Inside: a new book for Spanish class you need to get for your classroom library!
It is time for another libro lunes, when I tell you about a Spanish reader you need for your classroom library. La isla más peligrosa is the first novel from fellow Iowan John Sifert. (You can find him on Twitter as @senorsifert) It is a suspense filled Spanish novice novel featuring less than 200 unique words and many cognates. It is written in comprehensible present tense Spanish. I personally think it would be great for late Spanish 1 or Spanish 2 students as a full class reader. You can see the book trailer here. You can get the book below on Amazon using Prime!
To see many of my classroom library recommendations all in one place, you can visit My Amazon Store book list!
La isla más peligrosa is the most action packed reader in Spanish I have read thus far. It has a lot of dramatic dialogue, that would be very fun to act out Reader’s Theater style. It has a very compelling plot, and students will want to read more right away. It is also book 1 in a future series, so that it will be exciting to read future books as well. It would especially be a good FVR pick for students who like action movies.
As a full class reader La isla más peligrosa has many themes and cultural topics and connections that could be built on to create a full cultural unit. Here are some themes or area for possible expansion:
- Uruguay
- La Isla de la Quemanda Grande (snake island)
- Travel
- Medicine (cancer treatment)
- Medio ambiente – Deforestation, la jungla, la playa, islas
- Pandillas (PCC)
- Family
- Sobrevivir
- Encerrados (connect with Encerrada en la escuela – Sr. Wooly)
I love that it is not your typical reader that takes you through the culture of a country, but instead focuses on a compelling story that happens to tie in possible cultural expansions. If you are required to cover travel, this could be used as part of a travel unit, or focus on the environmental aspect if that is your goal, or the medicinal aspect with trying to cure cancer. Depending on your objective there are many possible avenues to expand. Knowing your class and their interests, you can figure out which direction you would want to go.
The next time I get curriculum funds, I would love to get a class set of this novel. I know that with most independent authors, if you contact them directly, you may get a little bit of a deal for a bulk order. Hopefully, next year I can get a few more copies to use as an option in my Spanish 3 literature circles. Until then I will have it as an option in my classroom library
Have you read La isla más peligrosa? Please add your review in the comments!
*While John did send me this book to read, all views are my own!*
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