Lesson 4: Estructuras

When you narrate in the past, how do you decide between the Preterite (completed actions) and the Imperfect (descriptions/ongoing actions) to describe a trip you took to the city?

How can you use both tenses in one sentence to describe a common urban occurrence (e.g., "I was walking (imperfect) when I saw (preterite) the bus")?

WL.1B - 1B. Comprehend and produce vocabulary in appropriate contexts when engaged in writing and/or speaking.

WL.1C - 1C. Provide and (and/or) exchange information on familiar topics in social situations in writing and/or speaking.

Description
The grammar in Unit 2 focuses on the mechanics of storytelling and navigation. The centerpiece is the Preterite vs. Imperfect distinction, which allows for sophisticated past narration.

Purpose
The purpose of this section is to enable students to construct cohesive narratives and navigate urban spaces. It aims to: Provide the grammatical framework to narrate in the past, distinguishing between background descriptions (Imperfect) and specific actions (Preterite).

DOK 1: Recall Conjugate verbs in the Preterite and Imperfect or identify the correct Relative Pronoun to complete a sentence about a city landmark.
DOK 2: Skill/Concept Transform a set of present-tense sentences about living in the city into a past-tense paragraph, correctly choosing between Preterite and Imperfect based on context.
DOK 3: Strategic Thinking Use the preterite and imperfect tenses to reconstruct a city-based event.

The "Tense-Marker" Cheat Sheet: Provide a list of "trigger words" associated with each tense (e.g., ayer, el año pasado for Preterite; siempre, todos los días for Imperfect) to help students choose the correct form when narrating in the past.

Imagina: Unit 2 Estructura quizzes on the Vista Supersite.