Spanish learners peek back into history by reading a copy of an original letter written in the sixteenth century by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. To show their comprehension, they respond to a series of provided questions. For writing practice, class members then compose their own formal letters in Spanish to King Carlos I of Spain. This is an advanced lesson with a complex text appropriate for higher-level classes or native speakers.

Concepts

formal letters, letter writing

Show More Show Less

Additional Tags

Spanish, spanish explorer, european explorer, pedro menendez de aviles, analysis, Primary Source, formal letter, languages

Show More Show Less

Classroom Considerations

• This resource is only available on an unencrypted HTTP website.It should be fine for general use, but don’t use it to share any personally identifiable information

Pros

• Combines history and Spanish with a primary source document written in Spanish
• Includes a worksheet for answering the questions and a template for writing the letter

Cons

• The letter is quite long and was written several hundred years ago, so it will probably take a long time for pupils to pick apart and understand the text
• The lesson notes that the letter was written in 1525; however, the letter is dated 1565