Planning the novel Problemas en Paraíso

This year another novel I am teaching for the first time as a class is Problemas en Paraíso. It is an older novela that I have used it in literature circles with great success. The students who had the book thought it was funny, entertaining and had an exciting plot. We will be using it second quarter of Spanish 3. You can see my full tentative curriculum plan here.

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Introducing the past tense in Spanish class

My Spanish 2 class is getting ready to read their first novel in the past tense, Fiesta Fatal. (You can see our tentative year curriculum here). Even though I try to casually use some past talking about our summer, our weekend and talking about novels, we have not really dived into the past too much yet. I think that comes with the mentality that has always been ingrained, stemming from textbooks that Spanish 1 uses present, Spanish 2 uses past and other tenses are reserved for upper levels. Even though I am trying to move away from this, even most comprehensible input resources tend to follow that pattern. 

Before starting the novel I want to make sure that the key past tense vocabulary is introduced. I have learned from experience that front loading the vocabulary before starting the novel makes reading a much more positive experience. Then we can move quickly through the book without it becoming a drag. There is quite a bit of imperfect in particular in the first chapter, including four of the "Super 7" (era, tenía, estaba & quería) that are used a lot. Since I have never formally done special person interviews with this group, I decided to do a twist on my Super 7 Unit, to make it past tense. 

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Teaching El capibara con botas Chapters 5-9

I am teaching a novel El capibara con botas by Mira Canion as the first ever novel in Spanish 1. It has a comprehensive teacher's guide and you can find all posts I have for the novel using the label Capibara, including teaching chapters 1-4. 

For each chapter it is pretty much the same for how we read. For my lower level class, I read to them, discussing as we go. For my other section, I usually give the option to read with me and discuss, or read on their own and complete activities from the slide show posed on Google Classroom. With that in mind, here are some additional activities we did for chapters 5-9. 

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libro lunes - La casa de la dentista

I am fresh off of #IWLA17 and plan on sharing takeaways at some point in the near future. If you would like to see my presentation, you can find it here. Next year, our IWLA Keynote speaker will be Sr. Wooly! Mark your calendars for October 12-13 in Ankeny, Iowa. On the topic of Sr. Wooly, today I have a new edition of libro lunes for you. This is where I share about a new to me book that I have read and plan to add to my FVR Spanish class library. You can read my past libro lunes posts here. In all transparency, he sent me an advance copy to review, but this is my not paid, honest reflection of what I think about La casa de la dentista. You can also see what other teachers think with reviews from Maris, Kara, Arianne & Cynthia. 

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#IWLA17 Presentation - I like to move it, move it

It is time for the annual Iowa World Language Association Conference! If you, will be there, please introduce yourself and come to say hi! I love meeting virtual friends in person and connecting with all of my IWLA buddies. I will be running for Vice President and would love your vote if you will be there. 

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Teaching El capibara con botas - Chapters 1-4

This year for the first time ever I am teaching a novel in the first quarter of Spanish 1. El capibara con botas by Mira Canion is the ultimate first reader, since it contains just 55 new vocabulary words and has a new teacher's guide. You can find all posts I have for the novel using the label Capibara and here are all posts about novels. Here is what we did before starting the novel, as well as for chapters 1-4. 

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