Cultural input: the prisons in Bolivia (or how to engage Spanish learners)

How to get students engaged and producing a lot of language???? Well.... I recommend purchasing Martina Bex 7-day lesson plans about Los niños prisioneros de Bolivia as it is truly worth the investment! Not only did it save me a lot of prep-time, it also made my students had a meaningful discussion in the target language!

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a favor1 Bolivia1 comprehend10 comprehensible41 comprehension31 conversation12 culture22 debate3 debe2 discuss1 discussion3 Education8 effort1 en contra1 engage14 family16 high interest5 input39 interest9 interesting9 issues1 key structures7 listen6 listening29 lo que hace1 Martina Bex10 meaningful4 output10 performance2 prison1 read7 reading36 reflect3 reflection4 skills24 social relationships2 South American1 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 structures6 target8 target language12 TPRS34

Speaking activity: giving opinions about TV programs and films.

This is a fantastic idea from one of my emails from the mflresources@yahoogroups.com: "I show the students some clips (2-3 mins each) from YouTube and they play the role of critic - after each clip they get 30 seconds to write their opinion of each clip and then a further 30 seconds to share their opinion with their neighbor.

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channel2 clip1 communication7 communicative7 comprehensible41 comprehension31 debating1 films1 flashcards4 fluency15 fluent12 forum1 group3 group work5 ideas7 input39 listening29 mfl1 movies1 opinions2 playlist2 programs1 quizlet5 series3 sharing3 skills24 Spanish27 speak2 television2 trailer1 vocabulary18 youtube17

Reading activity: una televisión para los perros

I believe reading in the target language is crucial because it promotes fluent reading skills which then leads to fluency in the other language skills such as speaking and writing. Fluent reading means reading without a dictionary, which can be challenging if students read an authentic text or a book.

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acquire28 acquisition33 article5 ci16 collaborative2 communicate5 communication7 comprehensible41 comprehension31 connection3 dictionary3 discussion3 Education8 group work5 input39 interest9 listening29 magazine3 Mary Glasgow4 media2 reading36 ressources8 skill4 skills24 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 television2 text4 TPRS34 understand7 understanding8

Back to school with a song: mi persona favorita

I am back to school after a wonderful summer vacation and in order to get back into the swing of things, I found this catchy song which I played to my grade 8 and 10 classes:

As I mentioned in an earlier post,

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acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 communication7 comprehensible41 future1 input39 listening29 lyrics1 past5 personalized13 PQA5 present3 questions19 Rio Roma1 skills24 song10 Spanish27 structures6 TPRS34 vocabulary18 youtube17

Pablo Picasso y el Guernica for Spanish beginners

As the school year draws to a close, I have chosen to read a book in Spanish with my students. If we don't manage to finish the book, my students will have to finish reading it over the summer holidays which will be an excellent practice to keep up their Spanish.

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acquire28 Agentes secretos y el mural de Picasso1 book10 civil war1 cognates3 connect3 culture22 easy reader1 Guernica1 interactive2 key structures7 Mira Canion1 mural1 novel4 painting5 personalized13 Picasso1 PowerPoint2 presentation10 questions19 reading36 recycle2 renew1 repeat3 skills24 slideshow2 Spanish27 video32

Spanish story script: se vende

This story comes from the wonderful Martina Bex who posts so many brilliant ideas and resources on her blog. I started a new unit with my grade 6 class which is about going shopping and this story fitted perfectly!

Speaking/vocabulary: I first started by introducing the different shops to my students using this slideshow: SHOPS.

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acquire28 acquisition33 comprehensible41 comprehension31 creative12 expression1 flashcards4 key structure10 language26 Martina Bex10 pattern1 quizlet5 repetition11 se vende1 sell2 selling1 shop1 shopping1 skills24 Spanish27 story34 storytelling28 target8 TPRS34 writing17

Spanish video: ¿Qué hiciste ayer?

The Spanish channel is a goldmine for comprehensible videos with vocabulary and structures related to the IGCSE course. My grade 9 students watched this video about a Saturday night which lead to a fun project!

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debate3 dejar salir1 fun13 grade 108 grade 98 grammar6 IGCSE12 independent3 learning14 listening29 NEEM11 opinions2 past tense1 project10 simple past4 skills24 Spanish27 teenagers2 unidad 81 video32 weekend1 ¿Qué hiciste ayer?1