Authentic Sources
February 8, 2014
This post from last year was a popular activity for Spanish class. Enjoy! ——— A while back, a hashtag hit the trending topics on Twitter in Mexico: #quierounnovioque. I used the program Archivist to save the tweets and export them to an Excel file. I often do this if the teaching value of a particular trending […]
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December 21, 2013
2013’s fourth most popular post is a novice-level activity suggestion using the Latin Grammy’s Song of the Year, Marc Anthony’s Voy a vivir. His performance at the Latin Grammys is sure to get everyone moving and singing to the music! —————- The most popular Latin pop song in the country has NOVICE written all over […]
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December 11, 2013
If you’re interested, here’s my final exam for AP Spanish, addressing two themes we have incorporated this semester: religious celebrations, and healthcare challenges. The exam includes a persuasive essay and an audio prompt for a speaking response. In the persuasive essay, students are asked to discuss whether we should try to change other people’s opinions […]
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December 2, 2013
When I first set out to teach the novel La ciudad de las bestias by Isabel Allende five years ago, I wrote chapter guides for each chapter as I taught it through a year. I never dreamed that teachers far and wide would use the document I made publicly available a few years ago. […]
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November 25, 2013
AP Spanish essay – Obamacare
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It seems like the hottest political topic this year is Obamacare. Boon? Disaster? And what about the Spanish-speaking immigrant population? Seemed like a perfect topic for an AP persuasive essay. First, navigate the new healthcare system’s newly functioning Spanish-language website. Okay, so it’s functioning, but just about all it can do is tell you to […]
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November 9, 2013
Listen to some Grammy music
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The Latin Grammy awards are coming up in two short weeks, and this year the website has made it easier than ever for you to catch some Grammy-nominated tunes. Check out the Latin Grammy Playlist Hub, powered by spotify, to listen to Latin Grammy-nominated music by category. Lately, whenever I’m at my computer working […]
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September 24, 2013
At a conference a few years ago -I can’t even remember which, I think it was Central States in Indianapolis- I attended a workshop by an AP teacher who gave out a worksheet she used to help students through reading authentic materials. I liked the basis of what she’d done so I took it and […]
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September 20, 2013
Using audio-lingua
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I’m betting you’ve probably already discovered this resource, but if you haven’t, you are going to love this. I don’t know who started Audio Lingua or why, but it’s basically a repository of people, well, talking. About, well, stuff. All kinds of stuff. It seems people record themselves talking about something and upload it. But […]
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September 13, 2013
Stations: Exploring music
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In AP, one of the ways I love to build up to an oral comparison or persuasive essay, our two “test” assessments in each unit, is to explore the topic using stations. One of my spring units is called “El ritmo me mueve” and involves investigating artistic expression in many forms: art, design, music, and […]
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September 5, 2013
The most popular Latin pop song in the country has NOVICE written all over it. The song is called “Voy a vivir” by Marc Anthony. The chorus is a catchy, feel-good, novice-level message: Voy a reír, voy a bailar Vivir mi vida lalalalá Voy a reír, voy a gozar Vivir mi vida lalalalá This song […]
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June 26, 2013
This is the last post in a short series on songs that help students develop accuracy and proficiency in talking about the present tense. For the other songs, see: Sigo con ella Hace tiempo Carmelina (and also, a post on songs for stem-changing present verbs) Tengo tu love – Sie7e This song is another one […]
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May 31, 2013
Somewhere within Spanish levels 2 or 3 everyone gets around to a unit on health. We do one in both levels, going more in depth in level 3, and then explore the concept as it relates to global issues in AP. So this infographic from the Ministerio de Salud de El Salvador makes a perfect […]
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