By guest blogger Alicia
Alicia Quintero is a teacher from Chicago, USA, with years of experience teaching Spanish utilizing the International Baccalaureate model. She sent us this extension activity she did about the ‘Corrida de toros’ tradition and we just had to share it with you! You can read more about Alicia at the end of the post. – Chantal
I follow the blog and some of the activities I saw the students doing reminded me of a Mary Glasgow activity my 7th graders did last year.
Last year Mary Glasgow magazine featured a story about the fighting of the bulls from Spain (article below the cut). It captured my attention and I ended up creating a whole unit around the topic including a newsletter, visuals and tiered questions for both lower learners and high-end learners.
Los Toros, ¿tradición o crueldad? (PDF)
The picture shows the Running of the Bulls extension activity I did with my students: The objective of the assignment was to read two views of the event and determine the implicit attitudes. Students also had to give an opinion of the event. These were 7th graders.
Additionally, the article actually pushed me to develop many activities that turned into a unit wherein students in 8th grade interpreted the visuals of bull fighting and wrote an in-depth essay response – of course with tons of scaffolding. My principal and I were both amazed at how easily the transfer from English to Spanish was – these are not native speakers.
Download Alicia’s Running of the Bulls Extension Activity and see the students’ responses.
How do you tackle the subject of bull runs and bull fights in class? Do you discuss it with your students? Or do you avoid the subject?
About Alicia Quintero: Alicia is a teacher from Chicago, USA, with years of experience teaching Spanish utilizing the International Baccalaureate model of holistic education, whole language experience, and rigorous instruction and assessment. She has one Master’s degree in Spanish Language, Literatures and Cultures and a second one in Educational Leadership. You can find her in the comments sections of many of our blog posts. Feel free to leave questions and comments for her here!
One Year in Spanish 
I saw a bullfight in Madrid once, pretty cool but gruesome at the same time… Saw activists protesting bull fighting down town too. That’s a good question, how to tackle such a controversial topic. When I studied Spanish in middle school and high school, it was a topic that was skirted around.
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Before I use this in class, I want to make sure that the article is not copyrighted–I didn’t see any information on the page, but it looks like a page from a workbook or textbook. Do you have any idea as to its source? Or would you be able to find out from Alicia?
Hi Martina! Thanks for commenting! I’ll ask Alicia about the text in the PDF with the students’ work. In the mean time, you’re free to use our article (Los Toros, ¿tradición o crueldad?) to prepare for your lesson. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear back from her (or she might see your comment first 🙂 ) – Chantal
Yes! I love the article you did–and it looks so great! Thanks!
[…] By guest blogger AliciaAlicia Quintero is a teacher from Chicago, USA, with years of experience teaching Spanish utilizing the International Baccalaureate model. She sent us this extension activity… […]
Great activity! However, I do not see a link for the questions that the students were asked. I see the students responses and can maybe guess what the questions were, but do you have a copy of what you asked them? Thanks!