Unidad 4:

¿Cómo es mi
universidad?
AGREGAR CURSO, NOMBRE, FECHA, ETC.
Calentamiento
Conversen con sus compañeros. Pueden hablar de lo que sea
(whatever).
Unos temas posibles:
• How are you?
• What do you have to do this week?
• What are you going to do this weekend?
• What’s your major?
• What classes do you have this semester?
• What’s in the Spanish classroom?
• Where is the library?
• etc.
Gramática II
Describe school-related activities.
Conversar 4-13 ¡Tirar los
dados!
It’s important to practice verb conjugations, especially of
the irregular verbs you have learned so far, so that they
become automatic and natural to you. One way to
practice is to play a simple game with a die (singular of
dice) and list of verbs, following the steps to complete
this activity.
Conversar 4-13 ¡Tirar los
dados!
1 yo
Paso 1. Player A chooses a verb.
2 tú
3 ella/él/usted
4 nosotr@s
5 ustedes
6 ell@s

Paso 2. Player B chooses randomly or rolls the die and

then conjugates the chosen verb according to the result.
Paso 3. Together, both players determine if the
conjugated verb was correct.
Paso 4. Switch roles, and play again.
Conversar 4-14 La vida
estudiantil
You and your partner are new students at Universidad de
las Américas Puebla, and you both want to familiarize
yourselves with the campus and what you can do there.
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 1
With your partner, look at the following activities and decide in which
building you would do that activity on a typical college campus. Then, write
complete sentences describing where students do each activity.Don’t
forget to conjugate the verbs and remember that you don’t need to
explicitly repeat the subject every time! Review this section’s Vocabulario
Lista de actividades:
for help.
● almorzar
● comprar libros
● sacar libros
● caminar en el invierno
● descansar
● estudiar
● participar en experimentos
científicos
● pasar tiempo con otros estudiantes
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 2
Now that you have an idea of what buildings might typically be on a
college campus, look at this campus map and work together to find out the
following:
1. Are all of the buildings from your list on the Universidad de las Américas
Puebla campus map?
2. Where is it located? Include the specific code, J1, as well as a general
description.
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 2
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 3
Choose three buildings which were on the map but not on
your list from Paso 1. Where are they? Feel free to look
up the meaning of any building names you don’t know!
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 4
With another group, take turns describing the location of
the building that you found. Let the other group tell you
the specific name or code of the building.
Conversar 4-14 La vida estudiantil
Paso 5
After finding the other group’s buildings, work together to
prepare a list of any new words you learned during this
activity. Write one sentence using the word in context
and one to state the meaning in English. Be ready to
present to the class.
Conversar 4-15 La vida en la universidad
Paso 1
In pairs, use the verbs below to write three sentences about what you
like about university life and three about what you don’t–but don’t
explicitly say whether you like or dislike those things! Try to use as much
of the vocabulary from the unit as you can as well as the connectors y
(and) and pero (but) to develop the complexity of the sentences and to
make contrasts.

ser estar haber

buscar descansar asar
calificar enseñar sacar
caminar estudiar terminar
comprar participar tomar
Conversar 4-15 La vida en la universidad
Paso 2

Read the sentences the other groups wrote. With your

partner, decide whether each sentence is something
you personally like or dislike. Are there any
differences of opinion between the two of you? Be
prepared to share those differences with the class.
Conversar 4-16 Características
demográficas de los estudiantes
universitarios.
A recent report documents various demographic characteristics of
university students. Follow the steps to learn about some of these
characteristics.
Conversar 4-16 Características
demográficas de los estudiantes
universitarios. Paso 1
Work with a partner to study and interpret the figures. Together,
answer the following questions.

1.¿Qué raza/etnia representa el

mayor número de estudiantes? ¿El
segundo? ¿El tercero?

2.En la figura, aproximadamente el

15 por ciento de los datos no
representan ninguna raza/etnia
específica. ¿Por qué? ¿Cuáles son
los porcentajes de esas categorías?
3. Basado en un examen
visual solamente, ¿parece
que hay más hombres o
mujeres universitarios?

4. Calculen los porcentajes

promedios (averages)de
hombres y mujeres (de
todas razas/etnias).
¿Cuáles son?

5. De las cuatro
razas/etnias
representadas, ¿en cuál
hay un número mayor de
mujeres? ¿Y de
hombres?
7. ¿Qué raza/etnia
se gradúa de su
universidad original
con mayor
frecuencia? ¿Qué
porcentaje?

8. ¿Qué raza/etnia
deja la universidad
sin terminar con
mayor frecuencia?
¿Qué porcentaje?

10. ¿Qué raza/etnia

toma el mayor
tiempo para
completar sus
estudios? ¿Qué
Conversar 4-16 Características
demográficas de los estudiantes
universitarios. Paso 2
Join with another pair to keep talking about the graphics
and what they mean.
1.En términos generales, ¿qué grupos parecen (appear) tener el mayor
éxito en la universidad? ¿Qué datos apoyan su respuesta?

2.En términos generales, ¿qué grupos parecen tener más dificultades

en la universidad? ¿Qué datos apoyan su respuesta?

3.¿Por qué creen que las tendencias son así?

4.¿Hay algo que podemos o debemos hacer para cambiar esta

situación? Den ejemplos concretos.
Conversar 4-16 Características
demográficas de los estudiantes
universitarios. Paso 3+4
Paso 3. With your partner, choose one of the three categories
reported above (race and ethnicity, gender, or graduation rates).
Look up similar information for your university. Is it similar or
different to the national results?

Paso 4. Talk with other groups who compared your university to

the national results in a different category than you researched.
After getting information on all three categories, what is the most
interesting thing you learned? Be prepared to share with the class.
Conversar 4-17 Encuentra a alguien
Paso 1
Working with your classmates, ask the following
questions until you find someone who can answer
affirmatively and write that person’s name on the
corresponding line. You will also be asked questions.
When answering, make sure you and your classmates
use complete sentences. The first person to complete the
table wins!
Conversar 4-17 Encuentra a alguien
Paso 2
In small groups, share your results and summarize your
findings from Paso 1. Write at least four statements.
Conversar 4-18 ¿Y los
profesores?
What you do think that instructors do when they are not
teaching class? You will interview your instructor to find
out more about his or her particular schedule and the
schedules of instructors in general. Then, you will write a
brief report based on what you learn. Follow the steps to
complete this activity.
Conversar 4-18 ¿Y los profesores?
Paso 1
In small groups, create five questions about the activities
that your instructor does on campus and where these
take place, and if this is common for other professors.
Conversar 4-18 ¿Y los profesores?
Paso 2
Take turns interviewing your instructor as a whole class.
Make sure that you are listening to the other teams’
questions and writing down your instructor’s responses to
these questions.
Conversar 4-18 ¿Y los profesores?
Paso 3
Organize the information that you learned about your
instructor’s schedule and his or her opinions about
whether this is typical among other instructors. Then,
write your findings in a brief report of five to six
sentences.
Conversar 4-19 La universidad
del futuro.
You are going to think about how education and
universities might change in the next 50 years. Follow
the steps.
Conversar 4-19 La universidad
del futuro. Paso 1
In groups of 3-4 people, brainstorm ideas about how the
indicated aspects of student life will be different in 50
years. Take notes.
•el campus
•las aulas
•los cursos
•la residencia estudiantil
•la biblioteca
•el centro estudiantil
•los estudiantes
•¿otro?
Conversar 4-19 La universidad
del futuro. Paso 2 + 3
Paso 2. Now, design the campus and university of the
future. Describe three aspects from Paso 1.

Paso 3. Plan your presentation, skit or brochure to

present your university to the rest of your class.
Conversar 4-20 Conversación
guiada
Your best friend (Estudiante B) from back home calls
you (Estudiante A) as you’re walking across campus.
This is the first time you’ve spoken since the semester
started, so you have a lot to catch up on. In pairs, have a
conversation about life on campus so far. Select the
desired option to continue the conversation, when given
the choice. Feel free to complete all of the conversations
available.