Sub-topic 7: El artículo definido e indefinido y contracciones

Suggested Lexical Content

Specific Learning Objectives

After completing this sub-topic, the student will be able to:

 

1. Identify articles and contractions in Spanish.
2. Associate the article with the gender and number of the noun.
3. Form and use contractions.

Suggested Activities

Oral and Written Comprehension:

Step 1

▪ The teacher will introduce the vocabulary about the different articles used in the Spanish Language.

▪ The teacher will explain the connection between the article and the gender (feminine or masculine nouns) and number (plural and singular) of nouns.

▪ For example:

 

Artículos definidos: el, los, la, las

Artículos indefinidos: un, unos, una, unas

 

Written Comprehension and Oral Expression:

Step 2

▪ To internalize the vocabulary, the class will play the onion game.

▪ The onion game consists of the following:

To create an onion, the teacher will write each article on a separate typing sheet page. The teacher will make sure that there is the same number of pages in ratio with the same number of students in the classroom, so that everyone participates. This indicates that the vocabulary will be repeated several times. The teacher takes the first paper and rolls it into a ball. The subsequent pages will be wrapped around the ball until a big ball is created.

▪  Having the ball (onion) created, all the students will stand at the center of the classroom. Then, the teacher will throw the "onion" into the air. If a student catches it or the “onion” falls close to someone, the student will remove a piece of paper from the “onion” ball. Next, the student will read its content and provide a noun, which corresponds with said article.

▪ The noun must have a connection with the article both aspects: gender and number.

For example: If the student sees the article "la" in the layer (piece of paper) that was removed from the "onion," he/she can state the following: La escuela/cama/niña/gallina. The student can use any singular feminine noun that connects with the singular feminine article “la”. 

▪ Once the student has provided an appropriate noun for the article, he/she will throw the "onion" into the air to continue the game.

▪ The procedure of the game is repeated until most of the students have participated in the activity.

Oral Comprehension and Written Expression:

Step 3

▪ The teacher will divide the students into two groups. The teacher will then call two students to go to the front of the class to participate in the activity. Both students should be attentive to the noun that the teacher will mention. As soon as the teacher says the name of the noun, the students must write (on the chalk/white board) the article that corresponds to the noun. The article selected can be singular/plural or masculine/feminine. Whoever writes down the correct article earns points for their group.

▪ For example:

If the teacher mentions "maestro," the students should write "el," a masculine singular article because it corresponds to the masculine singular noun "maestro."

▪ The student who writes the correct article first will return to their chair. The student who lost must compete with another student from the opposite team. The game continues until everyone participates in the competition.  

Written Comprehension and Expression:

Step 4

▪ The teacher will ask the students to complete Exercise # 18 in the workbook.

          Instructions are included in the workbook. 

▪ The teacher will ask the students to complete Exercise # 19 in the workbook.

Activity # 19 aids to develop written expression. See details in the workbook.

Oral and Written Comprehension:

Step 5

▪ The teacher will show how contractions are formed; providing examples of the application of the rule.

Formula:

                           A + el = al

                           De + el = del

 

Example:

                           Ana viene del mercado.  (Correcto)

                           Ana viene de el mercado (Incorrecto)

                           Pedro es dueño del banco. (Correcto)

                           Pedro es dueño de el banco. (Incorrecto)

                           Quiero ir al banco. (correcto)

                           Quiero ir a el banco (Incorrecto)

                           Ella respeta mucho al profesor. (Correcto)

                           Ella respeta mucho a el profesor. (Incorrecto)

Written Comprehension

Step 6

▪ The teacher will ask the students to complete Exercise # 20 of the workbook.

Detail instructions are included in the workbook.