One of the shortest but most useful sayings by legendary French teacher Susan Gross, is, “Shelter vocabulary, not grammar.” It is important to teach and use verbs as vocabulary, rather than as drilled formulas. When the sound/meaning pair is different, verbs may need to be presented explicitly—but this is [...]
Lee, a teacher I coached for 15 sessions last year, now has a new job. Here's what he's dealing with: I have a new a job teaching at a relatively small school. The curriculum is grammar-based, but the principal is open to modifications. My question is—how does a teacher [...]
If you teach heritage speakers, or Spanish 3, 4, 5, or AP Spanish, you need to get this book into your students' hands. El libro salvaje, by Mexican author Juan Villoro, was published in Mexico and has been around since 2008, but Spanish teachers in the United States may [...]
NOTE: This is from a unit that teaches the subjunctive with a story-based approach and compelling comprehensible input. You can get the entire unit here. The example in from a Spanish 3 class, but the principles apply to any language and any level. FOCUS STRUCTURE: quiere que vaya [...]
A reader of this blog asks: I'm curious to know, do you have a criterion or standard of what grammar should be included in level 1, level 2, level 3 and level 4 books? Our general standards for grammar follow the levels in a traditional grammar syllabus with a [...]
It's here! I have been working on this book for a year and a half, (well, actually, my whole career). And it's finally done. This is the best of what I teach teachers. It is some of the best work I have ever written, a distillation of all my [...]