Course Planning


2 SEMESTER SYSTEM

This chart illustrates how PANORAMA can be completed in a two-semester course. This division of material allows the present and the present progressive, including reflexive verbs, and the preterite tenses to be presented in the first semester; the second semester focuses on the imperfect tense, the subjunctive, and the perfect tenses, as well as the future and the conditional.

Lecciones 1-8		Lecciones 9-15

3 SEMESTER SYSTEM or 3 QUARTER SYSTEM

This chart shows how PANORAMA can be used in a three-semester or three quarter system. The lessons are equally divided among the three semesters, allowing students to absorb the material at a steady pace.

Lecciones 1-5		Lecciones 6-10		Lecciones 11-15

QUARTER SYSTEM

In this chart, the PANORAMA materials are organized in three balanced segments for use in the quarter system, allowing ample time for learning and review in each quarter.

Lecciones 1-5		Lecciones 6-10		Lecciones 11-15

4 SEMESTER SYSTEM

This chart shows one way to configure the PANORAMA materials for a four-semester course of study. This arrangement allots only four lessons to the first and fourth semesters; this gives students time to get their bearings in the first semester and permits extra time for review in the fourth semester.

Lecciones 1-4		Lecciones 5-8		Lecciones 9-12		Lecciones 13-15

ACCELERATED COURSES OR LIMITED CONTACT HOURS

Philip Redwine Donley, Late
PANORAMA Co-Author
Austin Community College
Austin, Texas

When planning for accelerated courses or courses with limited contact hours, it is important to keep in mind that the PANORAMA program is designed for flexibility and can be used in all sorts of programs and course configurations. The PANORAMA author team made a concerted effort to give all users more material than they could possibly use so that individual instructors will be able to select the materials that best suit their teaching styles and the needs of their students.

Instructors who are using PANORAMA in an accelerated course, or who are teaching courses with limited contact hours, may want to pick and choose among the contents of each lesson when planning for their courses. Here are some things I would consider doing if I were teaching an accelerated course or a course with limited contact hours.

1. In the Contextos vocabulary sections, I would do no more than two or three activities during class time. I might assign some of the other activities as written homework on an as-needed basis.
2. Since all students will have the video available to them in a use-at-home Video CD-ROM format, I might assign the video modules as homework and do simple comprehension checks in class. If necessary, I could omit the Fotonovela section or the video entirely since they are stand-alone instructional tools that can be used independently of each other
3. I might assign the Pronunciación sections as homework and do a few items from each pronunciation activity during class time.
4. For each grammar point in the Estructura section, I would do only two or three activities during class time. I would probably do one closed-ended activity, one transitional activity, and one open-ended activity. I might assign some of the other activities as written homework, as needed.
5. The complete Adelante section appears every three lessons. I might present only one segment of the Adelante section. In Lección 3, for example, I might do the Escritura only, in Lección 6 the Escuchar only, in Lección 9 the Lectura section only and so forth. This would free up class time for other activities but would not hurt students academically; the Adelante section was always conceptualized as a supplementary, synthesis-type section that instructors can use as their schedules permit.
6. I might assign the Panorama material in each lesson as a reading assignment and ask comprehension questions in class.