Check out the activities and materials we have created to celebrate National Poetry Month in April! All Spanish Teachers Community members have access to these materials and hundreds of ready-made lesson plans and resources for the full school year! Click here to access our exclusive freebies for Spanish teachers. How to Include Poetry in Your Spanish […]
Human Migration (Immigration) Spanish Class Activities
1. Lesson Plan – Crossing the U.S. – Mexican Border – This lesson plan is designed for use with the film Al Otro Lado (To the Other Side). This 60-minute film provides a window into issues along the border between the United States and Mexico. 2. Lesson Plan – Encuentros y desencuentros: Inmigración en España. […]
Bell Ringer Spanish Class Activities
1. List – Bellringers: Stress-Free Ideas For The World Language Classroom – Tips for streamlining the process and creating meaningful bellringers. This can be good to let students know you are ready to start and expect them to get busy, right away. 2. Video – Warm Up Activities – This video was created for an […]
40 Spanish Teachers and Educators on Twitter You Don’t Want to Miss
1. Adrienne Brandenberg @AdrienneBranden Adrienne is a rising star in the world of working with Spanish heritage learners. With her colleague, Mary Beth Johnson, Adrienne writes about teaching and learning on their blog Adventures in Heritage Learning. 2. Annabelle Williamson @lamaestraloca Annabelle Williamson (nee Allen) is Louisiana’s Foreign Language Teacher of the Year 2018. She […]
The Best Spanish Teacher Websites and Blogs to Follow in 2019
1. Adventures in Heritage Teaching Adrienne Brandenberg and Mary Beth Johnson blog here frequently, offering readers insight into working with heritage Spanish students and inviting conversations with other teachers who share their concerns. Their reflections on various lesson plans are particularly helpful, as they provide teachers with valuable time-saving details about classroom activities. 2. SenorFernie […]
Affirmative and Negative Words Spanish Class Activities
1. Lesson Plan – Negative and Affirmative Words – Travel [MEMBERS] – Students are introduced to affirmative and negative words through a simulated Facebook dialogue among friends and the review of an information chart. They learn travel destinations vocabulary and different places around the world by reading an authentic article in Spanish from a travel […]
Spanish Listening Comprehension Resources
One of our Spanish Teacher Community members asked for Spanish listening comprehension resources: “I am looking for authentic listening activities for both lower level and intermediate level students. Ideally, I would love some listening activities which come with comprehension or expansion questions. Also, for the purposes of differentiation, I would like the script, so that […]
Spanish-Speaking Countries Spanish Class Activities and Resources
1. Lesson Plan – Spanish Speaking Countries [MEMBERS] – Students work in groups to learn basic facts about the Spanish speaking countries. They will create a collaborative board online and present it to the class. 2. Lesson Plan – Exploring the Continents: South America E-Book [MEMBERS] – At the end of the activity, students will have learned about […]
9 Things You Can Do During the First Weeks of Spanish Class
The first day of classes is right around the corner. Are you ready? No matter how you feel about the start of the school year, that day will soon be upon us. Here are some ideas to help you feel ready for the first few weeks of Spanish class. Things you can do before the […]
5 Common Questions About Teaching Spanish to Heritage Learners
Teaching Spanish heritage learners is one of the hottest topics in Spanish teaching circles at the moment. Not only is it a new challenge facing Spanish teachers, many of them were never taught the unique challenges teachers face when having heritage learners in their classrooms. 1. First of all, what do you mean by heritage […]
Did Your Administrator Just Say “Your Spanish class is not important”?
Whether public or private, primary, middle or secondary, schools generally run on a tight schedule on even tighter budgets. These parameters are often unyielding, which means that communicating your concerns from your perspective as a Spanish teacher to your higher-ups can sometimes be a nerve-wracking experience. For example, we recently received this message from one […]
6 Strategies to Deal with Google Translate in the Spanish Classroom
It’s a familiar story… An average student turns in Spanish homework. You review the homework thoroughly, hoping that the assignment is complete. Miraculously, the student’s tendency to write in Spanish without any regard for the dictionary has transformed, overnight, into total grammar perfection. Perhaps you feel pride swelling for a moment, or perhaps the anxiety […]
Spanish Sentence Structure Lesson Plan for Beginner Students and Resource Sheet
Are you looking for a creative way to introduce your beginner Spanish students to the basic sentence structure in class? Here’s a ready-to-teach Spanish lesson plan that is specifically designed to teach beginners the sentence construction. Also check out the resource sheet at the end with supplemental activities to develop this topic in the classroom. […]
Accent Marks Spanish Lesson Plan and Class Activities Resource Sheet
Before learning accent marks in Spanish, it is important that the student have a good understanding of the language’s vowel sounds and how to distinguish between open and closed vowels. Spanish has five vowel sounds – a, e, i, o, and u – and it is crucial for a student to be able to identify […]
Days of the Week Spanish Lesson Plans and Class Activities
Teaching the days of the week in Spanish is a fantastic way to introduce the language to students. With the right set of lesson plans and materials, it can be a fun and engaging activity that helps to reinforce language learning. In this list of resources, teachers will find several options for teaching and practicing […]
History of Spanish Language Spanish Class Activities
The Spanish language has its origins in the Iberian Peninsula, where it developed from a blend of languages spoken by various groups, including Celts, Iberians, and Romans. Over time, Latin became the dominant language in the region, and as the Roman Empire expanded, Latin spread throughout much of Europe. In the 8th century, the Muslim […]
Classroom Commands Spanish Lesson Plan and ID Sheet Activity
Classroom commands are phrases used by teachers to help ensure a smooth and efficient learning environment. They can range from simple requests such as ‘por favor levanta tu mano si quieres decir algo’ (please raise your hand if you want to say something) to more complex tasks such as ‘pon las palabras en orden alfabetico’ […]
Basic Spanish Phrases Class Resources
Learning a new language can be an exciting and rewarding experience for your students. As a teacher, you can introduce your students to basic Spanish phrases in order to allow them to communicate easily. Start with the Top 10 phrases below and then continue with more in-depth phrases for other topics. Top 10 Basic Spanish […]
The Right Way To Approach Your School Administrator
Have you ever found that your work as a Spanish teacher is sometimes misunderstood by your professional community? Teaching Spanish may be your passion and your life’s work, but the reality is, most members of a school’s faculty and administration are unlikely to understand exactly what your school day looks like, feels like and sounds […]
Passive Voice SER + Past Participle Spanish Lesson Plan and Resource Sheet
The Passive Voice SER is a grammatical form used in Spanish to indicate that the subject of a sentence is receiving an action rather than performing it. For example, when saying “La casa es construida por Juan” (The house is built by Juan) Juan is performing the action of building but in this sentence, he […]
These Kids Explain 13 Puerto Rican Spanish Words
My mom sent me this video recently. These are the 6-years-old vloggers Andres and Lucas showing us a great sample of Puerto Rican Spanish words. Irresistible to watch! The Puerto Rican Spanish words and phrases featured are: jincho: fair skin zafacón: trash can al garete: without direction jicotea: turtle mapo: mop jugo de china: orange juice ¡Qué jartera!: so stuffed (of food) […]
3 Spanish Class Activities for Outdoor Classroom Day
In some parts of the world, a beautiful spring day in May usually means wistful and wriggly students, itching to look out the classroom window, longing for some time outdoors. One day in May, why not take your Spanish class outside for some outdoor learning to celebrate Outdoor Classroom Day? What is Outdoor Learning Anyway? […]
Quick Grammar Review for Spanish Teachers: 10 Ways to Use Your English to Teach Spanish
Here you will find 10 basic English grammar lessons that might be helpful to you and your students as you introduce your students to similar or equivalent grammar concepts in Spanish. The explanations are short and straightforward, as they are intended more as memory prompts for you and your students than actual lesson plans. How […]
Relative Pronouns Spanish Lesson Plan and Resource Sheet
Spanish relative pronouns are pronouns that are used to introduce a subordinate clause that modifies a noun or pronoun in the main clause. The most common relative pronouns in Spanish are: Que: used to refer to people, animals, and things. Example: “El libro que leí ayer” (The book that I read yesterday). Quien/quiénes: used to […]
Formal Commands and Negative Formal Commands Spanish Lesson Plans
Formal commands, also known as usted commands, are a way of giving polite commands or requests in Spanish. These commands are used when addressing someone in a formal setting or when showing respect to someone who is older or in a position of authority. In order to understand and use formal commands, a student should […]
Uses of POR Spanish Lesson Plan and Resource Sheet
The word “por” in Spanish can have many different uses depending on the context. Here are some of the most common uses: Expressing cause or reason: “Lo hizo por amor” (He did it out of love). Expressing duration of time: “Estuve esperando por tres horas” (I was waiting for three hours). Expressing a means of […]
Spanish Language Day Class Activities for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Students
Don’t tilt at windmills, seize the day! Introduce your students to Cervantes and his most famous, most beloved creation, Don Quixote, on Spanish Language Day this April. The Significance of Spanish Language Day Spanish Language Day, also known as Día Mundial del Idioma Español, is a celebration of multilingualism held every year on April 23rd, […]
Past Subjunctive (Imperfect Subjunctive) Spanish Class Activities
The past subjunctive is used to express hypothetical or non-real actions or events in the past. Some examples of the past subjunctive in Spanish would be: “Si hubiera sabido que ibas a venir, te habría esperado en el aeropuerto” (If I had known you were coming, I would have waited for you at the airport) […]
7 Things I Would Like to Have Known as a New Spanish Teacher
by Lynn Ramsson Before I started my teaching career, I had heard that Spanish teachers are a truly unique bunch. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but after a year or two in the Spanish classroom, I understood much better what I had heard. I felt proud, both of my own progress as a teacher and […]
Conditional Verbs Spanish Lesson Plans and Class Activities
Conditional verbs are forms of verbs used to express a variety of hypothetical conditions. Before learning conditional verbs, students should have a basic understanding of verb tenses and the ability to make conjugations with regular and irregular verbs. They should also be familiar with the structure of affirmative and negative sentences, as well as understand […]