Abanicos: lengua y cultura is designed for a first semester of elementary Spanish but it can be used to review vocabulary and grammar at any level. It offers textbook pages in color and printable worbook pages that align with the textbook. The vocabulary and grammar derive from the topics in the textbook. These topics cover physical and political geography of the Spanish-speaking world, traditions, and popular culture. Reading, listening, speaking, and writing are goals in each section. The book is complemented by videos, games and grammar practice, quizlet sets, and other resources found on internet. This project will continue with the second semester book in the near future. I welcome ideas and collaboration as well as suggestions for improving. I hope this book will be useful to many Spanish language instructors and learners.  

In this lesson plan, students will learn about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. In the introductory first lesson, they will see how animals are often used as symbols. In the second lesson, they will hear one of several versions of how the 12 animals were chosen. They will then focus upon a few of the animals in the story and see how they can be used as symbols of certain human characteristics. In the third lesson, they will be introduced to the other animals of the zodiac, and they will be given a chart on which they will assign traits to each animal. Then they will consult a number of websites to find the traits traditionally associated with the animals, which they will add to their list. Then, they will come up with a number of ways to compare and contrast the animals in the list. In the third lesson, they will focus upon the animal associated with the year of their birth, learning about its traits and discussing whether or not these apply to themselves and their peers. Finally, each student will make an acrostic, combining the letters of his or her first name with adjectives that relate to his or her zodiac sign.

Student activity in pairs.They will work on turns, going straight and counting streets as well as specific street names. 

In this lab, students will practice ordering from a menu. Students will also practice posing and answering questions to waiters. Finally, students will engage with the cultural aspects of eating out in a German-speaking country.

In this activity, students will plan a menu for a Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner using clues about individual dishes cultural significance. Students will read aloud the descriptions of the dishes, and then choose which ones they would want to include in their banquet to best align with traditional Chinese New Years Eve conventions.

In this activity, students will talk about a vacation they would like to take and engage in conversation about traveling. Students will learn words relating to traveling and taking a vacation. They practice speaking to each other about planning a vacation. Students will also express personal opinions and thoughts about their vacation and hotel.