10 World Language Vocabulary Activities
Shake up your vocabulary lessons with some of these fun, exciting activities! Each game or activity below can be altered to fit the proficiency level of your students. If you have novice level students, use lots of images and words. For those with intermediate to advanced students, try to incorporate definitions to challenge your students! […]
Combining Three Modes of Communication
Well we made it to part 5 of the 5 part blog! Now that I’ve outlined the best ways to create and implement interpretive, presentational, and interpersonal tasks, how do we combine them? My favorite and I think the best idea: Integrated Performance Assessments. It is a 3 part test based on an authentic prompt […]
How to Easily Teach and Assess Presentational Communication in World Languages
Presentational communication is just one of the three modes of communication that world language teachers must teach and assess. We are also responsible for teaching interpretive and interpersonal communication skills. This is part 3 of the 5 part blog series on “The 3 Modes of Communication” where I explain in-depth each of the modes of […]
How to Find and Create Authentic Interpretive Tasks for Spanish Class
This is part two of a five part blog series teaching you all about the three modes of communication: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentation. Interpretive tasks assess a student’s ability to interpret and understand a written text or audio. Finding authentic and comprehensible interpretive resources in the target language can be challenging. Keep reading to learn […]
Why I Love Using Google in Spanish Class
I LOVE Google. I cannot express this enough. Everything I do at school on the computer is connected to Google. I would be lost without it; the more I use it, the more I love it. Read below to see how you can implement it into your classroom. Google Slides I use this to make […]
How to Keep Students in the Target Language
One of the hardest parts of a world language teacher’s job is keeping the students in the target language. There are always side conversations and answers shouted aloud in the first language (L1). Some days I want to give up and just allow it, but that is one of the worst things you can do. […]
My 3 Favorite Amazon Purchases for Classroom Organization
Having an organized classroom is a must. You will save time, your students will follow routines, and you will keep your sanity! I made some purchases on Amazon (thank you two day shipping!) that are life savers. The best part – all 3 of these items can be used year after year. Dry Erase […]
7 Types of Graphic Organizers for Spanish Class
Graphic organizers are a great tool to use in the classroom. They provide excellent scaffolding in your lessons so students can easily organize their ideas, then put their ideas into writing or speech in a cohesive, logical, elaborate way. Graphic organizers also allow for brainstorming individually, in small groups, or as an entire class. See […]
Strategies for Teaching Preschool Spanish
I am a high school teacher during the school year, but in the summers, I teach Spanish classes at a preschool summer camp. As you can imagine, the differences are astounding. As a teacher, you have to change your way of thinking and teaching dramatically. At the younger levels, it requires much more energy on […]
First Day of Spanish Class
I cannot believe it is already August. School will be here before we know it, so for those of you already thinking about how to spice up your first day of school, here are some ideas! Day one is all about having fun and building relationships. Create a fun, engaging classroom environment on the […]