Keri has a question:
Hi Ben,
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the content of what I teach and I have a few questions. I apologize if this is a little all over the place…we now have six levels of Spanish at our high school because incoming freshman are starting with Spanish 3 (with two years of traditional instruction at the middle school). So, I’ve been giving myself a headache trying to think ahead of how this would all work. I know that the best plan is to have no plan at all. This works a lot in class when the kids feel like talking…
However, I have used a lot of ideas from Martina Bex and I was looking at her curriculum maps for Spanish I and II – I personally like how she has three target structures for each unit and has found songs with the same structures, activities, movie talks, etc. I’ve been trying to develop my own units like this as well…(I’m just a planner by nature). Since most freshman start in level 3 here and end in level 6 as seniors, where do I start? Since the students have no CI / TPRS instruction, I notice that I’ve been using a lot of level 1 and 2 structures with them all along. I think this is fine…in fact, I know it is because they know nothing! I know that even the levels 5 and 6 need that as well!
So, I may be teaching Spanish 5 next year and I’ve only had the kids once in level 3. Many have been coming to me complaining about their current traditional Spanish 4 class and how they “lost everything they had while in my class last year.” I guess what I’m asking is in a level 5 class, mostly juniors, in my heart I know I still need to focus on the preterit, imperfect, present tense for our verbal and written stories. However…in your opinion, should I attempt to do more stories with more “complex” structures? Or should I just continue sprinkling in those complex structures all year as such “What would you have done if you had been..” and continue with the simple past (preterit & imperfect) structures??
Another issue is levels 2 and 3. I may have both next year. In my opinion, I should use the same curriculum (in other words, the same simple target structures such as went, was, wanted, and, of course, many others) …the 3’s are no more advanced than the 2’s when coming from a traditional classroom setting. But…what if the word gets out? What if students in my level 3 ask me “Are we doing the same things as level 2?” I don’t want to make them feel dumb but I know that they need it!
So, I guess one overall question I have is…is it best to just target present and past (of course some commands and subjunctive, too) as the structures in all levels 1-6 and just sprinkle in constantly the future, conditional, pluperfect, as needed or would anyone suggest that at a certain level we should begin to target more complex structures? I think the answer is not cut and dry here because the students go from traditional classrooms to mine and back to traditional… And I do realize that nothing should be “complex” as long as we give the meaning…but that’s the only that comes to mind right now to word it.
Sorry if I’m rambling a bit…I just needed some feedback on this.
Thank you so much and I would appreciate any comments, feedback, suggestions!!!
Keri