Digital Resources

• Interactive eBook. The textbook is now available as an interactive eBook, which integrates all of the multimedia content seamlessly into each chapter: the new video and audio components as well as recordings of the La historia dialogues and the active chapter vocabulary.
• CENTRO. McGraw-Hill has partnered with Quia™, the leading developer of online tools for foreign language instruction and learning, to create CENTRO (www.mhcentro.com). CENTRO is a comprehensive learning management system that allows you to manage your course with robust communication tools, record-keeping that can be imported to Blackboard and other CMS platforms, integration of instructor resources such as the Instructor’s Manual and the Testing Program, as well as the ability to customize or add your own content.
• Lugares fascinantes video program. The new videos are presented in a video blog format and provide stunningly beautiful footage (provided by BBC Motion Gallery) of each of the twenty-four locations featured in the Lugares fascinantes readings, along with engaging and informative narration. The textbook and the Manual each contain an activity to accompany the video. The video is available in CENTRO and on a complimentary DVD for instructors.
• Spanish Grammar Tutorials. Animated online grammar tutorials allow students to brush up on a wide range of Spanish grammar points on their own.
• Music CD. The Estampillas musicales CD allows students to listen to songs featured in the new La música... section of each chapter. Each song was written by musicians from the region covered in the chapter and has pre- and post-listening activities. Students may listen to songs on the CD or in CENTRO, and instructors may request a complimentary copy of the CD.

Print Components

The Fourth Edition of the Punto y aparte main text contains the following new features, which respond to concerns expressed by reviewers:

• Dialogues. New La historia dialogues bring the dialogues up to date and provide excellent models of natural language exchanges. Audio recordings of these dialogues are available on the Online Learning Center and on CENTRO.
• Sequencing of Grammar. Past tenses are introduced a chapter earlier, in Capítulo 2, to allow for more practice of this challenging aspect of Spanish grammar.
• Lugares fascinantes. These sections contain a new activity called ¡Viaje conmigo a… !, which accompanies the new video. The activity invites students to give their personal reaction to the places they see in the video. The video is available in CENTRO and on a complimentary DVD for instructors.
• La música… This new feature of the Rincón cultural section introduces students to music from each of the six Spanish-speaking regions covered in Punto y aparte. A short introduction to the featured musical genre is followed by pre- and post-listening activities, which include the full lyrics to each song. Students may listen to songs on the CD or in CENTRO, and instructors may request a complimentary copy of the CD.
• Readings. Five new Lectura readings include a wider variety of genres and a more representative cross-section of the Spanish-speaking world.
• Communicative activities. The last section of each chapter, Hablando del tema, has been expanded to allow for better synthesis of the chapter material in a communicative context.
• Icons. Clearer icons help students understand the application of the seven communicative functions throughout each chapter.
• Photos. Brand-new photos of the five friends give the book a modern, up-to-date look.

Instructor Resources

The following instructor resources are all provided in the Instructor Edition of this Online Learning Center website and in the Instructor Workstation of CENTRO.

• Testing Program. The tests and quizzes that were previously located in the Instructor's Manual have been consolidated and expanded in a separate Testing Program.
• Grammar PowerPoint Presentations. New grammar PowerPoint presentations provide a digital visual display of the various grammar topics covered in the text.
• Image Bank. Designed to stimulate conversation in the classroom and to expose students to more visual images of the Spanish-speaking world, this resource contains photos from the twenty-one Spanish-speaking countries.
• Cultural PowerPoint Presentations. These presentations contain beautiful images and allow instructors to do cultural presentations on all Spanish-speaking countries. Extensive notes on the images appear on each slide to facilitate presentation.