Spanish Bullfight Lesson Plan (Video)

Length of Lesson: 50 minutes

VA Standards of Learning

SOL SI.5

The student will present information orally and in writing in Spanish, using a variety of

familiar vocabulary, phrases and structural patterns.

1. Present information gathered from informal conversations, class presentation,

interviews, readings, and/or a variety of media sources.

SOL SI.7

The student will develop an awareness of perspectives, practices, and products of Spanish

speaking cultures.

1. Identify some viewpoints of Spanish-speaking cultures, such as those relating to time,

education, transportation, and the roles of family members.

2. Identify some customs and traditions of Spanish-speaking cultures, such as greetings,

celebrations, holiday practices, and forms of address that demonstrate politeness.

Cognitive Objectives

• Students will understand the Spanish and English meanings of specific words that

relate to bullfighting.

• Students will be able to debate about the controversies and heritage of a bullfight.
Materials:

Videos (posted on website)

Handouts

Teaching and Learning Sequence

Introduction/Anticipatory Set

• The teacher will begin a review of the words that relate to Spanish bullfighting.

• The students will have already had a lesson on most of these words.

• The teacher will review words by either having flashcards, writing them up on the

board, or giving a short mini quiz that counts for nothing.

• The teacher will give a brief introduction to the “60 Minutes Presents” video clips

that will be played. There are four clips and all are in English, all running roughly

3 minutes, 15 seconds.

• The teacher will tell the students that a debate will take place after the video is

over where students will be either for bullfighting or against it. They will have to

defend their position either for or against.

Lesson Plan

• The teacher will start the lesson by asking students what they think of

bullfighting. Such questions as, have you seen bullfighting on tv? What are your

thoughts?

• The teacher will go to the introduction video and show it.

 • These videos build on each other, showing different sides of how bullfighting is

viewed. The below is a guide for the different segments that are shown.

• After each video is played the teacher will engage in question asking with such

questions as:

What do you think of the bullfighters depicted in this expose?

What do you think the view of killing animals in the ring is like in Spain?

Do cultural views of killing animals vary from country to country?

Is this an ancient and archaic form of entertainment or is it a cultural

tradition that needs to be continued?

Is bullfighting a sporting event that you think will continue in Spain?

• After the four clips have been played, the teacher will divide the class into two

groups with one group in defense of bullfighting and the other against

bullfighting.

• These sites are against the torture of bulls and can be shown before the debate.

http://www.addaong.org/que_7.html

http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/article1395.html

• The debate takes place and students can use English or Spanish to discuss the

various points they bring up.

Here is a summary of what takes place during the video.

Bob Simon, the 60 Minutes reporter, asks do you have strong feelings about bullfighting?

There are more bullfights in Spain then ever before

This is partially due to a new generation of matadors.

Francisco Ordonez and Cayetano Ordonez are introduced. They are the only brothers in
Spanish bullfighting history to be top bullfighters at the same time.

Their great grandfather, grandfather, and father were all bullfighters.

They fight 60 times a year.

Francisco has fought 1000 times.

These gentlemen are worshipped.

They don’t like fighting together.

Their grandfather, Anotonio Ordonez was the best bullfighter in Spain in the past 50

years.

Their father was gored in the ring and died a horrible death.

Their mother tried to keep them away from bullfighting by sending them out of the

country.

They returned to Spain and went straight to the bulls.

It is in the blood.

Cayetano decided to become a bullfighter at 27.

Cayetano has many injuries this season.

(6:40)

Does it occur to you that you might not come back, Simon questions?

Always…. He says…

The procession, pageantry

Suit of Lights

Now, it’s just between him and the bull.

Closer to death that makes you feel more alive (Cayetano)

One of Cayetano’s assistants gets gored in the leg. He is rushed to the infirmary, and will
live but may not walk again.

Bullfighting is described as ancient and archaic by Simon.

Cayetano falls over and his liver is seriously damaged.

Bullfighting helps Cayetano get to know himself better. He says the limit is when

someone dies.

Closure

To close the lesson, the teacher will do a Venn diagram, showing the different stances

that were posited in the class. The teacher will ask questions to the students and construct

the Venn diagram based on their responses. Since there is no right or wrong answers, the

teacher will leave it at this.

Homework

Students will complete a worksheet about Spanish bullfighting.

Formative Assessment

The debate alone about bullfighting is a formative assessment because

the students have to come up with an answer for the teacher’s

questions and have to take a stand. To gauge student understanding

of the new vocabulary for Spanish bullfighting terms, the teacher can

ask what the words mean in Spanish and give their English meanings,

and vice versa. This will allow for the teacher to determine whether

there needs to be differentiation for different students.

Summative Assessment
The student’s knowledge of bullfighting can be assessed with a quiz or

test at the end of the unit by giving them a multiple-choice assessment

to determine if knowledge has been retained. The debate allows the

students to learn the information because they have to soak it in in

order to talk about the topic.

References

CBS (2008).Youtube-Blood Brothers. Retrieved from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U11HNjPD-I

Appended Materials

If time permits during the lesson, the teacher can get students to

participate in a quiz from the following website:

http://www.quia.com/cm/51284.html?AP_rand=125166156

The following is a great site with vocabulary words. The teacher can

navigate to this site at the beginning of the class and utilize this as a

resource to review vocabulary words.

http://www.donquijote.org/culture/spain/bullfight/vocabulary.asp
The following is a site that has some good vocabulary definitions but is

a little wordy.

http://www.anglophone-direct.com/Millas-Feria

The following is a site that has some good background information

about the origins and what bullfighting is about:

http://www.spanish-teaching.com/2007/11/about-bullfighting-and-

bullfighting-vocabulary-you-are-sure-to-hear

These sites are against the torture of bulls and can be shown before the debate.

http://www.addaong.org/que_7.html

http://www.ecologistasenaccion.org/article1395.html