Can I Teach Señor Wooly, Novels, or Other Units If I Use Somos?

A common question we hear from teachers is whether using Somos means they have to follow the curriculum every single day, in order, without deviation and without using other resources. Certainly not! Somos is designed to be your foundation, not a constraint. No matter what curriculum teachers use, they will always bring in lessons outside of the scope of the program as written: things they are passionate about or know their students will love!

Somos provides a coherent scope and sequence, research-aligned routines, and a clear pathway for building proficiency. It is the structure you can rely on when you want guidance and consistency. Somos will guarantee that your curriculum is coherent, scaffolded, and spiraled so that deep acquisition can happen. It is not meant to replace your professional judgment, your creativity, or the special units that make your class feel alive and relevant to students.

If the thought of adding something else to your teaching plate makes you feel overwhelmed, please know that Somos is a complete curriculum and you don't have to add or supplement with anything. However, if you have something you love to teach, and it fits with your district's definition of fidelity, keep reading!  

Many teachers regularly pause Somos to teach a class novel, a Señor Wooly unit, a holiday or cultural exploration, or thematic units like Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, or a March Music Madness bracket. When you are ready, you simply return to the next Somos lesson and continue. You won't “lose your place,” and your students won't lose language. Acquisition is cumulative and non-linear; students continue acquiring language as long as they are hearing and reading messages they understand.

In fact, taking breaks from the routine can be pedagogically beneficial. Students sometimes need a shift in format or topic to stay engaged, especially over long semesters. That’s why The Comprehensible Classroom offers many resources outside of the core curriculum that are meant to be used just for fun and engagement, without needing to explicitly connect to a specific unit. Activities like Mythical Creatures: The Unfair Game, Guess the Sport, and other interactive games and thematic lessons give you fresh, compelling contexts for language while still supporting acquisition. These kinds of experiences keep motivation high and help students see language as a tool for communication, not just a school subject.

The same is true for reading and informational content. Many teachers supplement Somos with El mundo en tus manos, our news-based resource designed for language learners. News articles and informational texts provide authentic, compelling topics while reinforcing high-frequency language and literacy skills. They fit beautifully alongside Somos, whether used as bell ringers, weekly reading routines, or short thematic units.

If you want easy access to all of these resources, our Tesoro subscription provides a growing library of activities, games, cultural units, and supplementary materials that you can pull from whenever you want to change things up. Think of Tesoro as your enrichment toolkit that pairs seamlessly with Somos.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that all communication that students understand is building proficiency. Whether the input comes from a Somos story, a Señor Wooly video, a novel, a cultural unit, or a game about mythical creatures, it all contributes to acquisition. Somos gives you a strong core; everything else you bring in is an opportunity to deepen engagement, broaden cultural understanding, and make language meaningful. You can step away, explore, celebrate, and experiment...and Somos will always be there when you’re ready to pick up where you left off!