up in pairs for an interview with your instructor.

·. PRESENTATION OR INFORME: On the first and last days of each "lección," a student will give one 5-8 minute presentation on the topic of his or her choice, provided that the topic pertains in some way to the country studied in that "lección." For example, if you like tennis and you want to do a presentation about Gabriela Sabatini from Argentina, sign up to give your presentation on Mon., Nov. 4, the day we will begin to study Argentina. Plan to deliver your presentation without "reading," use a colorful visual; use your imagination, be creative, & consult the instructor well before your presentation date!

·. QUIZZES &AMP; EXAMS: An announced or an unannounced quiz may be given on any day based on the pages assigned for the day. The quizzes will vary in format (fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, short answer, listening comprehension, etc.) and may test grammar, content of a written or an oral passage, or any material covered in class. There will be three hour exams and a final.

·. CUADERNO DE ACTIVIDADES: Whereas all of the lab exercises are required for each chapter, your instructor will choose specific written exercises from each chapter to be completed. Using the answer key at the back of the workbook, self-correct your work with a different colored ink. Also, you are strongly encouraged to use two computer programs available in Dey 101-107A: Spanish Microtutor (a review of all grammar) and Atajo (a program with vocabulary, grammar aids, and other useful information, designed to help students write in Spanish).

·. LATE WORK: No late work can be accepted for a grade nor can exams be taken late unless officially excused.

·. HONOR CODE: Academic dishonesty in any form is unacceptable, because any breach in academic integrity, however small, strikes destructively at the University's life and work. The Honor Code and the Campus Code, embodying the ideals of academic honesty, integrity, and responsible citizenship, have for over 100 years governed the performance of all academic work and student conduct at the Univ. Acceptance by a student of enrollment in the Univ. presupposes a commitment to the principles embodied in these codes and a respect for this most significant Univ. tradition. Your participation in this course comes with my expectation that your work will be completed in full observance of the Honor Code. If you have any questions about your responsibility or my responsibility as a faculty member under the Honor Code and as the instructor of this course, please bring them to me, or consult with someone in either the Office of the Student Attorney General or the Office of the Dean of Students.

·. GRADED HOMEWORKS: Several times your instructor will announce a graded homework due for the next class; These assignments are typically open-ended writing tasks; you are cautioned that although you may use texts and dictionaries, the work must be your own.

·. FINAL GRADES will be determined according to the following scale: 91.5+=A; 89.5-91.49=A-; 87.5-89.49 = B+; 81.5-87.49=B; 79.5-81.49=B-; 77.5-79.49=C+; 71.5-77.49 = C; 69.5-71.49 = C-; 67.5-69.49 = D+; 59.5-67.49 = D; 59.49 and lower=F.

ESPA&NTILDE;OL 4 PROGRAMA DE INSTRUCCI&OACUTE;N OTO&NTILDE;O 1997

Textos: Mundo 21, Cuaderno de actividades, cintas de estudiante; Span4 coursepack

agosto

M 20 Introducción

V 22 Unidad 5: Entre el conflicto y la paz

El Salvador 212-219; G5.1

L 25 220-227; G5.2

M 27 Alegría & Belli [CP]

V 29 228-231

septiembre

L 1 *Labor Day Holiday*

M 3 Honduras y Nicaragua

232-240; G5.3

V 5 248; poetas nicaraguenses: Darío & Cardenal [CP]

L 8 Costa Rica 252-257; G5.4

M 10 258-263 [video]

V 12 Repaso

L 15 Examen sobre la unidad 5

M 17 Unidad 6: La modernidad en desafío.

Colombia. 266-273; G6.1

V 19 274-281

L 22 282-285 (Comp. 1)

M 24 Panamá 286-292; G6.2

V 26 Bertalicia Peralta [CP]

L 29 293-302

octubre

M 1 Venezuela 306-307; G6.3

V 3 308-313

L 6 Repaso

M 8 Examen sobre la unidad 6

V 10 Unidad 7: Camino al sol.

Perú 320-328; G7.1

L 13 Garcilaso, Palma [CP]

M 15 337-339

*vacaciones de otoño (16.X-19.X)*

L 20 Ecuador 340-345; G7.2

M 22 346-354

V 24 Bolivia 358-364; G7.3

L 27 Ricardo Jaimes Freyre [CP]

M 29 365-369 [video]

V 31 Repaso

noviembre

L 3 Examen sobre la unidad 7

M 5 Unidad 8: Aspiraciones y contrastes: Argentina y Uruguay 372-379; G8.1

V 7 Borges [CP]

L 10 380-385

M 12 386-390

V 14 Actividad (Comp. 2)

L 17 Quiroga [CP]

M 19 Paraguay 394-401; G8.2

V 21 Exámenes orales

L 24 Exámenes orales

M 26 407-408

*vacaciones de Thanksgiving*

(1:00pm 26.XI - 30.XI)

diciembre

L 1 Chile 412-419; G8.3

M 3 412-419

V 5 G8.4; Pablo Nerunda [CP] L 8 Repaso

Examen final (sobre las unidades 5, 6, 7 y 8): Vie. 12.XII a las 12:00

Grades* will be determined as follows:

SPEAKING: participation,

informe, oral (10,5,5) 20%

H-Wk & Dis. Group 10%

2 Compositions (5 ea) 10%

Quizzes 10%

3 Unit exams (10 ea) 30%

Final exam 20%

*Keep all graded work until you

receive your final grade.

Appendix B - Suggested Composition Grade Sheet & Oral Grade Sheet

composición n. _____________________________

(50 puntos) español 4

110 scale: 14=unacceptable; 56=poor; 78=satisfactory; 910=outstanding

I. accuracy, quantity and detail of cultural content:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

2. richness & appropriateness of vocabulary:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

3. overall organization (style, creativity, internal logic):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

4. grammatical accuracy (use of verb tense, person, mood; adjective, article, noun, agreement):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

5. level of sophistication (linguistic richness & authenticity of syntax):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

Oral role play grade sheet n. ________________________________________ español 4A (based on fifty points)

Fluency and pace:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

Accuracy and richness of detail of cultural content:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

Comprehensibility:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

Grammatical accuracy:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

Pronunciation:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 _____

General comments: total _____

Appendix C - Sample Final Exam from Last Semester

español 4: examen final nombre: _________________________________

200 puntos (all answers on exam) abril 1997

Miguel y Sara acaban de llegar a su ciudad natal de Chapel Hill después de pasar un año entero paseando por el mundo hispanohablante. Están muy emocionados y te hablan sobre las experiencias que tuvieron. En las páginas que siguen verás qué cosas experimentaron y les contarás sobre tus planes para visitar latinoamérica.

I Comprensión oral EL FÚTBOL EN SUDAMÉRICA. Escucha lo que te cuentan Sara y Miguel sobre uno de los pasatiempos favoritos hispanoamericanos y elige la(s) palabra(s) que mejor completa(n) las frases. (10. puntos)

1. El fútbol o soccer fue inventado por ...

a. los brasileños. b. los estadounidenses. c. los ingleses. d. los uruguayos.

2. La primera Copa Mundial se celebró en ...

a. Sudamérica. b. Norteamérica.

c. Europa. d. En ninguno de los precedentes.

3. La primera Copa Mundial fue ganada por el equipo ...

a. argentino. b. uruguayo c. brasileño. d. español.

4. Hasta ahora, Argentina ha ganado la copa mundial ...

a. una vez. b. dos veces. c. tres veces. d. ninguna vez.

5. El resultado de un partido mundial puede afectar ...

a. el triunfo y la derrota. b. los efectos.

c. la economía y la política. d. el terreno.

II Gente del Mundo Veintiuno.

1. Unidades 5-7. Indica la nacionalidad y la profesión de cinco de las siguientes personas que Sara y Miguel mencionan. (10 puntos, 1 c/u).

Profesión Nacionalidad

ej. William Clinton presidente estadounidense

1. Gilda Holst _______________ ________________

2. Lempira _______________ ________________

3. Teresa de la Parra _______________ ________________

4. Jaime Paz Zamora _______________ ________________

5. Fernando Botero _______________ ________________

6. Gabriel García Márquez _______________ ________________

7. Simón Bolívar _______________ ________________

8. Omar Torrijos _______________ ________________

2. Unidad 8: Describe a tres de las siguientes cuatro personas en cuanto a su nacionalidad, carrera, e importancia. Escribe una o dos oraciones sobre cada una. (9 puntos; 3 c/u)

1. Jorge Luis Borges

2. Gabriel Sabatini

3. Eva Perón

4. Isabel Allende

III Geografía: Miguel y Sara quieren ver si tú estás preparado para ir a un viaje semejante al de ellos. Escribe el nombre del país y su(s) capital(es) en los espacios dados. (21* puntos) [1 puntos/país; 1 punto/capital] *n.b. país 10 tiene dos capitales

país capital(es)

1. __________________ ___________________

2. __________________ ___________________

3. __________________ ___________________

4. __________________ ___________________

5. __________________ ___________________

6. __________________ ___________________

7. __________________ ___________________

8. __________________ ___________________

9. __________________ ___________________

10. __________________ ___________________

* ___________________

IV Historia: Contesta las siguientes preguntas usando la información que has aprendido acerca de los distintos países hispanohablantes.

1. (Unidades 5-7) Miguel y Sara discuten las semejanzas entre los países que visitaron. Ellos te piden que les ayudes en este asunto. Escoge tres países que hayas estudiado y comenta sobre las semejanzas entre ellos., Puedes mencionar la independencia, la época colonial, la economía, el rol del poder militar, y la relación con los EE.UU. Escribe un mínimo de siete frases y un máximo de diez. (10 puntos/contenido+ 5puntos/gram.=15 puntos )

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. (Unidad 8) Desafortunadamente Sara y Miguel no pudieron pasar mucho tiempo en Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, y Chile. Ahora ellos te piden que comentes algunos de los contrastes que conoces entre estos distintos países. Escoge dos de estos países y comenta sobre algunas de las diferencias en cuanto a la geografía, los indígenas, la economía, el rol del poder militar, el espacio urbano etc. Escribe un mínimo de siete frases y un máximo de diez. (18 puntos/cont.+ 7 puntos/gram=25 puntos)

V Literatura. Ni Sara ni Miguel disfrutó de la literatura en sus viajes. Cuando oyen que tú has leído literatura auténtica te hacen algunas preguntas. Basándote en 3 de las lecturas discutidas en clase, comenta acerca de los temas políticos y sociales. ¿Cómo se representa la opresión, la violencia o el imperialismo? ¿Sabemos las opiniones de los varios autores sobre estos temas? ¿Cómo? Da ejemplos específicos de los textos para apoyar tu respuesta. [Entre otros puedes mencionar: Los perros mágicos de los volcanes, Un día de estos, Salmo 48, La United Fruit Co] (15 pntos/cont.+5pntos/gram.= 20 puntos)

VI Vocabulario: Sara y Miguel apuestan (bet) que ellos saben más vocabulario que tú, pero tú no estás de acuerdo. Haz los siguientes ejercicios para mostrar que no hay nadie como tú.

VI. Vocabulario:

1. Las siguientes palabras vienen del vocabulario activo usado durante el curso (unidades 5-7). Escoge 5 de las 6 palabras subrayadas y escribe una definición clara en español. Es necesario tener en cuenta la función de la palabra en la frase. (adjetivo, sustantivo, verbo, etc.) (15 puntos)

1. Oscar Arias Sánchez nació de una familia acomodada y nunca aguantó hambre.

2. En 1953, la compañía United Fruit perdió el monopolio sobre los ferrocarriles de Costa Rica.

3. En el Salvador, todos están determinados a mantener la paz.

4. A causa de las enfermedades importadas por los occidentales, las poblaciones nativas disminuyeron enormemente tras la conquista.

5. Gracias al canal de Panamá los barcos pueden atravesar el istmo.

6. El auge del caucho provocó la destrucción de mucha selva amazónica.

2. Vocabulario de la unidad ocho. Escoge 5 de las 6 palabras subrayadas y escribe una definición clara en español. (15 puntos)

1. Hacia 1955 una enfermedad dejó ciego a Jorge Luis Borges.

2. Durante la colonización el gaucho de la pampas fue la figura predominante en Argentina.

3. En el siglo XVII los jesuitas llevaron a cabo una intensa evangelización.

4. Cuando Buenos Aires declaró su independencia, Asunción se negó a hacer lo mismo.

5. Pablo Neruda fue perseguido por el gobierno chileno y tuvo que salir del país.

6. En Chile, entre 1823 y 1830 existió un caos político.

VII. Gramática. Ésta es la parte más difícil para Sara y Miguel. Ayúdales en los siguientes ejercicios para que aprendan a usar las estructuras bien.

1. ("Si" clauses). Para explicar este punto gramatical, inventas una situación imaginaria. Este verano tienes la posibilidad de ir al Perú. Si fueras, ¿qué podrías hacer? Llena los espacios con los verbos conjugados. (10 respuestas 1 punto c/u)

Si yo 1. (ir) a Perú este verano, 2. (ver) Macchu Picchu lo primero. 3. (Visitar) la playa también si no 4.____________________ (llover). Si 5. (tener) tiempo, 6. __________________ (estudiar) quechua o aymara para poder hablar con los indígenas. Si tú 7. (querer) venir conmigo, nosotros 8. ____________________ (tener) que comprar los billetes pronto. Si 9. _________________ (ir) ayer a la agencia, estaríamos seguros del precio. Si puedes ir a la agencia conmigo esta tarde, yo 10. ________________ (ir).

2. Imperfecto del subjuntivo. Miguel y Sara siguen confundidos. Entonces les tienes que mostrar cómo se usa el imperfecto del subjuntivo. Llena los espacios en blanco con la forma correcta del verbo para mostrarles cómo se usa. (10 puntos)

Griselda Gambaro es una dramaturga argentina de mucho renombre (fama) mundial. A pesar de empezar su carrera de muy joven, no recibiría mucha fama hasta que ____________ (cumplir) los 35 años . Pero en ese año (1963) ella publicó su primera obra teatral "Las paredes" a fin de que _____________ (reconocerse) la crueldad de la sociedad tan prevalente en esa época. A menos que los críticos no _______________ (entender) el mensaje de Gambaro, tendrían que hacer algo. Tomó como modelo uno de los cuentos de E.A. Poe, "The Pit and the Pendulum" a fin de que el público ______________ (saber) bien lo que ella estaba tratando de decir. Sin que ella ______________ (dar) explicación cualquiera, la gente entendió. El público pidió inmediatamente otra obra para que se ___________ (ver) de nuevo la violencia insoportable. Antes de que ___________ (publicar) su siguiente obra hizo investigaciones sobre la tortura psicológica en caso de que ___________ (haber) críticos que conocieran las teorías psicológicas. Tan pronto como ____________ (acabar) la obra, titulada "El desatino", la gente se quedaría fascinada. Aunque ____________ (poder) haber ganado más dinero escribiendo sobre temas más populares, nunca se dejó llevar por la moneda. Gambaro siempre fue una mujer de modales extraordinarios.

3. Secuencia de los tiempos (II) Según la sequencia de los tiempos verbales, completa el siguiente párrafo. Hay que escoger entre el indicativo o el subjuntivo y poner el tiempo verbal más apropriado. Ayer hiciste un examen oral y charlas con Miguel y Sara sobre lo que piensas de él. (20 puntos) [1 punto/tiempo correcto; 1 punto/concordancia bien]

Sé mucho sobre la poesía de Pablo Neruda y Delmira Agustini. En mi clase, el profesor nos _________________ (enseñar) sobre estos poetas antes de que ________________ (salir) en el examen oral. Me sorprendió que no hubiera preguntas sobre Gabriel García Márquez. Yo quería que mi profesor me _____________________ (preguntar) sobre GGM porque _____________________ (poder) comentar sobre su cuento "Un día de éstos". El pidió que yo ________________________ (hablar) sobre Bertalicia Peralta. Le dije que __________________________ (estudiar) mucho en caso de que nosotros __________________________ (tener) que hablar sobre ella. Sabía que tan pronto como yo ____________________________ (terminar) de hablar de Peralta, me preguntaría otra cosa. Si hubiera sabido todas las respuestas, yo _________________________________ (sacar) una A en esta clase. Un día iré a Perú, y entonces __________________ (hablar) como un/a nativo/a.

VIII Lectura. Como eres un aficionado de Cortázar, quieres presentárselo a tus amigos. A Sara le gustó mucho, pero Miguel (siendo él un poco tonto) no entendió bien y te hace algunas preguntas. Contesta sus preguntas de la manera más completa que puedas. (20 puntos) [3 puntos/respuesta adecuada; 1 punto/gramática]

"Propiedades de un sillón", por Julio Cortázar

En casa de Jacinto hay un sillón para morirse.

Cuando la gente se pone vieja, un día la invitan a sentarse en el sillón como todos pero con una estrellita plateada en el centro del respaldo. La persona invitada suspira, mueve un poco las manos como si quisera alejar la invitación, y después va a sentarse en el sillón y se muere.

Los chicos, siempre traviesos, se divierten en engañar a las visitas en ausencia de la madre, y las invitan a sentarse en el sillón. Como las visitas están enteradas pero que de eso no se debe hablar, miran a los chicos con gran confusión y se excusan con palabras que nunca se emplean cuando se habla con los chicos, cosa que a éstos los regocija extraordinariamente. Al final las visitas se valen de cualquier pretexto para no sentarse, pero más tarde la madre se da cuenta de lo sucedido y a la hora de acostarse hay palizas

terribles. No por eso escarmientan, de cuando en cuando consiguen engañar a alguna visita cándida y la hacen sentarse en el sillón. En esos casos los padres disimulan, pues temen que los vecinos lleguen a enterarse de las propiedades del sillón y vengan a pedirlo prestado para hacer sentar a una u otra persona de la familia o amistad. Entre tanto los chicos van creciendo y llega un día en que sin saber por qué dejan de interesarse por el sillón y las visitas. Más bien evitan entrar en la sala, hacen un rodeo por el patio, y los padres que ya están muy viejos cierran con llave la puerta de la sala y miran atentamente a sus hijos como queriendo leer-en-su-pensamiento. Los hijos desvían la mirada y dicen que ya es hora de comer o de acostarse. Por las mañanas el padre se levanta el primero y va siempre a mirar si la puerta de la sala sigue cerrada con llave, o si alguno de los hijos no ha abierto la puerta para que se vea el sillón desde el comedor, porque la estrellita de plata brilla hasta en la oscuridad y se ve perfectamente desde cualquier parte del comedor.

Preguntas de Miguel:

1. ¿Qué pasa cuando alguien se sienta en el sillón?

___________________________________________________________________________

2. Cuando viene visita, ¿qué intentan hacer los chicos? ¿Cómo reacciona la visita?

___________________________________________________________________________

3. ¿Todavía juegan con el sillón cuando pasan unos años? ¿Por qué, o por qué no?

___________________________________________________________________________

4. ¿Por qué crees que los padres evitan el sillón y miran a la puerta de la sala para asegurar que está cerrada con llave?

___________________________________________________________________________

5. Si tuvieras este sillón en tu casa, ¿harías que alguien se sentara en él? ¿Por qué, o por qué no? Si sí, ¿a quién?

___________________________________________________________________________

Ya habiéndole explicado esto a Miguel, él y Sara se excusan porque ahora van a hacer visita con sus padres. Están muy entusiasmados porque les han dicho que las han comprado sillones muy especiales para celebrar su regreso...

Pledge: .

Signature: .

¡Buenas vacaciones! ¡Disfrútenlas!