Bullfighting Unit: Days 9/10– La Geografía de España

As we’re nearing the end of our bullfighting adventures I wanted students to look at the geography of Spain so that students could understand the areas we were talking about related to bullfighting.  I was inspired by Martina Bex’s Guatemala product that she created for the novel Esperanza. I think it’s important to include these kinds of lessons because it’s non-fiction reading.

Days 9: La Geografía de España Reading/Questions.  Here was the lesson:

– As a class we read about Spain’s geography out loud.  I wrote the reading and aimed to make it as comprehensible as possible (as we have not done a lot of geography terms besides “frontera” and “montaña”).  I asked TPRS-esque questions in Spanish while we read.  I drew on the board.

–  Students re-read the information on their own and answered 10 comprehension questions in English.

– Students swapped their work when everyone was done and checked their peer’s work.

Days 10: La Geografía de España Map.  Here was the lesson:

– Students used the reading to locate and label as many of the underlined places as possible.  For my struggling readers I reread the first paragraph with them and helped them identify the borders.

What would I do differently? 

I plan on modifying the reading to better suit the bullfighting unit.  I want to include Pamplona as an important city, add a section about the regions(Cataluña, País Vasco, Galicia, etc.), choose a map without the Autonomous Communities or choose a map with the regions – just to name a few.  I will also add a “places bank” to the map worksheet so students know what they should be able to label based solely on the reading.