Spanish Level 2, Activity 10: Las Celebraciones y Citas / Celebrations and Dates (Online)

Description: In this activity, students will discuss cultural traditions, going on dates in their own city, and their own holiday traditions. They will practice giving recommendations and explanations to others.
Semantic Topics: Holidays, celebrations, relationships, dates, parties, fiestas, celebraciones, relaciones, citas
Grammatical Structures: Imperfect, preterite, present perfect, past perfect, el imperfecto, el pretérito, el presente perfecto, el pluscuamperfecto
Products: Holidays
Practices: Holidays and party traditions
Perspectives: How are holidays celebrated in other Spanish-speaking countries? What party traditions are common in Hispanic are common in Hispanic cultures?
NCSSFL-ACTFL World-Readiness Standards:
- Standard 1.1 – Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
- Standard 1.2 – Students understand and interpret spoken and written Spanish on a variety of topics.
- Standard 3.1 – Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through Spanish.
- Standard 3.2 – Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the Spanish language and its cultures.
Idaho State Content Standards:
- COMM 1.1 – Interact and negotiate meaning (spoken, signed, written conversation) to share information, reactions, feelings, and opinions
- COMM 2.1 – Understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
- COMM 3.1 – Present information, concepts, and ideas to inform, explain, persuade, and narrate on a variety of topics using appropriate media in the target language.
- CONN 1.2 – Relate information studied in other subjects to the target language and culture.
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can talk about how I celebrate holidays and special events with my family and friends
- I can provide recommendations of a place to celebrate a birthday or go on a date in my city
- I can talk about my past friendships and relationships, along with my plans for the future
- In my own and other cultures, I can identify how people celebrate local and national holidays or festivals (Intercultural)
Materials Needed:
Warm-Up
- Begin by opening the slideshow and going over the Can-Do Statements.
Hola, ¿cómo están? Estoy ____. Vamos a empezar el lab de hoy con los can-do statements. - Introduce the grape-eating tradition and show the video in the slideshow. In Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries, it is customary to eat 12 grapes when the new year begins. A bell rings 12 times, and with each ring, the people eat one grape. People practice this tradition to bring them 12 months of good luck.
En España y otros países hispanohablantes, la gente come doce uvas cuando el año nuevo empieza. Una campana suena doce veces y, con cada sonido, la gente se come una uva. Es una tradición que la gente hace para recibir doce meses de buena suerte en el año nuevo. - Now, review some key vocabulary. On the slideshow, there are slides with images. Have students unmute and state a word that describes the image on the screen in Spanish.
Ahora, vamos a repasar el vocabulario importante. Por favor, decir una palabra que describe el imagen en la pantalla en español.
Main Activity
- For the main activity, students will share their thoughts and preferences about celebrations and dating. There are question cards in the slideshow that the instructor will read aloud and facilitate a conversation about.
Vamos a hablar sobre las citas y las celebraciones. Voy a poner una pregunta en la pantalla y van a responder con su opinion. - Continue asking questions and having conversation until there are no more cards or time is up.
Wrap-Up
- Ask the following questions to wrap-up the lab:
¿Cuál es la manera más fácil para conocer nuevas personas? (What is the easiest way to learn meet new people?)
¿Cuál es el mejor consejo que te han dado? (What is the best advice you have received?)
End of Lab
- Ask the following questions to wrap-up the lab:
- Read Can-Do statements once more and have students evaluate their confidence.
(Use thumbs up/thumbs down or download our student cards) - Encourage students to be honest in their self-evaluation.
- Pay attention, and try to use feedback for future labs!
NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:
- I can talk about how I celebrate holidays and special events with my family and friends
- I can provide recommendations of a place to celebrate a birthday or go on a date in my city
- I can talk about my past friendships and relationships, along with my plans for the future
- In my own and other cultures, I can identify how people celebrate local and national holidays or festivals (Intercultural)
Cultural NOtes:
How to Revise or Remix a Pathways Project Activity
Feeling creative? The Pathways Project needs your help in revising and remixing activities for the K-16 language classroom.
Try taking an activity to the next level by:
- Add new content (something you’ve created or another OER source)
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- Integrate authentic materials such as videos, infographics, photos, etc.
- Suggest how to implement the activity in the classroom
- Customize the content for a specific audience or group of learners (for example, K-5 learners or to differentiate for student’s needs)