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.
This textbook underwent a peer-review process that included professionals from more than ten higher education organizations in the United States.
Guiding Principles
- Content design
- 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.
- Video and audio materials were developed with both native Spanish speakers and Spanish language learners, showcasing differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, and accent.
- Streamlined content and audio-visual materials to support language processes.
- Student-centered classroom
- Use of thematic modules. Based on student input and guided by pedagogical and communicative goals.
- Relatable and familiar topics to motivate students.
- 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).
- Learning by doing (i.e. engage in real-life situations that promote communication and comprehension not on solely the practice of grammatical structures).
- Dozens of H5P interactive activities to engage students.
- Task-based projects for assessment.
- Grammar teaching
- Presentation of one topic at a time.
- 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.
- Grammar is presented organically and in context.
- Grammar order follows the natural order of acquisition.
- Video grammar explanations are available in English for autonomous learning and to reinforce concepts seen in class.
- Adaptability
- Designed for hybrid and flipped courses, and it could easily be used in a more traditional classroom environment.
- Customizable content based on the needs of your class and your learning objectives.
- Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
- 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.
- 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.