Proyecto 2: Un día práctico
Chapter Objectives
This project chapter brings together Chapters 6–9. By the end of it, you will be able to:
- Talk about dates, times, and schedules using regular -ar verbs.
- Describe your daily routine using regular -er/-ir verbs and reflexive verbs.
- Describe your home and neighborhood using estar, hay, and prepositions of place.
- Talk about your interests using gustar, and manage an invitation using querer, poder, saber, and conocer.
- Combine all of the above into one connected spoken and written account of a practical day.
This chapter introduces no major new grammar system. Its purpose is to consolidate and assess the material from Chapters 6 through 9 through integrated listening, speaking, reading, and writing tasks.
Communication Scenario
Elena's visit to Marisol and Diego's home is coming to an end for the week, and Marisol has asked Elena to help plan a full, practical day together — one that includes a morning routine, a stop at home, and an afternoon activity. Before the day begins, Elena writes back describing her own typical day and confirms what everyone wants to do.
- You will review and combine vocabulary and grammar from Chapters 6–9.
- You will describe a full day — schedule, routine, location, and plans — in connected speech and writing.
Unit Review: Vocabulary
The chart below organizes the vocabulary domains from Unit II. No new vocabulary is introduced in this chapter; review each domain before beginning the tasks that follow.
Ch. 6 — Fechas, horas y planes
Days, months, seasons, clock time, a for clock time, schedule vocabulary.
Ch. 7 — Mi rutina diaria
Reflexive routine verbs, frequency expressions, negation vocabulary.
Ch. 8 — En casa y en el barrio
Rooms, furniture, neighborhood places, prepositions of place, al and del.
Ch. 9 — Gustos, habilidades y tiempo libre
Free-time activities, gustar-type verbs, invitation language.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| todos los días, por la mañana, por la tarde, por la noche | every day, in the morning, in the afternoon, at night |
| despertarse, levantarse, ducharse, vestirse, acostarse | to wake up, to get up, to shower, to get dressed, to go to bed |
| la sala, la cocina, el dormitorio, el baño | the living room, the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom |
| cerca de, lejos de, al lado de, enfrente de | near, far from, next to, across from |
| el fútbol, la música, salir con amigos | soccer, music, to go out with friends |
Unit Review: Grammar
Purpose: consolidate the grammar systems from Chapters 6–9 so that they can be combined in one connected account of a practical day. No form below is new.
Regular present tense
Regular -ar, -er, and -ir verbs in all persons, active since Chapters 6 and 7.
Reflexive verbs
Pronoun placement before a conjugated verb: me despierto, te levantas, se acuesta.
Estar and hay
Estar for location of known things and people; hay for existence of unspecified things.
Gustar and indirect object pronouns
Me/te/le/nos/les + gusta/gustan, agreeing with the thing liked.
Querer, poder
Stem-changing verbs e→ie and o→ue, used to want, to be able, and to invite.
Saber versus conocer
Saber for facts and skills; conocer for people and places, with personal a.
A connected account of a day usually moves through time markers (primero, luego, después, por la tarde), routine verbs, a location description with estar or hay, and a closing statement of interests or plans with gustar, querer, or poder. Use this order as a planning tool for the tasks in this chapter.
Model Dialogue: Un mensaje de Marisol
Context: Marisol calls Elena the night before to confirm the plan for their practical day together.
Notice how the dialogue moves through Chapter 6 time expressions, Chapter 7 routine verbs, Chapter 8 location language, and Chapter 9 interests and invitations — the same integrated pattern used in this chapter's tasks.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the script below aloud, or read it aloud to yourself slowly.
- Listen for Diego's morning routine and the time he gets up.
- Listen for what is in his apartment and what is near his building.
- Listen for what Diego likes to do, what he knows how to do, and his plan for Saturday.
Speaking Practice
Práctica controlada — Controlled practice: Mi horario
Say four sentences describing your daily schedule, including at least two reflexive verbs and one clock-time expression.
Tarea comunicativa — Communicative task: Mi casa y mi barrio
With a partner, describe your home and neighborhood using hay and at least two prepositions of place. Ask your partner one question about their neighborhood.
Proyecto oral — Oral project: Un día práctico
Working alone or with a partner, narrate one full day from morning to night. Include your routine, where you are, what you like to do, and one invitation you make or receive. This task combines Chapters 6–9 and previews the Practical Performance Task.
Práctica independiente — Solo alternative
Record or say aloud a description of your typical day, your home, and one weekend plan, using at least six sentences.
Reading Practice
El día de Sofía — Sofía's day
Me llamo Sofía y vivo con mi familia en una casa cerca del centro. Todos los días me despierto a las siete y me ducho antes de desayunar. Mi casa tiene una cocina grande y un jardín pequeño detrás de la casa. Enfrente de mi casa hay una escuela y, al lado de la escuela, hay un café donde me gusta desayunar los sábados. Por la tarde, después de las clases, me gusta salir con amigos o quedarme en casa para pintar. Sé pintar bastante bien, y conozco a varios artistas del barrio. Este fin de semana mi amigo Rafael quiere venir a mi casa, pero no puede el sábado porque tiene que trabajar. Podemos vernos el domingo.
Tarea de lectura — Reading task:
- Describe Sofía's morning routine, including the time she wakes up.
- What is near Sofía's house, and what does she like to do there?
- What does Sofía know how to do, and why can't Rafael visit on Saturday?
Writing Workshop
Complete the following linked writing tasks in order. Together they form the written half of your Proyecto 2 performance task.
Tarea 1 — Mi rutina: Write three sentences describing your morning routine, using at least two reflexive verbs and one clock-time expression.
Tarea 2 — Mi casa: Write three sentences describing your home or neighborhood, using hay and at least one preposition of place.
Tarea 3 — Completar el plan: Fill in the blanks below to build a short plan for the weekend.
Tarea 4 — Un día práctico: Combine your sentences from Tareas 1–3 into one connected paragraph of eight to ten sentences describing a full day — routine, home or neighborhood, interests, and a weekend plan or invitation. Use at least one sentence with saber or conocer.
- Write your routine sentences first. This reviews reflexive verbs and time expressions.
- Write your home and neighborhood sentences. Check hay versus estar and preposition choice.
- Complete the fill-in-the-blank plan. Confirm that querer and poder are conjugated correctly.
- Combine everything into one connected paragraph. Use time connectors such as primero, luego, and después to link ideas.
- Read your paragraph aloud once. Listen for correct stress and smooth linking, as reviewed in Chapters 6–9.
- Check every accent mark, agreement, and verb form. Confirm reflexive pronoun placement and gustar agreement.
Lista de revisión — Editing checklist:
- Reflexive pronouns appear correctly before conjugated verbs.
- Hay is used for unspecified things; estar is used for the location of known things or people.
- Every use of gustar agrees in number with the thing or activity liked.
- Querer and poder show the correct stem change in every form.
- Saber is used for facts and skills; conocer is used for people and places, with personal a.
- Time connectors help the paragraph read as one connected account rather than a list.
- No vocabulary or grammar from outside Chapters 1–9 has been used.
Culture and Communication
Daily schedules vary across Spanish-speaking communities and depend on work hours, school schedules, climate, and family structure. Some households organize the day around a longer midday break; others follow a schedule closer to a typical North American workday. Neither pattern should be treated as more representative than the other.
El almuerzo is broadly understood for the midday meal, though some regions use la comida for the same meal and reserve la cena for the evening meal in different ways. This course uses el almuerzo and la cena as the core productive forms, introduced fully in a later chapter.
Chapter Review
Parte A — Comprensión (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- What time does Elena normally wake up, and what does she do before eight?
- Where is the market, and where is the soccer stadium in relation to what Marisol knows?
Parte B — Escritura (Writing)
1. Write one sentence with a reflexive verb, one sentence with hay, and one sentence with gustar.
2. Write one sentence contrasting saber and conocer.
Parte C — Lectura (Reading)
1. Return to "El día de Sofía," and list her routine, what is near her house, and her weekend plan.
Parte D — Habla (Speaking)
1. Narrate your own day aloud to a partner or recording, from morning routine to one weekend plan.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 10 Integrated Project
Proyecto 2: Un día práctico — A Practical Day
Complete the following connected tasks, in order, to present one full practical day in Spanish, spoken and written, using material from Chapters 6 through 9.
- Read the model dialogue and the reading passage. Answer the comprehension questions above before continuing.
- Describe your daily routine aloud. Include at least three reflexive verbs and one clock-time expression.
- Describe your home or neighborhood aloud. Include hay, estar, and at least two prepositions of place.
- Talk about your interests and manage an invitation aloud. Use gustar, querer, poder, and at least one of saber or conocer.
- Write your complete Un día práctico paragraph. Apply the editing checklist from the Writing Workshop.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Routine and reflexive verbs | The learner uses reflexive verbs and time expressions accurately to describe a daily routine. |
| Location and existence | The learner distinguishes hay from estar and uses prepositions of place correctly. |
| Gustar agreement | The learner selects gusta or gustan correctly and uses the matching indirect object pronoun. |
| Querer/poder and saber/conocer | The learner conjugates querer and poder correctly and selects saber or conocer appropriately. |
| Connected discourse | The learner links ideas across the day using time connectors rather than presenting isolated sentences. |
| Orthography and pronunciation | The learner places accent marks correctly and produces natural stress and question intonation. |
This project uses material introduced through Chapter 9. No item on this rubric requires a system that has not yet been taught.
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Elena normally wakes up at seven (me despierto a las siete); before eight she showers and eats breakfast (me ducho y desayuno).
- The market is near the house, next to the park (hay un mercado cerca de la casa, al lado del parque); Marisol knows the way to the stadium even though Elena does not (yo conozco el camino).
Escritura
- Sample answers: Me levanto a las siete. / En mi casa hay tres dormitorios. / Me gusta el fútbol. (Other accurate sentences are acceptable.)
- Sample answer: Sé jugar fútbol, pero no conozco el estadio nuevo. (Other accurate sentences are acceptable.)
Lectura
- Sofía wakes up at seven and showers before breakfast; a school and a café are near her house, and she likes to have breakfast at the café on Saturdays; she knows how to paint well, and Rafael cannot visit on Saturday because he has to work.
Looking Ahead
Lo que ya sabes hacer — What you can do now
You can describe your daily routine, your home and neighborhood, your interests, and manage a simple invitation — and you can combine all of this into one connected spoken or written account of a practical day.