Do you remember being in high school and every single class spent the first day going over the syllabus, expectations, and doing an icebreaker? By the end of the day, you couldn’t take it anymore! This year, try switching things up and begin the first day of Spanish class with
It’s summer. You have your classroom organization strategies in mind, and you are envisioning a beautifully-inspired Pinterest classroom. You purchase the cute new cactus theme bulletin board; you display your classroom library with the latest books on the top shelf, and you have your monthly calendar color-coded. Fast forward to
In modern foreign language pedagogy, we tend to not teach “grammar” directly. We want our students to naturally acquire grammar through comprehensible input and authentic texts. One of the best strategies to do this is with children’s books spanish lessons. Children’s books tend to use repetition of similar phrases and
Learning about animals is one of everyone’s favorite lessons! Students love talking about their pets or favorite animals. And who doesn’t love looking at pictures of cute animals!? I’ve gathered my favorite animals Spanish lessons for all levels of learners from Novice through Intermediate/Advanced. From authentic texts to creative writing
The dreaded preterite vs imperfect lesson… we all know you can do boring grammar drills to hone in on the difference between preterite and imperfect. But will that teach your students how to communicate using these past tense conjugations? After a few years of teaching preterite vs imperfect to my
How many times do you find your students reading a text just to skim it and find the answers to the comprehension questions? Or maybe you see them sneaking their phone out to Google Translate sentences in the text? If you’re ready to get your students diving deep into interpretive
I remember a few years ago driving by On the Border on May 5th and seeing swarms of people gathered outside on the patio drinking, dancing, and eating guacamole. I would have loved to survey the crowd to see how many of them knew what they were “celebrating.” (Of course
One of the most common units for all beginner Spanish classes is the travel unit (or a Spanish geography unit). And, how do we usually introduce the topic of travel to our students? With the Spanish speaking countries and capitals. This year, I will be introducing Spanish geography with the
I’ll be the first to admit that poetry was never my strong suit. So thinking about incorporating National Poetry Month into Spanish class, with novice or even intermediate students can be a bit scary! Teaching creative writing and poetry in the target language and interpreting figurative language may seem out
One of the most famous Spanish poets is Pablo Neruda, and he is a great poet to introduce to your Spanish classes, especially intermediate to advanced level students. Teaching Spanish poetry Pablo Neruda style can be a daunting task. In the poems of Pablo Neruda, there is a lot of
I am a high school Spanish teacher from Pennsylvania. I create authentic and engaging resources for the Spanish classroom. On my blog, I share practical tips and strategies for teaching world languages.