Last unit of the year ?!? La Copa Mundial!

Aaaah, sports... not everyone is into them, but they are such a big part of so many cultures.

Why? Because they bring joy, hope, laughter, pride, and unity. 

(Here is my favorite example that I share with students to start the unit. I was at that game five days after I had run and finished the 2013 marathon. Scroll down for another, longer description of another special moment for me.)

And that is why I love teaching about La Copa Mundial, especially during a year that it is happening, like this year! This unit is such a good way to end with my seniors (I have two and a half more weeks with them and four more weeks with the underclassmen). The songs are positive and uplifting and full of cultural products, practices, and perspectives!

Not all students are interested in sports, so how to hook them?!? The music!!! Even my most anti-sports students end up loving this unit because of the music. I have been teaching a Copa Mundial unit since 2011 (here is what I started... it is so much better now!)

This year, I am using most of Nelly Hughes' excellent resources, but I have also compiled a unit packet that includes:

• Essential Questions for the unit
• A possible assessment with a rubric
• Questions to start discussing sports and their role in culture
• Questions to answer while navigating the Fifa site
• A question about this infografía,
• Questions about this infografía 
• An adapted Buzzfeed article (35 Cosas que harían los mexicanos con tal de ver a México ganar el Mundial) with questions
• And most importantly ----> activities for SEVEN of the NEW SONGS/VIDEOS  #Engagement 
• Four basic interpretive reading activities (read an article and answer questions in English) for four of the songs 

You can find it here on TPT ($5.00). NO LONGER AVAILABLE BECAUSE NO LONGER RELEVANT BECAUSE IT IS 2022

And here is my playlist (with all seven songs plus some other songs and videos) for the unit: 

My other special sports moment... 

I was in Costa Rica in 2014 with students when their team made it the farthest that they had ever made it. When we arrived, the ticos were sooooo proud and excited, but they all said that they wouldn't win the next game against the Netherlands.

We watched the game in Arenal at the hot springs with lots of tourists, but also with ticos. Everyone watched the entire time,  and many were singing and cheering for most of the game. Even my students started to cheer and sing once they actually realized what was happening. Costa Rica played amazingly well and the game was tied at the end. It went into penalty kicks... you could feel the hope and excitement that they could actually win, but Costa Rica ended up losing. It was a heartbreaker! But the way they fans reacted was incredible. At the end of the game, the ticos were clearly and obviously disappointed for a moment, but then started cheering and chanting --- it was a pretty special thing to be a part of. And my students got to experience it too! Talk about CULTURAL practices and perspectives!! 

Units and Resources for Spanish 1!

I don't teach Spanish 1 often, probably only three times in the last ten years, but I love teaching it! I would teach it every year if I could! Two years ago I relied heavily on Elena López and Amy Zimmer for resources. They are both amazing and shared so much with me! This year I tried some new things and still relied heavily on their resources for some units.

Here is the grid with the units and resources that I used this year. Some things I didn't use this year and those are in purple font. I kept them in there because they are good and might be useful for others, but they were replaced by some other new things this year.

For me, Spanish 1 is one semester long and class is 90 minutes long... during the last blog! It has been a fantastic class this semester. These are non-honors, mostly freshmen. And I am sooooo impressed with what they have acquired! They know so many random words, sometimes I have to ask, "How do you know that?" Many of the words come from different stories.

Because I have 90 minute classes, I have a lot of "ongoing" units that you will see in the grid. Also, we do a lot of Quizlet Live with vocab and quesitons and answers... and now we are also doing lots of Gimkit!

Here are some of the new things that I did this year in Spanish 1:

• OWI (One Word Images) -  We did this to start the semester. We only did four of them, but I loved it! Highly recommended! If you want to learn more, search some blogs and/or read: A Natural Approach to Stories. 
• Story/Description Listening (not really official "Story Listening") with a reward (= watchinga music video)! So far we have done the first 13 of the stories in this TPT product   (update: there are now SIXTEEN stories/songs the week int there) and we will do a couple more by the end of the year. They have acquired so much from these stories/descriptions and we have a fantastic playlist of popular music that they know (Communities Standard: Lifelong Learning: Learners set goals and reflect on their progress in using languages for enjoyment, enrichment, and advancement.)
• Textivate - I bought the premium subscription and it is totally worth it! Check out an example of a Sequence that my students would do. It is based on the story "Alvaro tiene un problema."
• Sr. Wooly - Sometimes a story is a big part of the unit, but I also have students do the nuggets on the side, for homework, which mostly occurs during our TASC blog (45 minute extra help/enrichment/work blog that we have every day). Students acquire a ton from these silly videos! And they almost never complain about doing nuggets... I am pretty sure that they really enjoy them! My Spanish 1s are on their eighth round of nuggets. So far, they have done No lo tengo, la invitación, me duele, ?Puedo ir al baño?, Las Excusas, ?Adónde vas?, Billy la Bufanda, and (currently) Guapo. They will also do La Confesión de Víctor.
• Living on One Dollar - We used Eric Herman's Readings to go along with the eight Change Series videos, instead of just watching the documentary. 

In case you missed it, here is what I teach in Spanish 2 and 3 and here are 25+ units that I have used in Cultura y Civilización.

What I teach in Spanish 2 and Spanish 3

I previously posted the 25+ units that I have done in my Cultura y Civilización course (Spanish 4, 5, 6, and 7). I have taught that course (usually parts 1 and 2) every year for the past 7 years, so I have a ton of units for that course. I teach Spanish 2 and 3 every other year, so I don't have as many units for those courses, but today I am sharing what I do in Spanish 2 and 3. Spanish 1 is still being pulled together in a shareable format, but it will be coming soon!



Spanish 2 (click here for grid)
I taught Spanish 2 last year and will teach it again last year. My Spanish 2 curriculum is a mix of story units (based on cortometrajes and Sr. Wooly songs) and some authentic resource-type units (one from adiostextbook). Because my department is still somewhat traditional, and I am not the main Spanish 2 teacher, you will see that there is still some explicit grammar taught in Spanish 2. Mostly I use Martina Bex resources for that part of the course.

Spanish 3 (click here for grid)
My Spanish 3 curriculum is a mix of story units (based on authentic songs and Sr. Wooly songs), lots of activities authentic resources, and a lot of pre-AP type of activities (cultural comparisons and interpretive reading and listening activities with authentic resources). Because my department is still somewhat traditional, and I am not the main Spanish 3 teacher, you will see that there is still some explicit grammar taught in Spanish 3, but I am doing less and less of that. (A big thanks to Arianne Dowd for making my Spanish 3 curriculum soooo much better this year!)