Grade Level: 4th

Subject: Spanish
Purpose: To expand students cultural awareness, as well as demonstrating how
Christmas is celebrated in various Spanish speaking cultures, and how different
those celebrations are from those that take place in the United States.
Review: none
Objectives:
Instructional:
Using the information taught in class and his or her notes, students will be
able to correctly identify which country each Christmas tradition comes
from.
Using their experiences with taste and their own opinions, students will test
out foods from the culture of Panama and critique them
Students will be able to compare the culture of Panama and the United States
using information taught in class, writing out the differences and similarities
on a Venn diagram.
Cognitive Level: Understanding
Expressive objective:
I can:
Correctly identify the ways that Christmas is celebrated in Panam
Name the countries that each tradition is connected to,
And use new vocabulary to describe Christmas in Spanish.
Anticipatory Set:
Purpose: To get students thinking about their previous personal Christmas
experiences, share one or two of my Christmas memories, and get the students
thinking about their previous Christmas experiences.
Process: I will show the students a YouTube video in class
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFlcqWQVVuU) to get them chatting about
their reactions to Christmas morning when they were younger and now.
LESSON CONTENT:
Process: Dressed in a Santa costume, I would ask students to call out words they
associate with Christmas in the U.S in English. I would write these on the board and
translate them for the students to use in the next part of the activity. Then I would
ask that the students take a few moments and think about their favorite Christmas
tradition to share with the class in Spanish. After that, I would share a memory or

two from my own childhood, engaging visual learners with photos or videos from
my own life.
A. Input:
While I am handing out a note sheet that relates to the PowerPoint, students
will copy down the translated words on the board into their Vocab
notebooks. They will need this vocabulary to share with the class in Spanish
and also to understand what words are coming in the presentation, like
luces which is lights in English.
B. Modeling:
Because this is one day of a weeklong lesson, I would show the traditions
most prominent in Panama primarily, using a PowerPoint to show photos
and videos of the Panama. However, to better demonstrate a Block 2 content
teaching aid, I would give each student a small map of the outlines of Panama
to be glued into their notebook, and then they would color that country in on
their larger foldable map (found inside their desks), indicating that it had
been studied in class. We will continue to do this throughout the year as a
means of gauging our learning about different countries.
C. Checking for Understanding
How is Christmas different in Panama? Name 2 ways; call on students
individually. (Desfile luces en barcos different costumes etc.)
Turn to your partner and talk about any religious significance about these
holidays and these countries. Does one country have more religious views
than the other for Christmas? Does the U.S. have a very religious view of
Christmas? Respond for the whole class after being called on individually
WHY do you think this one holiday can be celebrated so many different
ways? (Because of the cultural differences, wealth of an area, religious
influences, etc.)
Can I move on from this point, or should I go over something again?
Activities
Guided Practice
Objective: To familiarize students with the culture of Panama by engaging
more of their five senses
Purpose: This activity is to help students gain a better understanding of
the cultural differences of food and celebratory environments of Spanish
speaking countries
Process:
a. Students will travel to Panama by sampling food from both of those
countries that I will have made.
b. In groups, the students will critique the foods from each country,
writing down their likes and dislikes in their notebook. They should

utilize a mixture of English and Spanish phrases, talking those over

with their group.
c. Have each group try to come to a consensus to vocally share with the
class (yay or nay, like or dislike)
d. Then on their critique sheet, they will write a number (between 1 and
5) to rate the food in their personal opinion. This does not need to be
shared with the group; it will be only for their personal use.
Product: Students will be able to review their critique sheet for Panama
Food and remember the names of the food and the likes and dislikes they
had.
Evaluation: At the end of the unit, students will be able to correctly identify
which foods came from which countries on a quiz.

Independent Practice:
Objective Targeted: Students will be able to compare the culture of Panama
and the United States using information taught in class, writing out the
differences and similarities on a Venn diagram.
Purpose: This activity will enable students to clearly see the differences
between Christmases in America vs. in Panama, and will provide a good basis
of fact and comparison for the final essay.
Process: After a small discussion and transition, students will be given a Venn
diagram handout, and will fill out differences and similarities. After a few
minutes, the instructor will write on a Venn diagram while the class shares
their ideas and adds to their individual diagrams.
Product: The students will have their Venn diagrams in their notebooks
Evaluation: The students will be completing a short essay prompt about the
similarities and differences between the US and Panama and they must give
supported facts, which will come from the Venn diagram for the most part.
Wrapping up the Lesson
A. Closure: Ask the students to share what their favorite part of the lesson
was, and to share something new and exciting that they learned. I will end
with a quick re-cap of the information we touched on, and ask the
students to take 5 minutes and journal a few thoughts about the lesson,
while I prepare to move onto the next subject.
B. Assessment: If the students, by the end of the week, are able to correctly
match the Spanish culture to the Christmas traditions, they will have
reached a higher level of Mastery.
C. Assessment B: For the end of the unit of study on Spanish cultures and
holidays, students would create their own holiday using a variety of
traditions shown in class or from their personal experience and present
their holiday to The Holiday Board (the class) to get it approved and
named as an official class holiday. This will demonstrate creating and a
high level of Mastery on this unit.