Need students to follow your commands in Spanish class? Play a game of Simon Says! Fun Spanish activities to support your command unit.

Okay. You got me. I'm a sucker for scrolling Instagram and Pinterest, looking at those BEAUTIFUL classrooms teachers have put together. You know, the ones

I love using cognates to help empower my older newcomers to access high-level vocab! (They are all Spanish-speakers right now) Explicit teaching of the patterns also increases their metalinguistic awareness! #ELLs #ELLchat

Lots of fun YouTube videos with Spanish color songs for a variety of ages - great way to reinforce Spanish color words at home or in the classroom!

I know a lot of us teach novice learners and that sometimes it can be hard to find listening activities for them that are accessible to novices AND fit into a topic we want them to listen to. You’ll find a great video and then they can only understand like..10 seconds of it. Don’t get […]

In this post, I share activities and strategies that have worked well in my French and Spanish classes to increase student engagement.

Okay. You got me. I'm a sucker for scrolling Instagram and Pinterest, looking at those BEAUTIFUL classrooms teachers have put together. You know, the ones

Free Classroom Materials Free Spanish Agenda Labels: Tired of writing the same things on your daily agenda every day? No problem, just print out these labels (card stock keeps them nice throughout …

How often do you ask your students “¿Cómo estás?” and their response is “bien.” If I had a nickel for every time my students responded with...

Inside: Read about why I love using stations activities in Spanish class, and take a look at the resources I depend on! As always, access a few free resources as well!

Are you looking for ways to connect with your students and build community during the first week of class? Do you want to get to know your students, but also set the expectation of “Spanish only” from the start? Here are 5 games that accomplish both of those objectives! 1. ¡Corre, corre! Students form a ... Read More about 5 icebreaker activities for the first week of Spanish

Your engaging lessons only stick when your Spanish classroom environment thrives. This unconventional classroom management strategy for Spanish teachers..

Lots of fun YouTube videos with Spanish color songs for a variety of ages - great way to reinforce Spanish color words at home or in the classroom!

Check out ideas for LLAMAzing Classrooms in elementary, middle, & high school - there's something for everyone here! Perfect for your llama themed decor!

Okay. You got me. I'm a sucker for scrolling Instagram and Pinterest, looking at those BEAUTIFUL classrooms teachers have put together. You know, the ones

Classroom procedures and routines are essential in creating a safe and productive learning environment. Here are 5 suggestions to add structure.

This is a round up from teachers all over, in different levels and ages, so you're sure to find something. See 10 end of year Spanish class tips and ideas!

Inside: A peek into dozens of Spanish classrooms, of all kinds, shapes, and sizes! A well-designed room won’t make or break your teaching. Oh, but it can make a difference in how you and your students feel. Some of you have very limited options, and very tight budgets. There’s some serious classroom eye-candy here, but the

At the beginning of the year, you might be planning on doing a unit with greetings and farewells in Spanish. I wanted to share some games, videos, resources

These Google Slides provide a quick resource for FREE to get you started with a daily brain break in Spanish class! Check them out!

Are you looking for ways to connect with your students and build community during the first week of class? Do you want to get to know your students, but also set the expectation of “Spanish only” from the start? Here are 5 games that accomplish both of those objectives! 1. ¡Corre, corre! Students form a ... Read More about 5 icebreaker activities for the first week of Spanish

For this guest post, we invited Laura Sexton at PBL in the TL to help...

Are you a newer teacher who could use some guidance and Spanish lesson plans from a veteran teacher? Are you teaching multiple levels of Spanish classes at once (3-5 preps)? Do you wish your students were more interested and engaged? Are you looking for fresh ideas to spice up your class? Do you feel really

Looking for resources for language teachers? Find fun lessons, ideas, and activities for teaching preschool and elementary Spanish.

{Affiliate links used.} I am closing out the school year with my Spanish lessons and wanted a way to review the vocabulary we have been working on. I came across on Pinterest a post about Kaboom! It was created for elementary classrooms, but I thought it would be perfect for language learners also! So here is how you go about it: First of all you will need... Jumbo Craft Sticks Sharpie Markers Cups (Not see through) Since I work with a lot of different levels of students I had several categories of vocabulary I wanted to use like house items, the alphabet, clothes, opposites, etc. I decided to color-code the sticks on one end. This helps with two things. Kids will know how to put them in the cup with the colored part sticking out. This allows me to select which sets of vocabulary to use with certain sets of students. For example, I know that the orange sticks are emotions and the pink sticks are foods. {See the final set of pictures for the list I made for myself.} After you color the tips, you write one word towards the other end of the stick. I tend to use about 15 sticks for a vocabulary-themed set. Three of those sticks will have the word "Caramba" written on them. The rest will have vocabulary words you want kids to review. To play the game you put one set (or maybe two or three if you have more advanced students) in a cup with the colored tips up. Students take turns pulling a stick out of the cup and giving the translation of the word. They keep the stick if they can say what it means in English. Otherwise, they put it back in the cup if they don't know. If they pull a "Caramba" stick they have to put back ALL their sticks! I time the game for about three minutes. The student with the most sticks at the end wins! This is a fun way to review vocabulary which at times can be tedious!

Teaching is hard. Finding awesome free Spanish resources shouldn't be! Check out this post for a ton of fun freebies for Spanish class.

Movement in Spanish class is crucial for student engagement. Get your Spanish students up and out of their seats and moving around.

Inside: Conversation Jenga for the language class. When I put my students in a speaking situation, I like to make it low-pressure and fun. We’ve really enjoyed conversation Jenga lately– which is obviously better than a worksheet with questions to ask each other. In a sense, conversation Jenga is an authentic speaking situation because it’s a

Here are my free lesson plans for teaching el Viaje Perdido with my middle school Spanish students. We used this novel to learn the pretererite tense.

At the beginning of the year, you might be planning on doing a unit with greetings and farewells in Spanish. I wanted to share some games, videos, resources

Culture classes can be SO fun, but they can also be a lot to plan. Check out this round up of lessons & ideas for your Spanish culture class!

Projects are a great option to review and assess your students. Check out these tips for making sure projects go smoothly in your classroom!

3rd grade teacher Deanna shares how she saves time and works more efficiently.

Este artículo contiene enlaces de patrocinio. Puedes leer los detalles aquí. En mi salón aprender nuestras palabras de uso frecuente es una prioridad. Trabajamos con ellas todos los días. Es muy importante para mí que mis alumnos se sientan emocionados de aprender a leer y reconocer las palabras de uso frecuente. He sido maestra de tercer grado y se lo importante que son estas palabras y lo difícil que es para los estudiantes cuando no pueden leer las palabras en tercer grado. Por eso como maestra de niños más pequeños he decidido que es una prioridad en mi salón. ¡Pero lo mejor de todo es que a mis alumnos les encantan! Mis alumnos saben lo que son las palabras de uso frecuente pero para divertirnos más las llamamos "Palabras Monstruo". Al principio del año (o cuando mis alumnos estén listos) presento las palabras monstruo con MUCHA emoción. Primero llega a mi salón el monstruo amarillo. Y explico que el monstruo amarillo tiene 10 palabras que ellos tienen que practicar y aprender. Una vez que sepan las 10 palabras del monstruo amarillo, celebraremos!! Mis alumnos reciben un pequeño premio y escribimos su nombre en el monstruo amarillo que tenemos en el pasillo de nuestro salón para que todos se sientan orgullosos de ellos. Mis estudiantes practican cuando terminan su trabajo, durante centros de lectura, y practicamos juntos todos los días. Una de mis cosas favoritas es ver a los alumnos ayudándose entre ellos mismos sin pedir mi ayuda. Muchas veces los he visto practicar juntos y los niños que están en un nivel más avanzado que sus compañeros los ayudan a pasar de nivel. ¡DOBLE práctica=maestra feliz! Mis alumnos tienen una carpeta (folder) donde documentan todo su progreso. El folder incluye una hoja de progreso y gráficas para cada monstruo. Después de cada evaluación, los alumnos colorean el número de palabras correctas en su gráfica. Cuando los alumnos completan la gráfica de un nivel pueden colorear el monstruo correspondiente en su hoja de progreso. Este folder ha sido una gran ayuda para mostrar a los padres de familia el avance de sus hijos. Ellos fácilmente pueden ver cuanto han avanzado sus hijos desde el principio del año. También es una herramienta excelente para demostrar el avance de tus alumnos durante tu evaluación como maestro(a). Folders con portada y gráficas Hojas de progreso En mi salón celebramos el esfuerzo y progreso de muchas maneras. Cuando un alumno termina un nivel de palabras, ¡toda la clase aplaude y celebra! Escribimos el nombre de ese estudiante en el monstruo que esta en el pasillo y el estudiante recibe un pequeño premio. Aquí están los premios que utilizamos en nuestra clase: Monstruo amarillo: lápiz de monstruo Monstruo rojo: tatuaje temporal de monstruo Monstruo azul: juguete de monstruo Monstruo verde: pelota de monstruo Monstruo morado: paleta de monstruo Monstruo café: juguete de monstruo Monstruo anaranjado: juguete de monstruo Monstruo azul fuerte: pato monstruo Monstruo gris: monstruo de peluche Monstruo rosa: vaso de monstruo Estos son los monstruos que utilizamos afuera del salón y escribimos el nombre de los niños cuando pasan a un nivel nuevo de palabras. En mi salón utilizamos tarjetas para practicar en arillos como estos. Simplemente plastifico las tarjetas, las perforo y las coloco en un anillo. Yo tengo 4 arillos de cada color de palabras (especialmente de los primeros dos niveles). Así aseguro que tengamos suficientes para los alumnos que quieran practicar. También utilizo estas listas de palabras. Estas listas las llevan los alumnos a su casa para practicar con su familia. Cada clase y cada alumno es diferente. Lo mejor de este programa de palabras es que lo puedes adaptar a tus necesidades. Durante algunos años escolares mis alumnos necesitan retos más difíciles porque la mayoría están listos para ellos. Otros años mis alumnos toman más tiempo en cada lista de palabras. Pero eso no me preocupa. Siempre y cuando mis alumnos avancen semana tras semana yo soy feliz! La rúbrica para determinar si tus alumnos están listos o no para el siguiente nivel depende de ti y tus expectativas completamente. En mi salón los alumnos pasan de nivel cuando puedan leer las 10 palabras con fluidez (menos de dos segundos por palabra). He tenido estudiantes que necesitan un reto más grande. Para ellos ajusto el programa y para pasar de nivel deben de escribir las palabras correctamente. No siempre. Como lo mencioné anteriormente, todas las clases son diferentes. Algunas clases ya tienen la capacidad de aprender todas las listas. Otras no, pero ese no es problema! Solo utilizo las listas que considero apropiadas para mis alumnos. Si tienes alguna pregunta en como utilizar las palabras monstruo no dudes en contactarme! ¡Lo más importante es que tus alumnos estén emocionados y motivados para aprender todas las palabras de uso frecuente!

My Kindergartners come into our school with little to no Spanish experience...or so they think! I love to give them a big confidence boost right from the beginning so we do a fun activity I call ‘¡Ya sabes español! (You already know Spanish!) where I have pictures and items of things we say in Spanish all the time: taco, piñata, quesadilla, burrito, armadillo, nachos, salsa, llama, alpaca, and so on (a lot of them are food!) and have my kiddos name them themselves. As we go, I get to point out, ‘See, you already know a lot of Spanish!’ This activity gives my students a sense of confidence and motivation, especially for those who are nervous that they don’t know anything in Spanish. It also starts to build that awareness that Spanish is all around us! A HUGE THANK YOU TO members of our Facebook group who compiled additions to the list- Beth Alders Thaemert, Susan O'Donnell Bondy (and don't miss Susan's Cognate Bingo game for older learners! Click here): guacamole, chocolate, jalapeño, mosquito, coyote, iguana, patio, cargo, sofá, pasta, tenis, taxi, jaguar, bus, cereal, béisbol, tenis, música

Inside: I share my experiences with traditional seating options in Spanish class that didn't work for me, as well as the most beneficial strategies I've found!

An important way to build relationships in your classroom is with a morning meeting. One of the components of morning meeting is a “game.” As a Spanish immersion teacher, I am always looking for easy, quick games that can be used during this portion of the day. I often use equity sticks and let the ... Read More about 12 Morning Meeting Games in Spanish

Practice reading with a PDF worksheet including a group of passages about countries and nationalities in Spanish plus key questions.

Wishing your students would continue their learning over summer vacation? Want to make a home/school connection? This printable activity book is just right to send home at the end of the school year! SIX activities are included that children can do over summer break, bringing language and culture to their vacation! The resource also includes a number of links for expanding on the cultural activities. The SIX activities are: -Recipe for making 'Paletas de fresa' -Summer vocabulary word search -Play 'Rayuela'! -Travel Bingo -How to Make a Paper Mola -Grocery List in Spanish See also: Un año entre amigos YEARBOOK Mundo de Pepita features a series of mini books and activities you can print out and distribute to your students or children. Great for teaching vocabulary and simple concepts in Spanish, each book features adorable original illustrations and simple story lines..perfect for young learners! Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, and Snapchat! Visit our blog: Mundo de Pepita Sign up for our monthly email newsletter! Sign up for our Email Newsletter

At the beginning of the year, you might be planning on doing a unit with greetings and farewells in Spanish. I wanted to share some games, videos, resources