This is so simple that it might be useful as substitute plans
Here is a very short story that I wrote so that I could focus on the verb hacer for a few days. Look at how many friends Taylor Swift has made! Taylor knows how to make friends…
Conjugations of the verb hacer can be difficult for beginners to hear, so there really is nothing new here for my level 1 students… just a lot more practice of words they have already seen.
Today I spent the day with PQA asking my students what they did over the weekend and what they did over Winter Break.
Tomorrow I will more or less ask the story that you can download here.
On Friday they will read it (I am sure it will be different from the one we actually create as a class story) and, if I feel like they really need to reread it, I may ask them to create a cartoon version of the story over the weekend.
By the way, the story actually has a sweet ending. No vomit, no bathroom humor, no exploding heads. Brains crave novelty, right?
Update February 6, 2015:
Homework for a level one class is tricky; when I assign homework it is almost always reading that they can easily understand. Having students make cartoons from the story is one way to get students to reread the story at home. Here are a few examples of cartoons that students made (at home!) after reading this story. Click on each image to see a full size version, click again to see an enlarged version if you are really curious about details:
Mike, I am thinking about adapting this story for my class this semester, if that is ok with you. I do have a question though, you go between “hace un amigo” which is “she makes a friend”, (right?) to using “se hace amigo de ..” which is “becomes friends with…”, (right?) I’m worried my students might get confused to see “hacer” and “hacerse” in the same story…. how did that play out for you?
Thanks!
I think you are right that it is not a good idea to introduce both structures in the same story. When I wrote this we were in 2nd semester and I wanted to delve deeper into phrases that use hacer, but we had already used hacer extensively. Se hace amigo de… was a completely new structure.
I love this, Mike. This is a triple play in my book. It has: 1) simple,tightly focused language that does not shy away from natural speech, and 2) it includes many pop cultural references that students can comfortably relate to, plus 3) it has REAL advice on how to make friends that kids can actually use. Winner story. I think I’ll steal it.