When I think of my favorite Spanish lessons that I have ever taught, I immediately think of my Frida Kahlo Spanish lesson plans. I originally majored in Arts Administration and have a passion for the arts and music, so naturally as a Spanish teacher, I love finding ways to incorporate art into my lessons. Over the past few years, I have altered my lessons and wanted to share my seven favorite Frida Kahlo Spanish lesson plans with you!
1. Gallery Walk
Frida Kahlo’s paintings are very powerful images. It is important that you allow your students the time to explore and analyze the paintings in detail to understand Frida’s themes. I suggest simulating an art gallery in your classroom so students can walk around and view her artwork. Print out the images and laminate them so you can use them year after year. If you don’t have color ink, you could always put chromebooks at different locations around the room, each displaying a different painting. As students walk through the gallery, give them each a few post-its. They can post their reflections, ideas, and emotions near each painting. To really make it seem like a gallery, include the artwork title, year, and a short bio. I’ve also posted reflection questions to give students something to think about as they analyze the artwork. If they need Spanish art vocabulary, grab this freebie lesson to use before you start studying artists!
2. Scavenger Hunt
I try to get the most bang for my buck with artist paintings. Because let’s be honest, printing in color is a rare gem in the teacher world! In addition to a gallery walk, where students reflect on the paintings, I also like to do Scavenger hunts. I give students a list of things or questions they must search for. For example, in which painting is there a monkey, how many arrows are in the deer, how many paintings have moons? Students have fun searching for the small details, and racing to complete the scavenger hunt first! Check out my other blog post about how I use scavenger hunts for other units, too!
3. Bio & Research
Not many other Hispanics that we study had as tragic or challenging of a life as Frida. For students to understand her artwork, they must have background information on her life. Provide students with a biography, fit for their proficiency level. You can find 3 differentiated versions of Frida’s bio HERE. You could also require students to delve deeper into different aspects of her life (for example: polio, the accident, her marriage, etc.) Then, they would present their findings to the class. A great template and themes are in my Frida Kahlo unit.
4. Flip Book
This Spanish Flip Book is a great way to summarize Frida’s life and artwork with one lesson. Students can work independently, at their own pace as they complete each page. Sometimes students just need to doodle and color, and this combines that creative outlet while still learning about Frida in the target language.
5. Self-portrait project (digital or hand drawn)
My students have always loved this choice board project. They create a self-portrait in a style similar to Frida Kahlo. I have them choose one of five themes that Frida represented, for example: things she is passionate about or dual identity. With virtual learning, I even allowed students to take a selfie and edit it online. Others prefer to hand draw it, but either way, I have always loved learning about my students’ personalities through this project.
6. Virtual Field Trip
Frida Kahlo’s house in Mexico has been turned into La Casa Azul Museum. The website has a virtual tour of the museum, so students can walk through the different rooms of her house, view her artwork, see where she painted in bed, and more! With this virtual field trip, students follow along and answer questions and complete scavenger hunt questions while they adventure through La Casa Azul.
7. Read a novel
If you want to expand your students’ reading skills, then have them read a short novel about Frida to learn about her life and artworks. Teacher’s Discovery has a series of 3 Frida novels, tiered for different proficiency levels.
- Level 1 Soy Frida in the present tense
- Level 2 Frida Soy Quien Soy in the present and past tenses
- Level 3 Frida Soy Complicada in the present, past, and subjunctive tenses
If you are interested in completing all of these ideas with no-prep, I have compiled all of the resources into a bundle! You will have Spanish lessons for days, and your students will develop a great interest in art and Frida!
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