Spanish Lesson: La vida de la tortuga marina
Lesson Plan
45 minutesGrades3Spanish
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Written by Lorissa Clark, Sustainable Jersey for Schools
About this lesson
Students learn about the life cycle of the turtle and the dangers they face in a changing climate.
Inquire: Students compare animals that lay eggs and learn vocabulary to describe sea turtle nests.
Investigate: Students watch a video to learn about the life cycle of sea turtles and discover the dangers that sea turtles face at each stage.
Inspire: Students add what they learned to an infographic about sea turtles and use the infographic to have a conversation with their classmates.
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Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- This lesson can be added to a unit on the life cycle of animals, or animals in danger of extinction.
- This unit highlights the importance of turtles in our environment, including ones that can be found in New Jersey, while connecting students to a target-language culture.
- Teachers should use as many cognates as possible to provide students with comprehensible input. Teachers can create a movie talk using the video, Hope, from the Inspire section. Information on how to do a movie talk can be found online.
- Teachers can pre-teach vocabulary at the beginning of the lesson or print the Vocabulary Cards to create a word wall or flashcards for students to practice with during the lesson.
- Teachers can organize a trip to the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ so students can view different types of turtles up close.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 2 of 3 in our 3rd grade Spanish Unit: La tortuga marina.
- This lesson is designed for students at novice-mid or higher proficiency.
- Students should be familiar with basic vocabulary related to animals, weather, numbers, and the characteristics of turtles (see Lesson 1).
- Students need scissors and glue for the cutting and pasting activity, or teachers can prepare the cutouts in advance.
- Teacher should preview the video, Hope, and prepare for various student emotions and reactions.
Differentiation
- To differentiate the video activities teachers can do the following:
- Teacher can create an Edpuzzle with the comprehension questions embedded to be used as a whole class or an independent activity.
- The videos can be played with English or Spanish subtitles.
- As an extension to this unit, students who finish early can research and organize a collection of supplies to donate to Sea Turtle Recovery, or the class can adopt/sponsor a sea turtle.
From the scientist review
Esta lección permite a los estudiantes aprender sobre el ciclo de vida de las tortugas marinas, y cómo el cambio climático influye en su ciclo, por ejemplo, las altas temperaturas pueden plantear graves riesgos para la población de tortugas de mar. También explorarían formas de preservarlos en un clima cambiante. Esta lección ha pasado nuestras evaluaciones de credibilidad en la ciencia y se recomienda para la enseñanza.
This lesson allows students to learn about the life cycle of sea turtles, and how climate change influences the life cycle, for instance, high temperatures could pose severe risks to the sea turtle population. They will also explore ways to preserve them under a changing climate. This lesson has passed our credibility assessments in science and is recommended for teaching.
This lesson allows students to learn about the life cycle of sea turtles, and how climate change influences the life cycle, for instance, high temperatures could pose severe risks to the sea turtle population. They will also explore ways to preserve them under a changing climate. This lesson has passed our credibility assessments in science and is recommended for teaching.
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About the teacher writers
Lorissa Clark
Lorissa Clark holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from The College of New Jersey and a Master of Arts in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education from the American College of Education. She has been teaching since 2006 and has 20 years of experience teaching Spanish and English as a Second Language to students in grades K–12. Lorissa holds K–12 teaching certifications in Spanish and English as a Second Language and has extensive experience designing curriculum, integrating technology into instruction, and supporting educators through professional development.
Sustainable Jersey for Schools
Sustainable Jersey is a network and movement of municipalities, schools and school districts working collectively to bring about a sustainable New Jersey. Acting with state agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations, academia and industry, Sustainable Jersey researches best practices for what communities could and should do to contribute to a sustainable future.
