Updated Aug 7, 2014: Below is only a small .jpg of my syllabus. A teacher recently contacted me asking for the original files so that she could modify the syllabus for her own classes. Well, of course!! Click HERE for the .pdf and click HERE for the .docx (which might be easier to work with, but it might not be easier depending upon the version of Microsoft Word that you have). This is only the brief student syllabus; click HERE if you want to see my full AP syllabus approved by the College Board, which was approved for the new AP Spanish Language and Culture Exam.
I spent the day creating a simple, eye-catching syllabus for my AP class. They have access through our edmodo group to the 15 page monster syllabus that I submitted to the College Board. This, on the other hand, communicates the basics that I need them to actually read. I am particularly proud of the graphic on the top of the second page which succinctly describes the sequence of events of each unit. Here it is, although something may still be missing…
Click on the small image to get a larger, readable image (you might get a slightly larger but unreadable image the first time you click… just click on it again).
I can’t believe I only just found your syllabus!!! Your ideas are perfect for my Spanish 5 (for us Spanish 5 is a preparatory class for AP although they all do take the exam as a practice). This year I will be starting off with your first 8 day “topic” on Changing Technology!
Question: Do you have the Interpersonal or Presentational writing prompts for the last day of each unit on your Teachers pay Teachers account?
Thank-you for sharing your syllabus.
Hah, that was so long ago… I don’t know what I still have on some forgotten zip drive somewhere. If it is not attached to the blog post, you’re better off creating one!
This is amazing. How did you create this Syllabus? Speech bubble…
Thank you 🙂 My students just took the AP test yesterday and I am happy to say that most of them thought that the audio portions on the test were spoken at a “slow and clear” rate. I am not sure if that is because they truly were slow and clear, or if it was because my students have become so accustomed to hearing authentic sources throughout the year… either way I am feeling optimistic!
This IS impressive and I love your activities! I’m really intrigued by the TPRS style – do you have suggestions (other than borrowing activities from you and others who so generously post their activities online) on where to take a class or get some intense instruction in teaching with TPRS? I went to a bilingual school K-7 and learned Spanish in an immersion setting, so I struggle with teaching the “traditional” way. I’d love to try something new!
OMG you have to get to a Blaine Ray workshop!!! If you go to the one in Newark at the beginning of November you’ll be able to meet me, or if you go to the one in Los Angeles you’ll meet one of my close colleagues. I still go to these workshops because each time I go I get hands on training from one of the best teachers in the world. No doubt, it is the best professional development workshops I have ever attended.
Here is the link: http://www.blaineraytprs.com/images/BlaineRay_Summer_X2043-2.pdf (the box in the corner includes the workshops taking place in Autumn).
Thank you! Just sent in my proposal to our PD department in the hopes of getting to attend a Blaine Ray workshop! Fingers crossed!
Wow! I’m impressed. And a little intimidated. How many years of Spanish do students have to take to be ready for this? If they have taken the necessary courses, do they automatically get to take AP? I don’t think I could have done all those tasks with the HS classes I took. Well, maybe I could have, but with a lot of mistakes. I really wish I’d gone to a school with Spanish with CI/TPRS. I eventually went on to make up for it, but it’s sad that so many years were wasted and had to be needlessly repeated.
Research in second language acquisition is definitely changing my profession… ten years ago I could have been your HS teacher! That is what motivated me to start this blog, my teaching practices in the past ten years have changed so dramatically that I wanted to share. Nonetheless many language teachers dismiss me once they realize that I’m a TPRS teacher. Not everyone, of course, but it is surreal to watch a normally kind, big-hearted teacher suddenly turn disparaging and uncivil. I’m not sure if you are familiar with AP tests, but the average score of my students last year was a 4 (out of 5, which is fantastic). This is real, it works.
My students take AP as their fourth year of language study, although I think it would be better if they could wait to take it as a fifth or sixth year course (starting the language learning in middle school). You’re right, it is a lot to chew on and my AP syllabus is not a TPRS syllabus; I still use TPRS techniques to get them to talk “naturally” about climate change, but it is too rushed I feel.