Español con Emily

Introducing the novel Piratas del Caribe y el mapa secreto to your Spanish class 2 Minute Read I teach a unit practicing the Present tense with “Piratas del Caribe y el mapa secreto”, by Mira Canyon & Carol Gaab.  It’s one of my students’ favorite books we’ve read, among Agentes secretos y el mural de Picasso, Robo en la noche , and La Llorona de Mazatlán. As a way to introduce the novel, I have students complete a “virtual field trip” of the Caribbean Sea, to get familiar with all of the countries located there! It’s especially important for students to get familiar with the geography, since it’s mentioned right away in the first chapter, regarding the Spanish fleet hauling silver. With this Caribbean Sea Digital Webquest , students research the following (using the links provided): Where the city or landmark is located What language is spoken there What’s the capital of the country? What is the country famous for? What is it? What’s the population? Other interesting facts I ...

Teaching Robo en la noche   2 Minute Read I teach a unit practicing the Past tenses with “Robo en la noche”, by Kristy Placido. It’s also available in Present tense, but when it first came out, it was only in Past tense! It’s one of my students’ favorite books we’ve read, among Agentes secretos y el mural de Picasso, Piratas del Caribe y el mapa secreto, and La Llorona de Mazatlán. As a way to introduce the novel, I have students complete a “virtual field trip” of Costa Rica, to get familiar with the country.  With this Costa Rica Digital Webquest , students research the following (using the links provided): Where the city or landmark is located What is it? What’s the population? Other interesting facts At the end, they find an interesting place or landmark in Costa Rica and write some interesting facts about it I have 2 versions, all English, or all Spanish, so you can choose which one to assign to students based on their level.  How I Use this Webquest: I give students ...

No-Prep Emergency Spanish Sub Plans   2 Minute Read No-Prep Spanish Sub Plans that work for Middle and High School Spanish are super important when you have to call in sick the night or morning before school! What’s tricky about being a Spanish teacher, is that it’s pretty rare that fellow coworkers or substitutes can teach Spanish while we’re gone. Therefore, over the years, I’ve needed to have a few sets of emergency sub plans ready to go at a moment’s notice → and that means something digital! Whether you call them webquests or virtual field trips, the idea is the same –students will discover information in an interactive way with embedded links that take them to websites with reliable information. Have you ever spent a bunch of time leaving detailed sub plans with copies to print, and the sub doesn’t actually read your directions? 🤦‍♀️ I’ve been there! It’s super frustrating, and ends up feeling like your time was wasted, especially when you should’ve been resting up or taki...