Students investigate what real swap meet vendors do to attract customers, tell their story, and sell goods, then apply those moves in a class market that highlights Latin American culture and bilingual communication. Through Swap Meet Snapshots, field trip observation tasks, vendor coaching from a local community partner, and repeated role-play practice, students build speaking, listening, research, and collaboration skills in authentic situations. The project culminates in the Mercado Vivo Expo, where teams rotate roles and use Spanish greetings, product storytelling, and booth design to engage guests and families.

Students will research how swap meet vendors use greetings, product descriptions, storytelling, and display choices to attract customers, then apply those findings to a student-designed market stall. They will strengthen speaking, listening, reading, and writing by drafting vendor scripts, analyzing vendor clips and booth photos, recording beginning and end role-play sales conversations, and using feedback to improve fluency, confidence, and audience awareness. In mixed-language teams, students will collaborate with a local vendor mentor, rotate market roles, and communicate effectively with peers, families, and guests in ways that highlight both Spanish language growth and understanding of Latin American cultural products. They will also use field trip observation notes and simple digital media to explain what makes a market experience successful and prepare for the Mercado Vivo Expo.

Students will create vendor research notes from booth photos, clips, and the field trip observation task, along with a simple bilingual sales script and a recorded beginning role-play conversation to show their starting point. In teams, they will design or make culturally connected products for sale, build booth displays and pricing signs, and prepare digital media such as slides, short videos, or photo menus that explain the product story and attract customers. They will also produce a second recorded sales conversation and use a growth rubric to reflect on fluency, confidence, and audience awareness. By the end, the class will present the Mercado Vivo Expo, a full swap meet simulation where students rotate as vendor, cashier, and customer helper while selling and showcasing their work for guests and families.

Begin with “Swap Meet Snapshots,” a gallery walk of real booth photos, short vendor clips, price signs, and Spanish greeting prompts posted around the room. In mixed native and non-native Spanish-speaking teams, students notice what makes each stall stand out, practice quick customer-facing lines, and discuss how vendors attract buyers and tell a story. Then introduce the project challenge and essential question, and have students record a first short sales role-play to capture their starting fluency, confidence, and audience awareness. If possible, close with a brief visit or video message from a local swap meet vendor who previews booth setup, greetings, and simple sales phrases students will use later.

Host a Mercado Vivo Expo where tables are arranged like a real swap meet and student teams present culturally informed products, vendor scripts, and display choices to families, peers, and community guests. Students rotate through vendor, cashier, and customer helper roles so both native and non-native Spanish speakers can demonstrate greetings, storytelling, and sales language in authentic interactions. Add digital media such as short booth slides, price cards, or QR codes with research on the product’s cultural roots to deepen audience understanding. Invite the local swap meet vendor to attend, give feedback, and help celebrate student growth by comparing final sales conversations to their first role-play recordings.