The students will be learning about one of the past tenses in Spanish called the preterite. The basic components of the preterite will be discussed before the students learn the endings. For example, they will learn that the preterite is used when something has only happened one time or a limited number of times in the past. Once they realize that this isn't just a Spanish thing, we will move on to the presentation of the endings. After practice through the textbook and Amsco practice sheets, there will be a test given to be sure the students know their endings for the preterite. Once the lesson is complete, the students wil then be moving on to the imperfect tense and then a lesson comparing the two.

Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions. Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment. Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.

Students must understand the concept of conjugating a verb. They will also have a concept of when to use the preterite before they learn the specific endings.

There is much practice needed when teaching the students the preterite tense. Any time they are conjugating the verb in Spanish in a sentence, they should also be translating that sentence back to English. This way, in my opinion, they begin to have an idea what they are talking about. They have something in their own language to compare it to. This will also help the students when they get to the comparison lesson with the imperfect. By then they will have some of the comparisons sorted in their minds. The lesson should be presented as you choose. I have included a Power Point presentation that you may want to use to help you present this concept.

At this point, the assessment will be basic. You will need to test for knowledge of the endings used with the preterite. You may also want to make sure they know the uses of the preterite, although the emphasis on this point will come in the last lesson on the comparison with the imperfect.

An oral question and answer period with students asking them what they did last year, last night, yesterday or even this morning can be helpful.

A computer with Windows 95 or 98 will be needed to run the Power Point presentation. You will also need some kind of projection device such as a tvator and television or an overhead projector.