All levels including SP Beginners 1. I have thought long and hard about why geography is not taught properly at the primary level and admit that I really don’t know the answer. So instead of getting upset, I put together these maps. I put each one on a separate page so I could just use the one I needed. This worked for me, so I hope it also works for you. The maps are contextualized: there is a map of different musical styles; another of the conquerors and the explorers; a map of the cities of Spain shows where some famous Spanish painters were born. Mapas de Latinoamérica Mapas de España Maps! Maps! Maps! Clear, well drawn, easy to reproduce! Each map provides essential information so your students can master the geography of the Spanish speaking world. Much more than just countries and capitals! Everything in the target language: Spanish. Maps 1 includes: (TpT does not allow previews for free resources.) Subject matter: geography of Latin America and Spain (11 different maps) Vocabulary: names of countries and capitals, names of cardinal points, names of oceans, names of various famous people and places Grammar: ser, llamar, estar Oral practice: ¿Cómo se llama? ¿Es…? ¿De dónde es…? Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search 11 maps, each a separate printable page. Contextualized maps. Use a variety of devices to teach geography: musical styles, conquerors and explorers, artists. Show different perspectives to learn map reading . IF YOU LIKE THESE MAPS, I have put together MAPS 2, a second set of content based maps called: Spanish in Europe and the Americas. Content based maps and more. It is meant for Spanish Beginners 1, can be used at all levels. PS After I did these, I wrote three mini-thematic units for beginners. Compare Spain and Perú, compare Barcelona and Mexico City and the regions of Latin America. So we compared two countries, then two cities and then because there were so many countries and the kids were having trouble, I put the countries is groups (Andean countries, Central American countries, etc.) All three come in a single download.

Topics that inspire! Classroom tested with great success. All oral presentation topics are based on research. Key words guide the student's web research. Guidelines for research are provided. Cooperative learning is required. Suggestions are given for audience response. Spain: Bicycling and queens, cities and paintings! Students investigate and present many facets of Spain’s rich culture. 2. Three levels of difficulty, A, B and C. Each level is on a separate page. 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 assignments and prepare for a class presentation. 4. There is always a central theme. All topics are guided. First sentences are provided. ALSO AVAILABLE IN A BUNDLE. EIGHT SETS OF ORAL PRESENTATIONS (PRESENTE A - PRESENTE H) FOR THE PRICE OF SIX. Presente B has 8 topics about Spain, each divided into three levels of difficulty. Here are the topics and some examples. 1. Visita Madrid – Each student acts as a tourist guide, guía de turismo, and takes the audience on a guided tour. One example: - ¡Tenemos mucha suerte! Esta semana celebramos la fiesta de San Isidro. Les voy a explicar la fiesta y vamos a participar. Palabras clave: Madrid + Fiesta de San Isidro 2. ¡Felicidades¡ Students hand out a prize and explain what it is for. One example: - Los Premios Zarcillo son para los mejores vinos españoles. Me complace otorgar el Gran Zarcillo de Oro y hablar de la región donde crece la vid del ganador. Palabras clave: Premios Zarcillo + Gran Zarcillo de Oro 3. «Vuestra Majestad» Participate in an «audience» with the queen, Isabel la Católica. An example: - Vuestra Majestad, vengo con alimentos del Nuevo Mundo. (Escoge varios.) Voy a decir cómo se llaman y dar sus colores y tamaños. Palabras clave: alimentos del Nuevo Mundo 4. Guernica – Oral presentations on the painting, the town, the bombing, all with the same name. 5. La Vuelta a España - Report on Spain´s national bicycle race, the Spanish equivalent to the Tour de France. 6. Monumentos – Associate an iconic landmark with a city. - Cuenca es la ciudad de las Casas Colgadas. Yo también tengo fotos. Es una ciudad fortificada. Es una ciudad bonita. Palabras clave: Cuenca + Casas Colgadas 7. Toros – A controversial subject. Different students explore and present conflicting opinions. 8. Don Quijote – Spain´s most famous book and its illustrious protagonist, Don Quijote. - Voy a hablar de Sancho Panza, el segundo personaje del libro. Primero, usando un cuadro, voy a describir su aspecto físico. Luego, voy a describir su carácter. Palabras clave: Sancho Panza

Contextualization. Use the Grimaldi Palace to learn the room in the house; Belgian chocolates to do the vocabulary of food and review number and telling time with Swiss clocks. Small countries, big histories. The Grimaldi Palace is a wonderful way to practice the rooms in the house and proves the strength of content based learning! So much better than a pretend house! Students compare their homes to a grand palatial residence. Switzerland is the land of watches. This unit allows you to review numbers both to tell time and to introduce or review the European currency, the euro. We always teach the vocabulary of food. Let's start with chocolates. So delicious! So Belgian! ALSO AVAILABLE IN A BUNDLE: FRENCH BEGINNERS CULTURE BUNDLE. SIX SETS OF THEMATIC UNITS! THE ENTIRE FRENCH SPEAKING WORLD FOR BEGINNERS 1. Subject matter: introduces three countries through chocolates, watches, palace Vocabulary: foods; days of the week; languages spoken; vocabulary of the house Grammar: beaucoup and un peu; ouvrir, fermer and pouvoir; articles Oral practice: ordering a meal; school week (comparison); Grimaldi palace Homework: foods; shopping; home Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search

Weird and wonderful topics that will inspire your students. Classroom tested many times. We provide the key words for students to research. And we give them a task to fulfill. Students interested in ecology will not be disappointed by the large variety of subject matter: not only the Galápagos Islands and the monarch butterfly, but also the white stork, the largest of all migratory birds, plus the llama and the hairless dog. ALSO AVAILABLE IN A BUNDLE. SIX SETS OF WRITING ASSIGNMENTS (ÚTIL A - ÚTIL F) FOR THE PRICE OF FIVE. GET ONE FREE. In addition, students are given the tools to explore the Amazon rain forest as well as national parks in several countries. Many wonderful out of the way places! D 1 - The Galápagos Islands Sample assignment: Your newspaper article belongs in the Travel section and includes a headline, a text and a picture with a caption. Answer these questions: Why are the animals in the Galápagos unique? What is their importance? Are any on the endangered species list? D 2 - Fly away Sample assignment: Two tiny ones: the monarch butterfly and the ruby-throated hummingbird! Choose ONE! Your map shows the migration route from both the east and the west coast of North America to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. When do they leave? When do they return? What season(s) are they away? Any other details? D 3 – What a beautiful day D 4 - Eat it, you´ll like it D 5 - Llama alpaca, guanaco and vicuña D 6 - Underground D 7 - Weird and wonderful animals D 8 - National parks D 9 - The lungs of our planet D 10 - Nature´s power

Here is my challenge to you. These two free units are about subjects teachers don´t often deal with: llamas and child labor. Take the plunge! Try one. They certainly worked well in my classroom. Let me know in the comments section below, what happened in yours. Laugh and cry! Content-based! Engage the students. Unit 1. La llama You may know that llama wool is used to make ponchos and sweaters. But did you know that the Incas sacrificed llamas in their rituals? That even today the excrement is used for fuel; that llama meat is considered a delicacy; that their fur makes warm slippers? Broaden horizons! Unit includes: Subject matter: animals Vocabulary: animals Grammar: por / para Oral practice: working children Homework: project: to better the conditions of a specific group Internet: key words for further searches; broaden the search Model tests Teacher’s guide Answer key Unit 2. La mina de Potosí Bolivia’s mines introduce a world of dangerous work but they are also a way of practicing those tricky reflexive verbs. Entire families work in the mines and child labor makes for an excellent discussion. Are the children that work in the mines any different from those that flip hamburgers? And if so, how are they different? The units make your students reflect, analyze and compare their world with other realities. Unit includes: Subject matter: mines Vocabulary: modes of transportation Grammar: reflexive verbs Oral practice: working children Homework: NGOs in Bolivia Internet: key words for further searches; broaden the search Model tests Teacher’s guide Answer key All Miraflores resources are solely in the target language.

A CI activity. Every picture has a question or a space to fill or a comment to make. Engage your students in cultural resources! Learn about how holidays are celebrated in other countries. Both inside homes and in public places, nacimientos are a tradition in the Spanish speaking world. They can be large or small, made out of many different materials and can be sophisticated or very simple. In some countries the baby Jesus is only placed in the nacimiento on December the 25th. Pido por favor que agradezcan con un Like.

Real signs for content based language! Yes, even beginners can understand Montreal street signs. Have fun with the beginners! They may not know all the words, but will understand the meaning of the signs. Students are often afraid of reading words they do not know. Here is the way to get rid of that fear, plunge in and enjoy. Culture in content.

Miraflores does language in context. Here is a way to learn and review the numbers 1-100 with images from Québec. This is an ORAL exercise. Some teachers might like it for review and consolidation while others use it for preseting the numbers. (Stop and repeat when your students get stuck.) Numbers 70 to 100 are hard! I have opted for not writing the numbers out because pronounciation is much better when students listen instead of reading. The numbers are in order, from 1 to 100. Students look at the image and say the number. They can work in pairs, in threes, the entire class can participate. If there are images that are of interest, take a moment to talk about Québec, Canada´s French speaking province where all the street signs are in French. Encourage your students to read the words they do not know and you will notice how they like to figure them out. The images help!

In Montreal all the street signs are in French! Use the signs to practice basic vocabulary of food and daily life. Use the cultural information to compare and contrast with your own community. Use the pictures to talk about Quebec, Canada´s French speaking province.

Content based materials! Beginners! Use these pictures to contextualize both clothing and colors. Learn about the Day of the Dead and integrate the vocabulary seamlessly. Everything in the target language. Miraflores la editorial dedicada a la cultura. Día de Muertos.

Did you know that Peru has a very large Asian population? Did you know that in the 19th century 100,000 Chinese contract laborers came to Peru? Did you know that no women were allowed? Did you know that the Peruvian government then closed the borders for over thirty years? The Chinese laborers married local women, became first small business owners and then prospered and became professionals. They integrated into Peruvian society and today play a very important role. In these uncertain times where people are being targeted because of their faith or the color of their skin, I have gone back to the 19th century and written a very positive text. Racism vanquished. If we can teach openness to the ´Other´ perhaps we can go forward! This is my small contribution. So, here is a thematic unit called Peruanos chinos, una historia desconocida, 12 pages. For Spanish 2 at the high school level. Many past tenses. The unit Includes a reading, comprehension exercise, grammar extension based on factual information, oral work, written assignment with comparisons to other Chinese immigrant experiences, a large number of key words to do further research, questions for a model test, teacher´s guide with further information and an answer key.

**With every picture, students have to make a choice! **They visit Teotihuacán virtually. Why a photo-essay instead of a video? I could have very easily made a video on my recent trip to Teotihuacán. But I didn´t. I wanted this to be a participatory exercise, a CI resource. Active, not passive. The photo-essay is specifically aimed at Spanish learners at the Beginners 2 level. Every image has a prompt to make it an active experience. If I had chosen a video, it would be passive viewing and that is what I wanted to avoid. What do young people do when they visit Teotihuacán? They climb the pyramids. They race around and climb up and down, bursting with excitement, legs hurting from the many steps, often sunburned and always eager to buy trinkets from the vendors. I have focused on subir / bajar and comprar / vender.

Compare a woman from your country to Mexico’s China Poblana. · Use the text about the China Poblana as a starting point for a comparison. · Although the China Poblana was born in India, she has become the idealization of the Mexican woman. · Students compare the China Poblana to a woman in their own country who has also become a legend. · Students juxtapose the facts about the real person to the the made up facts that surround the legend. Assignment: Compare la China Poblana to ONE of the following women: · Pocahontas and SIX more suggestions for American women · Laura Secord, Canada · Eva Perón, Argentina · Joan of Arc, France and FIVE more suggestions of women from other countries Themes for cultural comparison: Personal life Clothing Art Cinema AND SIX more suggestions for cultural comparisons.

Hands on effective teaching. Entirely in Spanish. For high beginners or intermediate Spanish, middle and high school. A ONE PERIOD activity. Team collaborative activity. Taste, talk, read, think. Students learn about one the most important foods that the Americas gave to the world. Potatoes are not only eaten world wide but also have industrial use. Their variety is huge, their past fascinating. Includes: Tasting. Compare the picture of a child in the Andes with a Van Gogh painting of people eating potatoes. Work on geography with potato dishes from around the world. Everything from tortilla de patatas to samosas. Timed reading about potatoes with synthesis. Vocabulary of the potato with caloric information. Answer key Teacher’s guide

Hands on effective teaching. HOT! HOT! Entirely in SPANISH!!! For high beginners and intermediate Spanish levels. A ONE PERIOD activity to introduce chili peppers. Taste, talk, think!! One the most important foods that the Americas gave to the world. Students will learn about a huge addition to the world culinary feast. Before Columbus, there were no chilis except in the Americas. Columbus took chilis back to Europe. From there they spread and were adopted by many Asian and African countries. Now they are a mainstay of their cuisine. Includes: Pick and chose parts you want to do. Tasting Analyzing strength and potency Short reading for high beginners or intermediate levels Timed two minute reading for the same level. The vocabulary of body parts affected when one eats chilis. Class discussion and information

Cultural images for the Spanish classroom · 100 PowerPoint slides. Many have two or more pictures for comparisons. · All have suggested questions for three levels of difficulty. Scaffolded. · All have suggested story lines. · Ideal for cultural comparisons. · Cultural relevancy. · Age-appropriate and culturally engaging. An insider view, not a tourist’s view. Many daily life pictures that include children and adolescents. Although all the pictures were taken in Mexico, the great majority could be anywhere in the Latin America. **TEN CATEGORIES, 10 pictures in each category: ** Mercados En venta Gente Transporte Flora y fauna Calles Comidas y restaurantes Carteles Deportes Gente en grupos Each category has a different background color for easy identification. For each picture, I start with the most basic, identify, then go on to describe, and finally to analyze and to compare. I love taking pictures and I am often asked why I take pictures of what people consider everyday things. Those are the ones that are best for the classroom. Students get a real feel for another reality. If you like these pictures and would like another set with other categories, like for example music and musicians, or others you might suggest, please comment below. I have a huge number of pictures.

50 Mexican images to learn the vocabulary of animals. Scaffolded. Students visually appreciate the riches of Mexican artesanía. Culture in context. INCLUDED: 50 IMAGES OF MEXICAN ARTESANÍA ANIMALS + PRINTABLE TEXT FOR TEACHER WITH ALL THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Step 1. LEARN THE NAMES OF ANIMALS. Includes pictures of Noah’s Ark. Students choose the correct word. 10 images. Step 2. COMBINE NAMES OF ANIMALS AND GENDER. Students choose EL or LA. The last letter guides the students. 5 animal images. Step 3. REVIEW ¿Cómo se llama? 6 animal images. Step 4. REVIEW Hay. 5 animal images. Step 5. PLURAL GENDERS. Students choose LOS or LAS. The last letters guide the students. 5 images. Step 6. EXTENSION. Further vocabulary. 5 animal images. Step 7. REVIEW With Noah´s Ark, find the animal starting with a specific letter. 5 images. Step 8. BREAK. Household pests. A poster from an extermination company. 2 images. Step 9. DERECHA Y IZQUIERDA. 3 images. Step 10. PERSONALIZE. Introduce the word MASCOTA. Give students a chance to talk about their pets and review vocabulary.

What is inside the vehicle? Reading! Make it real! Every student will love the cars, buses and trucks in this series of free photographs from Montreal. Figure out what they are used for, what they sell, where they are going. There is everything from hockey sticks and bicycles to plumbers and milk trucks.

· This is the story Rubí´s extraordinary party, powered by Facebook and Twitter. · The invitation to Rubi’s fifteenth birthday party went viral. · 15 thousand guests or more attended Rubí´s 15th birthday! · Rubí story shook Mexico. The unit has two themes: · the importance of a girl´s 15th birthday as a rite of passage · the power of social media The unit includes: A reading – 2 pages The invitation that went viral is included in the reading and can be seen on YouTube. The text of the invitation is included for those who cannot watch it. Reading comprehension questions. Oral. Three television interviews are provided. The students watch one of the interviews, then replace the audio of the interview with their own. Those students unable to watch the interviews, write a script for a radio interview. They can interview not only the birthday girl, but all the members of her family. Discussion topics. Four discussion topics. Each one deals with a different aspect, social media, fame, rites of passage and celebrations. Grammar. Preterits. Fill in the blanks with the verbs provided. Contextualized to a more typical 15th birthday. Homework. Create a souvenir album, either virtually or in paper. Suggestions and key words are provided. Teacher´s guide. Has further information on the 15th birthday in other countries, including Spain and the United States. Further pedagogical suggestions are provided. Answer key. Additional resources. Music and film. List of the 54 photographs suggested for page 4.

Theme Global challenges – Social justice The unit has two themes: · Racism · Black pride This unit will give students · an understanding of racism during the colonial era and into the present · knowledge about the exclusions according to color and race · an example of the power of religion and faith in San Martín de Porres · information about the rules and regulations for slaves in colonial Peru Total pages 14. Teaching time: One or two class periods. The unit includes: A reading – 2.5 pages Reading comprehension. Further information is included in the questions. Vocabulary. Popular culture. Grammar. Preterit and imperfect related to the rules and regulations for slaves in Peru. Oral discussion topic. Rules and regulation that governed slaves’ lives. Historical information. Presented in game format. The XX and XXI centuries. Blacks in present day Peru. Poem. “Me gritaron negra” / Self-knowledge furthering black pride. Homework. Analyze the poem. Questions are provided. Answer key. Teacher´s guide with further information. Model test.