Philip M. Donley, Ph.D.
Vistas Co-Author
Austin Community College
Austin, Texas

General Course and Lesson Planning Suggestions
Three- and four-semester course configurations usually result in a substantial amount of contact hours-a real bonanza in language courses-and permit us as instructors to proceed through our material methodically and at a deliberate pace. Bearing this in mind, if you are using VISTAS in a three-semester configuration, you will probably want to cover six lessons per semester (cf. nine lessons per semester in a two-semester configuration). In a four-semester configuration, you may want to cover four lessons in the first semester, five lessons in the second and third semesters, and four lessons in the final semester (this allows students extra practice time in the crucial first semester, as well as extra review time in the fourth semester).

When preparing for each semester, you should calculate the total number of contact hours available to you and divide them among the lessons, allotting extra hours to lessons that contain material that students traditionally find challenging (e.g., ser and estar in Lección 5, preterite vs. imperfect in Lección 11).

Planning for Day-to-Day Teaching
When making daily lesson plans in a three- or four-semester configuration, you will probably have time to make great use of the resources of the VISTAS program. By maximizing your use of VISTAS' resources, you will be assured of covering the material in depth while allowing for plentiful practice opportunities in a variety of contexts and formats.

Here are some recommendations for getting the most out of the VISTAS program as you progress through the various sections of each lesson.

1. Contextos
   • Use the corresponding Transparencies to present or review vocabulary items.
   • Explore the Variación léxica section with the class. You may want to point out additional regional variations to the class or ask heritage speakers to provide them.
   • The first Práctica activity of each Contextos section is a listening activity. You may want to do this activity in class, using the Student Cassette/CD.
   • In class, work through as many of the Práctica and Comunicación activities as possible.
   • Consult the Instructor's Annotated Edition for activity expansion ideas, games, additional practice opportunities, and targeted activities for heritage speakers.
   • Point out any sidebar notes (e.g., NOTA CULTURAL, LENGUA VIVA, AYUDA) that accompany the activities. The sidebar notes contain important cultural or linguistic information or point-of-use tips for doing an activity.
   • Give your students extra practice by assigning the Contextos activities in the Student Activities Manual (Workbook Activities, Laboratory Activities). For variety, you may occasionally have students work on the Student Activities Manual in class.
   • Have your students work through the Contextos activities on the Interactive CD-ROM. If your classroom has the proper equipment, you may want to ask students to work on the Interactive CD-ROM in class.
   • You may occasionally want to augment students' knowledge of vocabulary by presenting the Vocabulario adicional from the Instructor's Resource Manual. NOTE: There are Vocabulario adicional lists for Lecciones 1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 13, and 16.
2. Fotonovela
   • Thoroughly integrate the video modules into each lesson. You might want to show the video in class, have students watch each lesson's video module at home or in the lab on the Video CD-ROM, or use the condensed video episodes in the Fotonovela section as an at-home reading assignment. NOTE: The Instructor's Annotated Edition contains many helpful suggestions for using the video in class.
   • Build on the video modules or the condensed Fotonovela video episodes by asking comprehension questions in class and/or having students do the Reacciona a la fotonovela activities.
   • Point out any sidebar notes (e.g., NOTA CULTURAL, LENGUA VIVA, AYUDA) that accompany the activities. The sidebar notes contain important cultural or linguistic information or point-of-use tips for doing an activity.
   • Consult the Instructor's Annotated Edition for activity expansion ideas, games, additional practice opportunities, and targeted activities for heritage speakers.
   • Make sure students learn the functional expressions contained in the Expresiones útiles box. These functional expressions are part of the active vocabulary load and serve as an excellent advance organizer for the material students will hear in the video and encounter in upcoming Estructura sections. You may want to engage in occasional impromptu conversations with students using the functional expressions.
   • Each Fotonovela is accompanied by an Enfoque cultural section that explores cultural information germane to the theme of the video episode. Discuss the Enfoque cultural information with your students and engage them in a dialogue about any relevant comparisons and contrasts with their own lives and cultural communities.
   • Give your students extra practice by assigning the Video Activities in the Student Activities Manual. For variety, you may occasionally want to have students work on these activities during class.
   • Have your students work through the Fotonovela section on the Interactive CD-ROM. If your classroom has the proper equipment, you may want to ask students to work on the Interactive CD-ROM in class.
3. Pronunciación/Ortografía
   • Work through the Pronunciación sections (Lecciones 1-9) and Ortografía sections (Lecciones 10-18), including the corresponding activities, during class time. You may want to present the Pronunciación section in class using the Student Cassette/CD.
   • Have students practice and review the pronunciation material at home using their Student Cassette/CDs.
   • Have your students work through the Pronunciación activities in the Laboratory Activities section of the Student Activities Manual.
   • Have your students work through the pronunciation activities on the Interactive CD-ROM.
   • Consult the Teaching Options in the Instructor's Annotated Edition for additional practice opportunities related to Pronunciación or Ortografía.
4. Estructura
   • Spend as much time as possible on each grammar point. As mentioned above, you may want to budget extra time for particularly challenging grammar points.
   • Point out any sidebar notes (e.g., ¡ATENCIÓN!, NOTA CULTURAL, LENGUA VIVA, AYUDA) that accompany the explanations or activities. The sidebar notes contain important cultural or linguistic information or point-of-use tips for doing an activity. NOTE: The ¡ATENCIÓN! notes are part of the active grammar load for each lesson.
   • Work through as many of the Práctica and Comunicación activities as possible in class. Make a special effort to work through the Síntesis activities in class as well; these activities are especially designed to integrate previously covered grammar points and vocabulary fields with the grammar point students are studying.
   • Consult the Instructor's Annotated Edition for activity expansion ideas, games, additional practice opportunities, and targeted activities for heritage speakers.
   • Give your students extra practice with each section of Estructura by assigning the corresponding activities in the Student Activities Manual (Workbook Activities, Laboratory Activities). For variety, you may occasionally have students work on the Student Activities Manual in class.
   • Have your students work through the Estructura activities on the Interactive CD-ROM. If your classroom has the proper equipment, you may want to ask students to work on the Interactive CD-ROM in class.
5. Adelante
• This section contains optional activities that allow students to practice the four skills while integrating in a communicative and meaningful way the material they have learned up to this point. Try to cover as many of the Adelante subsections (Lectura, Escritura, Escuchar, Proyecto) as possible in class. NOTE: Students have the option of working through the Escuchar section at home using their Student Cassette/CDs.
• If you like to give extra credit assignments, the Escritura and Proyecto subsections are particularly suitable for this purpose. In addition, the Escritura and Proyecto tasks are appropriate for portfolio-based learning.
• The Lectura, Escritura, and Escuchar subsections feature useful learning strategies that have cross-disciplinary applications. You may want to have your students brainstorm ways they can to put these strategies to use in their other courses.
• Be sure to call students' attention to the Recursos para la investigación box that appears at the bottom of the Proyecto page. This box coaches students on where to look for information related to the task at hand.
• You may want to have students use the Pocket Dictionary when working on the Adelante section. The pocket dictionary may prove especially useful when students are working on the Escritura and Proyecto subsections.
6. Panorama
• Because each Panorama section contains interesting facts about the peoples and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world, you will probably want to cover this material in class whenever possible.
• Use the accompanying Transparencies to help you present or review the Panorama material.
• Consult the Instructor's Annotated Edition for additional cultural information and teaching options.
• You may want to use the Panorama as an ongoing reading assignment to be completed by the end of each lesson, at which time you would either go over the ¿Qué aprendiste? comprehension questions in class or have your students prepare the questions as written homework.