reading
March 1, 2019
Let me sing a little Rascal Flatts for you. I woke up this morning With this feeling inside me that I can’t explain Like a weight that I’ve carried Been carried away, away. It’s been over four years since I released a novel guide. More than four years. Four long years I’ve had this project on my plate, moving […]
premium
November 30, 2018
Are you wrapping up a particular reading in your language class? My middle-grades class has just finished El Ekeko by Katie Baker. This book is perhaps my favorite Fluency Matters reader yet! This week, as we look to end our semester, I’ll be going back to something I tried last year. It was a great segue from […]
premium
August 15, 2018
Dear readers, Esperanza renace is coming. After four long years, the wait for the third Musicuentos ebook guide to an authentic novel is nearly over. Within weeks – perhaps days – you’ll see the resource release *I* have been waiting and working and longing to make for four years. As we both wait a few more […]
premium
April 17, 2018
Not long ago, I fortuitously caught a tweet or headline notification from a newspaper, maybe the New York Times. It was a review of a new children’s book. The author’s name was Junot Díaz, and the name didn’t strike me right away as familiar. Soon I realized it was the author of a recent Pulitzer novel, The […]
premium
March 13, 2018
Do you remember Mad Libs? As I was planning my semester around our novel Robo en la noche and our unit’s Driving Question: What can we create and share to show an interesting itinerary for a five-day trip in Costa Rica? it occurred to me that Mad Libs would be a fun way to explore a […]
premium
December 31, 2017
Book Club 2017: All the Fluff
premium
It’s that time again! Here’s a run-down of what I read in 2017. It’s newly on my bucket list to read all the Pulitzer-winning novels, and this year’s list has 2: His Family, the first one, and The Underground Railroad, the latest one. I prefer the first, and below you’ll see why. Must Read Best of 2017: […]
premium
August 12, 2017
Meet Marisa. She’s a really smart Spanish teacher… at a language school in Madrid. Her blog goes back several years, but it just came on my radar in the past year. It’s called “Aprendiendo español callejeando por Madrid,” y de veras, es una joya. Here in the first resource I’m sharing for #AuthresAugust I present […]
premium
August 1, 2016
Have you thought about helping your Intermediate Mid+ students navigate an authentic novel? Spanish-learner novels definitely have their valuable place in the classroom, but in my experience authentic novels can’t be beat for exploring in-depth culture and rich language. At the same time, that rich language can be so rich that it becomes incomprehensible at worst or […]
premium
April 19, 2016
Have you seen the movie Canela? This semester I’ve been so grateful that Kara Jacobs and Elena López introduced me – FINALLY – to an authentic Mexican family film that’s appropriate for any classroom and any student anywhere (a rare find in Spanish-language cinema available in the U.S., as I’m sure you know). So grateful, in fact, […]
premium
January 11, 2016
Blogs to Watch 2016
premium
Whom are you listening to? It’s a critical question. Whom you’re listening to in the long-term can have a significant impact on your practice in the classroom, and that’s a big deal. Here’s my annual post about whom I’m listening to on new(ish) websites. I’m not having a “YOU MUST READ THESE BLOGS!” feeling for […]
premium
What if a prominent teacher and researcher told you that you couldn’t possibly teach your students what they need to know in order to understand authentic target language and incorporate what they understand into their own language production? But don’t lose hope; Waring (and the presenter of this Black Box Videocast, Justin Slocum Bailey) helps […]
premium
October 3, 2014
It’s finally here! To find out all the details about the brand new Musicuentos ebook, Cajas de cartón: a chapter-by-chapter guide to the memoir by Francisco Jiménez, check out the Cajas page. Or, to summarize, it’s 59 illustrated pages of proficiency-focused, vocabulary-boosting activities paired with comprehension and critical-thinking questions to accompany the 12 chapters of Francisco […]
premium