I first discovered the power of Pinterest to find authentic texts in the target language in 2016. It was my first year of teaching Spanish. I was a middle school teacher, and my mentor signed us up to attend a FLENJ (Foreign Language Teachers of NJ) conference. At first, I was hesitant to go, as I was a new teacher who already felt a bit overwhelmed with understanding pedagogy, familiarizing myself with a brand new curriculum, and lesson planning, etc.
This was also my first conference, so I was not sure what to expect, but there were tons of sessions to choose from! We attended two sessions: one about Integrated Performance Assessments, and the other was about using music in the classroom. The session about IPAs was life changing for me as a teacher. Leslie Grahn was the presenter, and her conference session topic was all about Integrated Performance Assessments. I remember leaving this session and being so inspired to create my own IPAs for my students. Maybe you’re not sure what an IPA is or how to implement one successfully in your classroom – in this post, I share where I find my resources and how I administer and grade IPAs.
One of the standout moments from Leslie’s presentation was when she shared her Pinterest page with us. It was the most extensive and comprehensive collection of authentic resources that I have ever seen. She compiles resources and groups them on Pinterest boards by language, theme, and type of resource.
Why should I use Pinterest to find Authentic Texts?
Pinterest is one of the most popular search engines on the Internet, especially in the world of education and travel. It is filled with all types of resources and images that are easily accessible for our students. When you’re teaching a unit and struggling to find resources, head over to Pinterest! It will save you tons of time and you won’t spend hours searching for resources on Google.
What types of authentic resources are on Pinterest?
Authentic texts mean that they are made for native speakers by native speakers. With lower proficiency students that can be challenging; even for intermediate and advanced students as well. I have found Pinterest to be one of the best sources for authentic text, especially for beginner students. You can learn more about creating interpretive tasks with authentic resources here.
Infographics are my favorite resource on Pinterest. I have found countless infographics that I’ve incorporated into my lessons. One of the reasons I love using infographics so much is that they are perfect for novice learners. I tend to struggle finding authentic texts for my lower level learners. Remember, an authentic text is not altered or modified in any way. Since infographics contain very basic text, often accompanied by images, it is the perfect storm of content for our novice learners.
Another great authentic resource that can be found on Pinterest is memes and jokes. Check out my Spanish Humor board here. Jokes and memes are short, simple texts that can easily be worked into lessons. Use them as a daily bellringer or add them on a test for a quick laugh. Being funny in a second language is a task that takes a long time to really conquer. So, help your students achieve this by introducing humor early. In this post, learn how to use memes to laugh more in Spanish class.
Menus and recipes are flooding Pinterest! I’m sure you have a Pinterest board for easy weeknight dinners like I do. Find menus and recipes in Spanish for your students to interpret during a food unit. Grab some authentic food resources from my La comida board.
Organizing Pinterest Boards for Authentic Resources
I like to group my Pinterest boards by theme or unit. For example, I have a board for Day of the Dead, a board for School Life, a board for Food, etc. Then, when I teach that unit, I always reference the Pinterest board relating to the topic. Year after year, I go back to these boards and find new uses for resources and create new and innovative activities with them.
I recommend that you keep your Pinterest account similarly organized. Create boards for each of the units that you teach. I also keep boards specifically for grammar, holidays, teaching strategies, social emotional learning, and more!
You can see that this conference I attended in 2016 had such an impact on me that I’m writing about it six years later. I still use Pinterest to find authentic resources. And I still use IPAs… my school World of Learning Institute (a live, virtual world language resource for K-12 schools ) is implementing them this year!
So next time you’re struggling to find an authentic resource or need to create an exciting lesson plan, look no further than Pinterest. Don’t spend hours scouring the internet for the perfect level text… you’ll find exactly what you need on Pinterest.
Make sure you follow me on Pinterest to see all of the authentic resources that I pin!
