Rutas: Intermediate Spanish

UNIQUE, GUIDED APPROACH TO CONTENT. Rutas' innovative Learning Path, offered through the MindTap online platform, is carefully designed to guide instruction and take students step-by-step through each chapter. This process is fundamental to their success and includes: 1) a short introduction to the broad content. 2) lively presentations of key topics. 3) brief comprehension checks that reward students for engaging. 4) abundant opportunities for practice. 5) opportunities to use the content in context through communicative skills assessments and collaboration tools. 6) and finally, an opportunity to self-evaluate how they have met the goals expected of them by the end of the chapter.

START WITH ENGAGEMENT, NOT WITH DISAPPOINTMENT. Every presentation of vocabulary or grammar, every reading selection, and every chapter opener in Rutas is paired with a quick and rewarding Try It! activity. Try It! activities are not graded, and students are allowed unlimited attempts. They quickly check that students engaged with the material and ask them to predict what might come next or call back previous knowledge. By starting students with moments of success, Try It! activities prime them to tackle the assessments that come later with confidence.

BUILD ON STUDENTS’ FOUNDATIONS. Rutas provides a robust foundation of grammar practice in the Estructuras Esenciales stage of the chapter, which then enables students to complete communicative assessments later on. Estructuras Esenciales provides a thorough review and recycling of topics covered in introductory Spanish, as well as high-interest topics often left out of intermediate Spanish, such as the use of el voseo.

ATTENDING TO TODAY'S STUDENTS. Rutas includes materials that take advantage of varied technologies commonly used by the current generation, and addresses the learning preferences of today's students such as social media and mobile technology. Many activities ask students to go out into the world to find information, to simulate real-world experiences, or to engage with the technology they use day-to-day. In one project, students are asked to become "blogueros”, and in another, students discuss their shopping habits and favorite brands as part of a simulated market research task.