AP SPANISH LANGUAGE SYLLABUS FOR AUDIT
Course Overview
Spanish is the only language spoken by teacher and students, both in and outside
of class. The course emphasizes the use of level-appropriate authentic sources,
both written and audio, the development of the three communicative modes, the
integration of the four language skills, and it also includes a complete grammar
review. Because most of our AP Spanish Language students go on to our AP
Spanish Literature class the following year, the AP Spanish Language class
includes many works from the AP Spanish Literature reading list as well. During
the course of the year, students will work towards:
Developing conversational skills using different strategies for different
audiences, and focusing on the appropriateness of the formal and informal
registers (Interpersonal Mode.)
Understanding formal and informal conversations (taking place in the
classroom, on the radio, or on TV,) lectures, presentations, newspapers and
magazine articles, letters, instructions, internet articles, short stories, and poems
(Interpretive Mode.)
Expressing themselves orally or in writing, by describing, summarizing,
analyzing, extracting conclusions, formulating opinions, convincing, arguing,
inquiring, preparing and doing oral presentations, and creating literature
(Presentational Mode.)
Course Outline
Two textbooks are used in the AP Spanish Language class: Abriendo Puertas,
Tomo 1 (McDougal Littell) and Triángulo (Wayside.) Abriendo Puertas is an
excellent source of authentic literature, and it also provides students with
extensive vocabulary in context. A classroom introduction to the readings
precedes the reading assignments at home, during which students also study new
vocabulary from the literature. After working on the reading, students will be
asked to do a variety of activities.
Triángulo is a textbook in which each chapter revolves around a theme and is
structured in the same format as the AP Spanish Language exam. Therefore, it
includes a selection of materials taken from authentic sources, which students
use as a springboard for listening comprehension, grammar practice, reading
comprehension, short writings, formal and informal speaking, long writings and
short presentations integrating written as well as audio sources.
As often as it is possible, I try to weave a chapter of Triángulo with one of the
Abriendo Puertas readings, and complement the two with an additional authentic
source with a focus on culture: a radio program, a movie or video series segment,
a TV news clip, a song, or a newspaper article.
FIRST SEMESTER
Triángulo
Abriendo Puertas
Lessons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Heredia, “En una tempestad” (1803-1839)
Espronceda, “Canción del pirata” (1840)
Ricardo Palma, “El alacrán de fray Gómez” (1889)
Clarín, “¡Adiós, Cordera!” (1893)
Machado (1875-1939) – selected poems
Quiroga, “El hijo” (1928)
Sor Juana Inés (s XVII) – selected poems
Alfonsina Storni (1892-1938) – selected poems
Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) – ‘A Julia de Burgos’
Rosario Castellanos (1925-1974) – ‘Autorretrato’
SECOND SEMESTER
Triángulo
Abriendo Puertas
Lessons 7, 8, 9, 10
Lorca, “Romancero Gitano” (1898-1936)
Martín Gaite, “Las ataduras” (1960)
García Márquez, “La siesta del Martes” (1962)
Sergio Vodanovic, “El delantal blanco” (1964)
Isabel Allende, “Dos palabras” (1989)
Teaching Strategies
On a daily basis, class activities will integrate at least two skills, often three, and
occasionally four. In our effort to integrate, we need to make sure that all skills
are addressed. The following are examples of some of the activities conducted in
the AP class:
Listening and speaking skills:
Spanish is the only language spoken by teacher and students. This is the reason
why even outside of class, students are expected to address their Spanish teacher
in Spanish. We also encourage students to expose themselves to Spanish outside
of school as much as possible in order to develop their speaking skills in an
authentic context and reinforce the work done inside the classroom. Students
often participate in service projects in our Hispanic community, listen to music in
Spanish, and watch Spanish-language films and TV on their own time. Here are a
few activities that are intended to address listening and speaking skills in
addition to those already included in the Triángulo book and which generally take
place in our Language Lab:
Several times during each semester, as a homework assignment, students are
expected to call an assigned classmate on the phone and have a 10 minute
conversation in Spanish on a given topic. The next day in class, students write
down in their journals a summary of the conversation, and then they are either
asked to share the information with the rest of the class, or work in pairs (with a
classmate other than the one they called) comparing notes.
On the days that students come to class having read a literature selection, we
conduct a speaking activity in two steps: first students discuss difficult passages
in groups of two, and then we have a class discussion on the reading. In
preparation for AP Spanish Literature, these discussions go much further than
plot discussion. We introduce literary analysis and literary terms, we compare
and contrast characters and themes, and students are asked to speak and then
write critically about literature. Two times each semester students are expected
to conduct some independent research on a Abriendo Puertas reading or a
Triángulo topic, and then, with all their materials in hand, students have a
scholarly roundtable in class. To wrap up the roundtable activity, students are
asked to write an essay on the topic.
In addition to Triángulo listening and speaking activities, students practice
recording mock telephone conversations, role-play, and oral narration in the
Language Lab. Students receive feedback on those recordings using the AP
scoring guidelines.
Once each semester, students are assigned to produce a short DVD clip. In
groups of 3 or 4, they write a script, practice their lines, and act in their
production. They record their acting, and finally the production is viewed in
class.
Additional Authentic Listening Resources:
Nuevos Horizontes
Radio Naciones Unidas
El País (podcasts)
El Mundo (podcasts)
www.nuevoshorizontes.org
www.un.org/radio/es
www.elpais.es
www.elmundo.es
Puerta del Sol
You Tube
TVE1
“Los Serrano”
www.puerta-del-sol.com
www.youtube.com
satellite
Tele5 TV series (DVD collection)
Films:
Bodas de sangre, El amor brujo.
Reading and writing:
Both Abriendo Puertas and Triángulo provide a wide variety of authentic reading
sources. Students get ample practice with different genres and degrees of
difficulty, which prepares them well for the AP Exam. In addition, these readings
are excellent springboards for writing activities, both formal and informal. Every
other week, students have to write a formal essay related to those readings, which
is graded on a rubric based on the AP Scoring Guidelines. About half of the
essays are written outside of class, and the other half are timed and written in
class. Several times each semester we conduct writing workshops in the
computer lab. During these sessions, students work on specific areas to improve:
text and sentence structure, creating transitions, improving the breadth of their
vocabulary, or eliminating pesky grammar mistakes. Twice each semester,
instead of writing an essay, students work on developing their creative writing
skills. These creative writings are then shared with the rest of the class, and are
submitted for publication in our Foreign Language magazine.
Grammar is addressed in context: during reading, during writing, or when we
practice exercises in Triángulo, grammar issues arise and they are explained and
practiced on the spot.
In order to address informal writing, students keep a ‘short writings’ journal that
includes a variety of writings: their thoughts on a topic or a radio program they
have just listened to, the answer to a question about a movie clip they have seen,
or one of the many short writing topics provided by Triángulo. Students
generally have between 5 and 10 minutes to write in their journals. They are
allowed to use a dictionary or ask me for any missing vocabulary. These writings
are a good springboard for discussions or focused mini writing workshops where
writing strategies and grammar are addressed.
Additional Authentic Reading Resources:
El País
La Vanguardia
El Mundo
El Periódico
www.elpais.es
www.lavanguardia.es
www.elmundo.es
www.elperiodico.es