This film describes the civil war in the 1980's in El Salvador and Archbishop Romero's struggle to bring an end to the violent acts perpetrated on the Salvadoran people by the military government. The movie is excellent, carries a PG 13 rating, and is suitable for students at the Spanish II level or higher. The film is in English and could also be used in a social studies class. Starring Raul Julia in one of his last films before he died, this film evokes a lot of discussion about "disappeared/desaparecidos"and US involvement in sticky political situations. Study guide contains questions, and discussion/essay topics, secondary list of questions in Spanish for higher level/native speaker students.

This movie is best suited for higher level classes. (Spanish III or higher) It carries an R rating for two very brief and innocent nude scenes, but will require a parental release form if your students aren't at least 17. There are 40 questions in Spanish that accompany the film and 7 temas para pensar that follow for class discussion or out of class writing assignments. The movie is in Spanish with subtitles.

Jorge is a cute little stuffed animal bull that has many chores to complete around the house. I use this powerpoint of chore photos to discuss housework vocabulary with students in a Spanish I class. We incorporate teaching the expression TENER + que + action to discuss housework. There are practice worksheets that accompany this powerpoint. LOS QUEHACERES DE JORGE: Practice pages. The worksheets with the pictures become our warm up and you can use just the pictures as speaking prompts for a quiz at the end of the week.

This documentary claims to be 50 minutes long, but is really only 40. It serves as a nice introduction to Machu Picchu, the history of the Inca who built it, how they got conquered and looks a little bit at the stone cutting techniques used to build Machu Picchu and other Inca structures. Movie guide has 18 questions in English that follow the film chronologically and a couple of topics for further discussion. This documentary bounced around a bit, but students will receive a decent overview of the basics on the Inca Empire and Machu Picchu. I purchased this DVD on half.com for $2.00, it was worth it for a decent emergency lesson or to tie in with what you already teach about Machu Picchu/Inca.

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.

Based on a true life experience of the director, this film chronicles a young boys experience at a private catholic school during World War II. Julien befriends a new student and discovers that he is actually Jewish and hiding from the Nazis who have occupied France. This film is excellent for any level of French students and is easy to follow albeit rather sad. I would also recommend it to Social Studies students studying the Nazi Occupation of France. Film can be shown in two class periods. Movie guide contains 22 questions in chronological order and three topics for follow up discussion. Questions are in English as many require higher level thought process responses from students.

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 film (winner Cannes film 2012) is based on the true story of a marketing campaign to oust Pinochet from his Presidency rather than extending it for another 8 years. Against all odds, with little resources and a comically clever campaign the opposition triumphs and Chileans are finally free to choose a new leader. Gael Garcia Bernal does an excellent job in this serious, thrilling, but also lighthearted film. This film carries an R rating for language, but is otherwise appropriate for an upper level Spanish class. It works best after a lab day to do some presearch on the Pinochet dictatorship or after teaching about desparecidos so students can situate the importance of the plebiscite within the context of his reign. Movie guide has both a Spanish version and an English version so it could be shown in a Social Studies class as well.

This PBS documentary follows the Chilean judge who had to render a decision on whether to indict Pinochet for war crimes. It follows him as he investigates disappearances, deaths and torture of Chilean opposition members. The documentary is one hour twenty minutes and fits well in two class periods. This film works well for a social studies class or a higher level Spanish class who has been studying desaparecidos. The film is both in English and Spanish with subtitles. Movie guide contains 23 questions in chronological order and an answer key. Movie Guide PBS The Judge and the General by Barbara Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This one hour documentary from PBS chronciles the Supreme Court Case Hernandez vs Texas as a critical moment in determining if Mexican Americans should be considered a protected class against discrimination under the 14th amendment of the Constitution. 19 questions in chronological order of the film, with answer key and translated version in Spanish. The DVD is available from PBS or on line from Amazon, and is suitable for either a social studies class studying civil rights, or a Spanish class where you want to provide students with a little history. DVD also has audio track in Spanish for Heritage Learner classes. Movie takes one class period to view.

This 6 page organizer guides students through every stage of how to organize a persuasive presentation around a controversial topic. Download includes an outline of the components, two graphic organizers, a large list of controversial topics for suggestions, a list of transitional words and their definitions to improve students writing and a rubric for you to assess their final projects. This project is written to be presented as an oral presentation but could easily be adapted for a 5 paragraph essay. Project works best for AP V level students or Heritage learners who already have a good command of the language and are capable of conducting their on line research in Spanish. Budget one day to walk students through how to complete the organizer, 1-2 days to research supporting sources and one day at least to create the Prezi. Students may wish to work in pairs, and/or research opposite sides of an issue.

This is my favourite story to teach to higher level Spanish classes (4, 5, AP) Lesson download contains vocabulary charts by paragraph to help students identify and define tricky vocabulary, I have enclosed two versions, one with English answers so you dont have to look them all up either! Lesson also contains comprehension questions and a link to download a free PDF of the story. I have numbered the questions to correspond to the download, so just print the story, make copies, have students number the paragraphs and you are ready to go. Story takes about 3 days to read and discuss in a level 4 class. Students love the story bc it has such a spooky ending. Chaac Mool Carlos Fuentes Reading Guide by Barbara Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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 project is designed for the end of level III or the beginning of level IV Spanish class. Students are introduced to relevant thematic vocabulary and then use it to track the events in a soap opera of their choice for 5 days. Students then have a choice of 2 oral projects to present the main events of the soap and to voice their recommendations to their peers. Great review for preterite vs imperfect while introducing students to the popular culture Hispanic telenovelas. Project includes vocabulary, guidelines, note taking template and rubric.

This beautiful film is the story of the Count of Albrit, now an old man that tries to discover a guarded secret that one of his 2 granddaughters is not legitimate. The movie is filmed in Asturias, has beautiful scenery and a good plot with valuable lessons although it moves slowly at first. It is probably best suited for a higher level Spanish class or a small class as it will require a bit of patience until the plot gets rolling. Study guide comes in both English and Spanish with a follow up discussion/writing assignment.

This 6 station rotation game reviews present tense regular verbs (ar/er/ir) Ser vs Estar, Tener + expressions and IR + a/al/a la. It takes one class period to run as students rotate through 6 challenge stations and conjugate verbs. At the next station students check their work using the answer key and take on the next challenge. Download includes rules of play, student gamesheet and 6 stations of 12 questions each for each category of verbs. Answer key to previous station is posted at the top of each station. Game is easy to follow and makes conjugating verbs and reviewing associated grammar fun. This game is best suited as a year end review for Spanish I students or as a review activity for Spanish II students. Requires at least 2 players, but could work for groups as large as 30.

This is a game designed for SPanish II end of the year or Spanish III beginning of the year to review conjugation of verbs with irregular forms in the present tense. Download includes student rules and gamesheet, and 6 stations of questions and answer keys for irregular verbs. Categories include: Stem changers o--> ue, e--> ie, e--> i, Irregular YO form verbs, SER/IR/TENER/ESTAR? and Reflexive verbs. 12 questions at each station. Students rotate through the stations to complete the challenge. Answer key to previous station provided at next destination. Activity takes one class period to run and requires a minimum of 2 players but can work for classes of up to 30.

This PG-13 film started off slow and hard to understand, but after the first 15 minutes proved to be a delightful film all the way to the end. Elena, a young Puerto Rican woman loses her ability to speak Spanish after a stressful argument with her mother. All sorts of complications in her life appear as she is suddenly unable to communicate with those around her except in English. There is a wonderful sub-plot centered on food served at the diner and a little romantic twist as well. I think older students would do better with the film due to the slow pace in the beginning but its totally appropriate for 9th grade and up. Movie questions come in both Spanish and English in chronological order to film, also included are a few topics for follow up discussion.

This movie actually takes place in Brazil, and chronicles the true story of the struggle of Chico Mendes to halt the destruction of the rainforest. One of the last films Raul Julia made before his death, this film is an excellent illustration of the conflict between development and conservation. While the film carries no rating for the classroom, there is one very brief (3 sec) snippet of an inappropriately clothed woman, if you are quick with a file folder you can cover the screen or edit out the scene. Its worth the effort as the film is excellent and serves as a great discussion opener to the plight of tropical nations as they destroy their habitat in order to feed their children. Movie guide contains 26 chronologically ordered questions and several topics for follow up. Questions are in English as is the film.

This assignment is ideal for Spanish I or II learners. Students explore the meanings behind coats of arms, then create their own personal shield which they describe to peers in Spanish. An excellent review/cultural activity which incorporates colors, characteristics, animals, symbols, and SER usage. Students present their projects while classmates listen in target language to track details. This lesson could be easily adapted for other foreign languages. Worksheets are primarily in Spanish, additional differentiated scaffolded plans and extra links for enrichment are included.