A dear friend of mine has been teaching for a while and she likes the idea of using a novel but likes the structure and variety of exercises her textbook offers. So we talked and I explained that I treat my novels (especially in Spanish 1 and the first novel of the year in 2, 3, and 4) as textbooks. I was talking to her and she thought this was very helpful for her and decided to pass it on. Then she called with questions, 6 times. I promised to write this, in hopes to help others see into my crazy brain and help in any way to encourage people to transition to TPRS methods (that I am self-admittedly not an expert at).I am a classroom set of my novels (I own most of mine and the school bought some...). Ideally I would like each student have a book. You can buy many leveled readers from many sites (Amazon, Teacher's Discovery, TPRSBooks). Here I will focus on just Pobre Ana, I think it is the easiest to start with since there are an abundance of resources.
Pobre Ana... or Students?
There is a lot of hate surrounding the repetitiveness of this novel: "read the word problema 900 times". 1) That's an exaggeration, 2) I have yet to have one high school student complain about the book. I teach high school. My students are pumped when I remind them that they just read a novel in Spanish AND rocked it. I have parents telling me their students voluntarily tell them they can read in Spanish 2 months into school.Yes, it is repetitive and semi obnoxious for us teachers, that's because we know what we're doing in the language. I don't know about you, but my Spanish 1 kids don't know the language (no exploratory classes and no Heritage Speakers in level 1).
We read this book early in the year, normally starting before Halloween, and we read faster as we go through the novel. If your kids are bored with the book, change your approach, speed-up, and offer variety. Have just a handful that are bored, let them finish the reading ahead of the class in a small group in the back and give them an extention activity where they are starting to produce (output)*. *At this level, this early, this should not be for a grade, only positive and purposeful.
A Novel as a Textbook?
Many teachers talk about using a novel as part of the "rotation" (PQA, Story Asking, Story Telling, etc.). Reading the novel is reading separately to check for comprehension. I use chapters as themes or units.There is a teacher packet you can buy to accompany the Pobre Ana novel, created by the book writers. I purchased it I found this to be too much like a textbook workbook for my liking. It is a great resource for those recently transitioning teaching styles. I found it as a great reference for what I need to focus on during the novel. Sometimes it is difficult to remember how basic the language it (think back to your Level 1 class in middle/high school... remember much?). I used key points, comprehension ideas, and grammar highlights to lead my instructions and supplement during reading. Essentially I used this as the teacher guide. I also use some of the comprehension questions as reading "quizzes".
I created my own student packet, it is shorter (less paper "waste" according to the district), I print it in sections as we go through the novel, and it includes their projects, note pages, and directions. If you want to look at it, I will load it on my TPT next to the Pobre Ana Manzanas a Manzanas game.
Steps to Forming Units
I will update with my specifics about Pobre Ana when I get to school. Here is an example of how I did this.I read the book for story line first and then several more times to identify new and crucial vocabulary or grammar structures. Then I thought about the essence of each chapter (I knew my Philosophy degree would come in handy some day!); what is the activity or plan? Then, how does this line-up into a unit?
That sounds like a lot of work, but it goes by pretty quickly. My honest suggestion, and what I still do, is to buy the teacher guide with the novel. If there isn't one from the publisher, check TPT. It may not be perfect for you, but it helps you navigate the novel the first time and figure out what your style and the students' needs are.
You can have a rolling unit where you break-up the chapter and use it in pieces to teach grammar etc. I recommend always doing a faster once over at the end.
You can also front-load the chapter, pre teach major vocab and structures and do a pre-read project.
You can also read the chapter and work on skills upon completion. I suggest for units that didn't need much vocab building (like chapter 1).
Pobre Ana Units
*I promise to update completely tomorrow when I am at school*The unit where Ana discusses her likes with her new friend: gustar w/ infinitives and things (specifically looking at using correctly, expanding to te and le).
When Ana tours the town: I do a whole front-load unit on directions, drawing maps, learning town vocabulary. Students do a scavenger hunt, lead a blindfolded partner through obstacles, and build their own town on paper.
When Ana first arrives, we talk about transportation and pause at the end to talk about food and using manners. We do a "gracias" "me gustaria" "por favor" exchange with secret candy.
If this was helpful, I will continue to post more of novels I have completed and how I do this at the upper levels as well.
