Two interdisciplinary, content-based units. Please preview. Unit 1. El mate y la carne Are we what we eat and drink? What do we drink? Soft-drinks? Milk? Coffee? Why are we so addicted to our coffee? And why are Uruguayans so addicted to their mate? Do we eat too much meat? Uruguay is a huge meat producer and its people are also great meat consumers. And what about quantities? Who is overweight? Make your students reflect on the consequences of poverty and wealth. Unit includes. Subject matter: food and drink Vocabulary: suffixes; restaurant Grammar: imperative, future, preterit Oral practice: tastes, consumption of meat, of coffee Homework : advertisements, diets Internet: key words list to facilitate a search and further research Model tests and teacher’s guide Answer key Unit 2. Las cataratas del Iguazú Five times bigger than Niagara Falls, Iguazú Falls is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South America. Discover the falls, visit the sites and compare them to Niagara Falls. Finally, reflect on the use of water no only as a source of electricity, but as a commodity in today’s market. Unit includes. Subject matter: water Vocabulary: the natural world Grammar: ser/estar; reflexive verbs Oral practice: South American tourism sites Homework : a visit to a memorable location 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 content-based culture units on ecology, a subject of great interest. Please preview. Unit 1. La Región de los Lagos Chile’s Lake District, with its forests, mountains and lakes, is closer to our image of the Rocky Mountains than of South America. ‘Es indispensable que vengas a conocer.’ Practice the subjunctive and get rid of those stereotypes about Latin America. Unit includes: Subject matter: tourism Vocabulary: prefixes in and im Grammar: subjunctive Oral practice: tourist destination Homework: letter requesting tourist information Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research Answer key Unit 2. Chile: ¿maravilla económica o desastre ecológico? Our supermarkets stock fruits and vegetables from around the world. Because the seasons are inversed, Chile is one of the biggest providers of fresh fruits and vegetables during the northern hemisphere winter months. Think about the positive and negative consequences of industrial farming and their impact on the ecology. Knowledge is power! Unit includes. Subject matter: ecology Vocabulary: fruits, industrial vocabulary Grammar: subjunctive Oral practice: fruits in our supermarkets Homework: letter requesting tourist information; arguments in favor and against chemical fertilizers Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search and further research Answer key

Two culture units about Mexico. Interdisciplinary. Content-based units. Subjects that do not have easy answers. Please preview. Unit 1. Nace un volcán: el Paricutín A farmer was working in his field when suddenly, right in front of his eyes, a volcano started to grow. A week later, a hill that spouted lava stood in his field and a month later there was a volcano. Discover the birth of a volcano and the ravages it inflicted on the people and animals in two villages. What happened to them? Where did they go? This unit has a role playing activity where students have a town hall meeting with the local authorities to hammer out the details of their relocation. Unit includes: Subject matter: science, geography Vocabulary: mountains Grammar: ser / estar in preterit and imperfect Oral practice: town hall meeting Homework: describe a scientific or a natural phenomenon Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 2. El turismo como industria: Cancún y Huatulco The Mexican government decided to create resorts in places that were formerly tiny villagers. How did they go about it and what were the results? The reading tells the story of the resorts from their inception to their place today as mega tourist attractions. Is tourism good or bad for the local inhabitants? How is the wealth generated by these huge resorts distributed? Unit includes: Subject matter: tourism Vocabulary: hotels, beaches Grammar: future Oral practice: analyze a cartoon, type of tourism you prefer Homework: future vacations Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key The Miraflores materials are entirely in Spanish.

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.

Two culture units.** Please preview.** One of the joys of writing units about unusual subjects is that they appeal to students that don’t often see their own interests reflected in the materials. The two units come directly from students’ requests. One student asked me to write something about sports and if possible on baseball, the other requested a unit on animals. Once the students suggested these subjects, I then took the entire summer to write the units. So in fact, the ones requesting, often just got one exercise or one reading because it takes me months to put a whole unit together. Unit 1. República Dominicana: El béisbol Poverty? Baseball? We don’t very often get a chance to deal with these subjects at this level. Go beyond the stereotypes of Caribbean baseball players and find out why there are so many in the Big Leagues today. Unit includes: Subject matter: sports Vocabulary: sports Grammar: ser / estar / hay Oral practice: sports seen as an industry Homework: sports, athletes Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key **Unit 2. Puerto Rico: La rana coquí ** Explore some fun science facts about the coquí, a tiny tree frog with a very loud call. In this species, the male cares for the eggs and guards them until they hatch. Read all about it. Unit includes: Subject matter: science (amphibians) Vocabulary: climate, machismo Grammar: ser / estar / hay Oral practice: gender questions Homework: women Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key All Miraflores resources are exclusively in the target language.

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 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 culture units for beginners. Each unit has 8 pages. Easy to understand and rich in culture. Entirely in the target language. Please preview. Unit 1. Carlos V Teach the family with Carlos V’ family. We have all done different versions of family trees in class. Here is the family tree of Charles V. Introduce his grandparents, Isabel and Ferdinand, the Catholic kings. Compare his family to your own and practice the vocabulary of the family. One of the neat exercises is a map of Charles V’s world to practice the names of the languages then spoken. Unit includes: Subject matter: family and empire Vocabulary: family Grammar: possessive adjectives Oral practice: family Homework: tree of royal families Internet: key words for Net search Model tests and teacher’s guide **Unit 2. Cortés y Moctezuma ** A fun way to do animals and foods. The animals of the Old World! The foods of the New World! Today we cannot imagine Europe without tomatoes or the American west without cattle! And what about those invisible animals, the viruses and bacteria that killed the indigenous population? Only through content based units can you transmit so much information and promote cultural understanding. Unit includes: Subject matter: New and Old Worlds Vocabulary: plants and animals Grammar: tener Oral practice: domestic and wild animals Homework: animals of two worlds Internet: key words for Net search Model tests and teacher’s guide Unit 3. Simon Bolívar Teach the vocabulary of the house with Bolivar’s home. His house had a large room to pray and an area for the animals. There were two dining rooms but only one small bathroom. Compare his house to your own. This is authentic cultural information! All in the target language. Unit includes: Subject matter: independence Vocabulary: house Grammar: ¿dónde? ¿qué? Oral practice: house Homework: houses Internet: key words for Net search Model tests and teacher’s guide I loved doing these units with my students. They were interested in the content. They empathized with Carlos V melded family, were surprised by both the chapel and the tiny bathroom in Bolivar´s house and liked the foods of the Americas.

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!

Two thematic units. Interdisciplinary. Content based. CI. Please preview. Unit 1. ¿Es la marimba un instrumento latinoamericano? The New World has welcomed people, animals, objects and ideas from many continents. Take the marimba. This instrument combines African, European and indigenous elements. Is the marimba Guatemalan? Of course it is. The example I give for the United States is jazz: it is played on both European and African instruments, it has an African beat and it began in the United States. The students understand how so many elements are needed to make something entirely new. Make those grey cells work!! I had fun writing this and teaching it. Unit includes Subject matter: music, historical background Vocabulary: rural and urban population Grammar: agreement Oral practice: jazz Homework: students own musical interest Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 2. El transporte: Honduras Everyone has an opinion on transportation, cars, buses, trains, airplanes. In Central America the bus is the most common form of transportation but the unit deals with other means of transportation as well. And since transportation is similar in the various countries of the region, there is information about those countries too. In writing this I thought it sounded deadly boring. Trust me, it is not. Click on Preview and read both units. Unit includes Subject matter: general information Vocabulary: various means of transportation Grammar: por and para Oral practice: buses Homework: trips, food Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Learning about other cultures is such an enriching experience. It opens minds and hearts.

Two content based units about Panama and Costa Rica. Please preview. Unit 1. Carretas y autobuses, Arte popular en Panamá y Costa Rica We do not normally think of Panamá and Costa Rica as rich in art. Yet here we highlight the buses in Panamá and the carts in Costa Rica. Immediately the teacher will see that we are dealing with transportation and of course with comparisons to the students´ own reality. Are the buses in your city painted a certain color? Do they have any other decorations? In Panama every driver decorates his own bus and writes the names of his mother, sisters and girlfriend on the windows! And in Costa Rica, they decorate the carts. In the past, oxen pulled the carts; today they have trucks and the old carts are filled with flowers and used as lovely decorations. Cultural traditions are so varied. Unit includes: Subject matter: popular art Vocabulary: adverbs of place Grammar: agreement Oral practice: school transportation Homework: transportation, public advertisements Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 2. El Canal de Panamá entre Atlántico y Pacífico Normally when you think about the canal you think about locks and boats. But the Panama Canal could not be built until the problem of yellow fever was solved. Thus the unit combines science and technology with the canal. Two great scientists are featured, Finley and Reed. Talk about the importance of medical breakthroughs and their impact on major engineering projects. Unit includes: Subject matter: history and geography Vocabulary: medical Grammar: verbs Oral practice: map work Homework: hospitals, old people Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Entirely in the target language. Answer key included.

Two culture units for SP 2. Please preview. Unit 1. Las culturas indígenas Although only parts of the Maya and Aztec script have been deciphered, we can learn a great deal about other cultures from their sculptures, drawings and architecture. My students analyzed the picture that is included in the units, the stone statue of a mother with her children and were able to figure out information about foods they ate, the clothes they wore and child rearing. Deductive reasoning at its best. Unit includes: Subject matter: how to read the Maya hieroglyphics Vocabulary: nouns and verbs related to cultures of the Americas Grammar: gender Oral practice: student plays role of archaeologist Homework: research indigenous culture Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 2. Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros These Mexican muralists are world renown. Introduce your students to some paintings and link the painters to Frida Kahlo, the wife of Diego Rivera. All teachers like this subject. The students will like it just as much. The picture of Frida lying in her bed was an excellent discussion catalyst in my class. Unit includes: Subject matter: Mexican art Vocabulary: art Grammar: prepositions Oral practice: student plays role of archaeologist Homework: research indigenous culture Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search 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)

Three interdisciplinary units. 7 or 8 pages each. All units have a level appropriate reading, comprehension, extension on the subject matter, oral and written exercises, Internet key words for further research. Comparisons are made with student´s own reality. Please preview. Unit 1. Adiós peseta Numbers! What a great way to do numbers again. Spain is part of the European Union and the Euro permits free access to all the countries. Students compare the old bills with the new ones. Who are those people on the bills? Unit includes: Subject matter: money Vocabulary: money (caro / barato) Grammar: verbs, gustar, interesar, encantar Oral practice: prices Homework: literary, mathematical or artistic options Internet: key words for Net search Model tests Teacher’s guide Answer key Unit 2. La Copa Mundial de Fútbol Soccer! The beautiful game! The whole world plays soccer. All you need is a ball! Get your students to talk about the World Cup, about other sports and all of this using gustar, interesar and encantar. Unit includes: Subject matter: sports Vocabulary: sports Grammar: verbs, gustar, interesar, encantar Oral practice: a poll Homework: internet search Internet: key words for internet search Model tests Teacher’s guide Answer key Unit 3. La computadora / el ordenador Not only will the students learn the vocabulary of the computer, they will find out that there are words that are said differently in Spain and in the Americas. The unit gives excellent information on search engines in Spanish and prompts the students to write emails in Spanish. Unit includes: Subject matter: computers Vocabulary: computers Grammar: verbs, gustar, interesar, encantar Oral practice: prices, a poll Homework: ID card Internet: key words for Net search Model tests Teacher’s guide Answer key These three subjects appealed to many of my students: money, sports and computers. Through comparison and contrast the target culture comes alive!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Three interdisciplinary CULTURE units for beginners. Short, no more than seven or eight pages each. Entirely in the target language. Please preview. Unit 1. La independencia de México Miguel Hidalgo declared Mexico’s independence from Spain from the steps of a church in a little town. Have your students practice right, left and center by finding the stores and restaurants in that same town today. Practice the vocabulary of the house with Miguel Hidalgo’s home. Compare Mexico’s independence to your own country. There are many comparisons that can be made: dates, bells, heroes and more. Unit includes: Subject matter: independence Vocabulary: city and buildings Grammar: prepositions of place Oral practice: independence Homework: draw a map Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 2. El metro de la Ciudad de México Take the metro and the bus! Learn the vocabulary of transportation. Do some simple arithmetic to figure out the number of metro riders in Mexico City by car, by day and by hour. Attractive pictures make you feel like you are there. Unit includes: Subject matter: transportation Vocabulary: transportation Grammar: articles Oral practice: transportation Homework: transportation I use Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key Unit 3. Los ambulantes Visitors to Latin America are always surprised by the number of street vendors. Why are there so many? What do they sell? Practice the vocabulary of clothing. Most importantly, compare to your own reality and show respect of other cultures. This is fundamental. Unit includes: Subject matter: street vendors Vocabulary: clothing Grammar: singular and plural Oral practice: street vendors Homework: describe a picture Internet: Key word list to facilitate a search Answer key. Have you ever visited the town called Dolores Hidalgo? It looks like a set for a Mexican tourist advertisement. It is about half way between Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende and sometimes people tend to just drive by. If you are traveling there, please stop. The square is marvelous. And if you have been and liked it as much as I did, please leave a comment below.

For all levels including SP Beginners 1. Those of you who have used Set Maps 1 (the free set) probably want to know why I put together Maps 2. There are several reasons, the first is that I get bored very quickly and after doing Maps 1 for several years, with several groups, I knew there were other ideas I could implement. The idea of teaching the alphabet while learning geography worked well, so then I added some basic information without maps. I wanted my students to know from the outset that some countries were very large, others very small and that in some cases the small countries were very densely populated. I also found that I had to keep going back to show Spain on one side of the ocean and the other Spanish speaking countries on the other side of the ocean many times. Contextualized maps! Practice the alphabet and geography, first with basic information and then with a game. Learn to recognize the shapes of different Spanish speaking countries! Practice the pronunciation of the names of the countries! Analyze and compare the size and population of different countries and compare them to your own country. Make logical conclusions with the information. Combine lots of content with very elementary language. Only with content-based units is it possible to introduce so much cultural information! Please preview. Maps include: Subject matter: geography; countries and languages Vocabulary: alphabet, countries, capitals, languages Grammar: es / no es; es / son; singular and plural of nouns Oral practice: names of countries, capitals; alphabet game Homework: identify countries where different languages are spoken Internet: key words for Net search Model tests Teacher’s guide Entirely in the target language.