Course Overview 

Spanish III course is a rigorous course taught exclusively in Spanish that requires students to improve their proficiency across the three modes of communication - interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational [CR1]. The course focuses on the integration of authentic resources including online print, audio, and audiovisual resources, as well as traditional print resources that include literature, essays, and magazine and newspaper articles, and also a combination of visual/print resources such as charts, tables, and graphs, all with the goal of providing a rich, diverse learning experience. Students communicate using rich, advanced vocabulary and linguistic structures as they build proficiency in all modes of communication toward the pre-advanced level. Students in the course demonstrate an understanding of the culture(s), incorporate interdisciplinary topics (Connections), make comparisons between the native language and the target language and between cultures (Comparisons), and use the target language in real-life settings (Communities)”. 

Thematic Units, Communication, and Culture 

The course is divided into thematic units which are further based on recommended contexts (or sub-themes) and guided by essential questions. By both starting and ending with the essential questions, backward design is easily accomplished, thinking first of what it is that I want the students to know and about which I would like them to communicate, as we explore authentic materials within Spanish-speaking cultures of the world in which we live. Corresponding cultural elements are integrated into the study of the units, and activities are directed with those cultural connections in mind. 

Culture is central to content as we explore products, practices, and perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world. Students are guided to develop a deeper understanding of what the people of a particular culture believe and how they view the world. They also make constant comparisons between Spanish-speaking communities of the world and their own home culture in preparation for the presentational speaking exam task. It is also important to note that, although the text is organized by one thematic unit at a time, we are in fact integrating aspects of many themes and contexts as we explore real life and authentic resources. There is an inherent interconnectedness among the six thematic units; they do not exist in isolation. Moreover, this interwoven nature of the themes is even more obvious as we use the internet to delve into everyday world events and news through Spanish-language websites of organizations and foundations. This is real life: using the lens of the Internet to view what is happening in the world and discussing what we learn. As we do this, we naturally synthesize through comparing and contrasting, evaluating, analyzing, making predictions, inferring, and drawing conclusions. For this purpose, I have a fully developed Google Classroom that provides students with links to such resources from throughout the Spanish-speaking world. 

Six Interconnected Themes (we will be connecting EVERYTHING we do to these themes and their subthemes) 

1. Las familias en diferentes sociedades, 2. Cómo la ciencia  y la tecnología afectan nuestras vidas, 3. Influencia de belleza y arte, 4.Factores que impactan la calidad de vida, 5. Retos de medioambiente, políticos y de la sociedad 6. La influencia de lenguaje y cultura en la identidad