As I said in my post about Spanish one, Sometimes we get lucky and our school offers us a curriculum, and sometimes we create the curriculum ourselves. I prefer to create my own curriculum because it gives me more flexibility, opportunities to teach my students what they actually need, And more liberty to have fun and enjoy teaching Spanish.
That being said, Spanish two is an opportunity to get students hooked on continuing with Spanish. We want them to be engaged and enjoying the language learning, but also advancing their skills and learning more content.
Just need a quick plan? Click here for my free Spanish 2 curriculum map.
How I Plan for the Year
Another Brain Dump
Similar to my planning for Spanish one, I brain dump all of the ideas that I want my students to have throughout the year. This might include different topics, such as travel, going to the doctor, etc.
I also make a list of the grammar topics I want my students to see throughout the year. This, for me, includes the preterite tense as well as an introduction to the imperfect tense. We also review and strengthen their Spanish one grammar skills.
Consider Your Resources
The last thing I look at when planning for my Spanish two classes for the year is the resources I have. Maybe my school has some books that we can use, or I have access to a subscription that provides authentic texts. In the past, I have also had News in Slow Spanish and used that with my Spanish two classes.
Connect the Ideas
Just like in Spanish one, and the next thing I do is start to connect ideas that can be tied together. Maybe with my travel unit a introduced the past tense and students can talk about where where they have traveled in the past. I usually try to connect travel next to a longer vacation where students may have traveled or remember having traveled in the past.
Remember to Allow Flex Time
The Power of Projects
I finish my units with projects, which is a great way for students to show off their skills and for me to get a little mental break from providing input. Students can demonstrate their language acquisition in creative ways and work independently or collaborate with peers.
Reflection and Review
After our projects at the end of a unit, I also build in a few days of reflection and review. Looking at students’ understanding of the concepts from each unit, I can determine whether to reteach or review any topics. I also give my students time to reflect on their grades and update work (check out the reflection worksheet here). This lets us all hit reset before moving on to a new unit, and provides a nice buffer before any holidays or breaks.
Calendar it Out
Once I have everything laid out between concepts, content, and resources, I start to connect ideas and then calendar them out for the year. I consider what students need close to breaks and how my projects and reflection weeks fit within the calendar. Seriously, I draw out a big calendar on my white board and start to fill in holidays and exams, then plan backwards from there.
What’s Next:
Check out this post about planning for Spanish 1 to get more insight about how I plan.
Grab this free Spanish 2 Curriculum map or free unit planning worksheet.
Good luck with Spanish two this year! You’ve got this, profe!
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