I googled Chicago, violencia, and pandillas to find an article to tie to the third page of text from a picture book for Spanish II.
La llaman América is about a little girl who immigrated to Chicago from Mexico and her experiences in her home, school, and neighborhood. As authentic texts go, it is a unique perspective but, frankly, awkwardly translated from English. Still, there are enough angles to capture teenagers' attention, and inner-city or neighborhood violence is one of them.
Literacy expert Tim Rasinski gave me an idea for a bellringer that I think will improve students' vocabulary, fluency, listening, reading, and speaking skills and get them hooked.
Rasinski proposes an acronym for those wishing to improve students' literacy skills, and although Rasinski's research and strategies revolve around L1 literacy, I think his theories align perfectly with L2 acquisition.
AMAPPS stands for
Accuracy as in being able to sound out words correctly
Modeling fluent reading
Assisted reading e.g. choral or partnered
Practice with a variety of texts as well as repeated exposure to the same texts
Phrasing or chunking words in common combinations
Synergy of all of these elements