AP Conference Seattle 2008

Tips & Ideas for the Pre AP and AP Spanish Language program.
Fe Zamora
West Boca Raton High School
* Vertical teaming: all lower levels lead to the AP program, incorporating the
the same strategies and ideas but to a lower level of language acquisition.
* Integrate listening, oral, reading and writing in the activities as much as
possible.
* Use varied authentic and interesting sources.
* Incorporate a variety of registers and accents of the language from the
beginning levels.
*Link formal writing with a formal presentation (2 minutes) and informal writing
with an informal presentation (AP Level).
Formal and informal writing in Spanish
1. Compile a list of suggested saludos and despedidas for the interpersonal writing
for students. This is helpful to the standard student in the AP class.
2. Give a list of transition words. Highlight use in the writing.
3. Presentational writing (AP Formal writing) have students take at least one idea
from each source to include in the writing. Students must cite the source.
4. Make and do crossword puzzles. www.puzzlemaker.com
5. Class newspaper each group writes a section of the paper.
6. Make a movie- write a script, act out, with props & costumes and videotape.
(written, oral and listening).
7. Write reviews about a movie, a song, or a book from a different perspective.
*public service announcement
*commercial for an event
*video for next years class
8. Write a play and perform. Use puppets!
9. Create brochures about school, school events, and issues, places (out of school or
in school). Present to the class (written, oral and listening)
10. Write a Wikipedia entry and look for posted comments. Chose a topic. Examples:
*: academies at school
* review a school team
11. Write a How to make something essay. Present orally to the class (written, oral
and listening)
12. Write a classified advertisement for something they want to sell or buy. Xerox at
least 10 copies. Market Day classmates read and scan ads. If interested in
buying the item; they have to find the student that wrote it. All in Spanish.
13. Write a chain story. A student or teacher begins the story and each student adds a
line to the story. (written, oral, listening)
14. Research and write a postcard (cultura) about a fictitious trip to a country of
interest. Have student interview the students who went (informal oral)
15. Create a resume and a cover letter for a job search. Integrate a mock peer
interview (Oxford dictionary has resumes and sample letters in Spanish). Nuevas
Vistas also has info on this.
16. Write and send letters to the editor of the local Spanish newspaper.

17. Write a report. Select a country and find 4 articles in the newspaper about his
place, one for each topic, national news, entertainment, sport, life and society.
Write a letter to the Editor about it. If publish, XCredit.
18. Top Ten- Warm upGive students a topic and they make a list of the top ten
(Letterman). Share orally
19. Vocabulary review-Thematic. Pick the theme. Example: alimentos. Give a letter
that begins the word and students write all the words they can think of that begins
with that letter. Example P: peras. Make it a game and do several rounds.
20. Listen to a musical selection and write, write, write while it is playing. Tell what
you are thinking, who is there, season, weather what is happening. Be creative!
21. Look at a picture or painting. In five minutes, write everything that you can about
this picture. Write what you see, how you (or the people in the picture) feel, what
is happening. Be creative!
22. Write a biography. Guide the writing with questions at beginning levels. As the
students answer the questions, a paragraph / or essay develops.
Sp 1 writes about now (present tense).
Sp 2 can include questions in the preterit and imperfect.
Sp3 and higher levels can use all the tenses studied.
Oral and listening activities
1. Create an oral presentation of 2 minutes and a mini quiz for the rest of the class
as a follow up activity.
2. Write names of students in index cards and use for target language and class
participation. Give the students participation grades at the end of the class based
on 1-5 scale.
3. Good for first week activity: Combo writing and oral. Compare/ contrast our
diverse society. Discuss 3 aspects that divide the Latino community and 3 that
divide the Americans. Write a Venn diagram on the board. Oral discussion.
Any common grounds? Follow up with informal writing activity (journal).
4. Use the book Sorpresa and its CD for read aloud activities with surprise endings
5. Audio postcards- act out- conversation on the phone telling each other about a
topic or place researched.
6. Phone conversation @ a topic (author, music, short story, artist, u tube video)
between a Latino and an American student
7. Interview each other about a topic
8. Continue a chain story orally
9. Make a school video (or brochure thus incorporating writing)
10. Conversation hourselect topics
11. Conduct interviewsjob, about a trip, interests, etc.
12. Chain story- begin a story and circulate around the room so each student adds
details. Can also be done in writing at the board at the same time.
13. Listen to a radio newscast and write at least one thing / event that you heard.
14. Check out www.teachertube.com and www.corpusdelespaol.org