Miradas focuses on the acquisition of cultural competence and communication skills through innovative themes, culture, grammar reviews, and writing workshops.  This text solves a variety of needs in the third-year Spanish course:  developing reading skills, strategies for literary analysis, expanding vocabulary, consolidating grammar and writing proficiency, and offering connections with other cultural manifestations such as music and film, all within a communicative context.  Miradas’ integrative plan features oral and written activities that stimulate critical thinking and help students appreciate the cultural context in which the different works were created.Miradas truly brings students from the high intermediate level to the advanced level of proficiency in the four skills, as defined by the ACTFL Guidelines.