For teachers

Lesson plan: «Estaba el señor Don Gato»

Children act out, in order, the story of «Estaba el señor Don Gato» (the Spanish song of Mr. Cat): the rooftop, the letter, the fall, the neighbors, the sardines and the jump, and talk about how we care for someone who gets hurt.

Ages: Ages 3–6
Time: 25 minutes
Areas: Language and communication · Movement and the body · Getting along and feelings

Opening

Ask: «¿Dónde les gusta subirse a los gatos? ¿Qué comen? ¿Cómo hacen?» (“Where do cats like to climb? What do they eat? What sound do they make?”). Welcome every idea and meow together.
Show the envelope and say that a letter came for Don Gato. Ask what they think it says.
Watch the video once, together, and notice what happens to Don Gato. Then turn the screen off.

Main activity

Lay the pictures out in order on the floor or the wall: the rooftop, the letter, the sardines and the jumping cat. Go over the story, pointing to each one.
Sing the first verse sitting «en el tejado» (“on the rooftop”), a hand on your forehead to look down from up high, and meow on «marramiau, miau, miau».
Pass the envelope from hand to hand on «ha recibido una carta» (“he has received a letter”) and, on «se ha caído del tejado» (“he fell off the roof”), fall to the floor very slowly and touch your ribs and the little tip of your tail.
Choose some neighbors: they lift Don Gato up carefully and cover him with the blanket. Then everyone walks very quietly down «la calle del pescado» (“the fish market street”).
On «al olor de las sardinas» (“at the smell of the sardines”), sniff the air and give a jump for joy with a loud meow. At the end, comb your whiskers. Swap roles and do it again.

Closing

To wind down, whisper the last verse while combing your whiskers very slowly.
Talk about it: «¿Qué hicieron los vecinos cuando Don Gato se cayó? ¿Qué hacemos nosotros cuando alguien se lastima?» (“What did the neighbors do when Don Gato fell? What do we do when someone gets hurt?”).
Have children draw their favorite part of the story and, with everyone’s drawings, tell the story in order.

Materials

A clear space
An envelope or a sheet of paper folded like a letter
A small blanket or a scarf
Pictures of a rooftop, a letter, some sardines and a jumping cat
Paper and crayons

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What to observe

Does the actions for each part: looking down from up high, reading the letter, falling slowly, walking quietly and jumping.
Says what happens next, with or without the pictures.
Moves slowly in the fall and down the fish market street, and quickly in the jump.
Handles Don Gato gently when it’s their turn to be a neighbor.

Adaptations

With the youngest children, act out only three parts: the rooftop, the fall and the jump, and let the adult sing the rest.
For children who don’t speak yet or who use AAC, the story pictures are their support: they can point to what comes next.
For children who can’t drop to the floor or jump, do the fall and the jump with the hands or with a stuffed cat.
Make up with the group something else Don Gato could smell to get up, and sing that verse with their idea.

For families

Ask families to sing «Estaba el señor Don Gato» at home and let their child tell them Don Gato’s story in order.

If you teach Spanish as a new language

The story carries the meaning: act out each verse and students follow what happens before they know every word.
Teach the key words with gestures (TPR): «el tejado» (the rooftop), «una carta» (a letter), «las sardinas» (the sardines), «el bigote» (the whiskers).
Ask «¿Qué pasa después?» (“What happens next?”) with the pictures and let students answer with a gesture, a word or a picture.

ACTFL World-Readiness Standards: Communication (interpretive and interpersonal), Cultures (a traditional game is a cultural practice; the song, a cultural product) and Comparisons (Spanish sounds and words next to your students’ languages).

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