This popular film from the late 1980's remains a favourite with first year Spanish students. Sweet 15 explores two culturally relevant themes, the significance of the Quinceañera and the issue of granting amnesty to illegal aliens in the U.S. While the film is a little dated, the issues explored remain very relevant today and evoke some good in class discussion about becoming a citizen, illegal workers and the coming of age ritual of the quinceañera. Movie guide includes optional websites and questions for "presearch", 25 chronological movie questions and follow up questions for discussion. Best suited for first year Spanish students.

This HBO/National Geographic Documentary chronicles several immigrants perilous journey to attempt to cross into the US. Its one of the best films I have ever used to teach this theme to students of all levels. Most of the film is in Spanish, but has subtitles. Suitable for Spanish students of any level or ESL students of Hispanic origin, this film will open students eyes to the dangers and despair that illegal immigrants face while trying to pursue the American dream. 20 chronological questions in English and a 2nd version in Spanish. Word bank of additional vocabulary for students should you wish to give them an out of class follow up writing assignment.

This lesson is designed to take students in a Spanish III or higher class through the poem Me Gustas Cuando Callas by Pablo Neruda. Activities for listening, speaking, reading and writing are combined into a lesson that involves both small group, large group and individual student work around the theme of the poem. Lesson includes comprehension questions, links for listening and tracking emphasis, guided reading/coding activities for terminology, topics for small group discussion and a rubric for grading student writing and response. Download also contains a copy of the poem in Spanish and English (for you) and a coded copy with the poetry terms marked. Lesson works best at level 3 or higher and is well suited for level IV or AP Spanish as an intro to poetry or a follow up lesson where students are already familiar with poetry terminology.

This 83 minute academy award winning documentary chronicles the journeys of children and adolescents as they risk their lives to come to the United States. Its an excellent video and students can identify with the main characters as they are all children close to their own age. A great way to open discussion about illegal immigration or just give students something to think about the hardships these people leave behind. 24 Chronologically ordered questions and 5 topics for follow up. Movie takes two days with a little time at the end of each hour for student questions and answers. Film is in Spanish with English subtitles.

Cautiva is the story of a teenage girl who suddenly learns that she is not the child of her parents, rather the daughter of disappeared activists who were murdered by the Argentine Govt during the dictatorship of the 1970's. Cristina has to figure out who she is and what she believes as she begins to unravel the mystery around her own identity. If you have always taught Desaparecidos with LA HISTORIA OFFICIAL, this is a really nice movie with a teen protagonist around the same theme. Students enjoyed the film despite the difficulty of the subject matter. This film is best suited for an upper level Spanish class who has some prior knowledge of dictatorships and the disappeared. It is an excellent launch point for further discussion around the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo and their efforts to reconnect with the children of their disappeared relatives. Movie and movie guide are both in Spanish.

Students follow a Telenovela for 5 episodes and take notes to then create a powerpoint presentation for their class. This project works best for Spanish III or higher and incorporates review of preterite and imperfect tenses, subjunctive tense and relationship, conflict and resolution vocabulary. Students become familiar with the cultural phenomenon of the Telenovela while listening to native spoken Spanish in context. I recommend students use close captioning while watching to further their comprehension and this project includes a list of helpful thematic vocabulary. This lesson won a prize for Missouri's Best Lesson Plans.

This movie is excellent for Spanish IV, V or AP/IB class. It takes place in Franco's Spain and alternates between the real world of the resistance movement with its risks of fighting facism, and the magical world of Ofelia's Labyrinth. This film carries an R rating for several scences of brutal violence and may require parental permission if your students are younger than 17. Pan's Labyrinth won an Oscar for Best Foreign film and is an excellent way to introduce your students to the terrors of Franco's facism. Study Guide includes 19 chronological questions in Spanish, Temas para Pensar discussion questions and a word bank to help your students write and comprehend the film. Created by Barbara Davis

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.

Miss Representation is a documentary that explores how mainstream media and advertising contribute to the under-representation and discrediting of women in influential positions by circulating limited and often negative portrayals of them. The film explores the roles of news channels, commercial advertising and Hollywood as agents in the process of making women unhappy with their bodies, themselves and each other. Movie guide contains pre-watching activities for students to connect their own media habits and self image to what they will be watching, 18 questions for students to explore that follow the film and follow up topics for discussion and action. The film takes two class periods to view and could easily be extended to a third day with time built in up front and afterwards to process and contribute examples and personal experiences. This film is best suited for a high school audience in a Social Studies, Civics or even a Health class that is examining gender roles. It will generate some great discussion as well as heighten students awareness about the impact of the messages they receive through mainstream media and how that connects to political influence. Answer key included for the answers that wont vary. Film is available on DVD or NETFLIX.

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.