Destroy stereotypes! Introduce the Spanish speaking world in its glorious diversity. Engage students with thought-provoking topics.
Culture units: art, sports, human rights, ecology and more. Read, write, speak, and think.
Oral presentation based on Internet searches with keywords. Cooperative learning.
Writing assignments as varied as our students. Keywords for Internet searches.
Give them the tools and they will flourish!
Destroy stereotypes! Introduce the Spanish speaking world in its glorious diversity. Engage students with thought-provoking topics.
Culture units: art, sports, human rights, ecology and more. Read, write, speak, and think.
Oral presentation based on Internet searches with keywords. Cooperative learning.
Writing assignments as varied as our students. Keywords for Internet searches.
Give them the tools and they will flourish!
Voting is a key element in a democracy.
The battle for women to win the right to vote is one great successes of the twentieth century.
The reading contrasts Clara Campoamor, Spanish suffragist and Eva Perón, famous Argentine politician and cult figure. Both fought and won the right for women to vote under very different circumstances.
Read about women’s voting rights in the Spanish speaking world and the hard fought battles again patriarchy. Often, they were won only to be lost again.
Number of pages 15 - 90 minutes
Índice:
Páginas 2 – 4 Ejercicio preliminar - el voto femenino – teoría y realidad
Páginas 4 – 7 Lectura – Clara Campoamor y Eva Perón
Página 7 Interludio música y letra de la canción No llores por mí, Argentina
Página 8 Comprensión del texto
Página 9 Diminutivos - Evita
Página 10 Tarea / Oral – Igualdad de géneros
Página 11 - 12 La Red / Guía del profesor
Página 13 Prueba
Página 14 Clave / Fotos
Página 15 Leer, comentar, discutir y concluir
Three contextualized culture units.
Three contextualized culture units.
The indigenous cultures of Central and South America. Read, write, speak, think.
Culture for beginners. Please preview.
All Miraflores resources are entirely in the target language.
Unit 1. Copán; una ciudad maya
The unit on the Maya reviews numbers in two different formats: the Maya and ours. Ours is based on 10, theirs on 5. Discover how pyramids are built, or shall we say layered. Yes, layered.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: Maya culture
Vocabulary: numbers
Grammar: adverbs of place
Oral practice: other calendars; extraterrestrials
Homework: other calendars
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
**Unit 2. El calendario azteca
**
**The Aztec Calendar is round. Ours is usually a rectangle. This shows the diversity in form but not in substance. It does not matter whether we divide the year into 20 months or 12 months, we will end up with the same number of days. How is this possible? This unit underlines the fact that we are all inhabitants of the same planet. Learning that there can be several ways of describing the same facts is important!
**
Unit includes:
Subject matter: Aztecs
Vocabulary: days, weeks and year
Grammar: tener
Oral practice: other calendars
Homework: other calendars
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Unit 3. Las misteriosas Líneas de Nasca
You can only see the Nazca lines if you fly above them. So it was only in the era of the airplane that they were discovered. Why were they made? Here is a real mystery that still needs to be solved. This unit reviews the vocabulary of animals and body parts. Please note the spelling of Nazca. In Peru the Spanish spelling is now Nasca.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: Nazca / Nasca (the newer spelling is with an S)
Vocabulary: body
Grammar: articles
Oral practice: extraterrestrials
Homework: mysteries
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
The Piedra del Sol is in the Archeological Museum in Mexico City. Have you seen it? It is huge and there are always groups of school children and tourists milling around, photographing and pointing.
Three thematic units on the Quinto Centenario, 1992.
500 years after Columbus. Please preview.
In 1992 Spain celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Encounter, mistakenly called the ‘discovery’ of the Americas. Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games, Seville had the World Fair and Madrid grew by leaps and bounds. These units are much more than just facts: compare the size of your classroom to the length of Columbus’ boats; analyze the consequences of hosting the Olympic Games and find out how the Prado Museum began.
**Unit 1. Sevilla. La Expo ´92 y la importancia del Encuentro
**
Subject matter: history; tourism
Vocabulary: views of the discovery of the Americas
Grammar: preterit; articles
Oral practice: a concert
Homework: immigration and emigration
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
**Unit 2. Barcelona. ¿Para quién son los Juegos Olímpicos?
**
Subject matter: history; sports
Vocabulary: sports / business
Grammar: preterit; articles
Oral practice: comparing products of the New World and the Old World
Homework: salaries of stars
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 3. Madrid 1992
Subject matter: general information
Vocabulary: the city
Grammar: preterit; articles
Oral practice: comparing products of the New World and the Old World; a concert
Homework: students’ background
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Two units for intermediate students. Deal with the fate of our planet through ecology. This is of great interest to all. Content-based and interdisciplinary. Please preview.
Each unit includes a pre-reading, a level appropriate reading, comprehension, extension of the subject matter integrating both vocabulary and grammar. An oral that relates the content of the unit to the students’ reality, homework suggestions and Internet key words for further research.
**Unit 1. La contaminación en la Ciudad de México
**
The strength of content based units is that they present students with reality, including problems that are hard to solve. If Mexico City reduces the number of cars and cuts down the emission of CO2, the consequences are a large reduction in jobs.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: ecology
Vocabulary: urban life
Grammar: poder plus infinitive
4 .Oral practice: urban transportation where you live
Homework: transportation
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
**Unit 2. La mariposa monarca
**
If the forests where the monarch butterfly spends its winter are fully protected, the people who live in the area and use the wood for cooking are left hungry. How can Mexicans solve these problems?
Unit includes:
Subject matter: ecology
Vocabulary: seasons, animals
Grammar: stem change UE
4 .Oral practice: migratory animal
Homework: an animal
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
These two units will elicit lively and thoughtful class discussions! Your students will automatically relate the problems to their own environment and you will see how excited they can get!
Thee mini thematic units for real beginners. Please preview.
Do not wait to introduce Cervantes, Picasso and the King of Spain, Felipe VI until your students are «ready.» Writers, painters and kings! What a combination! Introduce these Spanish icons to beginners.
Unit 1. Miguel de Cervantes y sor Juana
Two icons. A man and a woman. Two writers they have never heard about. Work on cognates, famoso, importante, autor, poeta. The pre-reading prepares the short reading and it is packed with information. Yes, it is possible to do culture with beginners!
Unit includes:
Subject matter: introduction to Spanish literature, art and history
Vocabulary: basic literary
Grammar: articles; agreement
Oral practice: Cervantes
Homework: book
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 2. Pablo Picasso
Another icon, in this case a painter. My students really liked the paintings. Practice ¿cómo se llama?, practice ser and llamar which are often confusing for the students. All in context. How many students have you corrected when they said, ¿Cómo es tu nombre? Yikes. I don´t want to count.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: introduction to Spanish literature, art and history
Vocabulary: basic basic art
Grammar: articles; interrogative pronouns
Oral practice: music and art
Homework: change paragraph to 3rd person
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 3. Felipe VI
The family! Everyone teaches the family in Spanish 1. Here is the Spanish king´s family, parents, grandparents, children. Language in context! The students find out that Spain is a constitutional monarchy and learn or review the vocabulary of the family. What more can you ask?
Unit includes:
Subject matter: introduction to Spanish literature, art and history
Vocabulary: royal family
Grammar: interrogative pronouns
Oral practice: the King´s family
Homework: my family
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Four mini-culture units. Each one is only four or five pages long.
Please preview to see if units fit with your curriculum.
Unit 1. Deportes
Sports and music! Two subjects that both students and teachers like. Introduce your students to the World Cup. Have them do a logic exercise to determine who will win the Cup. Inductive and deductive skills are part of the learning process and the Spanish classroom is one more place to learn.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: sports
Vocabulary: names of sports
Grammar: ser / hay
Oral practice: sports
, 5. Homework: sports figures
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 2. El fútbol - Messi
Unit includes:
Subject matter: sports
Vocabulary: names of sports
Grammar: jugar
Oral practice: cartoon about sports
Homework: sports figures
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 3. Música
The music of Spain and the Americas is rich and varied. Introduce your students to the merengue, the chachachá and the tango; learn the names of the instruments and extend the vocabulary. Simple verbs like cantar, presentar and bailar have corresponding nouns. Content based means that the information comes from the text and the students make the connections!
Unit includes:
Subject matter: music
Vocabulary: names of instruments
Grammar: interrogative pronouns
Oral practice: music
Homework: music
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Unit 4. Las estrellas de la música popular - Shakira and others
Unit includes:
Subject matter: music
Vocabulary: verbs related to music
Grammar: prepositions en and de
Oral practice: music
Homework: song and dance
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Entirely in Spanish.
Two content-based units about Venezuela. Please preview.
Unit 1. El petróleo: mucho más que un producto de exportación
Venezuela supplied most of the oil used in the eastern states of the United States. How has the country used the oil wealth? Well? Poorly? Practice ordinal numbers and get your students to talk about oil dependence and consumption. What is petroleum used for? What is its future?
Unit includes:
Subject matter: daily life
Vocabulary: ordinal numbers
Grammar: agreement
Oral practice: products made from oil
Homework: consequences of rules banning use of petroleum run vehicles
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research
Answer key
Unit 2. Simón Bolívar, el Libertador
Bolívar’s face in on the bills; there is a mountain named after him; there is a city named after him; there is even a country named after him. Does that sound familiar? That’s right! Just like Washington. (He has a state not a country, named for him.) Learn more about Bolívar and make history come alive.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: history
Vocabulary: government, democracy
Grammar: preterit
Oral practice: George Washington and other figures
Homework: national heroes
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research
Answer key
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
Full disclosure. For reasons I don´t understand, this is not a popular unit although my own students thought it interesting to learn about a national heroe and even more interesting to discuss oil and the future of our planet. Go figure. The continuing unravelling of Venezuela also makes petroleum, its sale and misuse, a difficult subject.
Two culture units about Chile. Please preview.
Be bold! Try new subjects! My students loved these units.
Unit 1. El cielo del sur
When you look up to the sky, do you really see a Big Dipper or do you join the stars in such a way that you visualize a dipper? When Magellan looked at the sky, he saw a cross and called it the Southern Cross. But when the indigenous people of Chile saw the same stars, they saw the head of a bird. Compare the two interpretations. Relate them to the power telescopes and the scientific discoveries in the Atacama Desert. This unit helps students understand multiple realities.
Unit includes.
Subject matter: astronomy
Vocabulary: the sky, myth and legend
Grammar: pronouns
Oral practice: the Zodiac, astronomy, astrology
Homework: flags and constellations, the Zodiac
Internet: key words list to facilitate a search and further research
Model tests and teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2. El Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar
Popular music is of great interest to many students and teachers. Read about Latin America’s biggest song contest in the Chilean coastal city of Viña del Mar. Compare this music festival to North American award ceremonies and discover ´the monster.´
Unit includes.
Subject matter: popular music, Isabel Allende
Vocabulary: music, story, novel
Grammar: future
Oral practice: traveling to a festival
Homework: festivals, phobias
Internet: key words list to facilitate a search and further research
Model tests and teacher’s guide
Answer key
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
Two units about ecology, a large bird, the stork, and a beautiful park in northeast Spain, el parque de Ordesa y Monte Perdido. Introduce new and varied subject matter. Please preview.
Unit 1. La cigüeña blanca
Did you know there are no storks in the Americas? Why are there myths about storks, such as the carrier of newborn babies? Did you know the storks are very big, their wingspan up to one meter? In the past these huge birds spent the summer in Spain and other European countries and wintered in Africa, yet with today’s changing climate, many storks have stopped migrating. Why? This fun science unit also deals with storks in the Autonomous Regions, the Spanish equivalent of states or provinces.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: ecology, Pyrenees
Vocabulary: body parts
Grammar: comparative and superlative
Oral practice: game on Extremadura
Homework: animals in danger of extinction
Internet: key words for web searches and research.
Answer key
Unit 2. El Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido
A group of friends goes hiking in a Spanish national park near the French border. The text is written like diary entries. One of the hikers describes what they see, do and think about. Of course ecology is important! Students then compare national parks in northern Spain with another in southern Spain and learn about the varied geography of the country. What a way to study the comparative and the superlative, contextualized.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: ecology, Pyrenees
Vocabulary: parks
Grammar: comparative and superlative
Oral practice: regional and national parks
Homework: letter
Internet: key words for web searches and research.
Answer key
I remember clearly when I first saw a stork nest. On my first trip to Spain, a fellow traveler pointed up and I gaped. I had never seen a nest that was several feet wide and was perched on the roof of a church. I kept looking until I saw my first stork. Again I gaped. It was so much bigger than any bird I had ever seen. Amazing. I knew I had to write about this.
Also available in an ECOLOGY BUNDLE.
One of the biggest challenges for a student is how to find information for his / her oral presentation. Entering the key word ´Spain´ for example, is not enough; the student needs the specific key word. Thus ´Santiago de Compostela´ is going to be a much better choice. If we add to that the word ´Camino´ all of a sudden, the student has something to work with.
All the suggestions for oral presentations that follow are based on that premise: give the student the key words for Internet searches and interesting topics, and they will produce amazing work. I know, my students have done so.
Important! Please note that this is the first of eight, all called Oral Presentation Topics A, Oral Presentation Topics B, Oral Presentation Topics C, all the way to Oral Presentation Topics H.
Oral Presentation Topics A is general, the others are specific to either a country or an area.
1. All oral presentation topics are based on research. Key words are provided to guide the student's web research. Guidelines for research are provided. Cooperative learning is required. Suggestions are given for audience response.
2. All oral topics have three levels of difficulty, A, B and C. Each level is on a separate page so teacher can choose.
3. Level A provides the student 3 suggestions, level B gives the student 4 suggestions and level C, 6 suggestions. Group work is required to divide the work and prepare for a class presentation.
4. There is always a central theme. All topics are guided. First sentences are provided.
Presente A has 8 broad topics, each divided into three levels. Here are some examples:
1. Fiestas: Cabalgata de Reyes, Magos de Alcoy, Día de Muertos, Moros y cristianos. One example:
- Moros y cristianos es una fiesta tradicional antigua que se celebra en varias ciudades españolas. Tal vez la más famosa es la de Alcoy. Tengo varias imágenes. Voy a explicar esta fiesta.
Palabras clave: Moros y cristianos + Alcoy
2. ¿La papa o el maíz? Which food is more important? Was it always so?
3. La Carretera Panamericana – The highway stretches from Alaska to the tip of South America. Students research el Tapón de Darién, the Nazca Lines and much more in between.
4. El agua –...
Number of pages: 29
Teacher and student rubrics: included
Name of store: MirafloresCultura
International Baccalaureate
Presente C has 6 broad themes devoted to Mexico. Eclectic and fun, students learn about the great variety this beautiful country offers.
1. ¿Salen de vacaciones? - Students convince their classmates to visit a specific place. An example:
- Yo recomiendo Taxco. Hay muchas tiendas donde venden joyería de plata. Hay artistas que hacen joyas.
Palabras clave: Taxco + joyería de plata
- ¿Van a México? Para comprar alebrijes, las famosas figuras de madera tallada, tienen que ir a Oaxaca. Visiten a la familia Mendoza, Luis Pablo, Moisés Pablo y David Pablo Mendoza. Les va a encantar.
Palabras clave: Oaxaca + alebrijes
2. Dos culturas antiguas - Assignments totally out of the box with comparisons between ancient Egypt and the Aztec world.
- Vamos a hablar de la ropa de los aztecas y de los egipcios antiguos. Vamos a explicar las diferencias.
Palabras clave: aztecas + ropa; egipcios antiguos + ropa
3. Diego y Frida - Iconic painters who were married to each other on two separate occasions and produced very different work. Students show the painting, describe it and relate it to the painter´s life.
- Voy a describir un cuadro, «Las dos Fridas» (1939). Luego voy a responder a la pregunta: ¿Por qué es Frida Kahlo un icono feminista?
Palabras clave: «Las dos Fridas»
4. Lugares inolvidables - Mexico is blessed with mountains and beaches, deserts and tropical forests. An example:
- Ustedes saben que a mí me gustan mucho los viajes. Tuve ocasión de ir a México y allí visité el Parque Museo La Venta y vi las cabezas gigantes de los olmecas. Toda una maravilla.
Palabras clave: Parque Museo La Venta
5. Volcanes - science and ecology can be understood by all.
6. Abrimos un restaurante - Starting with the rental of the space, the students work their way through the furnishing, decorating, preparing the menu, and more. Great fun.
- Vamos a decorar el restaurante con grandes recipientes de cobre hechos en Santa Clara del Cobre. Les voy a mostrar y explicar los objetos de cobre…
Palabras clave: Santa Clara del Cobre
1. All oral presentation topics are based on research. Key words are provided to guide the student's web research. Guidelines for research are provided. Cooperative learning is required. Suggestions are given for audience response.
2. All oral topics have three levels of difficulty, A, B and C. Each level is on a separate page so teacher can choose.
3. Level A provides the student 3 suggestions, level B gives the student 4 suggestions and level C, 6 suggestions. Group work is required to divide the work and prepare for a class presentation.
4. There is always a central theme. All topics are guided. First sentences are provided.
Number of pages: 23
Teacher and student rubrics: included
Store name: MirafloresCultura
International Baccalaureate
French, a global language, spoken in Africa and the Caribbean!
Three mini-thematic units for real beginners, one on Martinique, two on Africa.
1. Un voyage en Martinique, Pack your bags to visit the Caribbean!
2. Youssou N´Dour, Singer, musician, Senegalese
3. Le français en Afrique, Where is it spoken? Who speaks it?
The diversity of the French speaking world is a relevation to most students!
Teachers often look for materials that will speak to specific students. Two of the units deal with Africa: the first is about music, the second about languages. Teach musical instruments with Youssou N'Dour's band; have your students think how the languages now spoken in North and South America have displaced the original languages. Then focus your attention on Africa and see where French is spoken. This information is an excellent way of practicing quel / quels and quelle / quelles.
A young tourist packs her bags for a holiday in Martinique. Review clothing to help her select the right items to pack. Once in Martinique, she writes her friend a postcard, a cloze exercise. Upon her return, she goes back to school where her teacher explains French DOM and TOM.
Subject matter: geography, historical background
Vocabulary: clothing, days of the week; musical instruments; colonialism
Grammar: adverbs of place, aller, faire; articles; avant and après
Oral practice: imaginary vacations; band, videos; French spoken in Africa
Homework: imaginary vacations; music; languages
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Three art units at the elementary levels. Enjoy. Please preview.
Unit 1 Goya
The teacher’s favorite beginners unit! Teach the vocabulary of the family with Goya’s painting, La familia de Carlos IV. In the picture find the parents (the king and the queen), the three sons, the three daughters, the kings’ brother and sister, even a little baby, the grandchild. And what are they wearing? Great fun!
Unit includes:
Subject matter: painting
Vocabulary: family
Grammar: agreement
Oral practice: student presentations of other paintings
Homework: a painting; family tree of Carlos IV
Internet: key words for web searches
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2 Rodrigo
Students are unfamiliar with Spanish music. Here is an introduction! Find out what music they listen to and why they like it.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: music
Vocabulary: family, music
Grammar: gustar
Oral practice: musical tastes
Homework: fiestas in Spain
Internet: key words for web searches
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 3 Gaudí
Walk through Barcelona in search of the Gaudi sites. First visit the Casa Mila, then on to the church of the Sagrada Familia and finish the day at the Parque Güell. The metro maps and the street map serve as a great way to practice giving directions!
Unit inclues:
Subject matter: architecture
Vocabulary: giving directions
Grammarr: subir, bajar, tomar
Oral practice: compare 2 houses
Homework: give directions
Internet: key words for web searches
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
**ALSO AVAILABLE IN AN “ARTS BUNDLE” THAT INCLUDES:
**
Goya / Gaudí / Rodrigo; 3 interdisciplinary thematic units - SP Beginners 1
Cervantes and Sor Juana / Picasso / Felipe VI; 3 thematic units - SP Beginners 1
Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros / Indigenous cultures: 2 thematic units -SP Intermediate 1
Fernando Botero / Cartega de Indias; 2 thematic units - SP Intermediate 1
Las Meninas / Felipe II; 2 thematic units - SP Intermediate 2
Two culture units about Colombia, a great painter and a walled city. Contextualized. Content-based. Please preview.
Unit 1. Fernando Botero
Have fun describing Botero’s over sized people! (What a wonderful way to practice those adjectives!) Acquaint your students with Botero’s huge bodies, round faces and tiny feet. Once they have studied the paintings in this unit, they will also understand his opinions about Colombian society.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: painter
Vocabulary: painting
Grammar: descriptive adjectives
Oral practice: paintings
Homework: stereotypes,
Internet: key words for web searches / expand the topics
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2. Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena de Indias is the only remaining walled city in South Americas with the walls intact in many areas. The unit is built around two short texts. The first is a dialogue between two young men during the colonial period. The second text describes what the city and its wall, built to protect the city from slave raiders, looks like today. And there is more! García Márquez uses the city as the locale for one of his books and the characters are described within this spectacular colonial city.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: port city
Vocabulary: city
Grammar: verbs with stem changes
Oral practice: forts
Homework: cities named after cities in the Old World
Internet: key words for web searches / expand the topics
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
ALSO AVAILABLE IN AN “ARTS BUNDLE” THAT INCLUDES:
1. Goya / Gaudí / Rodrigo; 3 interdisciplinary thematic units - SP Beginners 1
2. Cervantes and Sor Juana / Picasso / Felipe VI; 3 thematic units - SP Beginners 1
3. Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros / Indigenous cultures: 2 thematic units - SP Intermediate 1
4. Fernando Botero / Cartega de Indias; 2 thematic units - SP Intermediate 1
5. Las Meninas / Felipe II; 2 thematic units - SP Intermediate 2
(You get ALL five for the price of four)
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
Two units about Ecuador. Please preview.
Unit 1. El colegio
This unit is a very popular because many schools include school life in their curriculum. Students discover the similarities and differences between their own school and schools in Ecuador. Comparing leads to thoughtful responses. Review and extend school vocabulary (classroom, courses, after school programs). Have the students discover how the same building houses two schools, one in the morning, the second in the afternoon.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: school
Vocabulary: school
Grammar: ordinal numbers
Oral practice: compare two schools
Homework: create a school pamphlet; create a school emblem
Internet: key words for more web searches on topic and related topics
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2. El mercado de Otavalo
Indoor and outdoor markets. What do they sell? Do you or don’t you bargain? And if you do, are there rules to follow so you are always respectful of other cultures? Here is a guide to bargaining, how, when and how much.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: market
Vocabulary: market
Grammar: ser / estar
Oral practice: describe a photograph of the market
Homework: good manners / bargaining
Internet: key words for more web searches on topic and related topics
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
If you have gone to the Otavalo market, please share in the comments section below. My personal experience was fun but I am not a great shopper so I preferred the Mitad del Mundo. It appealed to my imagination to stand with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern hemisphere.
España: Galicia
Un desastre ecológico: el Prestige
El Camino de Santiago
Oil not only fuels our engines, it soils our oceans. When the oil tanker Prestige sank off the coast of Galicia, the entire coast line was affected. Like the Exxon Valdes in Alaska, the consequences for the ecology of the region and the livelihood of its inhabitants were colossal. A discussion on our dependence on oil will raise important subjects.
Saint James is said to have visited Galicia twice and according to legend is buried in Santiago de Compostela. A cathedral marks the spot and serves as magnet to thousands of pilgrims. During the Middle Ages, pilgrims walked to Santiago from as far away as Germany; today the Pilgrimage Road to Santiago is filled with modern pilgrims of all ages. Whereas in the past they came to receive absolution for their sins, discover why today’s pilgrim walk for months on end. The unit is written from the point of view of a several pilgrims, all with very different goals. This unit also includes a game on the Camino de Santiago that highlights both the peril and the pleasure.
Subject matter: ecology, history, legend
Vocabulary: ecology, pollution, pilgrim/pilgrimage
Grammar: imperfect, preterite
Oral practice: each individual counts; the best and worst of El Camino
Homework: plant a tree; research into topics of interest
Internet: key words list to facilitate a search and further research
Model tests and teacher’s guide
Number of pages: 24
Answer key: included
Store name; MirafloresCultura
Intermediate Spanish
Middle school Spanish curriculum
High school Spanish curriculum
Home school
Spanish culture for kids
Culture and language
Hispanic culture for kids
Spanish activities for middle school students
Spanish activities for high school students
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
Two units about Spain. Movies and literature. Craziness and death. What more can you ask for? Please preview.
Unit 1. Pedro Almodóvar, cineasta
Unit includes:
Subject matter: movies
Vocabulary: movies
Grammar: preterit
Oral practice: movies, actors, directors, a survey
Homework: ID card, movies
Internet: key words for Net search
Answer key
Unit 2. Federico García Lorca, poeta
Explore the fascinating world of two great Spanish artists. A great writer, García Lorca and a world famous director, Almodóvar. These two units offer a wonderful introduction to Lorca’s poetry and Almodóvar’s films. Your students will learn the vocabulary of films and poetry; they will write a poem and give opinions on movies!
Unit includes:
Subject matter: theater
Vocabulary: theater, poetry
Grammar: preterit
Oral practice: theater
Homework: ID card, movies; write a poem
Internet: key words for Net search
Answer key
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
I grew up in Lima. From my home in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima, the Andes were not visible. But just a few kilometers toward downtown, you can see them rising in the distance. They are treeless, grey, daunting. And they create a mountainous barrier between the coast and the vast Amazon jungle. In just a few hours you can go from the edge of the Pacific, over the Andes and into the jungle. It is breathtaking.
Three culture units about science, ecology and weather. These units will appeal to the many students who care about the future of our planet. Please preview.
Unit 1. Los Andes
Unit includes:
Subject matter: mountains, science, climbers
Vocabulary: mountains, climate, seasons
Grammar: poder, querer, comparatives
Oral practice: comparisons with the Rocky Mountains
Homework: science project
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2. El río Amazonas
Unit includes:
Subject matter: water, science
Vocabulary: rivers, climate, seasons
Grammar: poder, querer, comparatives
Oral practice: comparisons with the Mississippi River
Homework: science project
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 3. El desierto de Atacama
Unit includes:
Subject matter: desert; science
Vocabulary: climate, seasons
Grammar: poder, querer, comparatives
Oral practice: comparisons with Rockies, Mississippi
Homework: science project
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
High mountains, vast deserts and long rivers! South America’s geography lends itself to scientific study. Who were the first scientists to scale the Andes, sail the Amazon River across the continent and delve into the mysteries of the driest desert on earth? What did they discover?
Also available in a BUNDLE. The bundle includes 7 thematic units for SP intermediate 1. The units are divided into three downloads.
Please go to the individual sets for details. Please note that you can read all the thematic units by clicking on the Preview. (All in Miraflores store)
1. Ecotourism in Spain: stork migration (1), Ordesa Park (2), thematic units - SP - Intermediate 1.
Yes, units on Spanish ecology, something you don´t often see.
2. The Andes (1), The Amazon (2), The Atacama (3) mountains, river, desert, thematic units SP Intermediate 1.
3. Galápagos ecology (1), Ecuador in the Olympic Games (2) - thematic units. SP Intermediate 1.
All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.
Two thematic units about tourism.
Here is a way to cover some Central American countries that we tend to forget.
They have so much to offer! Please preview.
Unit 1. Ecoturismo. La Ruta Maya
La Ruta Maya is a wonderful, although incomplete, initiative. It is a route that stretches from Mexico to Panama and goes through all the Central American countries. It promotes ecotourism in the entire region. This unit covers both the geography of the region as well as some of the animals that live there, specifically the quetzal. The Ruta Maya also stops at many archeological sites in Central America and some of those are covered. My students really liked the exercise on camping at Tikal.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: tourism, geography, history
Vocabulary: animals
Grammar: articles
Oral practice: tourism and ecotourism
Homework: letter requesting information
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
**Unit 2. Turismo. De San José a Puerto Limón
**
The unit describes an actual trip from San José down to Puerto Limón. Content based learning goes beyond mere geographical information. In Central America, temperature depends on altitude. Thus, it can be cool in the mountains but if you travel down to the coast, just a few hours away, it is very hot. Now, this might sound really boring, but check out the Preview and you will see it is not.
In addition to learning about weather, there is an exercise about countries that export bananas and import industrial products. Let the students come to their own conclusions about the basic economic problems that poor countries face. Ah yes, I sell bananas and I need to buy computers.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: tourism, geography, history
Vocabulary: agricultural products (bananas)
Grammar: querer and poder
Oral practice: comparing imports and exports of target culture and own country
Homework: Maya and Aztec cultures
Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search
Answer key
Entirely in the target language.
All Miraflores units include answer keys.
Three short culture units for beginners, all entirely in target language. Content based. Please preview.
Unit 1. La Ciudad de México
Get a sense of the size of one of biggest cities on our planet. Discover how the past and the present are visible in the city. Lots of pictures.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: city
Vocabulary: city
Grammar: definite articles
Oral practice: two pictures
Homework: my city
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 2. La calle Madero
Walk down a street between two of the main plazas and practice street numbers.
Small confession. I have walked down Madero recently and some the stores mentioned are gone. I would have to update the unit annually to keep it up to date and I am not there often enough nor have enough time to do it. The great majority of the stores and places are correct. Last time I was totally distracted by an increasing number of street vendors. Francisco Madero is now a ´peatonal´, no cars allowed.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: one street
Vocabulary: street
Grammar: agreement; hay/ no hay;
Oral practice: a street
Homework: identify a given street
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
Unit 3. Coyoacán
March around the lovely square in the neighborhood that Frida Kahlo called her own. Practice the basic vocabulary of the city, the times of the day and review the singular and plural of nouns. Basic language structure and vocabulary are well matched to sophisticated ideas.
Unit includes:
Subject matter: cone neighborhood
Vocabulary: meals
Grammar: hay/ no hay; ar, er, ir verbs
Oral practice: two schedules
Homework: two schedules
Internet: key words for Net search
Model tests
Teacher’s guide
Answer key
The first time I visited Mexico City I was a college student on my way home to Peru. I have a vague memory of staying in a hostel, of meeting some German students who suggested we go to Acapulco. Of course I agreed. Such a long time ago.