Teaching Spanish with Novels
You may think that it is crazy that I am already planning for next year, but I can not not help it, I love it! We may have just finished school last week, but I am always looking ahead to a tentative long term plan. At the end of the year I did Google form surveys in all classes asking which novels they liked best, how they felt about the difficulty level, as well as let them vote one which books sounded most interesting for next year. This feedback was so helpful as it guided which novels each level would read and in what order. The favorite book from Spanish 1 was Peter va a Colombia, Spanish 2 was Bianca Nieves y los 7 torritos, and Spanish 4 was Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha. It is interesting that it was my first time teaching all three of those novels this year!
Each level is composed of two semesters that are 18 weeks each, with about 50 minute classes. To see what I have done in past years see: Curriculum years 1-3 & Curriculum – year 4 & Curriculum year 5. Also, to see how I plan for upper level Spanish classes, see this recent post. To get more information about teaching with novels, check out the post Teaching a Novel 101. Many of these novels could be taught in many different levels, but this is how I feel it will work best with my particular students.
To start my tentative year plan, I first make a google sheet lined up with the school calendar by week. You can see it above and can get your own editable version here. I have all levels side by side so I can see what I will be tentatively teaching in all levels. It helps me as a department of one to split up movie units, as well as assessments so I am not swamped with grading from every class at once. I typically try for one novel unit per quarter, which is supplemented by authentic films, and other resources from the teacher’s guides. This year I am also trying to do at least one Sr. Wooly song unit per quarter as well. You can see my tentative plans by level below.
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| novels for Spanish 1 |
Spanish 1
(had 6 weeks of Exploratory Spanish 2 years ago which included Martina Bex Somos curriculum units 1-3 & Geography Mini Unit)
- Spanish 1 – Quarter 1
- 1st Week Plans with Super 7 verbs & proficiency introduction
- Persona Especial Interviews
- Martina Bex Somos curriculum unit 5 (has, goes to, is feeling)
- Mexican Independence Day
- El Capibara con Botas Novel Unit
- Spanish 1 – Quarter 2
- Sr. Wooly – No lo tengo
- Day of the Dead
- Martina Bex Somos curriculum units 6 & 7
- Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro Novel Unit
- Navidad mini unit
- Spanish 1 – Quarter 3
- Spanish 1 – Quarter 4
- Las Fallas mini unit
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Guapo
- Semana Santa
- Peter va a Colombia with Biblioburro, Yipao parade & La Bicicleta
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| novels for Spanish 2 |
Spanish 2
See this post for previous Spanish experience.
- Spanish 2 – Quarter 1
- 1st Week Plans with find someone who & Persona Especial Interviews
- La Tomatina Cultural Unit
- Esperanza Novel Unit
- include the movies Living on $1 & Which Way Home
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Amnesia
- Spanish 2 – Quarter 2
- Martina Bex past units 1 & 2
- Day of the Dead
- Fiesta Fatal Novel Unit with quince mini unit & focus on past tense
- Spanish 2 – Quarter 3
- Reyes – 1st week back from winter break
- El Internado – Introduction mini unit & every Friday
- Felipe Alou with the movie Pelotero &/or Sugar
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Ya Está Muerto
- Spanish 2 – Quarter 4
- Bianca Nieves y los 7 torritos Novel Unit with Bullfighting & Spain
- Continue with El Internado – every Friday
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – La Dentista
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| novels for Spanish 3 |
Spanish 3
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Ya Está Muerto
- Robo en la Noche (past tense) Novel Unit ( I ended up using Noche de Oro instead)
- El Internado – every Friday
Spanish 3 – Quarter 2
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – La Dentista
- Problemas en Paraíso Novel Unit
Spanish 4 – Quarter 3
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Billy y las Botas
- Literature Circles with the following books
- Los Bakers van a a Peru (past)
Spanish 3 – Quarter 4
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – El Banco
- Vida y Muerte en la Mara Salvatrucha Novel Unit
- includes the movie Voces Inocentes
(This year there is no Spanish 4 because of our move from trimesters to semesters.)
Exploratory Spanish – 1 quarter each of 7th & 8th grade
8th grade – Exploratory Spanish
(Last year had one quarter and used the plans below)
- 1st Week Plans with Super 7 verbs review
- Daily Persona Especial, with mini quizzes over classmates each Friday
- El Capibara con Botas Novel Unit
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – Guapo
7th grade – Exploratory Spanish – I plan to do it similar to this post
- Martina Bex Somos curriculum Units 1-3
- Geography Mini Unit
- Sr. Wooly Song Unit – No lo tengo
- Other cultural units as seasonally relevant (Los Reyes, Semana Santa, etc)
Since this is tentatively planned out so far in advance I am well aware that there will be changes. Even so, I like to be able to see my whole year ahead of me, so I know where to focus my attention this summer (like the new new novels and Sr. Wooly songs I will be teaching next year for the first time). I know many of you have requested assistance with long term planning, so if there is anything else you would like me to go into more detail in another post, let me know. Finally, thank you all for reading and helping this blog pass 1,000,000 view yesterday!!
Other Novel resources you may enjoy
