Octavio Paz writes about El Pachuco, who is the Mexican who is not American nor Mexican. Octavio's essay opens the door for some great discussions with students of Hispanic origin about Pachuchos, the Zoot Suit riots, discrimination against Hispanic Americans on the West coast and if the Pachuco still exists today. (Great discussion topic for students about how Cholos are similar/different than Pachucos.) This reading guide contains some questions to help students direct their focus and some key vocabulary that could give them trouble. Essay is appropriate for a Heritage Learner Class or an AP level V class where students have good comprehension skills and arent afraid to navigate some new vocabulary. Octavio Paz El Pachuco y Otros Extremos Lecture is available on line for free through a variety of websites.

This webquest is designed to get students thinking and talking about the concept of beauty/aesthetics which is one of the themes the AP Spanish test focuses on. It takes one class period working with a partner to complete the webquest and you may wish to complete the first page as homework the night before so students already have some thoughts on the topic as they enter the lab. Webquest takes students through several different sites as they examine what is beautiful today and years ago, followed by an article on plastic surgery in Spanish that they read and respond to. Lastly, there is an exit survey around their own attitudes about beauty Lesson works best for a level IV, VAP or Heritage Language learner class where students already have a high level of comprehension of Spanish .

This article examines the role that clothing choices play in expressing people's identities and is a great lead in to a discussion about either identity or a unit on clothing. This article works best for a level III or higher level class where students can already comprehend a simple non fiction article written for a general audience. Download includes a copy of the article and reading questions with some topics for larger group discussion.

This partner practice combines imperfect verbs and childhood vocabulary. Students take turns asking each other about peoples childhood. Each student gets 8 questions using imperfect verbs and childhood vocabulary. Works best with students who are learning imperfect verbs and are familiar with forming both AR and ER/IR verbs. Practice takes about 15 minutes in class and is a good warm up before a quiz or as an extra speaking practice.

Many years ago Kevin Costner produced a series of documentaries on the stories of the various conquests of indigenous peoples in the Americas; 500 Nations to date is still one of the best resources for providing true stories that are far less romanticized than what students get in their history books This video episode fits in one class period and details what happened from the moment Columbus set foot on the ground in Puerto Rico to the demise of the Taino people. Movie guide has 26 questionst that follow the film and four follow up topics for large group discussion or as essay prompts. This film works well for a level I Spanish class (especially on Columbus day) or in a Social Studies class where students are learning about Europeans colonizing the Americas. Suitable for either middle or high school level students.

This is a partner practice for Spanish I or higher level students practicing bigger numbers and fruits and vegetables. Students take turns asking and answering prices of fruits and vegetables in Spanish. Each partner has 8 items and 8 prices to record by writing out the larger numbers on their sheet. Practice takes about 15 minutes to complete in class and is a great warm up or practice opportunity before a quiz.

This powerpoint contains 20 photos of people with various health problems. Students look at the photos and assess what the problem is and offer a recommendation for the patient. I use these as a warm up in the beginning of the chapter and for speaking prompts on assessments, students get 3-4 photos and have to describe the problem and recommend a treatment as part of their test.

This 25 minute audio episode interviews several high school students in Oakland CA that survived difficult immigration journeys from their home countries in Central America to the US. Students discuss their transition to American life, reconnecting with family they haven't seen in years, difficulties of adjustment. Download contains 20 questions in chronological order. Different than my other episodes, these questions are structured in multiple choice format (still super challenging) that could be used as a test. Answer key is included. This episode is excellent, teachers of heritage learners will find lots to identify with in the students testimony. Listening practice is best suited to a Heritage Language Learner, but could be used with an AP level V class if you cut it up and replay the pieces a second time for students. Answer key is included.

Students use a new and interactive website to create dialogues in the form of mini animated movies. Characters speak Spanish or French in different accents and students can create different scenes, motions and feelings to go with the dialogue they enter. Website is free, easy to use and not difficult to master. Lesson description is in English, so this lesson could be easily applied to Spanish, French or German. Best suited for level I at the end of the year when students have seen interrogatives and regular verbs.

This powerpoint is designed as an introduction to Indirect Object Pronouns and works best for level II where students have already had some experience with DOP's or reflexive pronouns and where placement of pronouns in relation to verbs is somewhat familiar. This presentation walks students through idenitification of IO's and replacement with IOP's in 1 verb and two verbs sentences. It also introduces students to clarifiers and how they are used with IOP's in sentences. Takes about 30 minutes to present and practice in class. Works great with white boards if kids like to practice as you present.

With Cuba in the news more and more this article is a great read for Spanish Heritage Speakers or Level V AP students who are proficient at reading newstext. Lesson download includes a copy of the article formatted to word.doc, and a guided reading lesson with useful vocabulary/matching to definitions, 10 predictions for the pre-read to get students ready to watch for details and a grid chart to complete comparing what they read about Cuba to Mexico (or their home country) and the US. There are follow up questions for think/pair/share and a place for students to respond based on what they learned. This lesson takes two class periods to complete if you give time for sharing out at the end, or you can start it and assign the writing prompts as homework. Great information about all the benefits that Cubans get, plus all the restrictions imposed on them by their government. Excellent launch piece if you want to teach students the basics about Cuba today.

This lesson is designed for a Heritage Learners, AP Spanish Lit or AP V Spanish class where students will be creating short stories. Lesson contains five famous intros from Latino authors and charts for students to record what they learn about a story from the intro and further wonderings they may have. I like to divide students into groups and assign them each a quote, then share out their results as a large group. This activity is particularly useful if you will be asking students to create a short story and want to encourage them to present information in a way that piques readers curiosity. Lesson takes one full class period to complete, key not included bc student answers will vary.

This fifteen slide powerpoint presents students with illustrated beginnings of conditional SI clauses that they complete using the subjuntivo imperfecto. Each slide has a sentence starter and prompts for an answer. Free preview is the word doc template that students can use to answer each situation, then they compare their answer to a friends and together decide who had the more creative answer. Students could use this as a warm up for a quiz or just for some speaking practice bc making si clauses is a challenge for them. Takes about 25 minutes to run or you can break it up over a few days for a warm up. Best suited for level IV or higher students who have had some experience forming verbs in the imperfect subjunctive.

This reading activity is designed to accompany the article BUENOS MODALES EN LA MESA. The reading guide contains a section to make pre-reading predictions, some key vocabulary, a fill in the blank section based on what they actually read and a couple of questions for in class discussion. This reading works best for 2nd semester level II or higher to accompany a unit on food, table manners and polite commands. Takes 1 class period to complete or can be assigned as homework. Activity also includes a copy of the reading, which is also available on line for free.

This partner practice presents simple problems and students present simple solutions using the subjunctive tense and impersonal expressions. Students take turns presenting problems and giving advice while making verbs in in subjuntive. Partner practice takes 15-20 miinutes to run in class and works best with level III or higher who have been practicing subjunctive conjugation and usage for a few days.

This quick 40 pt quiz covers making commands with and without Direct Object and reflexive pronouns. Quiz is set up in a chart form for students to demonstrate knowledge of commands in TU, UD. UDS. and NOSOTROS in positive and negative forms. This quiz works best as a formative assessment to see if your students have the rules down for how to make them. Students complete the chart manipulating the pronouns between positive and negative. Chart contains some regular, irregular, weird YO and stem changer verbs. This is not a proficiency based quiz, but will give you a quick check to see if you are ready to take students to the next level with commands.

This project is designed for Level II or higher students to get them using informal commands and food vocabulary. Students guide a randomly selected classmate in the preparation of a simple recipe. Project includes suggestions to prepare, step by step instructions, 2 pages of relevant useful vocabulary and a rubric for grading. You can generally see 7 presentations per class period if you are well organized. Allow 2 days for students to create scripts and one class period for peer editing and proofing. Hilarious fun to watch the kids try to explain how to put things together in Spanish. Winner of Missouri Best Lessons award.

My students love this ridiculous preterite verb practice that accompanies the first two scenes of the film Napoleon Dynamite. You will need the video in order to complete the practice but any one of your students probably already owns it if you don't. Run the film, you can put the dialogue into Spanish for SP III classes or higher and have the students conjugate the verbs in the preterite as they watch. This activity works well at the end of the Preterite unit for level II or as a quick review for levels III and IV. It doesnt even feel like work because the scenes are so funny. I know your students will enjoy the practice!

No matter how much practice students get with question words, they always feel sticky at the beginning of the year. The powerpoint contains 56 practice sentences for students to select the correct interrogative. You can use it with whiteboards, or as a warm up, or load it into a clicker lesson if you have them. The "preview file" is a word doc on question words that can be assigned following the powerpoint, and practices similar questions. This lesson works best after students have already been introduced to interrogatives and has a few days to practice. answer key for worksheet is included.

This 40 point quiz covers the basics of conditional tense conjugation and usage. It contains a box chart for the verb endings, a section asking students to identify irregular conditional stems. 10 practice sentences for conjugation and an open ended reponse section where student complete sentences in the conditional based on a hypothetical situation. Takes about 20-30 min to complete and works best as assessment for Spanish 3 or higher where students have been practicing the conditional for a few days.