How far can I get in Somos? Pacing Suggestions

Modified on Wed, 27 Mar 2024 at 10:23 PM

The Somos Curriculum is the original and flagship curriculum published by The Comprehensible Classroom, and so you will often see the term Somos* (usually with an asterisk) used as a general term to refer to all of our curriculum programs as a collective. We will answer the question, "How far can I get in Somos*?" by talking about the following three specific programs:
  1. The Vamos Curriculum (Exploratory / Introductory Spanish for middle school)
  2. The Somos Curriculum (Novice and Intermediate Spanish for middle or high school)
  3. The Huellas Curriculum (Intermediate Spanish for high school)

The Vamos Curriculum is our newest program, and you can learn more about it in this article

The Somos Curriculum is broken into two separate programs: Somos 1 and Somos 2. Somos 1 is a Novice-range curriculum, and Somos 2 is an Intermediate-range curriculum. 
Because students will spend more than a year in the Novice range of proficiency, the Somos 1 Curriculum is designed to cover more than one year of instruction. For that reason, no teacher should expect to teach all units in The Somos 1 Curriculum in a single year. Teachers may choose to cover all units in Somos 1 before moving on to Somos 2, but more often they find that their students are breaking into the Intermediate range and are ready for Somos 2 before they have taught everything in Somos 1. 


The Huellas Curriculum is also broken into two separate programs: Huellas 1 and Huellas 2. Learn more about Huellas in this article.


Sample Pacing Guides

For teachers who use Somos* as their primary curriculum, the answer to the question, "How far can I get in the curriculum?" will vary greatly based on various factors, including:
  • Number of class hours/week and number of class hours/year
  • Schedule considerations: block, modified block, daily classes, home school, etc. 
  • Whether you choose to use the supplemental resources that are included in the Somos Curriculum bundles 
  • The amount of class time spent teaching about topics and with resources outside of The Somos Curriculum, such as novels, holidays, etc.
  • Familiarity and comfort levels with comprehension-based techniques and skills.
If you are looking to implement Somos for the very first time in your teaching context, please take a look at this document: Where do I start in Somos? to get an idea of where to begin. It includes suggestions for all levels, suggestions for students that are transitioning into Somos from a different program, and suggestions for elementary programs.

Remember, the ideas below are suggestions only! We encourage teachers to make their own instructional decisions based on their teaching contexts, and most of all, to view the curriculum as a guide- not a mandate. Watch our
 Fun Club Episode: Foundational Beliefs for more information. One of our Core Mindsets is "Connection over Curriculum," and it is important to remember that our focus is best placed on connecting with our students each day, and connecting with content, rather than just trying to cover or get through curriculum.


Exploratory Spanish 

Use as many units of The Vamos Curriculum as your course schedule allows. Vamos includes enough content to fill one year of daily instruction. Whether your course is nine weeks, one semester, or a full year, teach as many units as time allows. The number of units completed will not impact students' success beginning Somos 1 in the next course, as Somos 1 assumes no prior language learning experience. Units in Vamos that are not taught in Exploratory can be skipped, or they can be used in another Middle Grades Spanish course.


Level 1 Spanish

Most teachers who teach the equivalent of a Level 1 class (middle or high school) that meets for about 100 hours per year tend to work with Somos 1 Units 1-8 in addition to other topics, which may include teaching a class novel.
Teachers who do not supplement with other materials often work with Somos 1 Units 1-12.

Sample Level 1 Pacing Guide
Meeting: 3-5x a week; 4 hours a week total

Remember: This is one sample pacing guide. There is not one right way to implement the curriculum!

Fall Semester
Somos 1 Unit 1
¿Qué te gusta? lesson
Somos 1 Unit 2
Los colores lesson
Somos 1 Unit 3
Somos 1 Unit 4
Somos 1 Unit 5
Spring Semester
Grammar in Context: De for possession
Grammar in Context: Subject pronouns
Somos 1 Unit 6
Somos 1 Unit 7
Somos 1 Unit 8
Mi Bolivia lesson
Possible novel study


Level 2 Spanish

For students who have already been taught Somos 1 Units 1-8 (or 1-12)


Many experienced Somos teachers agree that once students have been exposed to the type of language in units 1-12, teachers can use units out of numerical order and/or skip certain units, being mindful to establish meaning for any words that showed up in units that are skipped.

Some teachers prefer to just start where they left off from Level 1 and teach straight through. Other teachers skip units to better align with school or district requirements and themes. Many teachers also elect to teach a novel at this level, and/or incorporate a free choice reading program.


Sample Level 2 Pacing Guide

Meeting: 3-5x a week; 4 hours a week total.


Remember: This is one sample pacing guide. There is not one right way to implement the curriculum!

Fall Semester
Somos 1 Unit 21
Somos 1 Unit 13
Somos 1 Unit 14
Somos 1 Unit 15
Somos 1 Unit 16
Spring Semester
Somos 1 Unit 17
Novel study
Somos 2 Unit 1
Somos 2 Unit 2
Somos 1 Unit 24


Level 3 Spanish

For students who have already completed courses in which several units of Somos 2 were used and have read at least one novel.


Choose which units to teach in Year 3 based on which topics/units are most interesting to your students and contain language that will be understandable to your students. Because students will have developed a robust linguistic system at this point, with a growing vocabulary range, teachers often find that it is easier to skip between units in the Somos 2 Curriculum than it is to do so with Somos 1 Units.

Sample Level 3 Pacing Guide

Meeting: 3-5x a week, 4 hours a week total.


Remember: This is one sample pacing guide. There is not one right way to implement the curriculum!

Fall Semester
Somos 2 Unit 4
Somos 2 Unit 5
Somos 2 Unit 6
Novel study
Somos 2 Unit 8
Somos 2 Unit 11
Spring Semester
Somos 2 Unit 12
Novel study
Huellas 1 Unit 1
Huellas 1 Unit 2
Huellas 1 Unit 3
Novel study


Additional Notes:

Check out our crowdsourced responses for this question from the Facebook Group "Somos Curriculum Collaboration"

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