Last week I got the email I’d been waiting for from the College Board – my AP Spanish syllabus has been authorized for the 2013-2014 school year. It was especially encouraging that it went through on the first try; the last two times I’ve done this process, I had to re-submit, once for something I omitted, and once for a mistake made by the reviewers. Anyway, for your reference, if you’re looking for yet another authorized AP Spanish syllabus to look at, here’s mine. It includes six thematic units tied to the Curriculum and Framework themes for the new AP exam. My units are primarily based in authentic resources found online, but they include a wide array of supplemental supportive activities from the new edition of Wayside’s Triángulo series, Triángulo Aprobado.
Photo: Shawn Liu
Do u plan on doing the reading (novel) together?
Yes, we read it together in class on Wednesdays. I used to do that as well as assign reading outside of class but it frustrated my students too much. With the group I have this year, they definitely don’t have the proficiency to do it without guidance.
This is going to be my first year teaching AP Spanish 4 and I have a question for you, I am trying to learn as much as I can, when you say you are reading together, do you mean you read as a class? Do you read to them? Do they read independently in the classroom and you help them individually? Thank you so much in advance!
Your syllabus is great! I’m racking my brain now to figure which template I want and none fit my style. How come you’ve included the 2 categories: Learning Objectives and Focus / Review of Skills? It’s not a curricular requirement, right?
Right. Overachiever I guess? 😉 I include learning objectives to remind myself to be standards-based and Focus/Review of Skills to remind myself to review those things in that unit. For me, the syllabus isn’t just what I submitted to the College Board – it’s the document I use to map out each unit as I teach it. So I like to have those in there to help me check off all the things I want to include.
I don’t see footnotes in your syllabus showing which college board requirement is being met. Does that not have to be included? My syllabus was returned because I did not give enough documentation. I also am using Triangulo Aprobado. Are you okay with others using your syllabus? (I wasn’t sure what you meant in the above paragraph–use it for reference or okay to use it).
Thanks
No, you have to show that you meet all the requirements but you don’t have to note them. I’m not sure what they would mean by “enough documentation” – titles of literature you plan to read? Page numbers from Triángulo Aprobado?
You are more than welcome to “steal” my syllabus in its entirety! Best of luck and let me know if I can do anything else to help.
After teaching through this the first time this year, I will probably modify my syllabus and re-submit in the fall. I’ll post it again when the new one is approved. As an example, my oral comparisons aren’t broad enough in topic, and my essays aren’t all persuasive enough and don’t all include infographic sources. In other words, they’re too much like the old AP.
Thank you so much! I love your syllabus and for the most part it will work for my class. I only have 3 students (I’m at a small private school) so I won’t need to do stations this year. Would it be possible to get your syllabus number since that would be the simplest way to submit it?
Thank you so so much!
Hi Sara! I really like your syllabus and find it extremely easy to follow! I would like to use it as part of my “revision” for my audit, is it possible to get the syllabus id number or code? Could I use it while clicking on “Identical” syllabus?
Thank you so much in advance, I truly believe this syllabus is the most practical and easiest to follow!
Hope to hear from you soon 🙂
-Cynthia
Sara,
I’m trying to figure out how many books to order for my AP class next year. When you bought Triangulos Aprobados, what all did you get and why? Did you get a paperback copy, a digital copy? Did you get just one, or did you get copies for all your students? Why? What would you recommend. i will have 22 students. Thanks!
One more question,
Did you have your students buy their own copies of “Ciudad de las bestias”, or did you buy a classroom set? What would you recommend for a class of 22 kids? Thanks again!
Hi Charla, thanks for jumping in the conversation and feel free to do so anytime. We bought the student editions of Triángulo Aprobado, one for each student. They are MUCH more expensive than they used to be because they’re in color and come with online access now. I thought that meant students would have their own access to the audios needed to complete the exercises inside, but not so. Only the teacher gets that and Wayside was very sloppy in their rollout of that feature this year. I couldn’t access mine until about a month after school started. I’m sure they’ll have it smoothed out for next year. What students can do is access special online practice and flashcards, etc. None of my students cared enough to access that this year, as far as I know.
We did get copies for all our students and if you plan to use any significant amount of the book, that’s really what you have to do, as it is a consumable workbook. It’s unfortunate they made it so expensive this year. I believe it is, however, THE book for getting students used to the format of the exam (although I have to say, some of the email and conversation situations for the prompts are absolutely ridiculous), which makes it ideal if you intend to just use it as a supplement because you can do whatever you want with your own materials and then prepare students for the format and supplement from TA. To give you an idea of what we ended up doing, if you look at my syllabus, I estimate we completed about 10-15% of the exercises you see mentioned in it from Triángulo Aprobado! So I’ll let you use that info to decide what you should do. 😉
As for your other question, we bought a class set of Ciudad. It’s such an inexpensive book that’s really a question of your school finance and your student population. Either the school buying it or the students buying it is a good option; it’s about $9/copy. It seems the PDF is also available online. Hope this all helps!
Sara,
I finally got back to this. Thank you for your helpful response. I love your syllabus and am so grateful as a first time AP teacher to have a detailed curriculum to reference as I plan my course. When choosing between Vista’s Temas and TA, overall I felt that TA’s topics were more interesting to read and talk about for me and for the students. It’s nice to know that you only used 10-15% of the TA pages you cited in your syllabus.
Your comments about the website are super helpful as well. I hope it goes more smoothly this year. We went ahead and ordered copies for all the students with online access. However I agree with you on supplementing with other resources. Got to keep things current and interesting!
PS. Please come do a workshop in Utah! I know a good handful of colleagues up here who love and follow your blog. As a 4th year teacher, I am soaking up your ideas. I’d love to have a chance to go to your interactive workshop!
Thank you for this work. I would like to use your syllabus. May I please have the Syllabus number?
LOVE your syllabus and I too would like to adopt it in its entirety for implementation this fall! Could you share with me your syllabus id number or code? Also, I wonder if you have a reading guide for Ciudad de las Bestias?
Cynthia,
I am a first time AP Spanish teacher and I am just so happy that I found your blog. I will be following you because I know I will learn from you. I would like to use your syllabus in my class, I found the pdf for the book, I am excited! We will start school on the 25th of August. Could you share with me your syllabus code? Thank you in advance!
[…] also want to give a shoutout to Sara-Elizabeth Cottrell and Mike Peto, whose syllabi I pored over when trying to set up my own, as well as Angie Wagoner […]
[…] land, Courtney Johnson has some tips for creating an amazing AP Syllabus (with a little help from Sra. Cottrell and Sr. Peto). As for delivery, I like that first-day stations are catching on–get students […]