AP Spanish Language Syllabus
Course OverviewThe AP Spanish Language course differs greatly from students’ previous Spanish
classes. The students take a much more active role in improving the skills they have
acquired during their first four years of study. The class is conducted entirely in Spanish.
Students receive a detailed syllabus for a month’s period of time and are expected to be
prepared at all times. The AP student must be able to work independently and selfadvocate for any grammatical help. The majority of class time is spent giving the
students the opportunity to work with authentic materials (reading, listening) and the
chance to discuss a wide variety of topics with their classmates and teacher.
Course Outline
The following is a list of materials used in the AP Spanish Language class:
Summer packetThe students receive a packet of grammar and vocabulary exercises and a
reading selection in June that they are expected to complete by various dates during the
summer vacation. The students are tested on this material their first week back at school.
Una Vez Más. Couch, James H et al. Longman Publishers second edition 1993.
This is our main grammar book. Students work independently at home preparing
each chapter. If there are questions, students bring them up in class. Occasionally the
teacher will explain certain grammar points that she knows students have not had much
prior experience with. After about one week, students are tested on the material.
Triángulo. Gastski, Barbara and McMullan, John. Wayside Publishing, fourth
edition 2006
This book, which provides practice in all four skills, contains a wealth of
authentic materials. It is made up of thematic chapters and offers in addition to the
vocabulary lists, exercises in the format of all parts of the AP Spanish Language Exam.
The exercises are challenging and give ample opportunity for students to practice all the
skills necessary for the exam.
Ven conmigo Nuevas Vistas Curso Avanzado Dos. Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2003
Students work with selected readings, including plays, short stories and poetry
and prepare for in class discussions and written analysis of the works.
“Puerta del Sol.” Champú-Elysées, Inc. 2004
Students listen to this auditory news program in the audio lab. We do a variety of
exercises with the material.
Compact Disc
Students receive a CD with a compliation of different contemporary pop songs
from the Spanish-speaking world. They listen at home and in the audio lab and discuss
the lyrics in class.
First Semester
Grammar Topics (Una Vez Más)
Chapters 1 – 8
Thematic Vocabulary in AP exam format (Triángulo)
Chapters 1 - 4
THESE CHAPTERS IN TRIANGULO INCLUDE: LISTENING AND SPEAKING
EXERCISES, ESSAYS AND GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY WORK.
READINGS (NUEVAS VISTAS and other sources for poems and short stories)
“El anillo del general Macías” – Josefina Niggli
“Cajas de cartón” – Francisco Jiménez
“Los dos reyes y los dos laberintos” – Jorge Luís Borges
“Un día de ésto” – Gabriel García Márques
“Fiesta del árbol” – Gabriela Mistral
“Las abejas de bronce” – Marco Denevi
Selected poetry
Second Semester
Grammar Topics (Una Vez Más)
Chapters 9 -13
Thematic Vocabulary in AP exam format (Triángulo)
Chapters 5 - 10
Variety of readings from authentic sources (Newspaper, magazine articles, Internet)
Sample Classroom Activities
Listening skills
We visit the Audio Lab twice a week where we work on a variety of skills.
I record newscasts (video) and/or radio newscasts from a variety of authentic sources
and play them for the students in the audio lab. I try to choose a segment related to the
thematic vocabulary we are studying in Triángulo. Students listen to the newscasts and I
either make up questions similar to the ones found on the listening section of the Spanish
AP Language exam or the students take notes and discuss with a partner about what they
have heard. Together they present the main idea and details to the class and all students
contribute to the in-class discussion on the topic
Sources:
Univision morning newscast and CNN en español (recorded from television)
Radio Naciones Unidas www.un.org/radio/es/
Puerta del Sol (audio magazine)
Speaking skills
Tema Oral
Each semester each student is responsible for presenting one “tema oral”. The
student must find an article from a Spanish/Hispanic website, magazine or newspaper.
read and prepare to speak to the class about the topic. Students ar not permitted to read a
written report but instead speak to the class about what they have learned from the article.
They choose 6 new vocabulary words from the text, write them on the board and present
them to the students. At the end of their “tema oral” the presenter asks the students 5
questions about their presentation. Then the students from the audience ask the presenter
a variety questions about the topic. I find this works extremely well and I am amazed by
the discussions that flow from the “tema oral.” There are usually 3-4 “temas orales” each
week.
Our regular use of the Audio Lab also allows us ample practice of the “Oral
Presentation” found in Triángulo where students must read a printed source and hear an
auditory source and then synthesize the information and give a 2 minute oral presentation
on a given theme or question. I record these for the students, allow them to listen to
themselves and I also listen and give feedback on how to improve. After the first quarter
of the year I also grade their “oral presentations”.
-Reading skills
In addition to the foremetioned short stories and poem from Nuevas Vistas
Advanced II, the students research and select newspaper articles based on different topics
that we study during the year. Students analize the text. We separate main ideas from
details. Students also write a summary of the article in their own words. We also discuss
information that they have read and occasionally we have a debate when the articles
found lend themselves to it.
Students also practice their reading skills with the exercises provided in Triángulo
where reading selections from authenic sources are followed by a multiple choice
exercise as found on the AP exam.
Some of the sources:
El Mundo UnivisiónBBC Yahoo: noticias La Nación ABC -
elmundo.es
www.univision.com
www.bbcmundo.com
http://es.noticiasyahoo.com
www.nacion.com
www.abc.es
-Writing skills
Both formal and informal writing is practiced in the AP course. A journal is kept by
students in which they must write four pages per week. There are also informal writing
assignments in Triángulo, such as writing a letter to an admired sports star.
As mentioned above, students write summaries and also analytic essays about the
literature they have read. I also have them take scenes from Lorca’s “Bodas de Sangre”
or “La Casa de Bernarda Alba” and put them into their own words to convey the same
message.
There is ample practice for the formal writing also. Students write on a variety of
topics presented throughout the year. At least five times a semster students write essays
based on a variety of sources. They will read two text sources from Spanish newspapers
or magazines and listen to an audio source from a radio broadcast. The students must
synthesize the information in order to write an essay in response to a question. For
example, I had the students listen to a nine minute radio broadcast from “Puerta del Sol”
on the Prestige oil spill. Then they read two articles from “La Nación”; one on a
chemical explosion in Holland and another on the dumping on toxic waste in a river in
China. The students then had to write an essay about our responsibility to protect the
environment. They also did an oral presentation on the same theme.
To help students improve their writing skill I use a code when grading their written
work. I use abbreviations written above the error so that they might keep track of the
types of errors they are making and work on the grammar mistakes they seem to be
repeating. I encourage them to revise their work in order to learn from their mistakes. I
give them the average of the original and the re-write as their grade.