Introduction

 Lesson Topic: “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros”

 Length of Lesson: 90 minutes

 VA Standards of Learning:

o SIII.3 The student will comprehend spoken and written Spanish presented through

a variety of media and based on new topics in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

 1. Identify main ideas and pertinent details when listening to or reading

materials such as live and recorded conversations, short lectures, reports,

and literary selections.

o SIII.4 The student will present information orally and in writing in Spanish,

combining learned and original language in increasingly complex sentences and

paragraphs.

 2. Use past, present, and future time frames, word order, and other level-

appropriate language structures with increasing accuracy.

Cognitive Objectives

 The students will critically analyze a graphic organizer in order to make predictions about

the characters, central problem and message of a story.

 The students will acquire information about the definition of unfamiliar vocabulary

words and develop sentences and gestures to convey their meanings to the rest of the

class.

 The students will employ auditory comprehension skills to interpret the central problem

and message of a short video clip.

  The students will demonstrate understanding of the distinction between preterite and

imperfect tenses and usages in order to complete a modified cloze activity.

Materials and Advanced Preparation

 Each student should have an English-Spanish Dictionary

 Copy of “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” Wordle for each student

 Computer to project “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” Wordle on board

 Computer with Internet access and projector screen to show video

 Copy of Modified Cloze Worksheet for “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” for each

student

Teaching and Learning Sequence

 Introduction/Anticipatory Set: (10 minutes)

o Teacher will project “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” Wordle onto the board and

hand out a copy to each student. Teacher will ask students to predict which words

will be most common in the story, based on the Wordle. Teacher will then ask

students to predict what they think the story will be about. Teacher will ask

students to come to the board and circle/list unfamiliar vocabulary words from the

Wordle.

 Lesson Development:

o Teacher will put students in groups of 2, 3, or 4, depending on the number of

unfamiliar words circled. Each group will be assigned 1 or 2 unfamiliar words.

Students will be asked to look up the definition of the word, use the word in a

sentence, and come up with a gesture that represents the meaning of the word.

(10 minutes)
 o Each group will present the vocabulary word sentence and gesture to the class and

students will infer the meaning of the word. Teacher will initiate another, brief

discussion about what students predict the story will be about based on their

knowledge of the new vocabulary words. (10 minutes)

o Students will watch “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” video. (10 minutes)

o Teacher will lead a class discussion about the video, asking students to

demonstrate comprehension by answering fact-based and interpretive questions

about the plot, storyline, characters, and conclusion. (15 minutes)

o Teacher will hand out Modified Cloze Worksheet of “La Leyenda del

Espantapájaros” transcript with preterite and imperfect verbs missing and ask

students to complete the activity in pairs. Students should rely on prior

knowledge and context clues to decide whether to use the preterite or the

imperfect tense and how to conjugate the verb. (15 minutes)

o Teacher will play video again for students to have another chance to comprehend

the story and check their Modified Cloze Worksheets. (10 minutes)

 Closure: (10 minutes)

o Teacher will ask students to take turns summarizing the story, step by step, for the

rest of the class.

o Teacher will ask students to volunteer to explain the difference between the

preterite and the imperfect and give examples of when to use each tense.

o Teacher will collect the Modified Cloze Worksheet to check for correctness (give

feedback to studnets) and grade for completion.

Assessment
  Formative:

o Teacher can gauge level of prior knowledge based on which words students circle

from the Wordle as words that are unfamiliar to them.

o Teacher can assess student learning by student participation in the vocabulary

activity and in the conversation about predictions for the story.

o Teacher can assess auditory comprehension skills of students based on how they

respond to discussion questions after viewing the video.

o Teacher can do formative assessment of students by walking around as they

complete the Modified Cloze Worksheet in order to determine how well students

understand the differences between preterite and imperfect tenses.

o Teacher will collect Modified Cloze Worksheets to assess for correctness and

grade for completion.

 Summative

o Students will also be tested on this material at a later date when given a

Chapter/Unit Test.

References

 Youtube.com - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnIU1Ip5Vs

 Wordle.com

Appended Materials

 Wordle using transcript of “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros”

 “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros” Video

 Modified Cloze Worksheet for “La Leyenda del Espantapájaros”

Llene los espacios con la forma correcta del verbo, en el pretérito o el imperfecto.
Recuerde esta imagen:

________ (haber) una vez un espantapájaros que no __________(tener) amigos.

__________(trabajar) en un campo de trigo. No ________(ser) un trabajo difícil, pero sí, muy
solitario. Sin nadie con quien hablar, sus días y sus noches se _________(hacer) eternas. Lo
único que __________(poder) hacer era mirar los pájaros. Cada vez que __________(pasar) , él
los __________(saludar). Pero ellos nunca ___________(responder). Era como si le
_____________(tener) miedo.

Un día el espantapájaros ________(hacer) algo que ___________ (estar) prohibido. Les

_________(ofrecer) unas semillas. Pero aun así, ellos no __________(querer) saber nada. El
espantapájaros se _____________ (preguntar) por qué nadie _____________(querer) ser su
amigo.

Así ________(pasar) el tiempo hasta que una noche fría _________(caer) a sus pies un cuervo
ciego. El cuervo _________ (estar) tiritando y hambriento; el espantapájaros _________(decidir)
cuidar de él. Tras varios días el cuervo ciego __________(mejorar). Antes de despedirse, el
espantapájaros ____________(preguntar) por qué los pájaros nunca ___________(querer)
hacerse amigos de los espantapájaros y el cuervo ____________(explicar) que el trabajo de los
espantapájaros ________(ser) asustar a los pobres pájaros que sólo __________(querer) comer;
___________(ser) unos seres malvados y despreciables. Unos monstruos. ___________(ofender-
past participle), el espantapájaros le __________(explicar) que él no _______(ser) malo a pesar
de ser un espantapájaros.

Una vez más, el espantapájaros se _________(quedar) sin amigos. Esa misma noche
___________(decidir) cambiar su vida. ___________(despertar) a su amo y le
__________(decir) que __________(querer) otro oficio, que ya no ____________(querer)
asustar más a los pájaros. _______________(aterrorizar – past participle), el amo
___________(despertar) a todos los vecinos. Les _________(contar) que su espantapájaros
_______________(haber + cobrar –past participle) vida y que esto sólo ___________(poder) ser
obra del diablo.

Cerca del molino ____________(estar) el cuervo ciego. Sus compañeros le

____________(explicar) que los vecinos de la aldea __________(estar) quemando un molino
donde se ___________(intentar) esconder un espantapájaros con una bufanda muy larga. El
cuervo ciego entonces les ___________(explicar) que ése era el espantapájaros bueno, el que le
______________________(haber + salvar-past participle)la vida. Conmocionados por la
historia, los cuervos ___________(querer) salvar al espantapájaros. Pero ________(ser)
demasiado tarde, y ya no __________(poder) hacer nada.

El espantapájaros _________(morir) quemado. Los cuervos __________(esperar) hasta el

amanecer y cuando no había llamas, se ____________(acercar) a los restos del molino,
__________(coger) las cenizas del espantapájaros, y _________(volar) alto, muy alto. Y desde
lo más alto, ____________(esparcir) las cenizas por el aire. El viento ___________(llevar) las
cenizas por toda la comarca. Las cenizas ___________(volar) junto con todos los pájaros y de
esta manera el espantapájaros nunca _________(volver) a estar solo, porque sus cenizas, ahora,
volaban con sus nuevos amigos.

Y en recuerdo de la trágica muerte del espantapájaros, el cuervo ciego y todos sus compañeros
___________(decidir) vestir de luto. Y por eso, desde entonces, en memoria del espantapájaros,
todos los cuervos son negros.