Descubre el español con Santillana
FAQ
About the program:
Objectives
What is the objective of Descubre el español con Santillana?
Descubre el español is a comprehensive program that is jam-packed with rich and engaging activities
that help elementary students learn Spanish through the five Cs: Communication, Cultures,
Connections, Comparisons and Communities. Descubre el español explores not only the language,
but also the culture of twenty Spanish-speaking countries, creating as much interest in the culture as
in the language, thus promoting student’s interest.
Who might benefit from this program?
Students enrolled in FLES programs as well as teachers will certainly benefit from this program. The
program may also be used in language immersion settings or in classes with more heritage learners,
who may benefit from the program’s differentiated instruction as well as the other components more
suitable for reading classes, such as the anthologies and the thematic library.
Format
Is this a sequential program?
Descubre el español con Santillana is not a sequential program in the sense that each level is not a
continuation of the previous level. Each student book Unit 1 begins as a unit zero (assuming students
enter the program with zero knowledge of Spanish) and the remaining units are sequential, spiraling
within the grade level. Each level of the program moves at a faster pace, allowing for the recycling
and expansion of acquired vocabulary and skills. Also, the cultural perspective of the material
changes from level to level, so students who are in a second of third year of FLES will be able to
recycle and master previously-learned vocabulary, while still being exposed to new vocabulary and
cultural perspectives.
Pacing
What is the suggested pacing for this program?
This program is divided into eight units. Each unit is divided into four weeks. Each week is divided
into four 30-minute periods. The pacing of the program, however, may be easily adapted according to
the student’s needs.
Scope and Sequence
Where is the Scope and Sequence?
There is a Scope and Sequence chart at the back of each Teacher’s Guide (Manual del Maestro).
Characters
Are the same characters used in all units within a level?
Yes. Each level has a set of main characters that recur in every unit. New
characters interact with these recurring characters as they “visit” each
country. The main characters are included as manipulative character cutouts
in levels A-D. They are also included in the Video and Online components for
all six grade levels.
Are the same characters used in all levels?
No, each level has its own set of recurring characters. Here you can see
Anna and Charlie, the two characters from Level C.
Countries
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How many countries are covered in the program?
The program covers 20 Spanish-speaking countries. They are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México,
Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela. For political
reasons, the characters in the grade levels covering Cuba travel to Miami, not Cuba, and visit with the
Cuban community there.
Standards
Which standards are covered in Descubre el español con Santillana?
Descubre el español con Santillana was developed in close alignment not only to the national foreign
language standards but also to the Texas and California foreign language standards, which are two of
the main adoption states. These standards are identified at the beginning of each lesson in the TGs.
The TG lessons as well as the anthologies also partially cover the Texas Spanish Language Arts
standards.
Five Cs
What are the Five Cs?
The Five Cs refer to the National Foreign Language Standards. They are: Communication, Cultures,
Connections, Comparisons, and Communities.
How are they used in the program?
The Five Cs are covered throughout the program, and are easily identified by icons at points of use.
Backward Design
What does Backward Design mean?
With this type of curriculum planning, objectives are set before content and activities are chosen and
developed. Teachers are supposed to begin with the end in mind. In Descubre el español con
Santillana we set specific unit objectives at the beginning of each unit, and the informal as well as the
formal assessments throughout and at the end of the unit measure and show evidence of attainment
of objectives as well as progress in the curriculum.
Big Idea
What does “Big Idea” mean?
An element of Backward Design, this is what teachers want students to remember. This is what
should endure when students are out of the classroom. In Descubre el español con Santillana, the
Big Idea is the theme that revolves around the concepts and vocabulary that we want all students to
achieve by the end of that unit. Each unit title is the Big Idea for that unit.
Differentiated Instruction
What is differentiated instruction?
Differentiated instruction provides opportunities for all children to learn a language, regardless of
learning styles, achievement levels, race/ethnic origin, socioeconomic status, home language, or
future academic goals. In Descubre el español con Santillana, we differentiate instruction by providing
Multiple Access Strategies, by Meeting Individual Needs, and by providing activities for Multiple
Intelligences.
Essential Questions
What is an Essential Question?
An element of Backward Design, these open-ended questions help organize and focus learning. In
Descubre el español con Santillana, there is an Essential Question before each week. This question
is revisited by teacher and answered by students at the end of each week.
Language Functions
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What are Language Functions?
These refer to the purposes for which speech, writing or, in our case, language structures are being
used. From language functions, language forms, such as grammatical concepts, can be extrapolated
and taught instead of being taught in isolation. In Descubre el español con Santillana, language
functions are the language objectives of each week since they’re the context in which forms such as
verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc. are taught.
Meeting Individual Needs
What does “Meeting Individual Needs” mean?
Teaching strategies designed to address the needs of students with different modalities of learning.
How do we meet individual needs?
We include activities for students in Benchmark (students experiencing temporary or minor
difficulties), Strategic (students who are slightly behind), and Intensive (students who are behind and
considered at risk) groups. In addition, there are Challenge activities for advanced students or
heritage speakers who may benefit from more demanding or effortful activities.
Where do these terms come from?
From the California Universal Access document contained in the California Language Arts
Framework.
Multiple Access Strategies
What are “Multiple access strategies”?
Students may use a variety of strategies to access and engage in the material presented in the
lessons.
What kinds of access strategies do we use?
We use strategies and stimuli designed for students to access basic communication concepts, basic
communication concepts plus cultural content, and communication concepts, cultural content plus
critical thinking skills in the target language.
Multiple Intelligences
What are multiple intelligences?
These are extension activities that encourage students to learn in eight different ways: linguistically,
logically-mathematically, spatially, bodily-kinesthetically, musically, interpersonally, intrapersonally,
and naturalistically.
Program components:
The program includes the following components: Student Book, Teacher’s Guide, Photo Cards,
Practice Book, Assessments, Blackline Masters, Audio CDs, Descubre en video, Descubre Online,
Anthologies (grades 1-5), Phonics Readers, Thematic Leveled Readers, E-books, Manipulatives
(grades K-3). View the program components!
http://promos.santillanausa.com/DESCUBREelESPANOL/eMag_DE-TG2-Sampler/#/14/
Student Books – Libro del estudiante
How are student books leveled?
Student books are leveled from A-F. All levels begin with a unit zero and self-spiral at increasing
speeds, according to the appropriate difficulty for each level. Characters and contents in each book
adjust to different pacing guides, school programs (FLES or FLEX), and grade levels.
Do student books have any content in English?
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No. Descubre el español con Santillana student books are only in Spanish. If there is the need for
support in English, it is provided in the Teacher’s Guide, some Blackline Masters, and some Online
component.
Are all levels hard cover books?
Levels B-F are hard cover books. Level A is a consumable paperback.
Teacher’s Guide – Manual del maestro
View it online/ download it! http://promos.santillanausa.com/DESCUBREelESPANOL/eMag_DE-TG2Sampler/ (Front Matter and Unit 1 of Teacher’s Guide C – Grade 2)
What’s in the Teacher’s Guide?
The lessons in the TG basically wrap around the SB spreads (double pages). The TG also includes a
unit planner at the beginning of each unit and a Resources spread at the beginning of each week.
The Resources spread indicates which ancillary components are used that week. For a more detailed
explanation of what’s in the TGs, see the Guide to the Guide section in the introduction to the TG.
Is there an electronic version of this component?
There is an electronic version with open pdfs available for the teacher.
Anthologies – Antologías
What is in the Antologías?
The Antologías contain a series of leveled stories that include reading comprehension, vocabulary,
spelling and writing activities. These stories are thematically tied to the student book. Each anthology
unit includes three readings from different genres. The first reading is for students who are advanced
in a FLES classroom, but struggle somewhat in a Spanish Reading class. The second is for students
who are reading at or slightly below grade level at a Spanish Reading class, and the third is for more
advanced students who read at grade level or above. A correlation of these readings to the Fountas
and Pinnell readability system is available.
Who would benefit from this component?
This component is mostly recommended for advanced FLES students and/or heritage speakers who
are at different levels of proficiency in their home language.
Assessments – Evaluaciones
How do the assessments work?
The Evaluaciones booklet includes eight formal end-of-unit assessments, as well as an initial
placement test and a year-end evaluation. It also includes scoring forms and rubrics for formal and
informal assessments. There are two types of assessments in this program: Separate Domains
Assessments and Integrated Domains Assessments. While the Separate Domains Assessments can
only be administered at the end of each unit, the Integrated Domains Assessments can be
administered during the course of instruction. Teachers may choose any of a number of activities in
the TG to conduct these informal assessments. Recommended sections include the Informal
Assessment activities at the end of each week, the Cooperative activities found throughout the units,
and the Culminating Activities also found at the end of each week.
What are Separate Domains Assessments?
Separate Domains Assessments are the formal, end-of-unit assessments that are summative in
nature and evaluate levels of listening, speaking, reading, and writing separately.
What are Integrated Domains Assessments?
The Integrated Domains Assessments are the informal, ongoing assessments. The booklet includes
rubrics and forms for rating students’ performance in the classroom during the course of regular
instruction. These allow instructors to evaluate students in an environment that more closely reflects
how language is actually used to communicate. When using this method, teachers can rate students
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in the four language domains contained in the two basic skills of comprehension (listening and
reading) and production (speaking and writing).
Audio CDs
What’s in the Audio CDs?
Each Audio CD contains the recording of the entire student book, including stories, dialogues, chants,
songs and activities that appear in every unit. They are ideal to reinforce and provide extra practice in
oral language development and fluency.
Big Books
Are there big books included in the program?
From the Lecturas fonéticas component, ten simple phonemic readers (not the blends and
diphthongs) are available in big-book format.
Blackline Masters – Hojas de actividad
What’s in the Blackline Masters?
These are reproducible sheets that provide resources, such as graphic organizers and simple
manipulatives to help students complete a task. They also include fun activity pages for additional
student and parent involvement.
Language Arts Manual – Manual de Lenguaje
What’s in the Manual de Lenguaje?
This handbook contains valuable and concise information for teachers on a variety of language arts
topics, including Spanish grammar and the Writing Process. It is ideal for teachers who would like to
conduct mini lessons as introduction or review of language arts skills presented in the lessons.
Who would benefit from this component?
This component is ideal for all teachers who, in turn, may wish to share it with more advanced
students.
Manipulatives
What are the Manipulativos components?
They include Character Cutouts, Poster Cutouts, Syllabic Game, Syllabic Flash Cards, Alphabet
Game, and Alphabet Picture Cards. These are designed for students handling, are primarily used in
the lower grades (K-2 or 3), and are ideal to encourage students to develop and share language
through various activities, such as identifying, matching, and role-playing.
Phonics Readers – Lecturas fonéticas
What is included in the Lecturas fonéticas component?
Lecturas fonéticas are a series of stories including Spanish phonics elements systematically and
sequentially paced.
Who would benefit from this component?
This collection of decodable readers is ideal for K-2 students, but they can also be used by teachers
who feel some of their upper-grade students could benefit from them.
Photo Cards – Tarjetas fotográficas
What’s in the Photo Cards component?
The Tarjetas fotográficas component is a Collection of 300 photo cards that serve as a springboard to
develop oral language and vocabulary. Activities on the back of each card help build phonics, oral
fluency, and oral language development skills. The Tarjetas fotográficas can be used in all levels.
How important is this component?
The Photo Cards are a very important component of the program. They are frequently referenced at
point of use in the Teacher’s Guide.
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Practice Book – Cuaderno de Práctica
What’s in the Cuaderno de práctica?
These workbooks contain activities that practice, review, reteach, reinforce, and maintain the unit
concepts and skills of each week of study in the student book.
Will this component be available in print?
Yes, this component will be available in print. It will also be available in digital format as an incentive
for districts that may not have a budget to buy printed copies of this component.
Song Lyric Transparencies/Poster Book
What is in this component?
These are lyrics of the songs used in the program. They include the entire lyrics (when the SB page
only shows partial lyrics) and also the original lyrics (when the traditional song had its lyrics changed
to fit the theme, skill, or vocabulary of the lesson). The lyrics will be in Poster Book format for grades
K-2 and as transparencies for 3-5.
Thematic Readers – Biblioteca temática
What is in the Biblioteca temática?
The Biblioteca temática is a collection of 24 leveled readers tied in to the themes. Books make up
three series (for beginner, intermediate, and advanced FLES students). Each book within a series
covers one of the themes covered in the Student Books. This thematic library is ideal to help students
build literacy skills as they master the second language.
How are books leveled?
The approximate equivalent of the Thematic Library readers to the Fountas and Pinnell leveling
system is as follows:
Units
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Beginning
B
B
C
C
D
D
E
E
Intermediate
D
E
E
F
F-G
G
H
H-I
Advanced
I
J
J-K
K
K
L
L
L
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