Spanish soccer vocabulary
S.O.A.R. lesson plan
Michael Mason-D’Croz
Classroom objectives and strategies:
Introduction:
This lesson will be about teaching students the vocabulary necessary for a basic
understanding of soccer in Spanish. The topics covered include the general positions of
the players on the field, their names and the names of the different pieces of the uniform.
This will help students to comprehend what is going on during a Spanish broadcast of a
soccer game. The lesson is a 10-15 minute period of a larger 50-minute lesson plan. This
particular lesson is geared towards 9th or 10th graders in a Spanish 1 or Spanish 2
classroom (14-16 years old).
The goals of the lesson include:
♦ Students will identify the different pieces of a soccer uniform
♦ Students will diagram where a certain player is on the field
♦ Students will understand the job of a striker
Objectives:
1. Following instruction, the students will be able to label player positions on
a soccer field using the Spanish vocabulary with 90% accuracy.
2. Given a picture of a soccer ball, the students will be able to correctly label
the photo with the Spanish vocabulary word that corresponds.
3. Given a picture of a soccer player, the students will be able to label the
different pieces of clothing that are part of a uniform with 80% accuracy.
4. Upon request, the students will be able to physically point out the different
pieces of a soccer uniform from a diagram in the front of the classroom
with 90% accuracy.
5. Following instruction, the students will be able to describe what the basic
job of a striker is for their respective soccer team with no errors.
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Motivation:
Motivation is a key to making the classroom and effective teaching and, more
importantly, learning environment. The key to keeping students’ attention and keeping
their motivation high is to stimulate their desire to learn the material during this input
phase of teaching. The desire to learn the material and participate in the class stems from
the way that the teacher presents the material to the students.
In this lesson, the main input would come from a form of language teaching
called “Total Physical Response” otherwise known as TPR. In this form of teaching, the
teacher remains active in front of the class and illustrates meaning while saying the words
to the students. It also calls for the teacher to ask for class participation while presenting
the new vocabulary by having the students point, or touch, the illustrations and receive
the input.
This way of presenting the material will keep the learners’ attention and make
sure they are interested in what is going on in the front of the classroom through
modeling. However, there is a piece of desire molding that takes place before the
beginning of the lesson, and that is part of the warm-up phase of the lesson.
During the warm-up phase, the teacher engages the students’ interest and
heightens their emotional arousal by showing a brief clip of a World Cup soccer match,
and raises their consciousness by introducing the sport of soccer using facts about the
game:
♦ Most popular sport in the world
♦ World Cup is the most viewed sporting event in history
♦ Soccer has, in some cases, stopped wars – and in others started them
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♦ Soccer is known as “the world’s game”
With these facts in hand, and the motivation from watching that introduction, this short
lesson has a foundation set in place to keep the learners interested.
The last piece of the puzzle is keeping the students internally interested in the
material. I would do this by informing the students of the soccer match video the class
would watch at the end of the week and the comprehension assignment that went with it.
I would stress that the goal of these assignments is comprehension, so students should set
internal goals of comprehension instead of focusing on a letter grade towards their
assignment. I would inform them I was looking for improvement, not just perfection.
Some students, however, won’t be internally motivated to learn the subject matter.
For some students, this subject will be boring and monotonous. For them there needs to
be an external reward for participating in the class and learning the subject. Although the
video at the end of the week is a good reward, I believe that a token economy is a better
way of rewarding the here and now. Students who participate well in the classroom will
be rewarded points – which are redeemable for free time, assignment forgiveness and
candy treats.
Through these simple actions during the 10-15 minutes, the students would
maintain a level of interest and a motivation to learn about the subject.
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Behavioral Management:
Managing a classroom is important, and is vital to lesson success. There are three
ways to manage a class’ behavior: preventative, surface, and control. Preventative
strategies take place before the students even steps foot in the class and are easy ways to
help the class stay on task. In this case, my best plan for helping students stay on task
through preventative behavioral management is to structure the classroom to be a good
learning environment.
By arranging the tables in a “U” shape, the students will all be able to see each
other and the front of the classroom, making discussions and presentations easy to view
and understand. This arrangement also helps me to monitor the students as they are at
their desks. By being able to see students’s face, there is more accountability placed on
each on of them. I would also close the door to the hallway, and partially close the blinds
to the windows. By doing this, I limit the distractions from outside of the classroom to
seep into the room.
After arranging the physical layout of the room, I can focus on setting clear
guidelines for the classroom experience, and rules to live by while in the class. This
would be set up before the class starts so students know what to expect when it comes to
their behavior in the classroom. I would also want to make sure to use clear instruction
during the lesson, letting the students know what they are supposed to be doing to stay on
task instead of generalizing and leaving the students in limbo.
The last thing I can prepare for before class happens is to be a teacher with a good
“with-it-ness” factor. By this, I mean that I can be attentive towards what is going on in
the classroom, and what the students are doing. Part of this is having a good presence in
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the classroom and a clear, easily comprehendible speaking tone. This will help the
students know I am in a place of authority – especially when it comes to the lesson – and
will help prevent any questionable behavior.
During the lesson itself, I must switch to surface strategies, which can help quell
bad behavior by correcting a problem. During this lesson, the best strategy is to use
proximity control of the students. By moving closer to students who are off task, they
will realize that they are off task and will try catch up to where we are in the lesson.
However, if they are behind or off task because they have not understood an earlier part
of the lesson, it is my job to help guide them to where we are.
I can do this by scaffolding the lesson for the students. In the case of someone
who has not understood, I can repeat important points, offer clear hints towards the
correct answers and offer encouragement while they get there. These actions will help
lower the affective-filter of the student and build confidence via success in the classroom.
The last thing I could do is control strategies (i.e. positive or negative
reinforcement or punishment, extinction or time-out). I have already discussed one of my
control strategies for this classroom during my motivation section. That strategy was the
token economy I offered as motivation. A token economy when used as I have described
above is a form of positive reinforcement, as the giving of stimulus works to increase the
behavior exhibited by the student.
Not all behavior, however, should be reinforced. Thus, I need to keep in mind that
it is important to keep an eye on all the students in the class and use the strategy needed
at that particular moment.
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SOAR Strategies:
The SOAR model of teaching is a way that teachers can better organize their
materials to present to the class. By Selecting, Organizing, making Associations and
Regulating students, it helps a teacher to better communicate the lesson for
comprehension.
Select:
The first thing I need to do during the SOAR model of teaching is to select the
material presented to the class for this lesson. In this case, I have selected a list of basic
soccer terms that are important to know to be able to understand a soccer broadcast in
Spanish. Around the room I have hung soccer jerseys from across the globe, and have a
diagram of a soccer field in the middle of the board to help students visualize the context
of the material.
To help the students select the important aspects of this lesson I have provided
cues and stimuli they can follow and understand. In this case, using TPR means I will be
pointing to objects as I use the vocabulary. That means, the movement will stress the
importance and will illustrate the new vocabulary input. However, my tone of voice and
the way I pronounce words will help students discern which words are most important
and what the meaning might be.
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However, my movement and vocal tones aren’t enough to ensure learner
retention. For that reason I have a couple of strategies that will help the students with
their note taking and their comprehension. I provide the students with a complete list of
the vocabulary involved in the lesson – including a diagram of the field for them to use:
Soccer Vocabulary – Vocabulario de futbol
La Defensa
Portero
El Ataque
El Mediocampo
Un Delantero
Un Mediocampista o
Volante
English - Spanish
Un Marcador
The Team - El Equipo
A Player -Un Jugador
A Footballer - Un Futbolista
El Campo
Ball – La Pelota/El Balón
The Goalkeeper - El Portero/El Guardameta/ El Arquero
The Defence - La Defensa
A Defender - Un Marcador
The Midfield - El Mediocampo
A Midfielder - Un Mediocampista/ Un Volante
The Attack - El Ataque
A Forward/Striker - Un Delantero
The Manager/Coach/Trainer - El Técnico/El Entrenador
The/A Game/Match – El/Un Partido
The Field/Pitch - El Campo
Goal – Gol
Score a goal – Marcar un gol
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La Ropa …
Boots/Cleats - Las Botas/Los Guayos
Shirt/Jersey - La Camiseta
Shorts - El Pantalón Corto
Socks - Las Medias
Shin guards – Las Espinilleras/Canilleras
Goalkeeper Gloves – Guantes de Portero
The Club/Nation Badge - El Escudo
Full Uniform/Kit - El Uniforme/La Equipación
These notes are handed out after the class period is completed so I know the students
have all the vocabulary words written down. However, during the lesson itself I will
provide the students with skeletal notes for them to fill out.
These notes will help the students to select the important information and to learn
what exactly is expected of them from this lesson in the class. The skeletal notes are
organized with a couple of diagrams that the students can fill out as the lesson goes
along. This set of notes will resemble the worksheet that would be handed out at the end
of the class for them to take home for homework. The skeletal notes are provided on the
next two pages.
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Vocabulario de futbol
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Organize:
The next step to teaching this lesson is to help the students organize the lesson
material. I have included that into my selection notes. As is clearly illustrated in the notes
above, there are two main diagrams – a soccer pitch and a soccer player – that will be
labeled with the vocabulary from the lesson. This graphic organizer will help the students
to further encode the lesson material into long-term memory.
Since this lesson is focusing on vocabulary, other graphic organizers won’t help
much. Although in future lessons it would be a good idea to compare and contrast the
names of the players from different sports via a matrix or do the same for the different
words for a uniform. However, in this particular case, the diagrams used above are by far
the best way to organize the information.
Associate:
The third step of the SOAR teaching method involves helping students form
associations in the material. There are two types of associations that a student can make –
internal or external – and it is important as a teacher to foster both types of associations.
In this case, the diagrams provided will help students to form internal associations for the
vocabulary materials. With the different positions on the field, they can make
associations with the pictures of where these players are located and what their jobs are.
With the uniforms, the students can make the visual internal association with where the
article of clothing goes on the body.
Internal associations, however, are not the only way of relaying the message and
helping students to understand the material. It is also important to help students form
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external associations to the material. In this lesson that can be made via a number of
different routes.
The first way I would think to help students form external associations is to try
and draw on their background knowledge. It’s wrong to assume they have all played
soccer in their lives, but they have all heard of soccer and know at least some basics.
With this in mind, it would be foolish to not draw on the background knowledge that
each student brings to the table.
The other way to help students in this vocabulary lesson is using mnemonics.
Especially with Spanish vocabulary words, mnemonic techniques are powerful for
students to remember:
•
“Futbol” means soccer, think of it as a “foot” and a “ball” – in soccer you kick the
ball with your feet as you’re not allowed to use your hands. Thus, foot-ball is
soccer = futbol.
•
“El balón” is the ball used to play. Think of a soccer ball that is on a field, so the
ball is on the field.
•
“El portero” is the goalie. So visualize a goalie stopping ships from entering a sea
port.
This strategy is something that students should be made aware of when it comes to
vocabulary in a second language.
These associations are the key to changing a piece of information from a shortterm memory fact into a meaningful long-term memory idea. It is important to make sure
students are equipped to both form internal and external associations with the material
that is provided to them in class.
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Regulate:
The final step to SOAR teaching is to help the students regulate the information
that has been presented to them in class. In the case of this lesson, I have set this idea up
both as in class and out of class activities. The in class way of regulation is asking
students questions about the new material – such as pointing to the crest on a soccer
jersey and asking for the new vocabulary word.
I have also prepared a worksheet that asks factual and conceptual questions about
the information that was talked about in class. This worksheet is supposed to be worked
alongside the skeletal and complete notes that were provided to the students during the
class period. An example of the worksheet starts on the next page.
These two pages will demonstrate whether or not the students have met the
lesson’s objectives. Objectives 1 and 2 were both factual based, while 3, 4 and 5 were all
conceptual objectives for the class.
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Vocabulario de futbol
Nombre __________________________
Ahora contesta las preguntas en estas graficas usando el nuevo vocabulario:
¿Cuales son los posiciones? ¿Donde estan jugando?¿Como se llama el juego entre dos
equipos?
¿Que es esto?
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Aquí tenemos una foto de Fernando Torres. Él es un delantero del equipo nacional de
España, y trabaja para el club Liverpool en Inglaterra. Por favor, marca en la foto toda su
ropa usando el nuevo vocabulario.
¿Que hacen los delanteros para sus equipos?
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Strategy Instruction:
I will illustrate strategy instruction for creating diagrams for better comprehension
of vocabulary words in both foreign and native languages.
“Steven, I noticed you are struggling to remember where on the field the
mediocampistas and the delanteros play. I want to teach you a strategy on how to
remember where on the field they go, it’s called diagramming. Here’s how it works: you
draw a picture of the general subject then label the parts. I know you are a fan of the
Spanish videos and telenovelas we watch each Friday, so that will be the reward. If you
have the positions of the mediocampista and the delantero correct by the end of the week,
I’ll let you borrow any DVD of telenovelas or Spanish movies from my video library.”
(Introduce and sell strategy)
Here’s an example I did with the body parts of a butterfly. When I was in biology,
I had a hard time remembering what each part of a butterfly was called. So I drew a
picture of a butterfly then drew lines away from the body. Each one of those lines pointed
to a certain body part which had a vocabulary word associated to it. So I labeled each line
so I could visually see the butterfly and see what each part was called.” (Model the
strategy)
OK, I would like to see you try this strategy right now. I know you know
American Football quite well. So will please you diagram where the players in that sport
are located on the field. When you are done please show me and explain to me what you
did. Tonight I want you to diagram a soccer field and label the positions using your notes,
then bring it to class tomorrow and show it to me.” (Perfect the strategy)
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Did you know that these diagrams can be used for almost any vocabulary
assignment? I was able to ace my butterfly section of biology because of the diagrams I
drew. This strategy is a powerful tool to remembering vocabulary words and knowing
where they go spatially with their respective topics. This can help you remember
vocabulary words for Spanish, biology or even history for different tests. It’s really a
good way to see what is being talked about in class.” (Generalize the strategy)
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