This Saturday, for my senior one Spanish class, I am planning to introduce the theme "La Familia." Personally, I like this theme very much. I could share my family with my students. They could also ask me questions about it.
The lesson will be:
First, I will introduce family members with pictures. I will have each member of my family by drawing a family tree. This is also a great opportunity for me to introduce vocabulary of family.
Here is the complete list of the words that I use in my family lesson:
padre, madre
suegro, suegra
esposo, marido; esposa
abuelo, abuela
bisabuelo, bisabuela
tatarabuelo, tatarabuela
hijo, hija
nieto, nieta
bisnieto, bisnieta
tataranieto, tataranieta
tío, tía
tío abuelo, tía abuela
primo, prima
primo carnal, prima carnal (first cousin)
primo segundo, prima segunda (second cousin)
sobrino, sobrina
padrasto, madrasta
hijastro, hijastra
hermanastro, hermanastra
medio hermano, media hermana,
hermano de padre, hermano de madre
hermana de padre, hermana de madre
prometido, novio; prometida
novia, novio
fiancé fiancée
amigo, amiga
(Note: Novio and novia also can mean "boyfriend" and "girlfriend" or "groom" and "bride.")
After they know these above words, I will make them to repeat after me. After a while, I will ask students a few vocabulary questions for comprehension. For example, I will ask them, how did you say mother, father, great-aunt in Spanish or I will ask them, mt mother's sister is my... students should be able to answer.
Later on, I will introduce them the song, "Mi Familia" (Pimpinela). Students will read the lyrics of the song after the teacher. After reading, I will play this piece of music, students should listen and follow by their own reading. At this time, I will use power point presentation in a multimedia classroom.
Here is the lyric of the song:
Hoy estamos festejando
Entra ya no tengas miedo,
No te asustes que no muerden
Somos pocos pero buenos.
Pasa y tomate una copa,
que hay lugar para otra silla,
dejame que te presente,
a mi gente , mi familia.
Ya lo ves,
Hablan todos a la ves,
Y despues,
se pelean por un mes,
peto cuando las cosas van mal,
a tu lado siempre estan.
Coro
Quiero brindar por mi gente sencilla,
por el amor brindo por la familia
Si te tiran con un corcho ,
o al pasar te pisa un niño,
en el fondo estan solos,
una muestra de cariño.
Te estas acostumbrando,
solo es gente extrovertida,
cuando griten no te asustes es que viene ,
la comida
Ya lo ves,
comen todo y despues,
a sufrir por la gente otra vez
pero nunca te dicen que no si les vuelves a ofrecer.
Coro
Quiero brindar por mi gente sencilla,
por el amor brindo por la familia
Ya va a comenzar el baile,
quiten todo y a la pista,
que otra vez dira la tia,
que la nena es una artista.
Ves que yo te lo decia,
al final se puso bueno,
como dice el abuelo,
en el fondo nos queremos.
Ya lo ves esto sigue y son las tres,
y mañana a comer lo que quede otra vez,
para todos con el corazon yo les canto esta cancion.
Coro
Quiero brindar por mi gente sencilla,
por el amor brindo por la familia.
Quiero brindar por mi gente sencilla,
de corazon brindo por la familia.
After listening, I will ask my students if they like or not the song. Students will answer. Once I got their answer, I will show them a video clip of the song.
Students always enjoy watching the video clips. In this video clip, Pimpinela made MV with their real family members. Here is the video clip of the song.
Another version of the video clip, Pimpinela in concert.
The song of "Mi Familia" is very touching. I want my students to know the words and sing a song to be able to remember the new vocabulary.
Next lesson, I will start to introduce sentences with family members. Here are some sample sentences you can use to as models for your own:
Mi padre es carpintero. My father is a carpenter.
Mi tía es dentista. My aunt is a dentist.
Mi madre es ama de casa. My mother is a housewife.
Tengo dos hermanos y una hermana. I have two brothers and a sister.
Tengo nueve tíos. I have nine aunts and uncles.
Mi madraste vive en el estado de Nueva York. My stepmother lives in New York state.
Mis sobrinas viven en Chicago. My nieces live in Chicago.
Mi padre está muerto. My father is dead.
Mi prima está muerta. My cousin (female) is dead.
Grammar should be introduced on the second class period. On the first period, students will just enjoy the lesson and the teacher will introduce it in a fun way of learning. By end of this lesson, students will able to introduce their family members in Spanish using easy grammar and context.
