According to Instituto Cervantes (2017), there are more Spanish speakers living in the United States than there are Spanish speakers in Spain. Tragically, many Spanish-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) are failing in American schools (Huerta, Tong, Irby, & Lara-Alecio, 2016; Lichon & Dees, 2018). Yet, Catholic schools have…

The development and implementation of a high school program bringing together 8 limited-English-proficient Hispanic students and 20 students of Spanish as a foreign language is described. The program's objective was to improve relations and decrease linguistic and cultural separation between the two groups. The approach used was multicultural,…

Relates how poetry in Spanish is used with bilingual students in elementary school and with Spanish classes in high school. States that basic ground is covered first: metaphor and simile, use of the five senses in description, and the idea of the "persona poem." Furnishes examples of poems written in English by students and translated…

These two curriculum units were developed as a result of study in Mexico and Guatemala during the Fulbright Hays Summer Seminar Abroad Program, 2000. The units are designed for use in an upper-level high school Spanish class. They are intended to be taught in Spanish, and the supplementary materials (with a few exceptions) are written in Spanish.…

In addition to learning language and subject matter, text work in grades 11-13 of the university-preparatory school should include learning working techniques, methods, and scientific attitudes. Two procedures for text work (theme: Latin America) are presented for use at the first and second levels of language teaching. (IFS/WGA)

This curriculum unit, designed for a Spanish I class at the high school level, explores the Olmec, an ancient civilization in Mexico. The unit aims for students to develop an appreciation for early civilizations and their importance to the present day. It gives seven objectives for students to work toward and lists detailed strategies for…

Memory-assisting devices used in high school Spanish instruction are described, including strategies in many forms: visuals, sounds, rhythms, rhymes, and actions. Mnemonics for subjunctives include: a suffix-"switching" procedure; a word ("dishes") to remind them of the six verbs not using the first person to form the present subjunctive; a…

A study investigated the types of in-class, speaking-oriented activities that second language learners find anxiety-producing and the types of instructor practices that students perceive as anxiety-reducing. A 4-page questionnaire was administered to 135 university-level students of intensive Spanish and 109 high school students in first- and…

Describes an advanced, nonliterary Spanish course which can be adapted to high school classes. (EKN)

Based on the idea that poor reading skills may be contributing to academic failure among Spanish-speaking high school students and on research suggesting that classification skills may help in reading, a set of lessons focusing on classification was developed for this group. The bilingual lessons use various classification tasks to teach students…

Based on a successful high school student exchange program, a curriculum was designed to bring together Hispanic students learning English and Anglo students learning Spanish for intercultural experiences. The flexible curriculum includes over 40 activities that students can participate in while meeting together once a week for either a brief…

The New York City schools' syllabus for the first year of high school Spanish instruction outlines a communicative curriculum conforming to state standards of preparation for state language proficiency examinations. The syllabus begins with an introductory section that describes the objectives and approach used and provides suggestions for…

An oral testing method used in an intensive high school Spanish program is based on a model of communicative competence positing four forms of competence: strategic; sociolinguistic; discourse; and linguistic. All oral domains but linguistic are tested in the first and second years. In the first year, benchmark testing occurs. The rubric used has…

Describes how the author, teaching at a South Florida high school with many children of Mexican-American migrant workers, shaped his English instruction in scenarios that reflected students' lives and cultures. Shows how class discussions and assignments probed the worthiness of the language used and the reason why it was successful. Argues that…

Materials for use by the parents of native Spanish-speaking high school students in a vocationally-oriented bilingual secondary program include a series of home lessons, provided simultaneously in English and Spanish and designed to be done with the high school student. The lessons concern back-to-school night, understanding American schools, the…