Solving the major crime of improper verb use

Introduction

· What is the giant difference between “Ser” & “Estar” & "Por" & "Para" Why is it important to know this difference when studying the Spanish language? How are these two words similar, and how are they different?

· You and your partner are on a mission, to educate America what “Ser” & “Estar” & "Por" & "Para" mean. It’s your duty as a team to solve the ongoing confusion that happens everyday in our American Spanish classrooms. You’re a top secret agent, and you and your partner must do some research and investigation to end the confusion. Gather as many facts and details to create a presentation that will educate everyone the giant difference between the two words. 

Before starting go to the following websites to give you an idea of what you will be researching. 

http://www.spanishnewyork.com/spanish-education-resume.html

http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verb/serestar.html

Task

You and your partner (there is four of you, two will work "Ser" & "Estar" and the other two will work "Por" &"Para") (divde each verb, no one should have the same one) will create a PowerPoint presentation that shows the exact differences between the words “Ser” & “Estar” & "Por" & "Para". It is your duty to create a heavily researched presentation, to show all the different forms of the word and all the different contents that the word can be used in. You should have in your PowerPoint:

I. Colorful, creative PowerPoint. (Be creative, add pictures, tables, videos, etc.)

II. At least 15 slides.

III. All must be presented in Spanish.

IV. You must show a clear explanation of each slide.

V. Thoroughly explain the difference in your presentation.

VI. Slides must be divided and there must be a name on each slide dependent on who created the slide. This is how you receive credit equally.

VII. Share with the other two people in your group so that you can write an incident report after.

 

THEN: you will create an “incident report” to tell us what you learned. 

I. Answer the following questions in a write up report;

1.What does “Ser” mean?

2.What does “Estar” mean?

3.When is it appropriate to use “Ser”?

4.When is it appropriate to use “Estar”?

5.Create a sentence or phrase using “Ser” & “Estar”.

6.What does “Por” mean?

7.What does “Para” mean?

8.When is it appropriate to use “Por”?

9.When is it appropriate to use “Para”?

10.What did you learn from this? Write a page long reflection.

**Each student should have their own incident report**

Process

Here are the following steps you must take to complete your mission:

· With your assigned partner for the mission, your first step is to do research. (YOU MUST USE THE RESOURCES GIVEN TO YOU)

·Look through all the websites and explore them.

·Collect as much information as you can that will answer the Task questions. (To speed the process up, divide the information with your partner.)

·After you’re done with research, get with your partner and share information.

  • Begin creating your PowerPoint 
  • Share your information and research with other two people in your group.
  • Complete your "incident report"


Resources for partnership working on "Ser" & "Estar"  

I.           http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/41

II.         http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/servsestar.html\

III.         http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~annw/ser-estar.html

IV.         http://berks.psu.edu/spanish/serPractice/

Resources for partnership working on "Por" & "Para"

  1. http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/por-para.html
  2. http://www.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/ats/43.htm
  3. http://legacy.lclark.edu/~benenati/porpara/porpara.html
  4. http://brockport.k12.ny.us/webpages/evancho/spanish_2.cfm?subpage=15218

Evaluation

You will be graded individually and on your final product. Participate and you will not receive a bad grade. 

Remember you are responsible for your assigned verb, it's up to you that your group knows everything about your verb. 

**See rubrics for specifics.**

Conclusion

You did it, you’ve solved a very important case. Now you know the major difference between the verbs “Ser” & “Estar” and "Por" & "Para". Spanish vocabulary can be difficult and words can sometimes have the same meanings. These two verbs are some of the most challenging when it comes to learning Spanish. Now you’re a grammar expert in this topic. Now when you write papers in Spanish ask your self, am I using the correct verb?