AP THEME: Beauty and Aesthetics
CONTEXT: Defining Beauty
Sometimes I think that we make more work for ourselves by searching for multiple resources to use in different levels. Instead, we can use the same resource and change the task to fit the level of out students. This helps us manage our time and once we have a great resource, why use it only once? Change the activity and reuse the same resource for the same class - the same resource could be the basis for in-class interpersonal conversation, and interpersonal writing activity using a backchat like TodaysMeet while watching a video. Create an interpretive listening task for the video.

I used Videonot.es to write comments and questions as I watched the video. I was thinking about multiple proficiency levels as I took notes because I wanted to maximize my time. Writing prompts and questions for the Novice level should be in English. Once students reach Intermediate levels, prompts and questions may be written in the target language, but we must specify the language of response for the assessment. 

Angélica Dass, a Brazilian born photographer, has done several TEDx talks about her project, Humanae. Humanea is a project that addresses skin tone, art, personal identity, self-esteem, and perceptions of beauty. It is truly an amazing project. Using one of her TEDx talks, I developed two tasks - one for Novice learners and one for Intermediate learners. The theme of this video is more challenging, but with questions at a different level, I believe it is also accessible to lower level students as well. While viewing with students the teacher may need to pause at different times throughout the viewing to give students a chance to answer and ask questions. 

AP THEME: Contemporary Life
CONTEXT: Love and Relationships
I love using short videos in class (cortometrajes). They are really engaging for students and there is so much you can do with them to get students using the target language.  MovieTalk is a teaching strategy that was developed by Dr. Ashley Hastings as part of the FOCAL Skills approach to language instruction. Martina Bex describes the MovieTalk process on her website, but essentially you find a short movie (5 minutes or less) with simple language (or no language), and play the movie in class, pausing frequently to talk with students about what is happening, ask questions, and make predictions. Use your targeted vocabulary and grammar as you talk about the video. 

I used the video El Cerebro Dividido in my Love and Relationships unit. The MovieTalk took the entire 45 minute class. My students weren't quite ready to just answer in Spanish, so I gave them a little time after each question to write their thoughts down before calling on them in order to give them increased processing time. I asked the questions, and then based on the students' answers I circled and discussed what was happening on the screen. They were really engaged and hooked on the video. 

To prep for the MovieTalk, I used www.videonot.es/ to take notes and write the questions I wanted to ask students in class. In VideoNot.es as you watch the video, it records the time that you start writing a question. It really helped me while I was doing the MovieTalk to know when to pause the video and ask a question. I created a Google Slides document with screen shots of the video with the questions I used to guide the discussion in class. 

AP THEME: Science and Technology
CONTEXT: Effects of Technology on Self and Society
This resource is designed for the thematic unit of Technology in an upper level course. We utilized the amazing website, Audio-lingua.eu to find native-speakers talking about their opinions on personal technology. What a great way to get students listening to various native-speakers in one assessment! When using this activity, which could be used formatively or summatively, we recommend giving students the opportunity to listen to the audio source three times with time to respond in between. The link to the website can be found at the top of the assessment and is also linked to each speakers' name. ​