Unit 1 — Greetings and Farewells and Ask and State Feelings
Description
Students learn foundational greetings, farewells, and phrases for expressing feelings in Spanish. Instruction emphasizes how, when, and why to convey messages to different audiences. Students explore body language and cultural variations in greetings across Spanish-speaking countries. The unit integrates music and arts to reinforce vocabulary retention and cultural awareness. Students practice through dialogues, skits, and songs to develop comfort with basic interpersonal communication.
Essential Questions
- Why is it important to greet someone when you meet them?
- How do we communicate about feelings with someone who speaks Spanish?
- How does body language vary from country to country?
Learning Objectives
- Identify and use memorized greetings and farewells in Spanish.
- Express basic feelings using practiced phrases.
- Recognize cultural differences in greeting practices across Spanish-speaking countries.
- Understand how body language communicates meaning across cultures.
- Demonstrate openness to new ideas and perspectives in cultural contexts.
Supplemental Resources
- Chart paper for recording dialogue sentences for reference
- Index cards for flashcard practice of greetings and feelings
- Markers and colored pencils for creating visual aids showing body language and cultural variations
Interpersonal Mode
Interpretive Mode
Presentational Mode
Communication Modes
Students develop writing skills by creating written dialogues, paragraphs describing classroom objects, family trees, and drawings with descriptive text. Students engage in reading comprehension activities through interpreting stories and answering questions based on written passages about families, classroom items, and holidays. Students practice speaking and listening through performing dialogues with partners and presenting information to the class.
Students learn about cultural practices and traditions of Spanish-speaking countries through studying greetings, family structures, holiday celebrations, and climate differences across regions. Students explore how geography and climate impact clothing choices and seasonal celebrations in different parts of the world.
Students create visual representations including family tree projects, posters showing seasons and weather, and drawings based on descriptions. Students engage with authentic songs and dances as reflections of target culture. Students participate in skits and dramatizations to practice language in cultural contexts.
Formative Assessments
- Partner dialogues using greeting and feeling expressions.
- Response to simple oral directions with appropriate gestures.
- Recognition of culturally authentic gestures during greetings and leave-takings.
Summative Assessment
Create a written dialogue using at least five greeting and feeling phrases, perform the dialogue with a partner, and answer true/false questions about dialogues read in Spanish.
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through role-play or oral dialogue with the teacher or a peer in place of written dialogue creation. Visual supports such as picture cards of feelings and greetings, word banks, or sentence frames may be provided to support phrase production.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students may benefit from visual supports such as illustrated phrase cards that pair written Spanish greetings and feeling expressions with pictures or gestures, reducing reliance on memory alone. For partner dialogues and skits, providing a simple sentence frame or script outline can help students focus on oral production rather than generating language from scratch. Extended time and the option to respond orally or through gesture, rather than in writing, should be offered during both practice and summative tasks. Frequent check-ins during activities can help students stay on track and build confidence with the interpersonal communication skills this unit emphasizes.
Section 504
Students should be given preferential seating during whole-class instruction and partner dialogue practice to minimize distractions and support active listening in the target language. Extended time on the written dialogue component of the summative assessment helps ensure that access barriers do not interfere with demonstrating what students know about Spanish greetings and feelings. Printed copies of any phrases or directions displayed on the board allow students to reference material at their own pace throughout the unit.
ELL / MLL
Visual cues such as illustrated vocabulary cards, short video clips of authentic greetings from Spanish-speaking countries, and gesture-based demonstrations will help make new vocabulary meaningful and concrete for multilingual learners. Directions for dialogues and activities should be given in simple, clear language, and students should be invited to paraphrase what they are being asked to do before beginning. Where appropriate, allowing students to connect Spanish greeting customs to greeting practices in their own home culture or language can build background knowledge and foster engagement with the cultural awareness goals of this unit.
At Risk (RTI)
Connecting new Spanish greetings and feeling phrases to familiar social situations — such as how students greet friends or family at home — provides an accessible entry point into the unit's vocabulary. Reducing the number of required phrases for initial practice allows students to build confidence with a core set of expressions before expanding their repertoire. Structured partner practice with a clear, predictable format gives students repeated, low-pressure opportunities to hear and use greetings and farewells in context.
Gifted & Talented
Students who quickly internalize the core greetings and feeling expressions can be challenged to explore how the same phrases shift in register, formality, or regional usage across different Spanish-speaking countries, going beyond simple memorization to analyze language in cultural context. Encouraging these students to research and present on a specific country's greeting customs — including body language, tone, and social norms — deepens the cultural awareness dimension of the unit. They may also experiment with creating original, extended dialogues that reflect authentic social scenarios, incorporating a broader range of emotional expression than the foundational phrases require.