AP Spanish
January 13, 2011
Last year my AP class was a bit happy-go-lucky. They had a sort of attitude that went like this: “Well, I understood that pretty well, that was awesome!” “I didn’t get that at all. Oh well! What’s next?” This year, not so much. This year’s class is more like: “I understood that, cool!” “I didn’t […]
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January 10, 2011
(Keep in mind I teach at a private faith-based school and this isn’t an invitation for a debate.) I’m in a dilemma between two potential topics for our next AP focus. Will you help me decide and/or make suggestions? Our current unit in AP Spanish is called “La verdad es que…” and it’s about how […]
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October 1, 2010
Want to guide your advanced students through a culturally-relevant novel by a Hispanic author, written specifically to adolescents? Good! Intensive reading for pleasure is the best way to acquire vocabulary in any language. I’ve put an incredible amount of work into writing reading guides and vocabulary lists for all 20 chapters of Ciudad de las […]
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September 17, 2010
These are the sample prompts we are doing in my presentation, Prompts with Power, with sources. Unit theme: Interpersonal relationships Prompt theme: Adamari Lopez and Luis Fonsi divorce LEVEL 1 Target “should” She is sick. He “should…” Extend: why? LEVEL 2 Target: talking about the past Compare their relationship to a time when an illness […]
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September 17, 2010
Prompts with Power: Prezi
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Here’s the Prezi for Prompts with Power.
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September 15, 2010
This is a writing or speaking prompt I’m making available as a follow-up to my upcoming presentation called “Prompts with Power.” Prezi coming soon. The prompt is: ¿Deben los jóvenes salir con novios en el colegio? My favorite audio source for this is from Patito Feo, a teen drama out of Argentina – it’s a […]
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November 30, 2009
In the world language classroom, we are not just teaching language. Language as a means of communication by its very nature enables us to touch our world in different ways. That’s why I say all the time that a major part of our responsibility is to help our students become world citizens by keeping them […]
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November 4, 2009
The word ojalá finds its roots in Arabic, meaning “May allah grant that.” In Spanish it’s always followed by subjunctive, and here are two songs to help work with that. The first is with present, Ojalá que llueva café, by Juan Luis Guerra. It’s one of those songs that can lead you in a hundred different […]
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October 16, 2009
When you’re testing someone to place them in a certain level at a language school, you’re supposed to push them until their language breaks down, and the best way to do that is to stop asking “is your mom tall” and start asking “what do you think about interracial marriage?” The assumption is that when […]
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August 26, 2009
Today my AP students will do what they do every Wednesday–give a 2-minute oral presentation based on a print source and an audio source, involving some type of synthesis and persuasion. Our current unit (in my own curriculum) is called “Un Pasado que Me Construyó” and is intended to practice and develop command of the […]
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August 25, 2009
I love crossover songs
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I love crossover songs. That’s what I call those songs that have so much good material in them that they’re great from Spanish 1 to AP. Fanny Lu’s new hit Tú No Eres Para Mí is one of those. It’s especially good for uses and conjugations of ser. There’s the title, which is of course […]
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June 29, 2009
Developing world citizens
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With all the amazing things popping up on the internet, there’s no excuse not to help our students become educated world citizens by keeping them pondering important events in the Spanish-speaking world. E.g. last year’s rescue of Betancourt and the other hostages was a monumental shift in the situation between FARC and Uribe and dominated […]
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