Intro ActivitiesBB 2016

By: Paola M. Montero Martnez

Saritas first English class

Sarita and her family left Sinaloa, Mexico in 2014. Shes 8 years old and she is a normal girl who loves
playing with dolls or baking cakes with her mom.
When Sarita and her family lived in Sinaloa, her father Don Mauricio worked as a farmer and her mother
Doa Amparo worked as a housewife, but sometimes she cleaned other peoples homes and washed their
clothes too.
But now Sarita and her parents live in Idaho, EEUU. Her father works for a rich family who have their own
milk producer factory. And her mother is the housekeeper.
They have a beautiful life in Idaho, but there is a big problem. Her parents dont speak English well, they
just say: hello, good morning patron, ok, yes, please, excuse me and so on. They interact with
native speakers just with short expressions, when they go to a drugstore or supermarket they usually ask for
help a person who looks Latino like them. They got the job in the factory because their employers speak
Spanish very well.
I have to speak English too, and better than my parents can Sarita thinks. Tomorrow is her first English
class and shes nervous. She couldnt sleep the night before because she was excited with the idea of
learning English and teaching her parents the language too.
When Saritas father left her at school, he kissed her on her forehead and told her: Estudia mucho hija, a las
3 te recojo. Sarita entered the classroom and her nice teacher Olivia received her with a smile on her face.
Welcome!!! Ms. Olivia said and pointed at the seat that was assigned for Sarita. The first thing all students
did was to introduce themselves and say what their favourite free time activity was. After that, they learned
new words and expressions with games and their teacher read a story to them.
It was the best day ever! Sarita thinks. I will speak English very well and I will teach my parents how to
use easy expressions first and the most difficult later.
Sarita was so excited that she felt that she could learn more and more, but little by little and perseverance.
Activities:
1.- Read the story very fast and highlight 5 words that are new to you (Individual work)
a)______________

b)_________________

d)____________________

c)________________

e)____________________

2.- With a dictionary, write what the function of the word is, for example (Individual work)
Seat (a noun) The function of the word is in parentheses.
a)______________

b)_________________

d)____________________

c)________________

e)____________________

Intro ActivitiesBB 2016

By: Paola M. Montero Martnez

3.- Go to a map of Mexico and find where Sinaloa is. Google information about Sinaloa and write two
problems that affect the people who live in Sinaloa. To write the problems of Sinaloa in ENGLISH,
you can visit this website: www.linguee.com (Individual work)
a)_______________________________________________________
b)_______________________________________________________
4.- Go to a map of EEUU and find where Idaho is. Google information about Idaho and write two
economic activities
a)________________________________________________________
b)________________________________________________________

5.- Pair discussion:

a) Do you have family who live in EEUU? What is your relationship with them? How many years do they
live there?
b) Why do you think many people decide to live abroad (extranjero)? Number 3 reasons
c) Is learning a new language difficult to you? Why? Why not? What can you do to make it easy?

6.- Answer the following questions: (Individual work)

a) Why do you think Sarita and her family went to Idaho?
b) What did Don Mauricio do for a living while he was in Sinaloa? What does he do now?
c) Why do you think Saritas parents have problems with English?
d) Do Don Mauricio and Doa Amparo need the language in Idaho? What do they do when they find it
difficult to use the language in a public place?
e) Number the activities Sarita did in her first class:
a)___________________

b)_________________

c)________________

f) When Sarita says but little by little and perseverance. What do you think this expression means?
g) What is Saritas attitude? Is it positive or negative? What should your attitude be in this semester?

7.- Check all your answers in groups of 4.