Se pone

My students have been learning se pone (puts on) to talk about clothing. First I had different clothing items hidden in my Caja mágica (magic box) and I narrated the students taking the clothing items out and putting them on. In addition to circling se pone to get many repetitions I also asked questions that elicit higher order thinking such as: Why did he/she put that on? Where is she/he going? Would Taylor Swift like that? I also added variety by asking the students for ideas on how they should put on the clothing item. Did he put it on like a zombie or like an elephant?

We also looked at these pictures of zoo animals dressed up in human clothes. The students heard a multitude of repetitions of se pone while we looked at all of the different outfits the animals were wearing and we all had a good laugh. I taught the students some phrases such as ¡Qué guay!  ¡Qué ridículo!  ¡Qué bueno! so that they could share their reactions to the different outfits.

After my students heard a lot of repetitions of se pone I used puppets to tell the story of Carlos, a boy who wants to go to a concert. I wasn't sure how the puppets would go over, but my kids loved acting out the story with them. I don't use the puppets all that often, so it is a novel way to provide them with comprehensible input. Anyways, here is the script of the story. I used a plastic container for the closet and bought doll sized clothes that the students could physically put on the puppet (most of the clothes are extremely ugly which makes this story work). I also let the actor choose what the puppet was trying on.  

Script:

El chico se llama Carlos. Carlos quiere ir a un concierto muy especial. Quiere ir al concierto de Taylor Swift. Carlos necesita ropa fantástica para el concierto. Carlos abre su closet y busca ropa.  
Se pone una bufanda. ¡Qué ridículo! Se quita la bufanda.
Se pone la chaqueta. ¡Qué ridículo! Se quita la chaqueta.
Se pone una falda. ¡Qué ridículo! Se quita la falda.
Se pone los pantalones y le gustan los pantalones mucho. ¡Qué bueno!  

Carlos sube al coche y va al concierto. El coche va muy rápido. Carlos llega al concierto y baja del coche. En el concierto Sally ve a Carlos. Sally ve los pantalones de Carlos y se ríe y le dice "¡Qué ridículo!" Sally no le gustan los pantalones de Carlos. Ella saca muchas fotos de los pantalones de Carlos. Sally pone las fotos en Instagram. Carlos está muy triste.

Extend/Assess:

• Orally re-tell the story and have the students illustrate the story in 6 or 12 squares. The students can then use these drawings to re-tell the story to a partner.
• If you want them to have some writing practice then put lines underneath each picture square and have the students write what is happening in the picture. You could even add an extra square where they could write in more detail what happens to Sally at the end of the story.