Once I decided to teach for proficiency, I become hungry for stories--real stories, invented stories, silly stories, sad stories, unbelievable stories, scary stories...anything.
Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning.
― Stephen D. Krashen, The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom
If you are looking for stories for your Spanish students to read, you have come to the right place! This weekend, I published the first issue of the 2018-2019 school year for two very different publications that I know you are going to love.
CURRENT EVENTS: EL MUNDO EN TUS MANOS
Maris and I wanted to start the 2018-2019 subscription with a bang! The first issue of El mundo en tus manos contains a full version (five news stories on three pages) PLUS a one-page feature on Venezuela PLUS a single-page summary version of the core stories PLUS a full glossary. Look for these stories in this week's edition:
- NICARAGÜENSES PROTESTAN VIOLENCIA Y CORRUPCIÓN
- UN FUTURO PARA REOS EN EL SALVADOR
- CAROLINA MARÍN GANA EL MUNDIAL
- ESTUDIANTE DE 12 AÑOS ESTUDIA EN LA UNAM
- EL ABORTO QUEDA ILEGAL EN ARGENTINA
- NUEVA MONEDA EN VENEZUELA
- TERREMOTO SACUDE EL NORTE DEL PAÍS
- VENEZOLANOS INMIGRAN A OTROS PAÍSES
SUBSCRIBE TODAY!
If you are already a subscriber, look for this issue in the subscription's Drive folder. To access the link to the Drive folder, visit "My Purchases" in your TpT account and download the 2018-2019 subscription. Look for a PDF in the product download that contains the Drive link! Once you are in the Drive, you will be able to access each issue in its own sub-folder. To access this week's issue, open the folder entitled "2018 09 03 issue - El mundo en tus manos". Within that folder, you will find PDF and Word versions of the September 3 issue, suggestions for authentic resources that you can use to learn more about any one of the articles, and a one-page digest version of the issue that is ideal for students that are reading in Spanish for the first time! [gallery ids="https://comprehensibleclassroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-03-at-8.08.50-PM.png|,https://comprehensibleclassroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-03-at-8.08.36-PM.png|" type="rectangular"] Haven't yet subscribed? Click here to get weekly news stories for the rest of the school year!
STUDENT CREATED FICTION: REVISTA LITERAL
There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what you want to read, is responsible for most of our literacy development. Readers have better reading ability, know more vocabulary, write better, spell better, and have better control of complex grammatical constructions. In fact, it is impossible to develop high levels of literacy without being a dedicated reader, and dedicated readers rarely have serious problems in reading and writing.
― Stephen Krashen, The Power of Reading
In an effort to provide your students with all kinds of readings, last year I launched LITERAL, a free e-zine for Spanish students, by Spanish students.
START YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION TODAY!
Each month, Spanish learners from around the world submit original stories in Spanish. Some are quite polished and some...need a little help. I read through every submission and choose ten that are (1) understandable to a sympathetic reader (me), (2) can be revised such that they are accurate and understandable to a Spanish learner, and (3) are interesting enough to hold an emerging reader's attention. 
After I select the stories, I edit them for accuracy, appropriateness, and comprehensibility. Then, the stories are proofed by native speakers of Spanish. In particular, Revista LITERAL would not be possible without the ongoing help and support of my dear friend Nelly Hughes over at Comprendes Méndez SpanishShop!
If you are a native speaker of Spanish and would like to volunteer to proofread future issues, please email me.
Finally, I pop all the stories into a single PDF, format them and add images, and create a glossary. Voilà! LITERAL is uploaded to its website, and all LITERAL followers are notified that there is a new post and issue.
If you would like to receive email notifications about future issues, please click the "SUSCRIBIRSE" button in the www.revistaliteral.com site menu.
PUBLISH A STORY IN LITERAL
Please encourage your students to submit original stories for publication in LITERAL! Parameters, instructions, and the link to submit stories are available on this page. For everyone heading back to school tomorrow and Wednesday, I wish you a wonderful first day!!
