TPT Sale - Units with a Plan and more!

There is a TPT sale tomorrow and Wednesday. All of my resources are on sale fo 25% off. Use the code: FEBSALE

Below are some of my favorite resources on TPT. I highlighted three of my absolute favorites!

Spanish 1:

• Go! Vive a tu manera - This TV series is going to be the backbone of my Spanish 1 curriculum. TPT link here. I will also use this in Spanish 2 this year... and maybe Spanish 3 to start. Also, here are guides that I recommend for episodes 2-5.
• Cuento y Canción de la semana - This is another key part of my Spanish 1 curriculum. TPT link here.
• Immigration unit - Un besito más and ICE El Hielo - IMHO, it is crucial that we talk about these issues - even in level 1! TPT link for unit here.
• Soy yo unit - Love this little unit. A really good one, especially if you are transitioning to CI.

Spanish 2:

• Álvaro tiene un problema unit - This will be such a fun way to start Spanish 2 - Álvaro Soler is always a hit. TPT link

Spanish 3:

• Bailo la pena unit - And this will be a fantastic way to start Spanish 3!  TPT link
• Cásate conmigo mini unit - This song is always a hit and I love how I flipped the narrative of the video a bit. TPT link
• La agente de viajes (que nunca ha viajado) mini unit - This video!! I just love it so much! This is part of our travel unit. TPT link

Cultura y Civilización (Spanish 4/5/6):

• Lotería unit - These stories are always a favorite of the course! I will definitely create resources for the 2019 commercial when it comes out in November. TPT link
• Ecuador unit: La música popular, el kichwa, y las leyendas - I am starting my CyC course with this unit. We start with Nicky Jam and Wisin, move to learning about bilingual schools (kichwa y español) in Ecuador and then onto three authentic legends from Ecuador. This unit is jam packed with cultural Ps!! TPT link (free) and other pieces of the unit here.
• Arianne Dowd's resources for La lengua de la mariposa unit (I love this movie - and there are a lot of parallels with today!) combined with Carrie Toth's novel La Hija del Sastre. This will be a unit in my Cultura y Civilización course.
• En el tiempo de las mariposas - The movie is in English, but Arianne's film guide is in Spanish. It, like all of her work, is EXCELLENT!

Social Justice in Spanish 1: Inmigración

I have been trying to reflect on which of the Teaching Tolerance Social Justice Standards I am hitting in certain units. And, in this immigration unit with Spanish 1 (but could be used with any level!), these are the ones, I think I hit on... or perhaps in some cases, at least touched upon:

• Diversity #8: Students will respectfully express curiosity about the history and lived experiences of others and will exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way
• Diversity #10: Students will examine diversity in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or oversimplified.
• Justice #12: Students will recognize unfairness on the individual level (e.g., biased speech) and injustice at the institutional or systemic level (e.g., discrimination).
• Justice #13: Students will analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today.
• Justice #14: Students will recognize that power and privilege influence relationships on interpersonal, intergroup and institutional levels and consider how they have been affected by those dynamics.
• Justice #15: Students will identify figures, groups, events and a variety of strategies and philosophies relevant to the history of social justice around the world. 
• Action #16: Students will express empathy when people are excluded or mistreated because of their identities and concern when they themselves experience bias.

How is that possible in Spanish 1 you ask!?! With compelling authentic resources that have been comprehensified. Here are the resources that are the focus of this unit. 

I just finished the unit and I am so proud of few things:

• the language that my students acquired in the unit through three stories and a reading about the movie that we watched
• the authentic cultural products, practices, and perspectives that my students saw in this unit
• the final reflections that they did (in English) about how their view on immigration and undocumented immigrants have changed
• focusing on Social Justice in a novice class

In this unit, students acquired a ton of language, in particular through reading and interacting with these texts:

1. a story based on the song/music video "ICE El Hielo" - here is a Quizizz to see some of the text
2. a story based on the PBS short film "The Other Side," which has a fantastic, unexpected twist at the end - here is a Textivate to see a shortened version of the story
3. a story based on the song/music video "Un besito más" - here is a Quizlet to see part of the story
4. a reading about the movie "La misma luna" - Students still love this movie!

Perspectivas de la Inmigración... otra vez

In my Cultura y Civilización class, we started our “Perspectivas de la Inmigración” unit.

I LOVE the Essential Questions, the resources (two songs/videos and two movies), and the assessments (comparison essay, caja de identidad, and Socratic Seminar) for this unit.

The main essential question for the unit is:

“What cultural practices and perspectives related to undocumented immigration can we see in forms of entertainment, specifically in the songs “Un besito más” and “ICE El Hielo” and the movies "Icebox"  and “Ladrón que roba a Ladrón”? (Side note: I don't think I will be using Ladrón que roba a ladrón anymore, for a variety of reasons).

This unit is so important right now. 

My students really have no concept of legal or illegal immigration and this unit is so eye opening. At the end of the unit, my goal is that students have a better understanding of how complicated immigration is (a wall won't fix it). I also hope that they have empathy for undocumented immigrants and more of an understanding of why someone would come here undocumented. And, newly, I want my students to have an awareness of the (more and more privatized) detention centers in the U.S., and specifically that more and more children are being detained. See this article, which states:

I have blogged about this unit, and it’s iterations, a few times. I always add something new and like to share for other teachers to save them some time.

So, this time around I have added a second movie - thanks to Bethanie Drew! The movie is “Icebox” (watch it for free here). Here is the trailer:

Because I just added this movie at the very last minute (like one day into the unit), I haven’t had time to create many resources, but it is so good, that I had to show it! So, what to do to give students some CI related to this movie?!?

(This is nothing revolutionary, but I am sharing anyways.)

Before starting the movie, students read about the movie and the director. I adapted this article “Icebox, la película que se mete en las tragedias familiares de la frontera EEUU-México” and made up a little interpretive reading activity with it.

I am breaking the movie up into 20-25 minute segments. After each segment, students are doing a cierto/falso dictation activity (finishing the last part today). My students are doing this for homework, but it could also be done in class. The dictations are in this document. I record them on Flipgrid (see an example here).

After each dictation, students are responding to a few questions (on Flipgrid) related to what they watch. The questions are in the dictation doc. 

After the dictation students will see the sentences and make corrections.

This movie has been so eye opening for them and they are definitely engaged with the story of Óscar.

Bonus TPT Sale - Some of my favorite resources

🎉Back to School Bonus Sale 

Save up to 25% using promo code 

BTSBONUS19

Below are some resources that I will be definitely using this year! All of them are on sale in my TPT store.

Spanish 1:

• Go! Vive a tu manera - This TV series is going to be the backbone of my Spanish 1 curriculum. TPT link here. I will also use this in Spanish 2 this year... and maybe Spanish 3 to start. Also, here are guides that I recommend for episodes 2-5.
• Cuento y Canción de la semana - This is another key part of my Spanish 1 curriculum. TPT link here.
• Immigration unit - Un besito más and ICE El Hielo - IMHO, it is crucial that we talk about these issues - even in level 1! TPT link for unit here.
• Soy yo unit - Love this little unit. A really good one, especially if you are transitioning to CI.

Spanish 2:

• Álvaro tiene un problema - This will be such a fun way to start Spanish 2 - Álvaro Soler is always a hit. TPT link

Spanish 3:

• Bailo la pena - And this will be a fantastic way to start Spanish 3!  TPT link
• Cásate conmigo - This song is always a hit and I love how I flipped the narrative of the video a bit. TPT link
• La agente de viajes (que nunca ha viajado) - This video!! I just love it so much! This is part of our travel unit. TPT link

Cultura y Civilización (Spanish 4/5/6):

• Lotería unit - These stories are always a favorite of the course! I will definitely create resources for the 2019 commercial when it comes out in November. TPT link
• Ecuador: La música popular, el kichwa, y las leyendas - I am starting my CyC course with this unit. We start with Nicky Jam and Wisin, move to learning about bilingual schools (kichwa y español) in Ecuador and then onto three authentic legends from Ecuador. This unit is jam packed with cultural Ps!! TPT link (free) and other pieces of the unit here.
• Arianne Dowd's resources for La lengua de la mariposa (I love this movie - and there are a lot of parallels with today!) combined with Carrie Toth's novel La Hija del Sastre. This will be a unit in my Cultura y Civilización course.
• En el tiempo de las mariposas - The movie is in English, but Arianne's film guide is in Spanish. It, like all of her work, is EXCELLENT!

Also, my favorite TPT stores:

• Arianne Dowd - CCC Spanish Store
• Nelly Hughes - Comprendes Mendez SpanishShop
• Carrie Toth - Somewhere to Share ("Post Reading Follow-ups Any Novel")
• Martina Bex - The Comprehensible Classroom ("Textivities!")
• Kristy Placido - Placido Language Resources

Inspired Proficiency Podcast

Update 10/6/19: More (free) stories/songs of the week for Novices here: Atrévete, Yo no sé, La magia, and ¿Qué tiene?

I had the pleasure of talking with Ahsley Uyaguari (follow here on Facebook and/or Twitter) and being on her podcast "Inspired Proficiency"(listen here). If you haven't listened to any of her episodes, I highly suggest you do so! I really liked these epidsodes: Martina Bex, Tina Hargaden, María Datel, Joshua Cabral (2 episodes),  and Samara Spielberg

When I talked with Ashley, we talked about the presentation that I gave three times this fall. It is about using Story and Song of the week. You can hear the podcast here and below is the presentation. 

Here are the (free) resources for El Mismo Sol that I talk about in the podcast.

And here are some story/song of the week options:

• A big bundle of 18 Stories/Songs of the week
• To' My Love (free)
• Vendo pan (free)
• #Idiota (free)
• No soy cómo tú crees (free)
• Un hombre un poco obsesionado
• Álvaro tiene un problema
• Soy yo
• ICE El Hielo (free)
• Un besito más (free) and an Intermediate version (free)
• Vaina loca (for upper levels and free)
• Carlos explora Lima, Perú (can be story/song of the week or an Intermediate unit and free)
• Puebla y Barcelona  (can be story/song of the week or an Intermediate unit and free)
• Si tú la ves (can be story/song of the week or an Intermediate unit and free)
• Cásate conmigo (can be story/song of the week or an Intermediate unit)

A few other things that I mentioned on the podcast:

• El Sr. Indiferente
• Christmas Lottery ~ 22 otra vez (Novice and Intermediate)
• Christmas Lottery: Cuatro cuentos (best for Intermediates)

Un Besito Más... again

What a powerful and heartbreaking video! As a runner (whose mom still supports her at races) this video really struck me. Arianne Dowd and I created some free resources (here) and I used it in my Cultura y Civilización course last semester in my immigration unit. 

But, now, I am in the middle of my inmigración unit in Spanish 1, so I have made something for Novices. I wrote up a basic story about the video. You can find the story, a basic cloze activity, and a translation of the song here for free. 

I will probably use this story for a Story Listening Activity first, and then do the activity sheet and some of these activities: Textivate and Quizizz.

I love doing this unit in Spanish 1. This is a mostly freshmen class and they really don't know much at all about immigration. By using engaging CI stories IN SPANISH (with some facts in Spanish along the way), my big goals for this unit are the following:

• I want students to understand that immigrants (documented and undocumented) come to the U.S. for a variety of reasons, including: for work, for family, for more opportunities, for safety, and for many other reasons. 
• I want students to have empathy for undocumented immigrants.
• I want students to know that immigration is very complicated and it is not possible to "deport them all" (a common comment).
• I want students to understand that most undocumented immigrants are contributing to our society and our culture. 

So, how to do this??? I am using three stories: ICE El Hielo, Un Besito Más, and The Other Side; and one movie: La Misma Luna. And sprinkling in some factual information throughout the unit... all in Comprehensible Spanish! So, yes, it is possible to teach this in the TL.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I am sharing all of this for FREE, but if you think this (or anything else that you got here for free) is useful and has saved you some time, feel free to give back here in Radiohead style (click here to see what I mean by Radiohead style). 

ICE El Hielo... again

I have blogged about using the song and video "ICE El Hielo" a lot because I think it is such a good song to include in an immigration unit. It shows a lot of cultural practices and perspectives related to immigration and it, usually, leads to students having empathy for undocumented immigrants. 

So, as I am about to start my immigration unit in Spanish 1 (it mostly revolves around the short PBS film "The Other Side" and the movie "La Misma Luna"), I have created a Story Listening script to tell the story of "ICE El Hielo". I will tell students the story in a "Story Listening" style (so that means, I won't pre-teach vocabulary before I tell the story, but rather, I will make it comprehensible while I tell the story) and then they will watch the video. You can find the script and activities here (of here if you think this is all worth $2.00 :) ). 

(Side Note: I have been having a lot of success with Story Listening in Spanish 1! I highly recommend it! Also, I am not an expert and I am pretty sure teachers might not have "scripts" when they are doing this, but it has helped me as a beginner.)

In addition to the Story Listening script, I have created some other activities to do with the story after I have told it in a "Story Listening" style. These are the follow up activities that I have created:

• Quizlet Live - Vocabulario Importante
• Textivate (Text and Matching vocabulary -----> many activities!)
• Textivate Sequence (this is what my students will do)
• Cloze activity and translation for song
• A reading and answering questions activity (pages 3-7)
• Quizizz (cloze activity with story - could be used as in class activity, homework, or a quick assessment)
• Kahoot Jumble
• A possible quiz (pages 8-10)

Also, if you are looking for another really good song about immigration, "Un besito más" is excellent (and you can find free resources here).

Story Listening Script for "ICE El Hielo"

Hay una mujer. Se llama Eva. Tiene treinta y siete años. Ella es de El Salvador, pero vive en California. Eva trabaja en un restaurante. Todos los días se despierta temprano, prepara el desayuno para su hija, sale de su casa, y va al trabajo.

Hay una chica. Se llama Marta. Tiene quince años. Ella es de El Salvador, pero vive en la California. Es la hija de Eva. Es una estudiante muy buena. Todos los días se despierta temprano, come el desayuno, sale de su casa, y va a la escuela. Sueña con asistir a la universidad.

Hay un hombre. Se llama José. Tiene cincuenta años. Él es de México, pero vive en California. José tiene dos trabajos. Es jardinero y trabaja en un restaurante. Los jardines donde José trabaja son como Disneylandia, son muy bonitos. Trabaja en el mismo restaurante de Eva. José tiene esposa, pero ella vive en México. Todos los días se despierta temprano, come el desayuno, sale de su casa, y va a su primer trabajo. En México fue taxista. José monta en bicicleta mucho porque no tiene su licencia, pero también tiene una troca vieja (no es nueva). Maneja su troca vieja sin licencia.

José, Eva, y Marta tienen vidas buenas en los Estados Unidos pero todos tienen un problema: Vinieron a los Estados Unidos sin documentos porque querían una vida mejor. Eva llevó a Marta a los Estados Unidos cuando Marta tenía dos años. Vinieron de El Salvador, un país muy peligroso. Marta quería que Eva tuviera una vida mejor con menos peligro y más oportunidades. José vino porque quería una vida mejor también. Él le manda dinero a su familia en México todos los meses y quiere vivir en México, no en los Estados Unidos.

Un día, cuando Eva prepara el desayuno, ella ve la televisión y ve "Continúan las redadas." Eva tiene miedo porque no quiere ser deportada. Hay muchas redadas.

Hay otro hombre. Se llama Paco. Paco vive en California también. Paco tiene una familia: tiene una esposa y una hija. Es un padre bueno. Y también es un esposo bueno. Todos los días, Paco se despierta temprano, habla y juega con su hija, sale de su casa, y va al trabajo. Tiene un trabajo bueno, pero es difícil. A veces a Paco no le gusta su trabajo porque tiene que separar a las familias. Un día Paco trabaja y entra el restaurante de José y Eva con otros hombre de su trabajo. Es un problema para José y Eva. ¿Qué será su trabajo?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I am sharing all of this for FREE, but if you think this (or anything else that you got here for free) is useful and has saved you some time, feel free to give back here in Radiohead style (click here to see what I mean by Radiohead style). 

CI Movie Slides for "Perspectivas de la Inmigración"

I love using "CI Movie Slides" to "comprehensify" movies! I am currently using "Ladrón que roba a ladrón" in my Cultura y Civilización class for our "Perpsectivas de Inmigración" unit. Here is a partial unit packet (I can't share it all because some of it is purchased material from Arianne Dowd's store). In the unit packet, you will find free resources to use for two songs, information aboutDACA, a possible evaluación for for those resources, and a preview of what we do after we go through the "CI Movie Slides" and watch segments of the movie.

The three main resources of the unit are two songs: "Un besito más" and "ICE El Hielo" and the movie "Ladrón que roba a Ladrón." 

My new, revised Essential Questions are the following:

• ¿Por qué vienen algunas personas como inmigrantes indocumentados a los Estados Unidos?
• ¿Cómo es el proceso de inmigrar a los Estados Unidos legalmente?
• ¿Qué pasa ahora con la inmigración y las leyes en los Estados Unidos?
• ¿Cuáles son algunos productos, prácticas, y perspectivas culturales relacionados con la inmigración que se ven en el entretenimiento? (new question) 

See the partial unit packet for Enduring Understandings and evaluaciones.

Arianne's slideshow "Ladrón que roba a ladrón" (get it for free in this post) has really helped to "comprehensify" the movie. Here is what we do with the slides:

• Students see screenshots of movie.
• Students read slides out loud in groups (in lower levels (Canela y La Misma Luna), I read to them). 
• I explain any new words and/or clarify anything that might be confusing.
• Students answer questions throughout  and discuss.
• Then, we watch a 5-10 minute segments. 
• For homework (or could be done in class), students read the movie summary from the slideshow and circle the correct words and/or fill in the blanks with the English. (See last pages of partial unit packet.)
• We play Quizlet Live to review segments of the movie. Here is an example.
• It will take us 3-4 days (85 minute classes) to finish the movie. 

We are able to watch the movie in Spanish with subtitles in Spanish and the comprehension rate is very high. Also, they are hearing and reading authentic Spanish and understanding it ---- so good for their confidence! 

Students should be ready to discuss the movie in the Seminario Socrático (specific for "Ladrón que roba a ladrón" in Arianne's materials) at the end of the unit! 

Arianne and I have made "CI Movie Slides" for several other movies as well. See here:

• La Misma Luna (for Spanish 1)
• Canela (for Spanish 1)
• Ladrón que roba a ladrón (Spanish 3+) (created by Arianne Dowd)
• El Tiempo de las Mariposas (Spanish 3+) (created by Arianne Dowd)
• Diamantes Negros (for Spanish 3 +) 
• 3 Bellezas (for Spanish 4 + )
• También la lluvia (Spanish 3+) (created by Arianne Dowd)  (Unit packet with compiled resources here)
• El Libro de la Vida (created by Arianne Dowd)
• Cautiva (Spanish 4-5) (created by Arianne Dowd)

Adding DACA to the Perspectivas de la Inmigración unit

My second unit in my Cultura y Civilización course this semester will be "Perspectivas de la Inmigración." This is what I have done in the past, but I am changing quite a few things!

One thing I am going to add is DACA. I created this doc (feel free to make a copy and use it) so that students can understand what DACA and Dreamers are.

My anchor for the unit will be the movie Ladrón que roba a ladrón. I think students will enjoy the movie. If you haven't seen it, check it out! It has a great ending.

I am also going to use the song "La Bestia" by Kinto Sol. Arianne Dowd has been creating some excellent resources to go along with this song and I will definitely use those! And here is a messy doc with two embedded readings and some activities that will help students understand the song. I may or may not end up using that!

I will also use "Un besito más" by Jesse y Joy and ICE El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia.

Un besito más...

Update 3/28/18: Here are some Novice level resources for Un Besito Más.

Do you teach about immigration? Want to address immigration reform? The video for "Un besito más" by Jesse y Joy is excellent, and heart wrenching. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out below! 

I will be teaching an immigration unit in my Cultura y Civiliación (4/5) class this semester and I think I will use this on the very first day before I even tell them what the unit is about. It will be an excellent "hook". 

The amazing Arianne Dowd and I created some activities to use with the song/video. We are sharing them for free. They are all linked here in this doc (free on TPT). And here is a possible order to use them:

• The first presentation (linked in doc, feel free to make a copy and adapt) can be used to introduce the song without revealing what it is about (immigration). The presentation is meant to be a teacher-facilitated discussion and a great way to review some basic structures. Students should also be encouraged to be creative in their answers, hence the "Imaginemos y hablemos" slide.

• The second presentation (linked in doc, feel free to make a copy and adapt) can be used before and/or after seeing the video. With this presentation, students can do several things: put the pictures in order and discuss, listen to the teacher and identify the picture, and/or retell the story with the pictures. It can also be used as a final writing activity or assessment.

• Listen to song and put it in order.
• Two short reading activities related to the video.
• "¿Quién lo dijo, la madre o el padre?" to review what is said when the fire is happening.
• "¿Probable o improbable?" This activity will help to clarify some things for students.
• A cloze activity to hear and read the song.
• Put the lyrics in order and reveal an important message.
• Draw illustrations of parts of the song.
• A short Kahoot to review the factual information presented in the video.
• A few short answer questions about the song/video. These could be used as an assessment.
• And again, the activities in the second slideshow could also be used as an assessment.
• Teachers - Please feel free to make a copy of any of this and adapt as you want, but please give us credit and don't sell our work! (Yup, this has happened.)

I will also be using the song ICE El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia. But the major part of the immigration unit is the movie "Ladrón que roba a ladrón". It will be a bit lighter than some of the other immigration movies out there! And these two songs (with a couple of others) will be the heavier parts of the unit. I am using these two resources from Arianne Dowd: her film guide and her Breakout EDU activity. 

Side-note: I am a runner; I love to run; I think a lot when I run. My parents supported me tremendously in that sport; and my mom still goes to my races to this day! (I am 41 years old, haha!) I think that is one of the reasons that when I saw this video, I immediately had to create something to use with it in class. If you have any runners in your class, they might really be able to identify with this girl (as would anyone who thinks about not having their parents or loved-ones there when they are working hard and achieving their goals).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Inmigración en español 1

Many Spanish teachers have used La Misma Luna in class. It is a wonderful movie that students love. It also creates empathy for undocumented immigrants in the United States. This year and last, instead of just showing the movie, I decided to create a unit for my Spanish 1 class about immigration. It went really well!

The unit packet includes the Essential Questions, the "I can" statements for the unit, the readings that summarize the two stories (the short film and the movie), a variety of activities for the two stories, Quizlet links, and a link to a summary textivate activity.

The first story was the PBS short film "The Other Side." This short film has an excellent twist at the end; very few students knew it was coming. The video is in English, but I told the story in Spanish. I used this slideshow to tell the story. We spent a few days on this story and did some activities in the packet, including: reading, drawing, cierto/falso, and textivate (see slide 75). Students took a short quiz on that story after a few days. Throughout the unit, we also spent time learning the information on slides 4-8. The Quizlets on slide 9 helped with that. Those Essential Questions were on the test and students had to be able to answer them in Spanish (presentational writing). Here is the slideshow with some of the slides.

After that story, we moved on to the the story of La Misma Luna. I created the slideshow below to tell the story of the movie before we watched it. It has screen shots and very simple Spanish to tell the story. We watched it in segments and did some of the activities in the packet, as well as some Quizlet Live activities (embedded in the slideshow). Here is the slideshow with some of the slides.

I love doing these slideshows! The triple connection of hearing, seeing a picture, and reading is very engaging and really helps students understand the story. Lots of connections are being made! Then, they hear the authentic Spanish in the movie. We do watch the movie with English subtitles.

Our song of the week was also related to immigration. We used the song ICE El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia. This slideshow introduces them to the band. To start the week, students did the basic cloze activity and we went over the English meaning. Then, we sang it all week. Click here if you would like to make a copy of the slideshow and use it in your classroom.

I share this to help others teach in TL with comprehensible input. I am on that path, but not quite there yet! So, if you have any suggestions, let me know.