Semillas: Elementary Spanish I is a comprehensive introductory Spanish open-access textbook with reading, listening, speaking, and writing practice. This Open Educational Resource (OER) aims to help students begin learning Spanish in a communicative and comprehensive manner. This textbook uses Pressbooks, a versatile platform that allows us to integrate interactive activities (h5p) and present authentic material such as video interviews with Spanish speakers and other audio-visual resources.

Grammar is not just presented as a standalone topic, but it is rather seamlessly integrated into all parts of this book. We have elected to use the femenine as the base form of our vocabulary lists and have introduced students to non-binary endings. To ensure that our textbook is inclusive, the material includes voices that represent diverse demographic segments/identities of the Spanish-speaking world and includes a plurality of pronunciations and appearances. Also the authors come from a diverse background in terms of gender, age, and nationality.

This textbook underwent a peer-review  process that included professionals from more than ten higher education organizations in the United States.

Guiding Principles

1. Content design
   1. Backward Design. Learning objectives were created following recommendations collected in a survey sent to various stakeholders in the field of education and language learning. Alignment with World Readiness Standards and the integration of Can-do statements to support proficiency development.
   2. Video and audio materials were developed with both native Spanish speakers and Spanish language learners, showcasing differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and accent.
   3. Streamlined content and audio-visual materials to support language processes.
2. Student-centered classroom
   1. Use of thematic modules. Based on student input and guided by pedagogical and communicative goals.
   2. Relatable and familiar topics to motivate students.
   3. Variety of communicative activities that allow students to focus on meaning and facilitate interactions (e.g., brainstorming, group activities, inclusion of all three modes of communication).
   4. Learning by doing (i.e. engage in real-life situations that promote communication and comprehension not on solely the practice of grammatical structures).
   5. Dozens of H5P interactive activities to engage students.
   6. Task-based projects for assessment.
3. Grammar teaching
   1.  Presentation of one topic at a time.
   2. Grammar builds off of previous materials in a logical manner. Students are first shown examples for comprehension and then tasked with using the grammar to create meaningful exchanges in Spanish.
   3. Grammar is presented organically and in context.
   4. Grammar order follows the natural order of acquisition.
   5. Video grammar explanations are available in English for autonomous learning and to reinforce concepts seen in class.
4. Adaptability
   1. Designed for hybrid and flipped courses, and it could easily be used in a more traditional classroom environment.
   2. Customizable content based on the needs of your class and your learning objectives.
   3. Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
   4. Feel free to share and adapt this textbook to your specific needs. Copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon the material but give appropriate credit.
   5. Not for commercial purposes.

¿Por qué Semillas? This OER textbook…

• Promotes communication and provides engaging topics.
• Provides tailored content to suit the needs of 21st-century students.
• Includes a variety of multimedia and interactive authentic materials which are easily accessible online and downloadable to any device.
• Replaces expensive textbooks and relieves students of additional costs with its free content.

Instructors

• Authentic and inclusive content which can be adapted to each instructor’s needs.
• Can be used for a hybrid or traditional class format.

Students

• Engagement with authentic content.
• Learn more about  the Spanish language and Spanish speakers in the U.S and other areas.
• Self-check activities with automatic feedback.