I. Course Description This college level course is the second part of the Spanish IV-V AP program, following Spanish III Honors, which gives breadth and depth of material designed to prepare students to pass the Advanced Placement Spanish Language and Culture Exam or the IB Standard Level or Higher Level Exam. Students will also gain a deeper understanding of Spanish culture and explore Spanish and Latin American Literature. II. Goals • Students will interact daily almost exclusively in Spanish with the teacher and classmates. • Students will practice and improve on their communication skills in Spanish, in interpersonal and presentational settings. • Students will listen to and read authentic sources, which they will interpret, compare, and analyze in oral and written responses. • Students will study the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries: geography, history, literature, and the arts. • Students will make connections between their learning in Spanish class, other subject areas, other cultures, and their own lives. III. Teaching Strategies • To provide for students who need or wish to take an additional year of AP/IB Spanish V, the curriculum will be based on different sources and themes every other year. • Although themes and grammatical practices will be based on the main text, Abriendo paso Temas y lecturas, many other resources for authentic reading and listening selections will be utilized to enrich and develop the theme of each chapter. • To maintain an environment where “Spanish only” is maintained, students who resort to English will be required to speak on an unrehearsed topic for two minutes before the class the following day. • Students will interact daily in paired or small group situations for grammar and vocabulary competitions, role plays, conversations, discussions, and debates. The resources for many interactions may be authentic reading or listening selections, or their own writing. • Music and songs will be integrated into the course as a means to reinforce themes, cultural contexts, vocabulary, or grammatical structures being studied. Besides motivating students through employing varied learning modalities, songs provide opportunities for sharpening listening skills through cloze activities and are a springboard for oral and written tasks. • Students will access the Internet for authentic resources of online newspapers and magazines, radio stations, and podcasts. Students will analyze and compare information from these authentic sources which they will use in class discussions and writing assignments to develop ideas and support opinions. • Students will practice and be assessed for each chapter using integrated skills in interactive and presentational modes.