Using Readers in Spanish Class

In this series of posts we’ve been talking about using readers in Spanish class. You KNOW that reading is a powerful tool for our students! There are many ways to incorporate reading in your lessons, but today I wanted to focus on using novels and readers designed for learners in your Spanish classroom. I’m going to share a round up of posts to help you get started on using them in your classes!

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Which Books Do I Need for my Classes?

If you’re going to start using novels in your classes, you’re going to need some books! Let’s start with looking at which books are recommended for your students, and where you can find them with these posts:

• Spanish Readers organized by Country
• Recommendations for Readers in Spanish Class Levels 1-AP
• Classroom Library List
• Books Your Novice Students Will Love
• 12 Books for Beginners
• Author Spotlight series – check out books from my favorite authors!

Want a look inside a book?

I have a series on my YouTube channel where I grab a book off my shelf and flip through it. My hope is that you get a sense for what the book looks like, the language inside, and the support(s) it offers your students. This way you can hopefully decide if it’s a good fit for your classroom!

Click here to watch the series!

Be sure to stay tuned! I’ll add to this list as I find other novels my students enjoy.

What do I DO with the Readers when I have them?

Free Voluntary Reading

There are different ways you can incorporate novels in your Spanish classes once you have a few options for them! One option is to use them as a daily routine for Free Voluntary Reading (FVR). Free Voluntary Reading is a routine where students choose a book from your classroom library and read it silently and independently. Check out my post here for tips on getting started with FVR in your classes!

Teaching a Novel

Another option is to teach a whole class novel, like you might see in an English literature classroom! I have personally never taught a novel to a class as a whole group so I reached out to Allison from Mis Clases Locas who agreed to come share her expertise with us. She’s answered our top asked questions about using readers in class, and then gave us some resources for where we can get more support if needed! Click here to see the post!

Use a Short Story or Poem for your Lesson

Some of my favorite novels in my classroom library are collections of short stories or poems rather than one long novel. These make a great option for a mini lesson or a shorter unit! Some books that would be a great fit for that include:

• El Ratón Pablito
• Cuentos de mi Tierra
• Ataques de Hambre
• Poesía gramatical
• Corazón sin borrador

For a closer look at how you could set up a lesson like this, check out my post here on how I like to pull out a story from El Ratón Pablito for a lesson on Cinco de Mayo!

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