Rostros
Intermediate College Spanish
“Rostros is the perfect tool to explore the grand narratives and big ideas in the history of the Spanish-speaking world. The language acquisition process takes place through our focus on content, and students are continually motivated by learning things they never knew before!“
Professor Daniel Woolsey
Rostros Author | Evia Learning
Fundamentally Different
Centered on proficiency
Rostros was designed to fill a void in intermediate college textbook options: A text that emphasizes language proficiency and content rather than linguistic knowledge. Rostros is a content-based curriculum on the histories and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. Our aim is not to create grammarians, but to increase students’ Spanish proficiency through learning about and growing in respect for the peoples and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
Foundation of acquisition
Comprehensible input is key to language acquisition. For this reason, Rostros provides a wealth of texts, audio, and videos that promote language acquisition and serve as the basis for student work and classroom activities. Speaking tasks throughout the text provide ample opportunity for learners to communicate in Spanish about what they are learning and how their viewpoints are changing.
Five driving forces behind Rostros
Five driving forces
behind Rostros
1. A world of "big ideas"
Cultural topics are organized coherently by geography (countries/regions) and “big ideas” relevant to those areas, such as Colonia e independencia, Raza y mestizaje, civilización y conquista, inmigración e identidad, and more. Reinforcing these themes means your students finish their Spanish course with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the cultures where Spanish is spoken.
2. Transformative language learning
It is less important how much students cover in a course than who they become as a result. Rostros is designed to make your Spanish course a life-changing experience for your students.
3. Interactive connectivity
Much of the Rostros content is located in the online interactive component, where students have access to hundreds of interviews, reading texts and vocabulary activities. This makes Rostros an excellent choice for online and blended instruction, as students have plenty to do and learn from outside the classroom.
4. Comprehensible, quality input
Learning Spanish takes lots of listening and reading. Rostros provides the perfect amount of comprehensible input from native speakers. Scaffolding activities and preparation enable students to engage with these texts successfully.
5. Build classroom community
Learner activities and tasks promote relationships and connections both among students in your classes as well as native speakers. Speaking tasks are not rote drills to practice language but genuine opportunities for authentic communication. Better relationships mean better learning.
Two required components
Rostros features a robust textbook/workbook hybrid, or cuaderno, as well as an equally important interactive online platform for work that happens best outside of class. Each of these supports the other and is vitally important to a complete course.
Online Interactive Program
Learners spend time outside class in the Rostros online interactive program. This features hundreds of audio and video clips from Spanish speakers across the world, with appropriate scaffolding to ensure students understand what they hear. The quantity and quality of this authentic, content-rich input ensures that your students will be used to native Spanish after a year with Rostros, and that they will have more courage to engage with Spanish speakers outside of your classroom. Other features of the online interactive are hundreds of explanatory screens on history and culture of each country, rich photography to familiarize students with the visual culture of these places, and vocabulary and grammar practice.
Cuaderno
The Rostros cuaderno is split into two volumes that cover a year-long course together. It is designed to transition students from the receptive mode of the website to guided comprehension of authentic texts and then production in the classroom and written assignments. Many small group and conversational activity prompts in the cuaderno encourage learners to talk about their own lives, helping create a real community in your classroom as students get to know one another as people. The cuaderno is available in paper and digital format, making Rostros flexible for any classroom.
Click the image to the right to see a short sample from unit 3 of the Rostros cuaderno, with special callouts of important features.
Dive deeper into Rostros
The videos below feature the lead author of Rostros, Daniel Woolsey, talking about how to use Rostros, the philosophies and ideas behind it, and learner outcomes.
Overview
Personal
Introduction
Origins, Objectives, Principles
Big
Ideas
Teaching with Rostros
Teaching with
Rostros
A typical tema
Day 1
A typical tema
Day 2
A typical tema
Day 3
Learner Outcomes
Writing
Speaking
Feedback
Request digital evaluation package
Request digital
evaluation package
If you are looking for an invigorating journey through the Spanish-speaking world for your intermediate students, materials that are as energized about Spanish language and culture as you are, and support for a course that can change a student’s life, then Rostros will be the perfect fit for you. Fill out the form below to request an evaluation copy and to speak with one of the creators.
Fill out the form below to get in touch with us and request an evaluation package.
If you are a current student using Rostros and need help, please visit our Support Page.
