Getting Ready for the New
AP® Spanish
Language and Culture Exam:
ABRIENDO PASO ©2014
and AP SPANISH ©2014
PearsonSchool.com/APSP2014
Cindy.Coleman@pearson.com
Think • Pair • Share
Work with a partner and discuss the following:
1.
What are your concerns about the new AP Spanish Language and Culture
Framework and exam format?
2.
Be prepared to share one comment with the larger group.
Think • Pair
Work with a partner and discuss the instructional benefits of each of the following:
1. Reading and listening activities done online with answers graded by the computer
and recorded in Gradebook.
2. Access to recordings of each student’s practice speaking tasks.
3. Online grading of each student’s writing.
4. Grammar practice done online with answers graded by computer and recorded in
Gradebook.
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Pg. 5
Tips for Teaching AP* Spanish Language
Here are some “tried and true” tips for preparing students for the AP* Spanish
Language Examination.
1. Create an AP classroom.
 Make Spanish the language of the classroom.
 Provide as much language input as possible. The more the students hear and
read Spanish, the better they will develop their sense of the language. This
will build all their skills.
 Provide many opportunities for students to speak and write Spanish. You
don’t have to grade everything they do; your goal is to get them to speak and
write as often as possible.
2. Become an AP expert.
 Check the AP Central web site frequently.
(http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf).
 Check the Prentice Hall AP Teacher Support Web Site.
 Attend AP workshops and institutes.
 Apply to be an AP reader.
 Meet regularly to share strategies.
 Buy tests when they are released, usually every five years.
3. Teach the students about the test.
 Give them the exam format. Be sure to show them the time and % weight of
final score for each section.
 Give them scoring guidelines and writing samples to analyze.
 Give them scoring guidelines and play speaking samples for them to analyze.
4. Practice appropriately.
 Start with light practice after the students have completed a few chapters of
Abriendo paso: Lectura and done the AP activities in those chapters.
 Remind the students of the test format when they practice until they
understand the format completely.
 Initially, practice one skill at a time and rotate the skills.
 Gradually increase the amount of practice as May approaches.
 Time management is essential. Observe the time limits of each section as the
students practice so that they have a feel for what they need to do in the time
allotted.
 Give the students a complete practice test before the real test.
5. Listening Tips:
 Be sure students hear recordings without visual stimuli during the school year
so that they learn to stay focused with nothing to look at.
 Remind students that they will hear, not see, the questions in the short
listening selections; they will only see the possible answers. However, they
will see the questions and the possible answers during the long selections.
 Help students decide how to handle the information presented during the long
selections. Should they take notes? Is it best to sit back and listen? Can they
follow the questions and the selection at the same time? What works best for
each student?
6. Reading Tips:
 Be sure the students read the short introduction to the selection; it helps “set
the scene”.
 Explain that excerpts from stories may seem incomplete.
7. Writing Tips:
 Include a name and sign the correspondence in the Informal Writing, if
appropriate.
 At the beginning of the year give the students 50 minutes to write their essays:
5 to plan, 40 to write, 5 to proofread.
 Teach the importance of planning their essays and provide graphic organizers
to help the planning process. Most students will not have time to change their
plans once they start to write.
 Practice pays off in the Paragraph Completion sections, but the essay is more
important in determining the final score.
 Keep grammar in its proper place. It’s important, but it’s not the most
important aspect of the writing and speaking sections. It’s one of the tools
among several which the students will use to speak and write effectively
during the test.
8. Speaking Tips:
 Include a name in the Informal Speaking, if appropriate.
 Practice with the recording equipment they will use on the test so that the
students are very comfortable with using it.
 Practice in small groups so that the students become accustomed to hearing
others around them, if that’s how they record the speaking sections on the
actual test.
 Teach the students to take notes for the Formal Oral Presentation and to use
them during the presentation. Do not let them try to write a script.
9. Final thoughts:
The job of an AP teacher offers challenges. One challenge is to build the
students’ skills as well as their ease and fluency in Spanish. Another challenge is
to build their confidence and send them in to the exam knowing that it’s important
to keep a positive attitude so that they can and will do their best.
Recommended materials available through Pearson:
Abriendo paso: Temas y lecturas
Abriendo paso: Gramática
AP* Spanish: Preparing for the Language Examination
It is highly recommended that you use AP* Spanish: Preparing for the Language
Examination as part of your core course materials. The strategies that appear at
the beginning of each section are excellent. You should teach them to your
students and incorporate them into your regular classroom activities.
*Advanced Placement Program is a registered trademark of the College Entrance
Examination Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse,
this product.