Mural of the progressive Honduran teacher union COPEMH
Online Resources for the Progressive Spanish Teacher
At Esperanza Education, we are always looking for ways to share and promote resources that bring together language learning and social justice education. For the busy teacher, finding age- and level- appropriate resources for the language classroom that also focus on progressive issues can be tough. In fact, the main focus of the Spanish for Social Justice Teacher Network in Vancouver is to support one another in finding these kinds of resources. Here I’ll share 10 of my favourite online spots to find progressive resources for the Spanish language classroom:
1. Spanish for Social Justice
First and foremost, of course I will shamelessly promote the Spanish for Social Justice website. This is a space for teachers to easily upload and download progressive Spanish resources to share with each other. They are organized by level, grammar topic, and theme. If you have created resources for your classroom, please share them with SFSJ!
2. Todo ELE
Todo ELE is another site where teachers can easily upload and download resources for the Spanish classroom, including multi-day lesson plans. Although it does not have a social justice focus, many of the resources focus of progressive themes. For example: El Cambio Climático, Las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo, y Cantar por una Paz sin Fronteras.
3. Teaching for Peace
This site was created by British Columbia teachers, also to share resources. Donna Clark has shared a project for high school students on Social Movements in Latin America with several great links.
4. Zambombazo
Self-described as an “explosion of language and culture”, Zambombazo offers hundreds of activities for Spanish learners and teachers that are based on authentic cultural materials such as music videos, artwork, comics, and news articles. While not always social justice focussed, the wealth of relevant and authentic cultural materials lend themselves well to starting progressive conversations.
5. Global Voices
Global Voices is a citizen news website translated into 30 languages. It is a great place to find articles in Spanish (as well as their counterparts in English for comparison) about current events and justice issues. I find it to be a great starting point for lesson plans and discussion in my classes.
6. News in Slow Spanish
Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is! Each week a new podcast comes out with the latest headlines and news stories explained in slow (Castilian) Spanish – great for learners and good discussion starters. Transcripts and relevant grammar lessons are also available to subscribers.
7. Solidaridad: Human Rights Radio
For more advanced learners, RTVE in Spain produces the Solidaridad program dedicated to social justice issues and sharing information about progressive organizations and initiatives around the world.
8. Catálogo de Voces Hispánicas
I am fascinated by all the varieties of Spanish in the world, and it’s a great discussion starter in the Spanish classroom – usually leading to questions about culture, class, and colonialism. The Catálogo de Voces Hispánicas has videos of almost 100 people from different parts of the Spanish-speaking world. For each one, there is a video of the person talking, a transcript of what they say, a description of the linguistic characteristics of the region, and relevant demographic and cultural information. I can imagine a great class project based on this website!
9. Teaching for Change
Teaching for Change (like Rethinking Schools) is a great place for any teacher interested in social justice education, with tons of articles, books, and other resources for progressive educators. For Spanish teachers, there are free Latin America and Immigration resources for the elementary and high school classroom. These could be used together with, or adapted for, language learning.
10. Spanish for Social Change Vocabulary
For very relevant and up-to-date social justice vocabulary in Spanish, check out Sara Koopman’s Spanish for Social Change website. It’s designed to help English-Spanish interpreters doing work in activist contexts, but it doubles as a great vocabulary builder for Spanish learners and teachers.
What websites do you use when looking for progressive teaching materials? Any favourites that didn’t make the list? Whether for Spanish or other languages, please share your ideas with us!
