Nazca Lines (1), Copán (2), The Aztec calendar (3) - thematic units - SP Beginners 2

Three contextualized culture units.

Three contextualized culture units.

The indigenous cultures of Central and South America. Read, write, speak, think.

Culture for beginners. Please preview.

All Miraflores resources are entirely in the target language.

Unit 1. Copán; una ciudad maya

The unit on the Maya reviews numbers in two different formats: the Maya and ours. Ours is based on 10, theirs on 5. Discover how pyramids are built, or shall we say layered. Yes, layered.

Unit includes:

1. Subject matter: Maya culture

2. Vocabulary: numbers

3. Grammar: adverbs of place

4. Oral practice: other calendars; extraterrestrials

5. Homework: other calendars

6. Internet: key words for Net search

7. Model tests

8. Teacher’s guide

**Unit 2. El calendario azteca
**
**The Aztec Calendar is round. Ours is usually a rectangle. This shows the diversity in form but not in substance. It does not matter whether we divide the year into 20 months or 12 months, we will end up with the same number of days. How is this possible? This unit underlines the fact that we are all inhabitants of the same planet. Learning that there can be several ways of describing the same facts is important!
**
Unit includes:

1. Subject matter: Aztecs

2. Vocabulary: days, weeks and year

3. Grammar: tener

4. Oral practice: other calendars

5. Homework: other calendars

6. Internet: key words for Net search

7. Model tests

8. Teacher’s guide

Unit 3. Las misteriosas Líneas de Nasca

You can only see the Nazca lines if you fly above them. So it was only in the era of the airplane that they were discovered. Why were they made? Here is a real mystery that still needs to be solved. This unit reviews the vocabulary of animals and body parts. Please note the spelling of Nazca. In Peru the Spanish spelling is now Nasca.

Unit includes:

1. Subject matter: Nazca / Nasca (the newer spelling is with an S)

2. Vocabulary: body

3. Grammar: articles

4. Oral practice: extraterrestrials

5. Homework: mysteries

6. Internet: key words for Net search

7. Model tests

8. Teacher’s guide

The Piedra del Sol is in the Archeological Museum in Mexico City. Have you seen it? It is huge and there are always groups of school children and tourists milling around, photographing and pointing.