Description
Una tragedia en Caballito is an illustrated 10-page Spanish A2 lesson based on the extraordinary story of Cachy, a poodle whose fall from a thirteenth-floor balcony in Buenos Aires in 1988 was followed by a series of fatal events.
The lesson uses this unusual newspaper story to teach students how to describe past circumstances, reconstruct a sequence of events, distinguish between eyewitness evidence and second-hand information, and explain what had already happened before another event.
It is particularly suitable for adult learners and professionals interested in journalism, legal Spanish and factual reporting.
What does the lesson include?
1. Illustrated introduction and vocabulary
Four illustrated scenes introduce the setting and encourage students to anticipate the story.
Students practise Argentine Spanish vocabulary, including vereda, colectivo, calzada, baranda, testigo and atropellar.
2. Grammar: Imperfecto and indefinido
Students explore the difference between describing circumstances and narrating completed events.
Activities include verb conjugation, contextual gap filling, contrasting verb forms and pronunciation practice.
3. Reading comprehension: Cachy, el caniche que cayó del cielo
A dramatic newspaper-style account reconstructs the events in Caballito on 21 October 1988.
Students answer true, false or not mentioned questions, arrange six events chronologically and identify examples of the imperfect and indefinite past tenses.
4. Listening comprehension: An eyewitness account
A conversation between a journalist and a witness helps students distinguish between what someone personally observed, what another person reported and what remains unknown.
Activities include completing an information sheet, classifying statements and formulating follow-up questions.
5. Grammar: Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
Students learn to describe events that occurred before another moment in the past.
A second listening activity follows a journalist and an editor reviewing a draft report and identifying statements that require supporting evidence.
6. Speaking and writing
Students exchange information using complementary worksheets, reconstruct the chronology, tell the story orally in one minute and write a short newspaper report of 90 to 110 words.
7. Legal vocabulary and guided discussion
A professional communication activity introduces:
- Deber de cuidado
- Omisión
- Nexo causal
- Previsibilidad
- Informe pericial
Students practise interviewing a fictional client, identifying information that requires verification and explaining what evidence they would request.
Two invented scenarios allow students to compare different circumstances without assuming that legal responsibility has been established.
8. Grammar appendix
A structured appendix explains the imperfect, indefinite and pluperfect tenses, including conjugation tables, irregular forms and the use of all three tenses in a single narrative.
9. Additional exercises
Eight supplementary exercise sets reinforce conjugation, tense selection, chronological reconstruction, the pluperfect, fact versus hypothesis and professional reporting.
10. Answers and listening transcripts
The final page provides complete answers, suggested responses and transcripts for both listening activities.
Resource details
- Level: A2
- Format: PDF
- Length: 10 pages
- Grammar: Pretérito imperfecto, pretérito indefinido and pretérito pluscuamperfecto
- Skills: Reading, listening, speaking, writing and vocabulary
- Includes: Illustrated activities, two listening comprehension exercises, a grammar appendix, additional exercises, answers and transcripts
- Context: Argentine Spanish, journalism and introductory legal vocabulary
Internet access
Internet access is required to use the linked listening activities.
The lesson is designed for Spanish language learning, not as legal advice. The legal discussion uses hypothetical situations for educational purposes.
