Teaching on Spanish Possessive Determing Adjectives

Teaching on Spanish Possessive Determing Adjectives
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Determining Adjectives are the words that accompany nouns and define meaning while indicating gender and quantity. The second type is called possessive determining adjectives. The following lesson plan lays out the basics of these words and how to use them when expressing possession.

Lesson 2 Objectives:

  • Students will understand the general properties of all determining adjectives.
  • Students will understand and be able to use the possessive adjectives.

Materials:

Lesson Procedure:

1. Review determining adjectives. Revisit that there are many types of determining adjectives, but that they all have many things in common:

a. They always possess a gender and identify a quantity.

b. They always agree with the gender and number of the noun or name that they accompany.

c. They may be placed either before or after the noun or name that they accompany.

2. Review demonstrative adjectives to ensure retention.

3. Introduce the concept of possessive adjectives and show the English equivalents. Copy the chart from the Organization sheet onto the board and have the class work through filling out each chart together, creating phrasal sentences as you work. Take time to really explain how using a possessive adjective after the noun adds much more emphasis to a sentence.

4. Make small slips of paper with that have a possessive adjective and a noun on each one (i.e. mis/libros, fotos/suyas, etc.). Cut each slip in half, mix them up, and give each student one slip. Have students walk around and find someone who has another half of a slip that has the same gender/quantity. Have students write down the combinations they found and write them on the board. Play again by scrambling the words and having students try to find new combinations.

5. If your class has access to computers, allow students to practice using this online quiz: https://www.123teachme.com/spanish_sentence_quiz/category/possessive_adjectives_1

Assessment:

It is highly likely that this concept will need to be reviewed several times to ensure full understanding. You will be able to assess student comprehension by reading the combinations students write on the board and by walking around as they are completing the computerized quiz.

The past two lessons have addressed deep concepts that will take time for students to internalize. The next lesson on numerals as determining adjectives is just as important, yet a bit simpler for students to grasp. For further explanation or examples on this topic, this page gives some excellent details: https://www.gramaticas.net/2011/11/ejemplos-de-adjetivos-posesivos.html

References

This post is part of the series: Determing Adjectives in Spanish

This series brings students through all the demonstrative adjectives in Spanish: Demonstrative, Possessive, Numeral, Indefinite, Interrogative and Exclamatory.

  1. Spanish Determining Adjectives - Demonstrative
  2. Spanish Possessive Determining Adjectives
  3. Spanish Numeral Determining Adjectives
  4. Spanish Indefinite Determining Adjectives
  5. Spanish Interrogative Determining Adjectives
  6. Spanish Exclamatory Determining Adjectives