SpinTX

Summary

This site is called Spintx, and is part of the Spanish in Texas project, which is associated with the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL). Spintx is a collection video clips from Spanish speakers in Texas, and each video has a transcript.

Each video has labels that talk about the speaker, such as age, name, and birth country. Topics mentioned in the video are also marked. On the right side of the video, there are two columns that you can use to highlight specific lexical items in the transcript, such as certain nouns, articles, or uses of “haber”.

SpinTX Starter Links

View this page if you are interested in more information about the Spanish in Texas project in general.

View this page to find specific information about the SpinTX videos. You can view an introductory video, a search bar for keywords, or links to videos organized by theme, “language feature”, or speaker.


View this link for an example of a SpinTX video. She mentions how her family celebrates El Día de los Muertos and el Día de la Independencia, and mentions specific cultural elements like atole and la bandera mexicana.

SpinTX Action Item

Have students compare family holiday celebrations!

Discuss with students which holidays are celebrated in the United States and in other Spanish speaking countries, and how. Then, using the following link, let the students learn Alessandra’s perspective, and have the students discuss with a partner or small group how their families’ celebrations compare with Alessandra’s family’s celebrations , or use the cultural information mentioned to dive into cultural items used for each holiday. You can highlight keywords on the transcript like “bandera” or ‘celebrar” for vocabulary support, and ask questions like:

      • ¿La familia de Alessandra tiene celebraciones grandes o pequeñas? ¿Tiene tu familia celebraciones grandes?
      • ¿Qué come la familia de Alessandra para celebrar el día de los muertos?

SpinTX Webpage Gallery

Please look over some sample screenshots of the SpinTX website. This will give you a preview of the site layout, possible resources, and help you recognize a specific resource that you are looking for. The first is a link to lesson ideas, and the second and third are links to other videos that you can view.

Featured Keywords

Possible Thematic Unit Use

  • abuelos
  • amigos
  • amor
  • relaciones
  • comida
  • cultura
  • la escuela
  • la familia
  • el futuro
  • la identidad
  • el idioma
  • la infancia
  • el matrimonio
  • la religión,
  • Texas
  • el trabajo
  1. la familia
  2. los amigos
  3. comida
  4. cultura
  5. la escuela
  6. la infancia
  7. y más! (view on this link for more listing)