literatura adolescente
I'm a new (general education) Spanish teacher who happens to be bilingual. The Spanish Immersion program at my district has pioneer students who are now getting into high school. I was asked to put together an idea for a literature based elective curriculum for 9th grade based on a novel, short stories, and movies. This will be culturally based and offer opportunities to practice grammar and vocabulary. If they like the idea, I may be teaching it. As a new teacher, I feel somewhat overwhelmed. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
Sounds like it is for a good cause. If that is correct and if you like doing that, I say go for it. I'm confident you will feel satisfied in the hard work you put into it. Wish you great success.
Here's a previous thread with a similar subject
¡Y qué me cuentas! has a lot of short stories and poems.
¡Buena suerte!
Here is a link to a site with a host of suggestions..suggestions
I like the books about ' Lola Lago, detective' but I don't know what level your students are.. Intermediate can mean almost anything. A very nice read is ' Paulina' by Ana Maria Matute. It is fairly easy.
A lot of what I have read is based in Spain whereas your students may be more engaged with Latin America. I agree with Annie that Matute is good. I have previously mentioned children's books by Elvira Lindo and Caro Sant but they may be too low brow. Our teacher has mentioned some books by Delibes, El Camino is famous and you can watch a series of the book on rtve, but he may be the wrong generation. I enjoyed La Voz Dormida by Dulce Chacón. Although it is about the civil war it was only written this century but it may distress your more sensitive students.
Here is a review of the film of the book: review of film
I have also enjoyed Javier Cercas Soldiers of Salamis. He trained as a journalist so I find his style easy to follow and read. Here is a review in a British paper
I have just started reading El viento de la Luna by Antonio Munoz Molina, who spends much of his time with his wife Elvira Lindo in New York. He was born in 1956 and therefore was a teenager during the last years of Franco. The book is based on his teenage life which coincided with the moon landing. It is not his best book but may appeal to the age group you are teaching. When I have read it I will have a better idea.
I enjoy poetry and music too.
If you pick something covering the civil war there are lovely poems by Hernandez and Alberti. We discussed La Paloma which is a short poem here sung by Mercedes Sosa
Many of that generation of poets went into exile in Argentina and Mexico and the USA.
Hello, Profesora. I have been reading "El Viejo y el Mar," the Spanish translation of "Old Man and the Sea" by Hemingway. I've always liked the English version, and since I've been learning Spanish, I've really enjoyed reading it in Spanish. I think it would meet both your literary and cultural goals for your students.
At what level of Spanish are your students?
