Text Set Uno:
The topic for this first text set is travel. I chose this because it's a theme that I enjoy teaching, it appears often in multiple chapters of the textbook that we use, and I know that it provides a link to some very authentic types of texts that I hope my students will eventually use more and more. Perhaps, many of them will eventually travel to a Hispanic country someday!
Books:
Spanish Phrasebook for Dummies
Susana Wald (Author)
Ages: 12 and up
This book contains thousands of helpful phrases in Spanish, beginning with the most simple and essential phrases that native Spanish-speakers use every day. This is written as a guide for English-speakers traveling to Spanish-speaking destinations, and thus would be an excellent resource for a travel unit in Spanish.
Pobre Ana bailó tango - a TPRS novel in Spanish
Patricia Verano, Verónica Moscoso, and Blaine Ray (Authors)
Ages: 12 and up (Spanish II level class)
This short novel is written completely in Spanish, and in the preterite tense (past). It is a simple story about a girl named Ana who travels to Argentina. I have enjoyed using these books as a text in the target language because it provides an interesting and authentic story as rich context for teaching grammar concepts that appear throughout the chapter.
Other Materials:
Menu (Nena's Restaurante Mexicano)
Nena's Mexican Restaurant, San Bernadino, California
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This menu is written completely in the target language, whereas some other Mexican restaurants list the food items in both Spanish and English. This is a wonderful piece of realia that provides an interesting and mouth-watering context for students to discuss traditional food and dishes from Mexico. Because it comes from a real restaurant in California, students can see ways that these texts are all around us, and that we don't necessarily need to leave the US to encounter them.
Map of Puebla, México
Brought back from Puebla
Ages: 11 and up
This map shows major tourist destinations in the city of Puebla, in Mexico. It also marks any historical sites. The great thing about this map is that it is taken from Puebla, bringing an authentic piece of the city to students in the US. This is something they would use when traveling, and they can use it in activities to practice reading and giving directions.
La misma luna (movie case)
Patricia Riggen (Director)
Ages: 15 and up (Spanish III or IV students)
This is a more unique text that a teacher might use in a unit on travel to talk about immigration and some of the hardships that immigrants face in coming to this country. Not all travel is for vacation! The film is a wonderful and emotionally gripping tale of Mexican immigrants crossing the border to the U.S. I like to have students read a bit about the story before or after, and reading the sleeve of the DVD case is an excellent way for them to summarize, translate, read aloud and comprehend the story a bit more.
La fiesta brava (worksheet and reading on the topic of bullfighting in Spain)
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This handout that I have inherited from my Mentor Teacher (who inherited it so long ago she can't remember where it originally came from) is the first text featured in this text set that is actually in English. This would be great to use as a cultural highlight in a travel unit on Spanish festivals and traditions. The great thing about this, is that it relays valuable information, while not intimidating students by too much
Spanish text. It also has a helpful word bank on the back to introduce thematic vocabulary relevant to the unit.
Chico Chile - ¡Vamos a celebrar!
Teacher's Discovery (Publisher)
Ages: 11 and up
This booklet is really interesting because it presents traditional stories and recipes from various Hispanic countries that pertain to different holidays, which would be valuable information to know if a student were to travel to another country. I like that this booklet features so many different countries in one little book. I also love that some of the stories have graphics included throughout the text, which would be a great visual aid and provide cues for struggling readers.
Websites:
Cruises to the Galapagos Islands
http://www.galapagoscruceros.ec/galapagos-cruceros-especiales.html
Cruises
Ages: 12 and up (Spanish I or II)
This website features various cruises leaving from South and Central America to take tourists to the Galapagos Islands. This would be an interesting text to use on a cultural and travel unit featuring these islands. It might even be a type of text that students have never encountered before. I like that I could show this to students and have them "book a cruise" as they plan a trip. The website is entirely in the target language, but students would be able to pick up on some details.
Travel to Chile
http://chile.travel/whynot/
A tourism website
Ages: 13 and up (Spanish I or II)
This website is one of my favorites! I love that the text throughout the website, which focuses solely on the country of Chile and is geared towards young people seeking adventure, is displayed side by side with such vivid and thrilling graphics. It makes this site exciting for students to peruse. There is a wealth of information regarding Chilean culture, geography, people, places, and activities categorized under easy-to-access tabs that students can easily navigate for a research project. This makes this text very "cool" and appealing to teenagers. (C'mon... don't tell me the photo isn't a draw!!)
Lonely Planet
www.lonelyplanet.com
A travel resource
Ages: 13 and up (any Spanish class)
This site is an amazing resource for teachers OR students. It features travel information for planning a trip to any part of the world. This is a quick resource that I have used before in assigning a general "plan a trip" research project for students. The graphics are great, and this site is so authentic because it's something they would use if they were planning a real trip. I like the fact that I could have them explore the site in Spanish or English. The text is simple and presented in an organized way.
Conocer Barcelona
http://www.conocerbarcelona.com/mapa
Interactive map of Barcelona
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This interactive online map of Barcelona not only is presented completely in the target language and geared for tourists and visitors to the city, but it also features lots of helpful symbols and keys that show where different neighborhoods, museums, parks, featured historical sites, restaurants, etc. are located around the city. This would be a wonderful interactive tool to use to send students on a webquest in order to learn their way around a city using directions or commands. They could also use this to plan a trip itinerary to Barcelona, because when you click on one of the symbols, it reveals to you all the details of that place!
Travelocity
www.travelocity.com
Book a flight
Ages: 11 and up (any Spanish class)
This is my go-to website to teach students more about the process involved in traveling by air and booking a flight. Many of them have never even been in an airport or on an airplane, let alone booked a flight online. I love the simplicity and layout of this site, and the fact that they can see the various airline options and prices and routes that appear. The text is basic and it is an interactive research process. Students feel like they are really planning a trip as they plug in their destination and pick a flight option.
Zambombazo
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/panorama-tematico/#viaje
A great resource for Spanish teachers
Zachary Jones is an incredible Spanish teacher who has compiled lots of authentic resources on his website for teachers to purchase and access. He is famous for using current themes, articles in newspapers, and songs to teach Spanish grammar and themes. Teachers can search through all the resources on the site by theme, and travel is one of those themes! The links that pop up include cloze song lyric sheets, music videos, tweets, comics, and magazine articles, all having to do with travel! What a great variety of authentic texts!
Visit Chile Tweets
https://twitter.com/visitchilecom
Tweets: The text of this age!
Ages: 12 and up (any Spanish class)
I am a big proponent of finding relevant and authentic pieces of texts to use in my classroom in order to teach the language of Spanish to high schoolers today. One of the most common forms of text that these teenagers will read daily are tweets, as nearly all of them have a twitter account. I really enjoy finding tweets like these ones about traveling to Chile, and having them translate the text into English. Funnily enough, a tweet is the perfect length of text to read, even for struggling readers. And really, who can resist a cool spanish #hashtag?
Tripadvisor Hotels and Hostels
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294305-c3-zff26-Santiago_Santiago_Metropolitan_Region-Hotels.html
Booking a hotel in Santiago, Chile
Ages: 12 and up (any Spanish class)
I have enjoyed using this website in a research project on Chile in which students had to plan an imaginary trip to Chile. Part of the process was that they had to "make a reservation" at a hostel or hotel in Santiago. The text presented on this site is shown in small chunks, and with pictures, helping students to rifle through them quickly and with ease. They also learn to read reviews that people write on different hotels.
Clarin
http://www.clarin.com/
Buenos Aires Newspaper
Ages: For Teachers and upper level Spanish students
This website of a large Buenos Aires, Argentina newspaper is a bit hard to read for students who don't know the target language as well. However, it's a great resource for teachers to tell students about current events in other countries during a travel unit. It also can feature cool texts that are easier to read, such as recipes, sports statistics, or brief tabloid messages about celebrities.
New York Times Travel
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.html
A general travel resource in English
Ages: for Teachers and students 12 and up
This resource is extensive, and features some recent and exciting travel destinations all over the world. I have often found museums in Hispanic countries recommended on this site, as well as particular foods or celebrations highlighted. This is a great resource for a teacher to keep up to date on current world and travel news to share with the class, as well as a resource for students to explore. It is in English.
el fin.
The topic for this first text set is travel. I chose this because it's a theme that I enjoy teaching, it appears often in multiple chapters of the textbook that we use, and I know that it provides a link to some very authentic types of texts that I hope my students will eventually use more and more. Perhaps, many of them will eventually travel to a Hispanic country someday!
Books:
Spanish Phrasebook for Dummies
Susana Wald (Author)
Ages: 12 and up
This book contains thousands of helpful phrases in Spanish, beginning with the most simple and essential phrases that native Spanish-speakers use every day. This is written as a guide for English-speakers traveling to Spanish-speaking destinations, and thus would be an excellent resource for a travel unit in Spanish.
Pobre Ana bailó tango - a TPRS novel in SpanishPatricia Verano, Verónica Moscoso, and Blaine Ray (Authors)
Ages: 12 and up (Spanish II level class)
This short novel is written completely in Spanish, and in the preterite tense (past). It is a simple story about a girl named Ana who travels to Argentina. I have enjoyed using these books as a text in the target language because it provides an interesting and authentic story as rich context for teaching grammar concepts that appear throughout the chapter.
Other Materials:
Nena's Mexican Restaurant, San Bernadino, California
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This menu is written completely in the target language, whereas some other Mexican restaurants list the food items in both Spanish and English. This is a wonderful piece of realia that provides an interesting and mouth-watering context for students to discuss traditional food and dishes from Mexico. Because it comes from a real restaurant in California, students can see ways that these texts are all around us, and that we don't necessarily need to leave the US to encounter them.
Map of Puebla, MéxicoBrought back from Puebla
Ages: 11 and up
This map shows major tourist destinations in the city of Puebla, in Mexico. It also marks any historical sites. The great thing about this map is that it is taken from Puebla, bringing an authentic piece of the city to students in the US. This is something they would use when traveling, and they can use it in activities to practice reading and giving directions.
Patricia Riggen (Director)
Ages: 15 and up (Spanish III or IV students)
This is a more unique text that a teacher might use in a unit on travel to talk about immigration and some of the hardships that immigrants face in coming to this country. Not all travel is for vacation! The film is a wonderful and emotionally gripping tale of Mexican immigrants crossing the border to the U.S. I like to have students read a bit about the story before or after, and reading the sleeve of the DVD case is an excellent way for them to summarize, translate, read aloud and comprehend the story a bit more.
La fiesta brava (worksheet and reading on the topic of bullfighting in Spain)
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This handout that I have inherited from my Mentor Teacher (who inherited it so long ago she can't remember where it originally came from) is the first text featured in this text set that is actually in English. This would be great to use as a cultural highlight in a travel unit on Spanish festivals and traditions. The great thing about this, is that it relays valuable information, while not intimidating students by too much
Spanish text. It also has a helpful word bank on the back to introduce thematic vocabulary relevant to the unit.Chico Chile - ¡Vamos a celebrar!
Teacher's Discovery (Publisher)Ages: 11 and up
This booklet is really interesting because it presents traditional stories and recipes from various Hispanic countries that pertain to different holidays, which would be valuable information to know if a student were to travel to another country. I like that this booklet features so many different countries in one little book. I also love that some of the stories have graphics included throughout the text, which would be a great visual aid and provide cues for struggling readers.
Websites:
http://www.galapagoscruceros.ec/galapagos-cruceros-especiales.html
Cruises
Ages: 12 and up (Spanish I or II)
This website features various cruises leaving from South and Central America to take tourists to the Galapagos Islands. This would be an interesting text to use on a cultural and travel unit featuring these islands. It might even be a type of text that students have never encountered before. I like that I could show this to students and have them "book a cruise" as they plan a trip. The website is entirely in the target language, but students would be able to pick up on some details.
http://chile.travel/whynot/
A tourism website
Ages: 13 and up (Spanish I or II)
This website is one of my favorites! I love that the text throughout the website, which focuses solely on the country of Chile and is geared towards young people seeking adventure, is displayed side by side with such vivid and thrilling graphics. It makes this site exciting for students to peruse. There is a wealth of information regarding Chilean culture, geography, people, places, and activities categorized under easy-to-access tabs that students can easily navigate for a research project. This makes this text very "cool" and appealing to teenagers. (C'mon... don't tell me the photo isn't a draw!!)
www.lonelyplanet.com
A travel resource
Ages: 13 and up (any Spanish class)
This site is an amazing resource for teachers OR students. It features travel information for planning a trip to any part of the world. This is a quick resource that I have used before in assigning a general "plan a trip" research project for students. The graphics are great, and this site is so authentic because it's something they would use if they were planning a real trip. I like the fact that I could have them explore the site in Spanish or English. The text is simple and presented in an organized way.
http://www.conocerbarcelona.com/mapa
Interactive map of Barcelona
Ages: 11 and up (Spanish I or II)
This interactive online map of Barcelona not only is presented completely in the target language and geared for tourists and visitors to the city, but it also features lots of helpful symbols and keys that show where different neighborhoods, museums, parks, featured historical sites, restaurants, etc. are located around the city. This would be a wonderful interactive tool to use to send students on a webquest in order to learn their way around a city using directions or commands. They could also use this to plan a trip itinerary to Barcelona, because when you click on one of the symbols, it reveals to you all the details of that place!
www.travelocity.com
Book a flight
Ages: 11 and up (any Spanish class)
This is my go-to website to teach students more about the process involved in traveling by air and booking a flight. Many of them have never even been in an airport or on an airplane, let alone booked a flight online. I love the simplicity and layout of this site, and the fact that they can see the various airline options and prices and routes that appear. The text is basic and it is an interactive research process. Students feel like they are really planning a trip as they plug in their destination and pick a flight option.
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo/panorama-tematico/#viaje
A great resource for Spanish teachers
Zachary Jones is an incredible Spanish teacher who has compiled lots of authentic resources on his website for teachers to purchase and access. He is famous for using current themes, articles in newspapers, and songs to teach Spanish grammar and themes. Teachers can search through all the resources on the site by theme, and travel is one of those themes! The links that pop up include cloze song lyric sheets, music videos, tweets, comics, and magazine articles, all having to do with travel! What a great variety of authentic texts!
https://twitter.com/visitchilecom
Tweets: The text of this age!
Ages: 12 and up (any Spanish class)
I am a big proponent of finding relevant and authentic pieces of texts to use in my classroom in order to teach the language of Spanish to high schoolers today. One of the most common forms of text that these teenagers will read daily are tweets, as nearly all of them have a twitter account. I really enjoy finding tweets like these ones about traveling to Chile, and having them translate the text into English. Funnily enough, a tweet is the perfect length of text to read, even for struggling readers. And really, who can resist a cool spanish #hashtag?
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g294305-c3-zff26-Santiago_Santiago_Metropolitan_Region-Hotels.html
Booking a hotel in Santiago, Chile
Ages: 12 and up (any Spanish class)
I have enjoyed using this website in a research project on Chile in which students had to plan an imaginary trip to Chile. Part of the process was that they had to "make a reservation" at a hostel or hotel in Santiago. The text presented on this site is shown in small chunks, and with pictures, helping students to rifle through them quickly and with ease. They also learn to read reviews that people write on different hotels.
http://www.clarin.com/
Buenos Aires Newspaper
Ages: For Teachers and upper level Spanish students
This website of a large Buenos Aires, Argentina newspaper is a bit hard to read for students who don't know the target language as well. However, it's a great resource for teachers to tell students about current events in other countries during a travel unit. It also can feature cool texts that are easier to read, such as recipes, sports statistics, or brief tabloid messages about celebrities.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.html
A general travel resource in English
Ages: for Teachers and students 12 and up
This resource is extensive, and features some recent and exciting travel destinations all over the world. I have often found museums in Hispanic countries recommended on this site, as well as particular foods or celebrations highlighted. This is a great resource for a teacher to keep up to date on current world and travel news to share with the class, as well as a resource for students to explore. It is in English.
el fin.
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteGreat text set! I think that this is a really interesting subject and you have so many great resources. You are obviously passionate about travel and motivating the students to explore their interest in travel. Your use of real world applications is a great way to make provide the students with authentic experiences. I think that this will be a great tool for you to use in the future.