Pobre Ana Series

I just finished reading the Pobre Ana series for Spanish 1! 

I really like the Pobre Ana series for "required" reading that we do as a class because it sticks to common phrases and vocabulary that I can easily teach through telling TPRS stories.  Since they're all about life in general, they stick to the most common words, getting progressively more complex which each level.  Moreover, it brings in a lot of culture - each book takes place somewhere different and has a lot of really good themes we could focus on.  These are books I could easily center a curriculum around!

"Amigos Detectives" is a little different as it focuses on a science and biology theme.  I found myself stopping more frequently to look up words in it more than any of the other books because I didn't know words for animals and other specific vocabulary.  I think it would be a good "extra" book that uses the most frequent vocabulary and structures in new ways.   If we had time, or we just wanted to read a book "for fun" I would use it, but feel that teaching the vocabulary needed to read the book without looking in the glossary often would be difficult.  If it was read out loud as a class, this wouldn't be so much of an issue since I could just translate those words for them, but I feel there's power in reading a book that the students feel they can read without my assistance, especially if it's a central part of our curriculum.  Plus, I will likely want to vary how students are reading, including independent, and I don't want them to get discouraged or frustrated.  Checking the glossary every now and again is ok, but I felt I had to do it so much that it disrupted the flow of the book.

Just my two cents so far.  I'm excited to read the other books - 6 down, 14 to go!