Teaching Unit 'Natural Disasters'

Contextualisation Level: First course of bachillerato Topic: Natural disasters Language: phonetics , vocabulary and grammar based on a given text. Skills: reading, speaking, listening.

Aims Phonetics: Get rid of the typical Spanish mistakes (/s/ in word initial position, /w/ vs. /r/, / θ / vs. /ð/) Grammar: Differentiate the use of Past Simple and Present Perfect. Vocabulary: Use adequately Natural disasters’ terms.

Spain’s Water Wars “ I will not send a single drop of water from the Ebro,” said Pasquall Maragall, before November’s Catalan elections. Now, Mr Maragall hopes to “paralyse” the Spanish government’s plan to move water from north to south. The government has condemned Mr Maragall’s stance as “unpatriotic.” Last month the Spanish government formally requested European Union finance to meet a third of the €15,000m cost of the whole project. It claimed a victory when the European Commission conditionally approved €80m to pay for a part of it. Mr Aznar has called the plan “an act of solidarity” between Spain’s regions.

The water balance between the wet north, where a third of Spain’s rain falls, and the dry south, where 60% of the land is semi-arid, continues to inflame passions. Critics say the entire plan is outmoded and designed to benefit the government’s business friends. They claim it will cost twice as much to transport the water as it would to produce more water through desalination. Greens say it will destroy the Ebro delta wetlands. The government of Aragon supports the Catalans, calling the project a “method to rob the poor to feed the rich.”

<th> the North third method South they through month

/ θ / Initial and final position third North

/ð/ Middle position or between voiced sounds weather brother

Exceptions Grammatical words the there they that Loans method Thomas Catholic Thames

<th> th e /ð/ Nor th / θ / th ird / θ / me th od / θ / Sou th / θ / th ey /ð/ th rough / θ / mon th / θ /

/ θ / I can think of six thin things, but I can think of six thick things too

/ð/ Whether the weather is cold, Whether the weather is hot, Whether we like it or not.

Not these things here but those things there.

special student Spain star sport Spanish start spinning

A skunk sat on a stump. The stump thought the skunk stunk. The skunk thought the stump stunk. What stunk the skunk or the stump?

/w/ & /r/ white right wing ring wake rake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKHYnavxMns (minute 1.20 to 2.27)

Vocabulary Previous Homework: Search on the Internet vocabulary dealing with natural disasters.

Brainstorming: Natural Disasters Discussion with the students to check their knowledge on the topic. We make a list of the vocabulary that comes up in the discussion. WIND RAIN SHAKE HAILSTONE FOG

Matching - Earthquake - Drought - Tornado - Flood - Tsunami - Volcano eruption

GRAMMAR Past Simple vs. Present Perfect http://www.britishcouncil.org/professionals-grammar-movies.htm (video explanation)

Past Simple We use the Past Simple to talk about complete events that happened at a definite moment in the past. “ I am very happy because yesterday Julia phoned me and said she loved me”

Present Perfect We use the present perfect to talk about something that began in the past but is still true now… “ I have known Julia for three years”

Present Perfect … and when we are interested in the fact, not in the moment when it happened. “ We have decided to get married”

Exercises http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/recursos_informaticos/andared02/the_happy/tenses/pres_perfect.htm (explanation and exercises) http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/recursos_informaticos/andared02/the_happy/tenses/past_simple.htm (explanation and exercises)

Teaching Unit 'Natural Disasters'

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