senoracmt

I think I’m going to shake up Spanish 4 next year.

In Spanish 203-204 at the college level there is a lot of grammar and literature, we do that in Spanish 4… In the 300 levels, they do some great stuff like study films and plays and really get deep into cultural topics… So why can’t we do that too?  I already love using film and cultural studies, now I think I want to develop four different quarter long units to use during Spanish IV.

Each would revolve around a piece of literature, a film, and a specific cultural topic… So now to think of what to do…  I already have quarter 1… La Guerra Sucia.  We can do the three films I already use and read Guerra Sucia from TPRS publishing.  So that leaves me with three quarters to fill.  I have El Norte and The Motorcycle Diaries… Maybe something with those two?  They are definitely too mature for any of the younger levels.  Maybe a unit about Che?  They could really debate whether he was a hero or a bad guy…. Next year’s fours won’t have read Esperanza from TPRS publishing so maybe we could include that with our study of El Norte…   I do El Salvador and Spain’s Civil Wars in Spanish 3… So some of my favorite movies are already taken by fourth year.

Anyone have any ideas for quarter long units?

Published by senoracmt

I began teaching Spanish in Illinois in 1994. I have taught levels 1-4 in a small rural high school, 8th grade introductory Spanish, Biology 1, and 101 and 102 at the community college level. My Spanish classes are partnered with the community college to offer students 8 semester hours of dual credit on completion of Spanish 4. In 2011 I met Carol Gaab and Kristy Placido and have since co-authored the book "La hija del sastre" with Carol Gaab and authored the novels "La Calaca Alegre", "Bianca Nieves y los 7 toritos." "Vector," "48 horas","Bananas", "Sostenible", and "Papálotl" through Fluency Matters. In 2006 I became National Board certified and I have been serving as a mentor both for candidates seeking certification in world languages other than English and a virtual mentor for candidates in all certificate areas. I completed my Masters degree in Spanish education in 2011 and did my research on the use of Understanding by Design to create meaningful cultural units for the language classroom. I am a frequent presenter on this topic, please consider me if you are interested in a workshop on backward design. In 2013 I was named the ICTFL Foreign Language teacher of the year and in 2014 I was selected as CSCTFL's teacher of the year. In November of 2014 I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the ACTFL National Teacher of the Year in San Antonio, TX. What a "Cinderella" experience! You can reach me via email at carrie at somewheretoshare dot com.

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