Sunday, August 3, 2014

Spanish 4A Will Be Out This Week

Update on all the updates...Jalen Waltman's Spanish 4A 2014 lesson plan book is going to be up for sale on my website at www.waltmania.com no later than Tuesday night August 5th.  I'm taking the enormous-looking manuscript to my printer tomorrow and should have some books ready to ship by Friday.  I don't know how many pages it is since the pages aren't numbered (only tagged by Lesson they go with) but it looks like it's as thick as my level 3 stuff, which, if you have those books, you know what I mean.  I will try to make 4A sample lessons available to download here from my blog tomorrow night.

Here was my July.  I finished 4A early July and then immediately started 4B; wrote half of 4B, which didn't really go any faster than 4A (as I had hoped,) so about two weeks ago I stopped working on 4B to get a start on AP A, so that I can at least start off this Fall with good lesson plans ready for all my preps.  AP A is about a third done, so it's not ready to go with 4A, and 4A is too big anyway to combine anything with it.  AP is probably going to be one book for both semesters, of about 250 pages I think.

(If you teach AP Spanish Language and Culture and were waiting with baited breath for me to publish at least the A semester, let me know and I'll keep you posted on the progress of my AP stuff.)

I'm ***so excited*** about how 4A turned out.  When I wrote level 3 I felt I'd done my best work yet, that I'd matured as a lesson designer and that I'd probably maxxed out.  Now I'm feeling that level 4 is my new "masterpiece," and it feels good to be able to cap off my entire series with something I feel proud of.  I just hope those of you who will be teaching through it with me this Fall will feel the same way!

6 comments:

  1. Hi Jalen, I have been checking your blog every day waiting for this announcement! I am so excited to hear that you are ready to release your Level 4 book. I can imagine how much work it must have been judging from your Level 1 and Level 3 books which I use. Congratulations - you must be exhausted, but thrilled. I can't wait to get my copy and get started along with you!

    Michelle in Vancouver

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Michelle! Picture my Spanish 3 lessons with lots of AP-style culture discussion lessons added in, drawing from authentic articles and videos online, that I carefully culled by watching and reading everything I could find on a given topic, and then wove into a cultural "storyline" rather than just a list of culture facts. I'll try to get a sample up tonight.

      Delete
  2. It sounds awesome Jalen - I'm sure it is a "masterpiece" as you say in your post! I will be watching for the sample tonight - can't wait :)

    Michelle

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ok, Spanish 4 sample lessons (two zips because there are two alternating types of lessons in the book) are ready to download from my "link list" at the upper right. You can order 4A now, and books should be ready to ship by Friday afternoon at the latest.

      Delete
  3. Jalen, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU SO much for your hard work and dedication. My school changed the HS curriculum. We are know using ALL lesson plans for Spanish I, II, and III. (By the way, I had put together storyboards for each of your Spanish 1A stories...I had fun!)

    I will be teaching AP next year. I have been waiting for your AP lesson plans. Are they ready? Could you please let me know?
    My school will be using Triangulo, and Preparing for the AP exam books. How do incorporate your stories with the AP curriculum? This coming school year will be my first year teaching AP... I am overwhelmed!!!
    Thank you!
    Minette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Minette! Thanks for the great feedback on my lesson plans! To answer your question about my AP lesson plans, well, publishing them is on hold indefinitely for now. I am working for ETS as an AP Reader in the summers now, and I had to sign a non-compete agreement that I wouldn't publish anything with the AP name on it while I work for them. But, my Spanish 4 lesson plan books cover 4 of the AP themes pretty in-depth and include skits to teach AP vocab. The two themes I didn't address were Identities and Science and Technology. You'll have plenty of material in your Triangulo stuff for those two themes if you decide to get my Spanish 4 books.

      I should also mention that I don't do skits in my AP class. All we do is talk about culture in Spanish as it relates to the 6 AP themes, practice conversation, read articles that I find online, and test prep. About half of the students in that class take my Spanish 4 class before they go on to AP, which is why I use Spanish 4 as an AP-prep class, and it's also why those lessons are designed for AP as well. They alternate skit days with culture days, and there are tons of culture resources in the lessons. Anyway, keep in touch as you start teaching AP and I hope this helps!

      Delete

Announcing My Online, On-Demand Spanish 1 Course!

Click ↑ to go to my new YouTube Channel! It's here! I'm teaching my "Jalen Waltman"  standards-based high school Spanish 1...