This 5 page easy read short story by Sandra Cisneros is so cleverly narrated, easy to read and opens the door to a great discussion around childhood, identity, and personal experiences. I teach this story in my Spanish Heritage Learners Classes, but its suitable for a level IV or higher where students are comfortable with past tense usage. Reading guide includes a couple of questions for pre-reading to get students thinking about their own childhood experiences, then some relational questions where students can form their own connections between characters and items as they read. Finally there is a follow up project with a graphic organizer to help students brainstorm before crafting a poem about themselves at a specific age. Budget 3-4 classes for reading the story, discussion, brainstorming and final project production depending on their level. Download link to the pdf version of the story. https://genius.com/Sandra-cisneros-eleven-spanish-annotated

This step by step lesson plan will guide your Heritage Learner students through an oral presentation on their two (sides of) identities. Many Heritage learners navigate between the world of their parents home country traditions, language, foods while simultaneously functioning the US world of friends, language, fast food, pop culture and social media. This scaffolded project helps them to brainstorm the moments when they feel more one than the other and create a compelling oral presentation for small group setting. Download contains charts for both worlds, guiding questions for reflection, and a rubric for presentation day. Project works best if you allow students at least three days to brainstorm, create slides and the weekend for them to practice.

This lesson plan on street art in Bogota and other urban cities in Latin America takes students on a journey to explore the messages and meanings of street art murals/graffiti. Students will read about the booming graffiti art trend in Bogota, listen to an interview with a famous street artist, view a short documentary about creating street art, listen to a TED talk in Spanish about different kinds of fonts and then finally create their own piece of street art to communicate a message to their audience. Plan to spend a week exploring the different links and budgeting work time for students to get their creative juices flowing and inspire each other. Full size posterboards cut in half are a good size for students to work with when creating their own mini mural, some ambitious students may request a full size board. I ordered drawing pastels from Amazon to expose students to a new medium but magic markers (or spraypaint if you live in a warm climate and have access to an outdoor workspace) also work well. Students enjoy connecting their own works to what they learned about public art in urban spaces. This lesson is best suited for an AP Spanish V or Heritage Learners class and connects to the theme of Beauty and Aesthetics on the AP test. Download packet contains links to all the videos, free downloadable graffiti fonts, link to the news article, space for students to design their rough drafts and some reflection questions for after they complete their works

This super cute film is based on a true story of a doctor and his family from Zaire who accept a position as a village doctor in provincial France. As expected, they face many obstacles at first in their struggle to be accepted, as the town has never seen a black family before. This film has so many great moments for teaching and discussion and is suitable for any level French class, especially when you are talking about identity. Download contains 20 questions in French and English versions, plus several topics for follow up discussion with students. Movie is available on Netflix and takes 2-3 class periods to watch, depending on if you pause for discussion. After viewing there are links in download to watch Kamini’s hit rap song Marly Gomont.

This download accompanies the 2nd of a two part audiocast about the perils of illegal plastic surgeries performed on women in Colombia. Download contains questions for comprehension in chronological order, useful vocabulary, essay topic and links to follow up articles. These audio casts are best suited for an AP level V class or Heritage Language learner classes where students can process sustained Spanish. This lesson links to the AP themes of beauty and aesthetics and global challenges. The latter part of this podcast explores Colombian law, why prosecuting illegal clinics is so difficult. Answer key included.

This download accompanies the story of a Peruvian immigrant who marries an American and relocates to a small town in rural Maine. Following the recent Presidential election, he chronicles how attitudes towards Hispanics have changed since President Trump took office. This audiocast is excellent discussion material for Heritage Language Learners and could be a launch point for a group share if you are seeking to gain a better understanding of some of the daily challenges your own Hispanic students may be facing. Download contains comprehension questions in chronological order and an essay topic for reflection folloing the podcast.

This is the first audio cast in a two part series on Radio Ambulante about the perils of clandestine plastic surgeries performed in Colombia. Audio episode is about 25 minutes long and details the story of a plastic surgery gone wrong. Excellent listening practice with an important message about the value of self acceptance, this audiocast ties in with both AP themes of beauty and aesthetics and global challenges. Download includes comprehension questions, essay topic for reflection and a pre listening discussion activity based on the infographic. This practice is best suited for an AP Level V class or a Heritage Language learner class where students can comprehend Spanish for sustained period of time.

This Radioambulante podcast interviews a real life every day superhero en Argentina Menganno. A family man by day, Menganno cruises the streets by night fighting crime on his motorcycle. This episode discusses the challenges of being a superheroe and is great preparation for the cultural comparision section of the Spanish Language AP test, where superheroes often come up. Download includes comprehension questions, essay prompt, extra link to a Youtube interview for post follow up with the real Menganno and a rubric for grading. This lesson is best suited for AP Level V students or a Heritage Language learner class where students can comprehend Spanish for a sustained period of time and takes one class period to complete.

Students studying identity or simply interested in recent current events will respond to this short 8 minute film on the topic of wearing the Hijab in school. Lesson includes link to video (there are a lot great free short films on this site) and questions for students to respond to as they view the short film. Writing prompt discusses the topic of mandatory dress codes in schools vs uniforms and provides opportunity to respond to a prompt in a persuasive paragraph. Lesson takes one class period to complete, but could easily be expanded to two. class periods for a discussion/debate after students have seen short and answered preliminary questions. Writing prompt can be completed in class or assigned as homework. This mini lesson is an excellent activity for a level V or Heritage Learner class preparing for the AP test.

This blackline master vocabulary list contains 68 terms in Spanish and English for a thematic unit on the environment and accompanies the powerpoint for sale in my store. (List is free) There is a 3rd column for students to create definitions of the words in Spanish or create a sentence that uses each word which can be assigned as homework or completed as you present the powerpoint.

This sci-fi film released in 2012 opens your mind to what the future might look like for global labour relations between the US and Mexico. Set 50 years in the future, water is controlled by the US and rationed at high prices, workers with "nodes" in their arms work remotely from factories called Sleepdealers. Workers connect in Mexico and work in the US. The film is evocative, and sets students thinking about what the world might look like. Great film to use in conjunction with teaching the FUTURE/CONDITIONAL tenses and discuss global challenges, or technology, both AP prep themes. Recommend for any Spanish class level III or higher. Film is in Spanish and English, Movie Guide in both Spanish and English so you can use it for a variety of different levels. Takes two class periods to show film.

68 vocabulary word list around the environment with pictures. You can download for free the blackline master for the list that accompanies the powerpoint. If you are teaching a unit on the environment for a Heritage learner, or level III, IV. or V AP Spanish class this is a great place to start. Student have all the words they need to talk about challenges to our planet and some things they can do to protect the planet, conserve energy etc. I use this powerpoint to introduce a unit on the environment in my level IV class to prepare for the AP test. Students use this vocabulary in a variety of ways culminating in a project where they research an environmental problem in our school and offer a solution. (download coming soon if you want the project)

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.

This quiz covers DOP's step by step, starting with filling in the box chart, to identifying DOPs in sentence and replacing them, working with verb pairs, gerunds and finally answering short questions using DOP's. Quiz works best for a level II class that has practiced DOPs extensively or a level III or higher class that is reviewing their usage. (I use this as a review quiz for level IV) Sentences are simple and easy to understand. Quiz is 45 pts and takes half a class period to complete. Answer key is included.

A one page quick description of how to form verbs in the FUTURE tense from infinitives. Native speakers need less rote practice than a traditional Spanish class and this 2 page review will quickly take them through how to make the future and show them the irregular stems. Page two is an opportunity to use the future tense in an essay prompt to describe the world in 30 years. Download contains some simple tables and prompts to practice forming verbs in the future and essay prompt. Takes one class period to complete.

Sometimes even heritage learners need a little help with their verbs. This quick review grid gives them the present tense of each verb in different subjects and asks them to come up with the past, conditional and future tense conjugations. I use this as a small group activity and then have them trade papers with another team to correct the errors using my key. Treating it as a contest more than a worksheet works better and allows kids to put their heads together on a pile of irregulars, stem changers and other unusual conjugations. Students in levels IV and V can also benefit from this activity as the subject nouns aren't specified and will force them to look to the endings to figure out the forms. Activity takes about 30 minutes to run and correct, includes an answer key for you and them.

This partner practice has students answering questions about their study habits and class behaviours and then surveying 2 classmates. Takes about 20 minutes to run and is great for practice with school vocabulary and frequency words (siempre, a veces, nunca) This practice works best with level II students and lines up nicely with Realidades 1A vocabulary.

This newest 20 episode of Radio Ambulante addresses the issue of beauty, through the eyes of Gabi who is very self critical and those around her who have criticized and mocked her for her ugliness since childhood. In the interview Gabi explores the topic of ugliness/beauty and how she sees herself, those around her and how others have treated her. This podcast is excellent for a Heritage Learner class or a Level V Spanish AP class as one of the AP themes is beauty and aesthetics. There are a couple of questions the interviewer poses that may make some students uncomfortable (references to body parts) so its best to listen to the podcast and decide if your audience is mature, or if you want to make a brief comment prior to beginning the listening practice to avoid discomfort. Download includes 13 questions in chronological order and 4 follow up topics for discussion or as writing prompts for students to react. Answers to podcast also included and a link on top to podcasts for absent students. Radio Ambulante never disappoints and this topic is spot on for AP test prep.

This movie guide follows the journey of an American school bus as it heads to Central America to be transformed into a vibrant, colorful method of public transport. Documentary contains interviews with drivers, passengers and the people who renovate the repurposed bus. Documentary takes about a class and a half and is available for purchase on line. Beautiful and informative, this documentary works well with AP classes studying the themes of beauty and global challenges.

This activity works well for AP Spanish IV or V students, or Heritage Language learners working with the concept of identity. This project has students choose a specific age from their childhood and then guides them through how to create poem about how they were at that age. Allow at least one day in class to work, one day to help students proof their rough drafts and one day for students to present their poems to peers.