Commands in Real Situations

Overview

Lesson 7 of 9 in Spanish Tenses and Commands. Students apply affirmative and negative imperative forms in authentic situations, including advice, directions, health guidance, and instructions, while developing accuracy with accent placement and pronouns.

Learning intentions

• Students will use affirmative and negative Spanish commands appropriately in real-life situations.
• Students will distinguish formal, informal, and plural command forms when context requires.
• Students will self-correct accent placement and explain key grammatical choices.
• Students will give clear advice, directions, health guidance, or instructions to an audience.
• Students will respond to peer feedback in Spanish or English as appropriate.

Success criteria

• I can give clear, appropriate commands in a real-life situation.
• I can contrast affirmative and negative commands accurately.
• I can check and correct accent placement in commands.
• I can explain why I selected a particular command form.

Curriculum links

• International Baccalaureate communication: Students understand and produce meaningful spoken and written language for different audiences and purposes.
• International Baccalaureate language development: Students apply grammatical structures accurately and use language in authentic contexts.
• International Baccalaureate approaches to teaching: Collaborative, inquiry-based learning through role-play, peer feedback, and reflection.
• International Baccalaureate learner profile: Students develop communication, reflection, open-mindedness, and principled responses to peer feedback.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Engage and notice Open with the hook and lesson goals. Display a short scenario: a friend is about to take the wrong medicine or miss an important direction. Ask students: “What would you say in Spanish?” Elicit examples such as toma, no tomes, siga, or no gire without correcting every error immediately.

2. 5–12 minutes – Review command choices Use the command comparison slides to review affirmative and negative commands, including informal tú, formal usted, and plural ustedes forms. Briefly model accent placement and pronoun attachment, contrasting examples such as dímelo and no me lo digas. Students identify which form fits each audience and situation.

3. 12–18 minutes – Guided accuracy practice Distribute the commands accuracy worksheet. Students complete a short set of transformations and corrections: affirmative to negative, informal to formal, and commands with misplaced or missing accents. Review answers as a group of eight, asking students to explain the reason for each correction rather than only supplying the answer.

4. 18–30 minutes – Scenario preparation Place students in four pairs and use the role-play instructions and scenario menu. Each pair selects or receives one situation: giving directions to a visitor, advising a friend about sleep or exercise, explaining safety instructions, or giving study advice. Students prepare six to eight commands, including at least two negative commands and one command requiring careful accent placement. Encourage them to use visuals or gestures to make meaning clear.

5. 30–39 minutes – Real-life role-play and peer feedback Pairs perform for another pair, then switch roles. The audience records one effective command and one correction or question on the worksheet. Students use a brief feedback routine: “Entendí…,” “Una corrección sería…,” and “¿Por qué usaste…?” Performers revise and repeat one command. Circulate, noting command form, appropriateness, pronunciation, and accent awareness.

6. 39–43 minutes – Share and compare Use the discussion and comparison prompts. Invite two pairs to perform a contrasting example, such as a friend-to-friend health recommendation and a polite instruction to a visitor. The class identifies how audience, relationship, and positive or negative meaning affect the command form.

7. 43–45 minutes – Individual exit reflection Students complete the final section of the self-check and exit reflection: write one affirmative command, one negative command, and a brief explanation of an accent decision. They finish with the sentence, “I can give clear commands when I…,” and submit the worksheet.

Resources

• the complete commands lesson deck
• the commands accuracy worksheet
• Board or projector
• Pens or highlighters
• Timer
• Optional student recording devices for listening back to oral practice
• Teacher reference list of common imperative forms

Assessment

• Formative: Monitor guided corrections and preparation, checking whether students select commands that match audience, purpose, and positive or negative meaning.
• Performance: Use role-play evidence to assess clarity, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, accent placement, and response to peer feedback.
• Exit reflection: Review each student’s written commands and explanation to identify reteaching needs for the final two lessons.

Differentiation

• Provide role cards at varied language levels, with sentence starters such as Por favor…, No…, Tienes que…, and Es importante que…. Offer visual prompts showing directions, health choices, safety, and study routines.
• Provide recorded models of each scenario and allow students to rehearse by shadowing the audio before performing.
• Use dyslexia-friendly scripts: clear sans-serif font, generous spacing, short lines, and highlighted command endings and accent marks. Students may respond orally instead of completing extended writing.
• For advanced learners, require commands with two pronouns, such as dímelo or cómpretelo, and ask them to explain the placement of pronouns and the grammatical reason for any accent.