AIM
To start thinking about water in its different contexts.
MATERIALS
Spanish dictionary.
LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM
Junior Cycle: Strand 1: Communicative competence, linked to LO 1.9, 1.15 and Strand 2: Language awareness, linked to LO 2.2
Senior Cycle: II. Language Awareness, 5
METHODOLOGY
Divide the class into small groups and give them a dictionary and a marker for the whiteboard. Ask them to think of words that they associate with water. They are asked to find those words in Spanish, and write them on the whiteboard. The group that has the most words correctly written on the board is the winner. When they finish, try to add words that they didn’t think of, such as war, blue gold, conflict, privatization… all related to water.
PRACTISE YOUR SPANISH
- This activity will help students become more familiar with a dictionary and how to use it.
- You can ask them to brainstorm on words related to water but without the dictionary, and penalise them if they need to use it.
- You can modify the activity to practise spelling in Spanish.
Ask one person of each team to write their words on the board and the other students will tell them the word and spell it in Spanish if they don’t know how to write it.
CONNECTIONS WITH IRELAND AND TAKING ACTION
Water has different meanings for different communities. An action the students could take is research on Latin American and Irish legends about water. What do they have in common?
