Spanish II · 30 minutes
Suggested grades 10–12 · Unit 3: Explain, Clarify and Revise · Lesson 1 of 2
Clarify Directions and a Practical Need
Use questions and repair to resolve an ambiguous route in a fictional campus.
Mr. S Teaches · Original starter lesson · HS-SP2-05 · Grade range is planning guidance.Language practice target
Practice target: connected familiar-topic sentences, short past-event accounts and clarification in exchanges. This is supported classroom practice, not a certified proficiency rating or a universal Spanish II exit level.
Watch, notice, discuss
Video choices for this lesson
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How to ask for directions in Spanish
By Use your Spanish
Model asking for directions and practical location information; pause for learners to restate a question.
Open on YouTube: How to ask for directions in Spanish (opens a new tab) ↗Spanish Lesson: Prepositions & Adverbs in Spanish
By Butterfly Spanish
Review spatial phrases before clarifying the two route details in the lesson.
Open on YouTube: Spanish Lesson: Prepositions & Adverbs in Spanish (opens a new tab) ↗10 common questions in Spanish
By Butterfly Spanish
Compare a simple where-is question with a more detailed route clarification.
Open on YouTube: 10 common questions in Spanish (opens a new tab) ↗What should a traveler confirm before following a set of directions?
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Learning objective
Complete an exchange that clarifies two route details and confirms the destination before giving directions.
Before you begin
- Use familiar location phrases and ask for clarification.
Gather your materials
- Paper and pencil
- The original Spanish text and phrase bank included in this lesson
Language to know
- sigue recto
- Go straight; a useful direction chunk.
- gira a la derecha
- Turn right; a route instruction.
- ¿quieres decir…?
- Do you mean…? Checks an interpretation.
- antes de / después de
- Before / after; distinguishes positions along the route.
Understand the concept
Fictional map in words: the entrance leads straight to a fountain. The library is on the right after the fountain; the art room is on the right before the fountain. Role A needs the library but initially asks only for “la sala de la derecha.” Role B knows the map. Bank: ¿buscas la biblioteca o el aula de arte?; ¿antes de la fuente o después?; sigue recto; gira a la derecha después de la fuente; gracias por aclararlo (thanks for clarifying). An instruction can be grammatically understandable and still be ambiguous without a landmark or confirmed destination.
Teach it step by step
- Sketch the route and label entrance, fountain, library and art room using the supplied map only.
- Identify why la sala de la derecha does not uniquely identify the destination.
- Exchange hidden role cards and ask a clarifying destination question before giving a route.
- Confirm before/after the fountain and repeat the final route in a different supported sentence.
- Switch roles with a new teacher-checked destination and note the question that prevented a wrong turn.
Make the thinking visible
Worked example or model response
A: Busco la sala de la derecha. B: ¿Buscas la biblioteca o el aula de arte? A: La biblioteca. B: Sigue recto y gira a la derecha después de la fuente. A: ¿Después de la fuente? B: Sí. The question resolves a real ambiguity; the confirmation preserves the landmark relation.
Guided practice
Together identify the direction for the art room and formulate a question distinguishing it from the library.
Independent practice
Create a small fictional map with two plausible right-turn destinations. Give a partner an ambiguous request, then negotiate and confirm a correct route using at least two clarification turns.
Quick assessment
Why could following “turn right” alone send someone to the wrong room on this map?
Answer key & assessment criteria
Answers and teaching guidance
- Guided: the art room is right before the fountain. ¿Antes de la fuente o después? distinguishes the two route positions.
- Independent criteria: the destination is identified before instructions are accepted, landmark relations match the map and both partners use clarification/confirmation to resolve missing information. Alternate maps must remain internally consistent.
- Assessment: both rooms lie to the right at different points. Without the landmark and before/after relation, the instruction does not identify the intended turn.
Look for: Check whether the partner can reconstruct the route. Accept written or spoken exchanges and supported repair rather than memorized directions alone.
Make it work for your learner
More support
Use labeled paper arrows and keep the map visible to both partners before trying a hidden-information version.
Extension challenge
Add one accessibility constraint to a fictional route and negotiate an alternative without assuming anyone’s personal needs.
Verified references · Selected contributions
Standards connections
Subject-content standards
These records identify the part of a subject standard practiced here. Course placement is instructional guidance; the source’s category or band remains authoritative.
Contributes to world-language standard
Interpersonal Communication
World-Readiness Standards · All learner levels · selected introductory task
Negotiate meaning and confirm practical information when an initial request is ambiguous.
Read the official standard ↗The named standard is the identifier used in the current official summary. This supported interpersonal task practices one selected communicative purpose; it does not demonstrate the entire standard, independent spontaneous proficiency or a state course crosswalk.
Verified 2026-11-04. Selected contribution, not full attainment.