Identidades: Salud y Bienestar

Overview

An 8-lesson IB DP Spanish B unit for Year 11 students (Intermediate-Mid to Intermediate-High) exploring indigenous traditional medicine in Ecuador contrasted with Western allopathic medicine, under the thematic focus of Identidades — La salud y el bienestar. Students develop receptive, productive, and interactive skills through authentic texts, Paper 1 writing, and Internal Assessment oral preparation.

Learning Intentions

• Students will analyze how cultural identity shapes attitudes toward health and medicine in Ecuador and beyond.
• Students will compare and contrast indigenous and Western medical systems using precise target-language vocabulary.
• Students will construct persuasive written texts appropriate to IB DP Spanish B Paper 1 conventions.
• Students will prepare structured oral responses to visual stimuli and engage in spontaneous conversation for the Individual Oral Assessment.

Success Criteria

• I can identify the main ideas and implicit meaning in an authentic Spanish text about Ecuadorian medicine.
• I can use 10 unit vocabulary items accurately in written and spoken production.
• I can write a blog entry or formal letter of 250–400 words using appropriate register and IB text-type conventions.
• I can describe a visual stimulus in Spanish and respond spontaneously to advanced conceptual questions.

Curriculum Links

• IB DP Spanish B — receptive, productive, and interactive skills across all five prescribed themes
• IB DP Language B — Individual Oral Assessment criteria (interactive and productive skills)
• IB DP Language B — Paper 1 writing task criteria (message, format, language)
• IB Approaches to Learning — critical thinking, communication, and intercultural understanding

Lesson Structure (480 minutes — 8 × 60 minutes)

Lesson 1 — Activating Prior Knowledge (60 min) Introduce the unit through a KWL chart on health systems. Students discuss in pairs what they know about traditional vs. Western medicine, then watch a short teacher-narrated slide presentation on Ecuador and the Otavalo region to build cultural context.

Lesson 2 — Authentic Text Work (60 min) Students read the embedded authentic text (see Resources) about yachaks and plant medicines. Complete guided comprehension tasks: identify main ideas, infer meaning from context, and annotate unknown vocabulary. Whole-class debrief focuses on the author's perspective and cultural stance.

Lesson 3 — Vocabulary in Depth (60 min) Introduce and drill the 10 IB-level vocabulary items. Students complete a semantic mapping activity, write original sentences, and then use the terms in a structured paired discussion comparing holistic and allopathic approaches, using sentence frames for support.

Lesson 4 — Inquiry and Debate (60 min) Address the three unit inquiry questions as structured Socratic seminar discussion. Students prepare a brief argument (5 minutes individual prep), then engage in facilitated debate. Teacher monitors, takes notes on language production for formative feedback.

Lesson 5 — Paper 1 Writing Workshop (60 min) Explicit instruction on IB text-type conventions for blog entries and formal letters. Model annotated exemplars. Students choose their text type and produce a first draft (250–400 words) persuading peers to adopt a health habit inspired by Ecuadorian indigenous medicine. Peer feedback using IB Paper 1 criteria.

Lesson 6 — Drafting and Revision (60 min) Students revise their Paper 1 draft based on peer and teacher feedback. Focus on cohesion, register accuracy, and integration of unit vocabulary. Final written piece submitted for teacher assessment against IB Paper 1 rubric.

Lesson 7 — Individual Oral Preparation (60 min) Introduce the IO visual stimulus (indigenous woman selling medicinal plants at Otavalo market). Students practice a 3–4 minute description using the PEEL framework (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link). Teacher models a sample response. Students rehearse in pairs, then receive targeted feedback.

Lesson 8 — Mock Individual Oral and Reflection (60 min) Conduct timed mock IO assessments in small groups of 3–4; two students assess while one performs. Use the three advanced guiding questions for spontaneous conversation practice. Close with a unit reflection journal entry in Spanish.

Resources

• Authentic Spanish text: "Los yachaks y la medicina ancestral del Ecuador" (~350 words, teacher-prepared or sourced from Ecuadorian cultural publications)
• Unit vocabulary list: el bienestar integral, la medicina ancestral, el yachak, la cosmovisión indígena, las plantas medicinales, el equilibrio espiritual, curar mediante rituales, la sabiduría tradicional, contrastar enfoques, el sistema de salud holístico
• Inquiry questions: (Factual) ¿Qué prácticas médicas utilizan los yachaks en Ecuador? (Conceptual) ¿Cómo refleja la medicina tradicional la identidad cultural de los pueblos indígenas? (Debatable) ¿Debería integrarse la medicina ancestral en los sistemas de salud oficiales modernos?
• IO visual stimulus: photograph of an indigenous woman selling medicinal plants at Otavalo market
• Advanced IO conversation questions: (1) ¿En qué medida la globalización amenaza o enriquece las prácticas médicas ancestrales? (2) ¿Qué responsabilidad tienen los gobiernos de proteger y financiar la medicina indígena? (3) ¿Puede la identidad cultural de una persona influir en su confianza hacia ciertos sistemas de salud?
• IB Paper 1 annotated exemplars (blog and formal letter)
• KWL graphic organizer template
• Peer-feedback checklist aligned to IB Paper 1 criteria
• Socratic seminar discussion sentence-frame handout

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation notes during Socratic seminar and oral practice; peer feedback on Paper 1 draft.
• Summative written: final Paper 1 text (blog or formal letter) marked against IB criteria for message, format, and language.
• Summative oral: mock IO scored using IB Individual Oral Assessment criteria for language, content, and interaction.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence frames, a glossary with L1 definitions, and a structured outline for the Paper 1 draft.
• Extension: students research a second indigenous medicine tradition (e.g., Andean or Amazonian) and write a comparative analysis paragraph.
• EAL/SEN: reduce required text length to 200 words; allow oral rehearsal to be recorded and self-reviewed before live practice.
• Mixed proficiency: pair Intermediate-High students as discussion leads in the Socratic seminar to model language for Intermediate-Mid peers.