El día de los muertos and Halloween in Spanish

There are two great videos which are to be found on and which are great to talk about two major cultural events happening very soon!

The first one "La noche de brujas" is perfect for one lesson:

[read more…]

article5 brain break5 celebration5 channel2 cultural5 day of the dead1 día de los muertos1 Education8 fun13 halloween1 key structure10 Mary Glasgow4 miscositas1 repetition11 ressources8 Spanish27 spanish cuentos1 story34 storytelling28 target language12 target structure10 thematic1 TPRS34 unit3 video32 website1 youtube17

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.

[read more…]

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 speaking37 television2 trailer1 youtube17

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,

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 answers8 communication7 comprehensible41 future1 input39 listening29 lyrics1 past5 personalized13 PQA5 present3 questions19 Rio Roma1 skills24 song10 Spanish27 speaking37 structures6 TPRS34 youtube17

The perfect song to use the past tenses in Spanish!

I love using songs in my lessons and I found out that my students enjoy it too! Apparently some of them even buy some of the songs! When we listen to a song in class, we listen to it several times in the week at the start of each Spanish lesson.

[read more…]

acquire28 canción2 Education8 expressions3 imperfect2 imperfecto1 listen6 listening29 pasado1 past5 preterite1 preterito1 questions19 quiz4 Sheila1 Sheila Blanco1 Sheila Down1 skills24 song10 Spanish27 speaking37 story34 structures6

How to use poems with first year Spanish learners?

I found this lovely poem on Pinterest and I used it with my grade 6 students (11-12 years old) as it was the prefect review for physical description and family.

Listening/comprehension: I told the poem “TPRS style” by drawing the "abuela" on the board little by little,

[read more…]

beginner10 description5 family16 grade 68 physical2 poem4 pronunciation2 re-telling1 re-write2 read7 reading36 Spanish27 speaking37 story34 storytelling28 structures6 TPRS34 write5 writing17

What do the other students do when some are recording a podcast?

When some students are recording their IGCSE questions and answers to practice for the oral examination, I like to have the other students work in different stations so that nobody misses out during the lesson. The recording process is one station and I am lucky enough to have a spare room next to my classroom which is rarely used so that my students can record themselves in a quiet space.

[read more…]

answers8 audioboo3 board4 book10 cd1 computer1 Education8 flashcards4 group work5 home town2 IGCSE12 listening29 local area2 memorize5 oral11 pair work2 pinterest6 podcast3 questions19 skill4 speaking37 station1 station work1 textbook1 topic8

Spanish story script number 5: ¿Por qué?

Here is another story script which follows the last story about Elena trying to apologize to Pedro. This time Elena offers a present to Pedro and he has to open different packages. The focus is on the difference between “¿Por qué?

[read more…]

acquire28 acquisition33 because1 beginner10 ci16 comprehensible41 comprehensible input6 comprehension31 creative12 Education8 escuela1 furniture2 grade 68 grade 74 history5 imagination1 imagine1 input39 intermediate5 key structure10 languagelearning5 learn spanish1 material escolar1 por qué1 porque1 present3 re-write2 read7 reading36 school5 school furniture1 Spanish27 spanish input1 story34 story asking9 story listening3 story telling1 structure10 surprise1 target8 target language12 target structure10 TPRS34 why1 write5 writing17