Apocalipsis de Zombis

Zombies are big right now though I can't begin to understand why.  I mean, they really don't have anything going for them.  They look bad, smell bad, make a mess everywhere they go, and they want to eat your brain.  Not good.

But still they persist in popular culture.  It seems that I see a new zombie video or hear talk of surviving a zombie attack every other day.  So my students were quite taken aback today when I told them we were going to plan for the zombie apocalypse.  Yes, really.  It's a great way to use the conditional tense in Spanish.

I discovered this delightful video on YouTube in which Señor Jordan teaches the use of the conditional tense.  He explains (in Spanish) about people becoming sick and turning into zombies.  Then he poses the question: ¿Qué harías?  He goes through a number of suggestions for how to best respond and then pauses for the listener to decide whether the idea is a good one or bad one.  He goes on to explain the conditional tense and does a few practice activities as well.  All told, an excellent and entertaining educational video.

 

My students really liked the video too.  It's great to hear them laughing and enjoying themselves in class, I must say!  We followed up the video by working in pairs to generate ideas about what to do to survive the coming of the zombies.  They were given instructions to include at least one mala idea also, and that made the activity especially fun.

"Iría a Wal-Mart y compraría comida enlatada, botellas de agua, y otras provisiones."

"Jugaría videojuegos de zombis para mejorar mis habilidades de matarlos."

"Juntaría armas de fuego, municiones, y minas terrestres."

"Estudiaría para mis examenes AP."

"Iría a Fort Bragg para pedir ayuda militar."

"Les enseñaría bailar (a los zombis)"

I'm putting the best ones together in a Powerpoint and we will decide which ones are the good and which ones are the bad ideas.  And I'm going to award a Most Likely to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse certificate to the group with the best plan overall.

And, as I type this, the male members of my family are discussing their own survival strategies - in all seriousness.  I wish you could hear this.  They have thought this through and have strong opinions. *eye roll*

At any rate, maybe you can work a zombie apocalypse into your lesson plans too.  It's a lot of fun and your students will think you're amazing.

Hasta la próxima,

--AnneK