High school Spanish textbook suggestions needed....

[Janie]

My very good friend who teaches high school Spanish is seeking suggestions for a excellent Spanish textbook. She has used the same text for years and years and needs to buy new books. I told her that you all have always had great tried-and-true suggestions. Please list your favorites, even if they are suggestions of effective texts you had in high school.

 

The Spanish board does not seem to be very active, so that is why I am posting over here.

 

Thanks!

[Myrtle]

A very good way of becoming familiar with what is currently being sold on the market is to make a short wish list of the traits that the ideal textbook should have and then to email the major publishers and get a sales rep to contact you. Depending on the size of her classes she may very well qualify for free desk copies which she will be able to take her time in personally evaluating.

 

She may have in mind that the ideal textbook should emphasize literature rather than pop culture or take a grammatical approach rather than pure immersion, for example. But also as a teacher you need to have an idea of what sorts of supplements you are interested in. Test bank? DVDs? Etc. Once she has this in mind publishers will be better able to help her.

 

I would start with Prentice Hall.

 

If there is a university near her with an education department they will very likely have a resource room in the library with a lot of Spanish textbooks in it.