¡Andalucía! The Alhambra / Sevilla / Córdoba - 3 thematic units for Beginners

Three easy mini-thematic units for beginners.

Packed with information, creative and fun, they are all about Spain. Review and present both the grammar and the vocabulary for Spanish 1 in context.

We used to teach our students about the Moorish influence at the advanced levels. Here is the opportunity not only to admire the architecture but also to counter stereotypes and racism. Your students will walk through the Alhambra and practice gustar. They will choose a place to visit in Andalucía and also spend the day at one of Spain’s most popular holiday resorts, Torremolinos. Deductive thinking skills and important information about Muslim Spain are the corner stones of the three thematic units.

Unit 1. Ganador(a) del premio " Visita Andalucia"
By having the students decide between cities, which one they will visit, they get to know them. ¿Qué lugar vas a visitar? is the basic question the students need to answer in this thematic unit. And of course tastes vary. Students will make different choices and all the time practice gustar, encantar and interesar. Contextualization is the name of the game.

Unit 2. Granada: La Alhambra
Comprehensible input means that the students understand and enjoy. Here is a text on the Alhambra written for Spanish 1. It includes a lot of information about that most iconic palace and integrates it with basic language skill such as the vocabulary of the house and a review of numbers. Again, both the rooms of the house and the numbers are contextualized since they deal with the rooms of the Alhambra and the dates of the same. This worked well in my class and beginners started to get a real sense of the extraordinary cultural riches of Spain.

Unit 3. Una ciudad española: Torremolinos
The geography of Spain, with so much water to the north, east and south, makes for a huge number of beaches. Spaniard love their beaches and head for them every summer. They are joined by a large number of foreigners, and in the spring and fall when Spaniards would never go to the beach, these are filled with Scandinavians, Germans, Brits and more. Even in the winter, many northern europeans spend time in the Costa del Sol. This short thematic unit includes beach and hotel choices as well as a full day in Torremolinos. Do food in context.

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Includes:
1. Subject matter: Andalucía: places, people, history

2. Vocabulary: house, hotel, tourism; numbers; meals

3. Grammar: gustar, interesar, encantar, preferir; por la mañana, por la tarde, por la noche

4. Oral practice: interview, an exceptional building, the Alhambra; visit Torremolinos

5. Homework: Decision on place to visit; a postcard; visit Torremolinos

6. Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search

7. Answer key