Inside: Resources for teaching the novel El Silbón de Venezuela in Spanish class. El Silbón de Venezuela en la clase de español.
Author: Allison Wienhold
Published: April 8, 2019 & most recently updated October 3, 2024.
El Silbón de Venezuela
I am so excited to finally teach El silbón de Venezuela for the last book of Spanish 1 this year. You can see all the novels I use in each level in my Curriculum for Spanish 1-4 here.
As a side note, I have had this same group of students for two quarters of Exploratory Spanish in both 7th & 8th grade so they are ahead of a typical Spanish 1 class. They read El capibara con botas in 8th grade & 3 full class books this year so far. So, normally, I would suggest El Silbón de Venezuela in the fall of Spanish 2.
I purchased a class set El silbón de Venezuela a couple of years ago from my friend and fellow Iowan Craig Klein Dexemple and this is the first time I have used it as a full-class novel. Here are the resources I have gathered to prepare to teach the book in Spanish 1.
Before reading the novel El Silbón
Ever since having a lot of success with reading a novel in one week in Spanish 1, I have been front-loading the culture and vocab before starting a novel. This helps students to read the novel quickly, already with the background information that will help them be successful. Here is my tentative plan for this novel, which will take a few weeks before we start the actual novel.
Other Legends
Before starting the novel we introduced another legend of the Spanish speaking world with the Cucuy Unit from Martina Bex.
You could also teach about La Llorona. Or teach and compare the legend of El Pombero – una leyenda paraguya.
Intro a variety of versions of El Silbón
- El Silbón legend mini unit – from Martina Bex – a couple-day mini unit that helps provide the background vocab of the legend with a parallel story.
- La leyenda de “El Silbón” activities from Craig of Spanish Cuentos and “El Silbón” short free reading from Craig
- El Silbón – novice version in Leyendas Impactantes – I might read the novice version of El Silbón in this reader out loud to students to give them another version of the legend.
Intro Venezuela
- Intro Geography of Venezuela using this blog post with resources from Sra. Dentlinger including Geografía de Venezuela – Quizlet
- Como Los Vaqueros – song using Song Resource from Sra. Dentlinger & El Silbón 39 Festival Música Llanera
- (Plus I am choosing to wait to dig deeper into the current situation in Venezuela using these news articles until after finishing the book.)
More possible resources to prepare to teach El Silbón de Venezuela
- Lessons to prepare for El Silbón de Venezuela – blog post with resources from Sra. Dentlinger
- Song Resource for El Silbón de Venezuela: Como los vaqueros – from Sra. Dentlinger
- Venezuela: A Paradise in Hell (video)
More Resources to Teach Books in Spanish
- If you are looking for more ideas on how to teach with novels, check out How to Teach Comprehensible Spanish Books.
- 20 Activities for Spanish Class Novels
- Spanish Novel Conversation Cards – used to chat about any novel
- Literature Circles – teach a variety of books at once
Resources for Other Books from Spanish Cuentos
- Teaching the Novel Peter va a Colombia
- El Ratón Pablito in Spanish Class
- La Familia de Federico Rico in Spanish Class
- libro lunes: ¡Papacito!
- El gorila blanco de Guinea Española
NEW! Movie to Pair with El Silbón de Venezuela
If I taught this novel this year, I would pair it with the cute movie Chupa. You could compare and contrast the legends of El Chupacabras in Mexico & El Silbón in Venezuela.
- Chupa Blog Post
- Chupa Movie Guide Questions Worksheet
- Another movie connected to legends – The Casagrandes Movie
NEW! Pair the novel with Tierra Incógnita!
- This book would also pair perfectly with the authentic & spooky show from Argentina Tierra Incógnita.
- Tierra Incógnita Season 1 Spanish class guide
- Grab a freebie for the show below as well.
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