This is the second semester of a two-semester course. In Spanish 1B, students will continue their language learning journey by exploring the Spanish-speaking world. Students will use the language to learn about the cultural practices and products of Spanish-speaking countries while following the journey of fictional Spanish-speaking friends, as they themselves explore and share what they’ve learned about different Spanish-speaking countries. It’s important that students be able to relate to what they are learning about Spanish-speaking countries, and be able to make comparisons with their own perspectives and experiences. For that reason, students will learn the vocabulary and structures necessary to be able to talk about their own lives while also learning about the Spanish-speaking world. As they progress through each lesson, students will find a balance between using Spanish to express themselves and understand others. This course takes a proficiency-based approach which is informed by current language acquisition research and the ACTFL performance descriptors for novice language learners. A heavy focus is placed on meaningful language use, with grammar being learned implicitly through input and meaning-based activities. The course will incorporate grammatical concepts including: continuing use of present tense conjugations (including stem-changers), imperatives, indirect/direct object pronouns, and a brief introduction to past tense.