spanish assignments for high school students

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38 Spanish Lesson Plans for High School Students: Full Year of Spanish 1

Spanish lesson plans for high school students typically focus on developing language and cultural awareness. They involve activities designed to enhance learning, speaking, reading, and writing skills in Spanish.

A typical lesson plan begins with a warm-up activity (we call these activators) to motivate the students. This is typically followed by a presentation or discussion of a new topic. Students then engage in an activity related to the topic with the aid of materials prepared by the teacher.

When using our suggested lesson plans below, you can dedicate more time to actively monitor student progress and provide feedback accordingly. Finally, the lesson ends with an exit ticket and assessment of what has been covered.

Basic Structure of Spanish Lesson Plans for High School

1. Clear objectives & expectations:  The goal of any lesson plan is to teach your students something. Before each lesson, set some clear objectives and expectations for them to work towards. Additionally, be sure to explain why these objectives are important so that students understand the bigger picture.

Our lesson plans below are aligned with ACFL Standards and have Can-Do statements written for you.

2. Engaging activities:  For high school students, it’s important to have engaging activities in your lesson plans to hold their attention and keep them involved. Try to use interactive activities like role plays, vocabulary games, video clips, or projects that they can complete in small groups.

3. Variety:  Language learning can become tedious if you stick to the same type of activity every day. Incorporating several types of activities into your lesson plans, such as conversations in Spanish, listening exercises, reading comprehension worksheets etc., will help keep your students engaged and motivated to learn Spanish.

4. Assessments:  Understanding whether your lessons achieved the desired goals is essential for long-term progress in any learning program. During class sessions with high school students, use exit tickets or tests intermittently to assess their understanding of the material and gauge their progress in the language.

38 Spanish 1 Lesson Plans for High School Students

Through viewing an authentic musical video, students will review the pronunciation of the alphabet in Spanish. They will then use this knowledge to identify and present the cognates. Includes the alphabet pronunciation chart in Spanish.

Students learn how to exchange personal information (name, origin, age), some basic greetings, and the subject pronouns yo and tú. They will practice in written practice, a card game, and by creating an original dialogue using expressions to greet and introduce themselves in Spanish.

Through an illustrated presentation, the students will learn the subject pronouns. Then, they will play two games to review and remember them. Finally, they will practice them orally by creating a series of sentences. Includes a printable and Flippity memory game.

Through viewing a video on the concept, teacher instruction, and a game, students will learn how to identify and change the gender and number of nouns in Spanish

Using a video and a presentation, students will learn the numbers from 1 – 100, the number rules, and how to add and subtract in Spanish. They will do oral and written practice. Finally, they collect numerical information from a classmate to create an infographic to present in class.

By reviewing educational videos, the students will be able to form numbers and identify the days and months. Also, they will create a personal timeline that uses the information they will learn.

Through viewing videos on the Internet, the students will review school supplies, subjects, and schedules. Then, they will use this information to create and present a puppet show.

Students learn about the origin of the Day of the Dead and discuss the concept of ‘cultural syncretism’. They will discover the deeper meaning of the festival through a video and learn some of the elements that are part of the festival. Finally, they watch a video about the influence of Halloween in the traditional Day of the Dead in Cancun.

Through reviewing two educational videos, students learn that nouns in Spanish have a gender, number, and that the article should match both. With and authentic music video, students acquire and review classroom activity vocabulary to complete a final

Practice the school supplies vocabulary with this activity that uses an authentic TV ad from Latin America. The activity uses the Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) format.

Students review the uses of ser & estar and their conjugations in the present tense. They learn common vocabulary words that describe physical and personality traits and review adjective agreement rules. They apply all these learnings through a guided class exercise and a fashion critique oral presentation.

Upon completing this activity, students will have identified and used articles appropriately. Practice the material covered in previous classes: greetings and introductions, infinitive verbs, school supplies vocabulary, use of ser and estar.

Students learn verbs’ classification into three categories and watch a video where conjugation of regular verbs in the present indicative is explained. They prepare a cheat sheet and practice conjugation in a team contest.

By the end of this activity, students will have learned how to construct a basic sentence in Spanish, using four different permitted word orders, while practicing spoken tongue twisters in Spanish.

By the end of this activity, students will have learned family vocabulary, how to describe people, and to ask and answer names and ages. Students will have practiced the vocabulary orally and written in context. They will be able to understand and produce the concepts.

At the end of the activity, students will have learned about the 9 Spanish-speaking countries in South America. They will also review the family and travel vocabulary in Spanish.

Students learn Christmas vocabulary and traditions from Spain and Latin America. It begins with an image-text inference activity to learn Christmas vocabulary. Then students learn Christmas traditions from Spain with a presentation and authentic videos.

Students will be able to recognize verbs ser and tener and whether they are conjugated correctly when listening to sentences. They will also correctly conjugate them when describing pictures with complete sentences.

By the end of this activity, students will have learned how to use basic expressions with tener. By spending an entire class period on these idiomatic expressions, students will remember that they are unusual and require special effort to memorize. In-class role-plays incorporating miming between pairs will make the exercise more memorable

Through an educational video, the students learn the vocabulary and phrases to tell the time in Spanish and the situations where to use them. Then, the students practice by playing the classic game Tic-Tac-Toe. Also, they read an infographic about the daily routines of powerful personalities and will analyze the differences among them. Finally, they create the perfect daily routine of the life of a powerful personality.

Students will have reviewed and used orally and in writing, the vocabulary about sports and hobbies, likes, and dislikes according to the different degrees.

Through videos and visual materials, students will review their knowledge about hobbies and pastimes. After that, they will use the content learned to complete oral and written exercises interacting with the rest of the class.

Students will learn the DO pronoun forms through a video. Then, they create a cheat sheet that they will present to the class. Finally, they carry out three oral activities to practice the DO forms.

Students will be able to describe the process of making their lunch/ what they bring in their lunches to school using the food vocabulary. By using oral and written activities, they will be able to demonstrate the use of GOYO irregular verbs and food vocabulary.

By the end of this activity, students will have learned the vacation vocabulary and to use the preposition A for places. They will also review the clothing vocabulary.

By the end of this lesson, students will have learned the vocabulary and basic expressions related to the weather in Spanish. They will also review the days of the week, clothing, and leisure activities vocabulary learned in previous lessons.

Students will be able to create a video or scene that exemplifies how to use infinitives in Spanish and correctly use infinitives when writing simple sentences in Spanish.

Students read a text in Spanish about Holy Week traditions. They identify cognates, answer reading comprehension questions, and prepare a presentation about specific traditions mentioned in the reading. Includes the audio file for the reading.

At the end of this activity, students will have reviewed the verb ‘hacer’ present tense conjugation and will have used it to talk about school exams. Through the analysis of memes, students will review the verb hacer in the present tense. They will then use this knowledge and a short film to talk about school exams.

Students review and use body parts and specific health vocabulary. They also review and use indirect objects to talk about feeling sick, more specifically IO + doler + part of the body.

Students learn about the body parts and symptoms with an authentic tv commercial from Latin America. Students also learn about the product Vicks in Latin culture. Includes and Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA).

Students will review their knowledge of the Spanish numbers using two authentic videos. Then they will use the numerical information provided in infographics to talk about numbers and data concerning Social Media Platforms.

This lesson uses an authentic video about kitchen gadgets and their uses to practice the form Para + Infinitive. Then students will apply their knowledge to create their own presentation introducing new home inventions.

Through a guided lesson and video, the students will review the rules of using personal ‘a’ and will teach the concept to classmates by creating a brief educational video.

By the end of this activity, students will have learned the Spanish contractions “al” and “del” as well as two idiomatic expressions in Spanish that demonstrate how to use the contractions.

Students use the musical video Hoy es domingo by Rubén Blades and Diego Torres to review the rooms of the house and household chores vocabulary with the form tener que + infinitive. They also work in pairs in an A/B oral activity using a chores schedule.

Students are exposed to some examples to understand the difference between a verb and a reflexive verb, then they watch an educational video about reflexive verbs with the song Y no hago más na’. Then they watch an authentic video in Spanish that documents the daily routine of a video blogger, and they use reflexive verbs to describe what he does every day.

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If you’re looking for some great Spanish class project ideas, you need only remember one thing: the best way to learn a language is to learn the culture.

Non-native  speakers who speak the language the best probably have a huge collection of literature, music, toys or other things in that language. If lucky enough,  they’ve  taken a trip to that country.  The most fluent non-native Spanish speakers are no different. They tend to enjoy Latin food–from Cuban to Mexican. For those learning Spanish, a visit to a tapas bar is more than a culinary adventure.

Then there is the literature, from “Don Quixote” to Gabriel Garcia Marquez; the artists (think Diego and Frida) and the music–from flamenco to Ozomatli.

You might not be able to book a trip to Cancun for your class project, but you can at least introduce more Spanish culture than just the words into the classroom. Here are some class projects to help encourage not only a deeper respect for the language, but a deep interest in the culture itself:

A Mexican buffet

You don’t need to spend a fortune on this, it can be as simple as a few bags of tortilla chips and some salsa, but food is one of the most important aspects of culture, and Mexico has some of the best food in the world. You can provide some guacamole for the students who aren’t big on spicy food and of course, make sure that you’ve checked up on students’ allergies beforehand. As small of a thing as it may seem, a weekly chip-and-salsa feast can get students in the mood to indulge in some Spanish culture.

Don Quixote in the original language

For advanced classrooms, reading through perhaps the greatest Spanish language novel,”Don Quixote,” in the original language, can be a tremendous learning opportunity. Everything that you need to know about Spanish romanticism and heroism can be found in Don Quixote.

Mural painting

If you can get the school to agree to donate a wall to the cause, try teaching your students not only the language, but a bit of history on the Mexican art scene. Artists such as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo have created some truly striking and fascinating paintings and murals. Try getting your students to plan and design a mural dedicated to their understanding of Mexican culture.

Once or twice a month, try airing some Spanish language movies and television shows. The action flick  “ El Mariachi,” without subtitles, has been used to teach beginning Spanish students the language as the movie is largely visual so you can usually decipher the meaning of the words by context.

A Spanish language soundtrack

Keeping up on the Spanish language music scene is a good way to provide your students with a possible hook to fan the flames of their interest in the culture. You probably have a few kids in the classroom who have discovered Green Day and Jay-Z,  well you can try playing the Spanish psychedelic rock bands Los Spiders and Los Dug Dugs for them. There’s a wealth of Spanish language pop music like Selena for the Justin Bieber set, and you have Los Lobos for the hard rock kids.

However you can get inspire a love for Spanish culture, you should follow in that direction. You may not have the time to pursue every great Spanish film, every great Tejano band or every great Spanish language novel, but with a scattershot approach, you may just give several of your students a reason to explore Spanish heritage on their own a little more deeply.

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Categorized as: Tips for Teachers and Classroom Resources

Tagged as: Engaging Activities ,  High School (Grades: 9-12) ,  Language Arts

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Spanish Vocabulary Activities for High School

A wide array of Spanish vocabulary activities are available to help high school students practice the Spanish words and phrases they are learning. 

These activities are easily adaptable for students of different fluency levels and the needs of your unique homeschool or classroom.

The majority of children of all ages get excited about games. Students love to mix playtime with class time. Spanish vocabulary activities and games are versatile and easy to add to any lesson plan. They are great vehicles to both introduce new vocabulary concepts and reinforce content from recent lessons.

In this blog post, we’ll explore a few helpful tips for teaching vocabulary in Spanish, look at 8 fun Spanish vocabulary activities for teens, and introduce the comprehensive Homeschool Spanish Academy high school program

3 Simple Tips for Teaching Spanish Vocabulary

Adolescence is a complex and interesting stage of life. It may be challenging to maintain teens’ interest in their Spanish classes. Here are a few helpful tips to keep in mind as you integrate Spanish vocabulary activities for high school into your lessons.

1. Teach a Wide Range of Vocabulary 

While thematic vocabulary learning is a common way to learn and practice new words, it’s also somewhat artificial and not super effective. Teaching isolated vocabulary out of context ultimately fails to prepare students for real-life conversations. Instead, they need to learn and apply a wide range of vocabulary to become proficient and eventually fluent in Spanish.

2. Introduce and Practice Vocabulary Consistently 

In an ideal world, students would learn Spanish through immersion. But if that’s not the reality of your learning environment, consistent structured vocabulary learning and practice are essential. This way, you can ensure that your student commits their new words to memory.

3. Teach Students to Decode New Words 

It’s challenging for high schoolers to work with new vocabulary words if they lack the strategies needed to comprehend what they are hearing or reading in Spanish. By implementing translation exercises regularly and focusing on cognates, you’ll help your students access their prior knowledge to learn new vocabulary.

8 Spanish Vocabulary Activities for High School

I’ve compiled a curated list of enjoyable and memorable Spanish vocabulary activities. 

Looking for a handy selection of verbs to teach? Check out 25+ Common Spanish Words for High Schoolers .

1. Card Slap

Divide the class into pairs or small groups. Give each one a deck of flashcards with Spanish words, and tell students not to shuffle the deck. The order of the flash cards needs to correspond to the teacher’s list of the same words. 

Direct students to take the first four cards in the deck and place them face up on the table. Say the English translation of one of the four words, and ask students to slap the corresponding Spanish word flashcard. 

The student whose hand hits the card first gets to keep that card. Work through the flash card deck this way. Whoever has the most cards in each group wins. Alternatively, you can make English flashcards and read the Spanish translations aloud.

2. Bingo with a Spanish Twist

Distribute a BINGO card to each student that contains random sets of common Spanish vocabulary words. 

Show your student or class a Spanish-language film, show, music video, or commercial. As students watch, instruct them to listen for the vocabulary words on their BINGO cards. If they hear one, they should write the sentence in that BINGO slot. 

For lower-level learners, turn on the Spanish subtitles so that students can read and listen simultaneously. The first student to fill up their BINGO card wins.

3. Seek and Translate

Ask each student to spend 10 minutes going around the classroom and create a vocabulary list. Homeschoolers could also use the garden or another place in the house. 

The goal is to identify 15-20 items in the room for which they don’t know the word in Spanish. Guide students to look up the words in a Spanish-English dictionary or online translator and write them on their list.

4. Battleship 

Battleship is a classic game and it also functions as one of our recommended Spanish vocabulary activities. Simply replace the numbers (rows) and letters (columns) with specific vocabulary words.

Here’s an example . The letters have been changed to items of clothing, and Spanish color words replace the numbers. Students compose sentences using the vocabulary to try and sink their partner’s battleships. (For instance, Tengo una camisa blanca. )

5. Taboo 

A modified version of the game Taboo is a fabulous way to practice vocabulary. Traditionally, the game involves getting your teammates to guess a word and gives 3 specific related words that they cannot mention.

Instead, use the three words as support. For instance, for the word película , include the words cine , comedia , and palomitas to help them define it.

6. Charades

Make your Spanish lesson a lively experience! Give each student a word or phrase to act out (silently) while others try to guess. Be sure to provide cards with both words and pictures to support beginners. 

7. Snowball

Ask your students to write down as many words as they can on a certain topic (and their name), on a piece of scratch paper. They then make the paper into a “snowball” and throw it across the classroom. Ask them to go and pick a different snowball and add words to that list. Finally, each student gets their own snowball back. 

8. Tic-tac-toe

To play this version of the classic game, you’ll need to fill the spaces with pictures of vocabulary words. To be able to place their X or O in one of the spaces, students must make a sentence using the word.

Homeschool Spanish Academy’s High School Program

At Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA), our high school Spanish curriculum includes eight courses, from Spanish 1A to Spanish 4B. This program enables you to make your own schedule, choose your instructor, and choose your session frequency. 

The High School Spanish Program at HSA is one of the most competitive online Spanish classes for high school credit options. The program exceeds the expectations of any public high school curriculum in the United States. It complies with grammar requirements while it heavily promotes your development of strong conversational skills. 

To learn more, check out the following links:

• Preview our high school curriculum (FREE download)  
• Read an interview with a high school student
• Learn about how the program works
• Check out our All-You-Need Guide to High School Spanish Classes

Try Us Out for Free

Ready to get started teaching your high schoolers with these fun Spanish vocabulary activities? If you would like some extra support or want your students to practice with native Spanish speakers, try a free trial class with Homeschool Spanish Academy! 

Our certified teachers are from Guatemala, which means your students will take live classes and conversation practice with experienced professionals! Try a class today and see how quickly it can improve your teenager’s Spanish.

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Great Ideas for Spanish Projects for High School Students to Use

• Ronda Bowen
• Categories : Spanish lesson plans for secondary grades 6 12
• Tags : Teaching english speaking students a second language

There are so many different ideas for projects for high school Spanish language learners, but sometimes it seems as though the ideas have run out. Whether you’re new to teaching high school Spanish classes or you’ve been at it for a while, chances are, you could use some help. I’ve listed some common projects and some not-so-common projects to help you come up with ideas for your class assignments. Liven up the study of Spanish - and even help your students to better practice their skills in Spanish by reading on.

1. Potluck Fiesta

A great project for helping high school students to get involved in Spanish class is to host a fiesta . Have each student sign up to bring one Spanish dish to share with the rest of the class. To “spice” this project up, you can require that students only speak in Spanish while the party is going on. This means that students will get a chance to taste the different dishes and practice the language they’ve learned over the course of a semester (it’s best if you have your potluck close to the end of fall or the end of spring). For a bonus, have each student prepare a short speech about the dish they brought. Signups can keep you from having duplicate entrées.

2. Create a Spanish Game

While many teachers already have students play Spanish bingo or other Spanish classroom games , have you given thought to having students team up and create games in the Spanish language? There are many games in Spanish on the market, but by breaking your students into groups, you can have each group work together on creating a game. You have two choices - either they can come up with a game and design on their own, or they can translate and make their own Spanish versions of popular English games. Have the groups present their games, and rotate around the classroom so that each group gets a chance to try each other group’s game out.

3. Create a Play Based on a Nursery Rhyme

Another neat project for high school Spanish learners is to have students create and perform a play based upon a nursery rhyme. You could make it really interesting and have students make sock puppets and put on a puppet show (we did this in a German course I took in college; it was a lot of fun). Break students up into teams and assign each team a nursery rhyme or fairy tale. Students will then write the script, perform the play (or puppet show), and often laugh a lot. Variations on this project include biographies of famous Spanish speakers, reenactments of historical events, and plays based upon Spanish short stories.

4. Spanish Around the World

Another project for students involves assigning each student to write a report about a nation where Spanish is spoken. What are the customs in the country? What are the major cities? You could have each student choose a country at the beginning of the school year, and then the student can present particular information on that country in class. Learning about customs and cultures is an important part of language study at the high school level. Related projects include writing travel guides, creating websites, making a newspaper for the country, or creating models of important buildings.

5. Create Your Own Spanish Website and Blog

Students today are quite sophisticated. In order to incorporate modern technology into your learning environment, you could assign students to keep up on a classroom website or blog. In this project, one student a week would be responsible for posting one or two blog entries about his or her experiences in Spanish class - in Spanish. Alternatively, you could assign students specific questions to answer in Spanish and have the student write a log of class that students who missed class could read. Don’t be afraid to get creative - other related projects include having advanced students put together a Spanish television show, maintenance of a non-web based class journal, or even participation in a protected and private bulletin board available only to class members.

Getting Creative with Your Spanish Projects

Don’t be afraid to get creative in your classroom. Have students create children’s books written in Spanish and illustrated. Have a costume party where students dress up as famous people from around the Spanish-speaking world. Plan virtual trips. Have students work in groups to create a Spanish speaking business where they produce promotional materials written in Spanish. Your students will appreciate any ingenuity you have! (And don’t forget to have fun too!)

References:

For great Spanish recipes: https://www.spain-recipes.com/

For Folk Tales in Spanish and English: https://www.g-world.org/magictales/

For Class Blogging: https://theedublogger.com/

Image Courtesy of sxc.hu/gallery/knupett

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9 Spanish Activities for High School to Beat Spring Fever

March 17, 2022 by Devon 2 Comments

Every high school teacher knows Spring fever hits hard at all ages. Here are some new Spanish activities to try to get students still speaking in the target language, exploring the 5 Cs of culture and intercultural communication, and somehow absorbing valuable and comprehensible input — even in their sunshiney-prom-sequined-spring-fever brain fog.

Spanish Activities for Springtime

Here’s the roundup of great Spanish activities that work the best in the Spring. These first few are based on the holidays that come around in Springtime in Latinx culture. Sharing special holidays around the world is more effective than trying to do any activities about holidays students might already be celebrating around the school, like St. Patty’s day for example. Explore some of these traditions with your students instead!

Carnaval Activities for Spanish Class

The first set of Spanish activities for high school revolves around my FAVORITE time of year – Carnaval! It’s very early Spring usually. It’s widely celebrated across most Spanish-Speaking countries (the world really) and often lasts over a month, but with a few important culminating dates depending on the country’s specific celebration. For example, Panama has an elaborate beauty pageant, Mexico has an outrageous public water balloon fight, Colombia is famous for the annual parade in Barranquilla, so on and so forth.

Carnaval is usually centered around Fat Tuesday. At the time of this post, the dates are March 2nd for Fat Tuesday with important dates reaching through March and after. The Mardi Gras website for the US has a reliable calendar with far-reaching dates into when each Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) will be each year.

Project Ideas for Carnaval in Spanish Class

Every year, I used to do a cultural project in my Spanish class. Students could pick a country from this list:

• Colombia – Barranquila
• República Dominicana – Santiago, Santo Domingo, la Vega
• Cuba – Habana
• Bolívia – Oruro
• España – Aviles
• Puerto Rico – Ponce
• México – Mazatlán
• Islas Canarias – Santa Cruz de Tenerife
• Panamá – Ciudad de Panamá
• Argentina – Buenos Aires
• any others you research or like

Proyecto: you and 3 group members will pick a carnaval celebration from one of the Spanish-speaking countries that celebrates it. Each group will create a PPT or Prezi for their city/country’s celebration to present to the class.

• present the country in context
• info about this year’s celebration
• religious and folklore origins (carnaval is entirely based on each country’s folklore and national story)
• social origins (students here explore and discover that Carnaval is based on the culture of the enslaved peoples and repressed Indigenous populations expressing what was forbidden to express during the rest of the year. Dances, languages, gods under guise, and traditions that were supressed by slave owners and landowners flourished during Carnaval. It was seen as the only time where people could also speak out – in clandestine ways such as masks and meaningful skits and dances – against their societal oppression. This tradition continues today in many countries’ tradition of political and social parody in papier maché form.)
• masks and costumes (reflecting the above social, religious, and folkloric conditions) every city has their own variety – sometimes even distinguishable by city block!
• Spanish slide describing carnaval traditions in the target language (whole project can also be in Spanish as well – but I find the folklore/religious traditions is beyond Spanish 2 where I used to do this. I therefore went for a mixed approach of half Spanish half English research project)

Feel free to steal this project idea for your Spanish class – it took my students about a week with 2 days of presentations. (block class, Spanish 2, 90 minutes every day.)

Authentic Spanish Activities and Resources for Carnaval

After the project and students understood carnaval, we would dive deep into some authentic texts and focus back on our Spanish acquisition through the cultural products and practices. Here are some Spanish activities and tools I used to do it. These are all ready to use in your own classroom!

Studying and making cascarones is one of my favorite Springtime Spanish activities to do with high school students. Who doesn’t love cracking confetti over someone’s head? This tradition is popular in the Mexican community around both Carnaval and Pascua, Easter, and Semana Santa traditions. Not to mention it’s a huge part of US culture now. You can find them in most grocery stores around Easter time.

Here’s a digital cascarones activity to start exploring with your students. Many teachers who purchased this activity pair it with a craft activity to make cascarones in class as well.

This same cascarones activity also comes in PDF format depending on your class needs.

  Teach culture with cascarones through Spanish high frequency verbs here

In this cascarones high frequency verb reading, students first learn about how to make cascarones and then how people use them in celebrations during springtime. They then have several printable Spanish activities with cascarones to choose from – make your own, research how to make one and describe the steps, plan a cascarón attack so that no one suspects you, and more. It’s fun to see what students come up with.

Have a class party to make them with paper mache ones! It’s also fun as a self-study Carnaval or easter research project.

Virtual Field Trips for Spanish Class

One of my go-to Spanish activities for high school is a virtual field trip – read more about how to make your own here and watch the free demo class. This is a great thing to try out to add some welcome novelty if you’ve never used Google Earth in class before. The format also allows students to explore a place on their own through Spanish authentic texts. Win-win!

Here are some virtual field trips with a springtime and carnaval focus:

This virtual field trip to Puerto Rico invites students to explore the island, as well as dive deep into the Carnaval traditions of Ponce and their characteristic masks. Various tour guides and cultural experts show off the folklore and artistry of Carnaval de Ponce.

This virtual field trip is a pride and joy – based off of the city where I lived during carnaval, Santiago de los Caballeros. Your students will get to experience the Dominican Republic during carnaval from the local point of view, and see several different characteristic masks from La Vegas famous diablos to los lechones in Santiago.

Hispanic Holidays in Springtime

Explore these holidays with students by doing picture talks. Simply google the holiday, throw some pictures on a slide deck, and start talking. You can ask students to guess what the holiday is about and whether they want to go there, and write some simple sentences or speak simple phrases about what they see in the pictures. BAYUM. An activity in 15 minutes or less. Can you tell I used to plan on the fly alot?

• Spring Equinox in Teotihuacán – people from all over the world come to the holiest city in Mexico to honor the equinox at the temple built especially for equinoxes and solstices.
• Iberamerican Film Festival , Bogotá, Colombia – huge film festival for Latinx and Iberox creators to share films of social impact
• Festival Internacional de Teatro (Caracas International Theater Festival). This festival brings together scores of troupes and companies from around the world and across Venezuela for a 2-week celebration of the theater arts. A variety of languages and countries are represented in both an indoor and outdoor festival. Begun nearly 30 years ago, this is the premiere theater festival in Latin America. I mean, talk about a great authentic text. Just get students to open this webpage and bam – picture talk. What do you see? What is the play about? Who is in it? Do you want to go see it? What country is it from?
• Semana Santa, Uruguay . During Holy Week, Uruguay shuts down. In Montevideo and the smaller cities, you’ll find gaucho-style barbecues all over the place. Think parades, local folk music, festival vibes – it’s a great time for students to explore.
• Martes de Challa in Peru — a spontaneous water fight throughout Peru that has merged with Carnaval.
• Snow Star Festival of Qoyllur Rit’i, Peru May every year on a remote Peruvian glacier. About 30,000 pilgrims converge here for a festival known as Qoyllurit’I with three days and nights of intense celebration with music and dancing. The culmination is a torch-lit procession over some 5000m passes. It’s a magical gathering of a multitude of Indigenous representatives, larger groups including Quechua and Aymara speakers, honoring the story of the protective mountains and sentient glaciers. This intense article with beautiful pictures shows climate change’s impact on how people still celebrate with vanishing glaciers.
• Las Fallas – A spectacle of art and fire that can’t be missed in Valencia, with the same tradition of humor and satire that only blowing things up could bring.
• Flamenco Festival, Jerez, Spain – I mean, the outfits. The dancing. Nuff said. February-March depending on the year.

How to Get Students Talking with Spring Fever

Assign your virtual students videos to record outside, like a walking tour of their neighborhood with directions.  

Teaching a clothing unit? There’s no shortage of Spanish activities that high schoolers would like. Tiktok with spring outfits, a selfie slide show with prom guidelines for what and what not to wear, you name it.

Don’t fight prom fever either. Lean into it! How can you get your students to talk MORE about prom in Spanish? Who are they taking? What are they wearing? How much are the services they’re getting? (nails, hair, flowers, limos, etc)

Whenever class time spirals into what-are-you-wearing-to-prom time, don’t fight it. Just start writing prom words on the board, show them how to respond in Spanish, and start asking questions about prom in Spanish. That’s the beauty of world language – we GET to talk to them about what interests them!

What are their plans? Are they actually going to school or playing hookie that day? 

Take your Spanish Class Outside!

Whenever you can, take students outside. You don’t always have to play a game or come up with new Spanish activities to do this. Just bring your lessons outside/computers outside.

For example, every day when I drop off my son at school, there’s an 8th grade class wearing masks all gathered together around a computer cart at picnic tables doing morning work. It’s covid-friendly and a nice change of setting for students. You can easily establish a routine of leaving backpacks in your room, lock the door, and only bring computers or devices outside.

The first few times will have lots of novelty, but trust your students. They’ll appreciate not being stuck indoors in beautiful weather. You’re going to have one or two who can’t handle it, but let’s be real – the five or six that have trouble focusing because they’re bored and do other stuff will benefit and focus so much. Not to mention all the studies about how much a change in environment can impact our ability to focus and retain information. Novelty is good!

Easter Ideas for Spanish Class

In addition to cascarones, there’s a ton of Semana Santa celebrations that happen in the Spanish-speaking world. It would be a great idea to do an Easter egg hunt themed activity where you break up simple exercises normally on paper into a hunt around the room.

Or an age-old comprehensible input game is hide and seek with an object, like an Easter egg hunt. You hide a certain outrageous object around the room (like a cute stuffed animal, beloved class mascot, someone’s hat, etc) and you give the designated seeker directions in the target language to find it. Tons of fun and input!

The last day before Spring break always coincided with Easter in the area where I taught, so I also liked to have something simple but still Spanish-oriented and relaxing for the few students that showed up. If you’re also looking for a Spanish Easter activity, check out this color-by-number Pascua set :

My high schoolers still enjoy the relaxing and reinforcing activity of coloring, and for those who don’t, there’s very simple designs. Anything relaxing, review-oriented, and still all about target language use is a great option for those strange ghost days right before breaks.

Try a New Spring Classroom Game

Games in Spanish class really help to keep up engagement and bring home the message that Spanish class is fun. There’s not a more important time to do this than quarter 3. Try out a new game or bring back in a game you haven’t used in a while. Have you ever tried Gimkit? It’s free, amazing, and many Spanish teachers already have templates that you can use. You can even assign games at home.

For more game ideas, check out this full post here on 10 games and activities for Spanish class.

Dos and Don’ts for Spring Spanish Activities

Be especially mindful of homework, projects, and assignments. Springtime is crazy loaded with ridiculous and (ineffective) state testing and pressure. Their other classes are very overloaded. 

Q3 is where students dip the most in terms of attention span, effort, and achievement. It’s a rough combo of overload, not enough breaks, they’re over it and no end in sight. 

Even though you might feel that March or April is too late in the year to introduce something new, it’s actually a great idea to introduce some novelty into your class. Novelty – when done right – can be the exact right cure to spring fever and the overall feeling that hits in April that this-whole-school-thing-will-literally-never-end.

How to Succeed with a New Classroom Routine in Spring

Here’s how to have success with a new idea, method, or routine: 

• Try it a few days a week instead of announcing some new regime. Just jump in, but be sure to do it consistently for a few days before deciding whether it works or not.
• Pick something small and quick that has a lot of impact, like a new system for collecting materials, special person interview, or class passwords.
• Try a new game
• Sprinkle in a long-term project – based learning project if you normally do teacher-led classes.

Anything that switches up the pace and feel of class without throwing off already established routines is always a welcome addition to springtime world language. 

I do NOT recommend trying these in the spring if you’ve never done it before. Don’t try these for the first time in spring fever:

• TPRS stories
• CI readers or FVR ( I tried mine in the spring with high schoolers and it was ROUGH. You’re welcome to prove me wrong though.) It did work with digital books last March, but not in-person instruction. 
• Major classroom management changes like addition of classroom jobs (unless you’re in a block class, then anything is fair game) 

Crazy Easy CI Spanish Activities:

Now that you know some do’s and don’ts for new stuff to try in Springtime (since adding novelty helps TREMENDOUSLY with spring fever), here are some of my favorite and easy comprehension-based teaching activities. You don’t really need any training or know-how to get started, just read some blogs and jump in. That’s why they are perfect Spanish activities for Springtime!

• Picture talks
• CI games like mafia 
• Switching to 5 min popup grammar instead of lectures 

Bonus Tip for CI Spanish Teachers

Thanks for spending your valuable teaching time learning with me today! If you’re looking for more help or ideas to add to your comprehensible input strategies, I have a free download for you below:

Have you ever wished the transition to proficiency were easier to do? Grab the FREE toolkit here to learn the framework for updating your practice to comprehensible input – without all the overwhelm – and prepare for the challenges ahead. 

Free Conference for World Language Teachers

If you’re ready to jump in and get started with proficiency and teaching with comprehensible input, I have another resource to help you on your journey below:

Sign Up for the Next Practical & Comprehensible Free Virtual Conference! Every year, I gather together the best and brightest in the field of world language to share with you how to switch to proficiency through comprehensible input. All with practical ideas that you can use tomorrow . It’s a FREE virtual conference – join the waitlist and find out more about the speakers here.

Good luck with your spring fever and let me know how these activities go in your classroom! Rooting for you,

Reader Interactions

April 20, 2023 at 09:30

Hi Devon, Do you haVE any any advanced projects for Spanish level 4 students. Gracias

July 25, 2023 at 14:16

There’s nothing better than getting out in the community and using Spanish with level 4s. What community avenues are available to you? How can your Spanish students interact with the challenges and triumphs in the Spanish speaking community in your town? I recommend sending them on a virtual tour of events in their real-life community and asking them to interact with people at those events with PBL style projects and grading.

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Teaching Spanish with Poetry: Engaging Activities for High School Students

National Poetry Month is here! Let’s talk about some ideas of how you can integrate poetry in all levels of your Spanish classes.

This last year, I have learned so much about doing just that from Diego Ojeda , and I am so grateful for everything he has been sharing with world language teachers about poetry in the classroom.  In fact, most of the ideas I am about to share with you are a compilation of takeaways I have learned from him and ELA teachers.

First, why should we use poetry in our Spanish classes?

Diego beautifully explains the importance of bringing poetry to our classes, not just one time, but throughout the year so that learners can learn how to truly connect with it and enjoy it.

This is because: 

• Poetry opens a door to relevant topics for learners.
• Poetry allows learners to creatively self-express.
• It supports acquisition of the language by supporting the use and contextualization of vocabulary that is meaningful to the learners.
• The poem should be level appropriate and accessible to your learners.
• It is a poem that the teacher can easily connect to the learner taking into account the students’ real (and not superficial) interests.
• The poem motivates and creates joy and excitement.
• The content of the poem can build community through rich discussions.

Practical and Effective Ideas to Integrate Poetry

The key for the following activities is that the poem must be relevant and comprehensible to the learner. With that taken into account, you can use these activities with any poem throughout the year.

ACTIVITY #1  – GRAFFITI BOARD

Diego shared about this activity and many other activities in our most recent Instagram conversation. Visit the recording here .

For this activity, learners will create a visual representation of the poem using words and images on one lengthy piece of bulletin board paper or simply on the teacher’s white board. Learners can write lines or phrases from the poem that they are understanding and/or connecting. Depending on the level, students can add their own thoughts, interpretations, reactions, and decorate the board with relevant images or symbols. 

This activity encourages students to engage with the poem on a deeper level, as they work collaboratively to create a visual representation of the poem’s meaning and themes.

ACTIVITY #2  – FINISH THE POEM!

For this activity, you will need one slide with the first three lines of a four line stanza, and intentionally leave out the fourth line. 

Then, you will divide the class in groups and provide 5-10 minutes to have your students come up with the last line of the poem.  Have learners share what they produced with the entire class. 

If you have novice learners , create and print a document to support your learners by reminding them of common verbs and possible rhyming words they can use to create their line.  

If you would like to further explore these ideas from the master teacher himself, check out the following video with Sr. Ojeda. It is very interactive and although it is a recording, you will have the opportunity to pause the video and try the variety of ideas Diego shares. It is a must see! 

ACTIVITY #3  – BLACK OUT POETRY

The following activity can be used with any level. If you have never tried it before, there will be a tiny learning curve, but once you grasp it, this strategy will be added to your teaching tool belt and you will be able to use it with poems, text, stories, and songs… I am talking about black out poetry!

Resources to help you with setting up black out poetry!

I always say that ELA teachers have some of the best ideas!!! Black out poetry really proves this point.

Basically, blackout poetry is a form of creative expression where learners will take a poem (on paper or via a Google Slide) and they will select and black out or cover certain words to create a new and original poem. The words that are left recreate a new poem and it often results in a totally different meaning and interpretation of the poem.  

This  poetry activity is perfect for your Spanish classes because it can be used with any poem and with any level. Also, it is a fun and accessible way to explore language, creativity, and self-expression.

The following are two digital examples my intermediate students created using Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s poem “Hombres necios.”

Maris Hawkins , co-author of Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom and  Spanish teacher recently blogged about this wonderful activity as well, if you are interested in more details and perspectives, please visit her blog post too!!!

Trust me, you want to check it out as she even shared the rubric she used to grade her learners!!!

The following video will explain very well how to guide your students to create their own version of blackout poetry if you want to try this activity on paper.

If your students prefer to engage in blackout poetry digitally, then I suggest the following video for you, the teacher. 

This is the same video I used to learn to understand how to set up my document (I did it on slides though) and provide instructions to my learners. If you want to try out this activity digitally, and then be able to support your students through this activity, it is important that you have a good grasp on it.

Finally, this last video is wonderful to share and guide your learners to work with blackout poetry digitally. This is the video you share once the digital document has been shared with them.

What Can a Lesson Plan Sequence Look Like?

There are so many possible answers to this question. If you have worked with creating lessons for songs, it would be helpful to approach it that way, though you don’t have to.

Here are some suggestions that can guide you in your planning:

• Introduce the poem by asking learners to brainstorm words or phrases related to the poem’s theme. Write their responses on the board or have them type their entry via a tool like Jamboard. If the learners are novice low or mid, provide a word cloud to guide this brainstorming. 
• Introduce the poet and the poem. If you believe it will be relevant to the study, consider presenting some information about the author’s background.
• Distribute copies of the poem and ask students to read it silently or aloud. Depending on the level, decide if you will discuss the poem’s meaning, themes, and literary devices. With novice students, you can have them do traffic light reading of the poem instead.
• Divide the class into small groups and have them select a stanza to illustrate on a white piece of paper.
• In those same groups, have learners do the previously mentioned FINISH THE POEM activity. You can decide to give a different stanza to different groups. For upper levels, you can have them create their own short poem by changing specific words like adjectives or nouns, another one of Diego’s ideas presented at our recent Instagram live .
• Ask each group to share their stanza (or poem). 
• Close the lesson with the graffiti board activity mentioned at the beginning of this blog post.

This is just an idea of what a lesson could look like, but as you can see, it can be adapted to other simple poems, different lesson objectives, unit themes, and different proficiency levels.

Where to find poetry resources for your Spanish class?

To make poetry accessible and enjoyable to our learners,  Diego has created so many wonderful poetry books to make poetry comprehensible, relevant, and attainable for your students. 

You can purchase his books through Amazon or Command Performance Books.  His books are also available in French.

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to share this blog post so that it may reach others.

Also, I exclusively share about resources and ideas I have tried in my own classroom. I have seen how much my learners have enjoyed Diego’s poems and activities, and that is the reason I am sharing these with you.  There is no commission or incentive involved in my promotion of these materials, as my sole motivation is to promote the facilitation of acquisition, engagement, and community building among other benefits that these poems provide.

Looking for more ideas on the uses of poetry in Spanish class?

Two of my favorite people, Claudia Elliott & Diego Ojeda, have come together for this conversation at The Growing with Proficiency Podcast . Take a listen by clicking the link or clicking the image!

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And gain access to some great resources., 14 spanish class opener activities and my favorite warmup routines.

Over the past few years, I have tried to streamline my routines. Feeling ready at the start of class has helped me to feel more confident and prepared for the rest of the hour. I hope you will find some of these ideas useful for your own classroom this year!

And make sure you visit the bottom of the post for access to  free  digital openers to try!

1) First check-in of the day? It happens at the door.

I have mentioned this in a few blog posts already, but it is worth repeating!

Each day I try to be outside my classroom door to greet students as they enter. It is a school-wide expectation at my school that teachers be visible in the hallways between classes, so that was an easy reason for me to start this tradition. We are expected to be in the hallways for the 5 minutes in between class blocks to supervise and be available to students. I teach in a school of almost 2,000, and hallways can get crowded! Teacher visibility helps to keep students moving toward their destinations.

At first, it felt like *just one more thing I had to do.* OK GREAT, I can’t use those few minutes to organize my desk, catch up on attendance, or write the warm-up. I was frustrated! It felt like wasted time. So I tried to find a positive way to use this time in the hallway. Instead of just standing there in front of my door staring off into space, I started to engage with the students as they walk by. I’ll talk to students I don’t know by asking a question or paying a compliment. If they’re wearing an athletic uniform, I’ll ask who they’re playing that day and wish them luck. It feels good to make connections!

As my own students trickle in, I make sure I greet them by name and ask how they are doing. It is actually a great way to check in with students without them knowing what you’re actually doing. If someone who is usually very talkative avoids my eye contact, I’ll know to take it easy on them that day. If my student who works at night looks really tired, I can assume she worked last night and I won’t give her a hard time about the homework. In general, if a student seems upset in any way, I can assume they may have a lot on their mind and I will remind myself during class that any reluctance or hesitation  isn’t because of me.  And conversely, if a quieter student smiles and gives me a confident answer, maybe I will try to push them a little bit outside of their comfort zone that day. That first connection can really help you be mindful of your class environment that day.

Sometimes, these small interactions make a much bigger impact than we might think. Last year, during my “Hola Aiden, ¿cómo estás?” moment… my quiet freshman boy opened up to me. “Miss, I think you’re the only teacher that likes me. You’re the only teacher that talks to me.”

Now there are mornings where I’ll be chatting with my neighboring teacher as we greet our students. Even as we talk, I will stop mid-sentence with her to greet each of my students by name. She may think I’m a weirdo for wanting to do this, as sometimes I am stopping to say “Hola, Casey” every 30 seconds… but I really do think it’s a valuable way to check in with my students before class has even started.

2) Teachers are multitasking ROCKSTARS

Checking homework, taking attendance  and  getting volunteers for the warm-up may seem like a lot. But if you can find a routine that works well for you, you can really do a lot in the first 5-7 minutes of class. Now, I have never actually discussed any of this with my students. I don’t do a lot of “explaining” routines, but I simply do them every day and my students catch on. They pay attention to what you do, and to how you start class each day. They  want  to know what to expect. Because it is  routine  for me, my students know the following pattern and by jumping on board, they actually help make my life a lot easier.

My students know that the warm-up will be written on the board when they enter. They also know that while they work on it, I will be coming around to check the homework (if there was any – I have actually stopped giving homework recently but more about that another time) or just to check in with them.

As I am walking around the room checking in with students while they are completing the warm-up, I am also marking any absent students in my planner. This way, when I finish my loop I can quickly walk to my computer and enter in the attendance without asking/calling any names. At this point, while I am standing at my computer, I ask for volunteers to answer the warm-up on the board. I often simply hold up a few markers with one hand as I’m typing into my computer and even  looking  at my computer. Without a word, students hop up to grab a marker (or I toss one to them if they make eye contact and nod — they love catching the markers.) Again, students are great at this because we do it every day and it becomes an unspoken routine. They know that they are expected to participate every day, and I always tell them that volunteering for the warm-up  counts !!

After the volunteers are done writing on the board, I am usually done with MY tasks; homework credit has been checked, attendance has been entered, and the warm-up is done. We quickly discuss the warm-up as a class, and then we move on to reviewing the homework or starting our lesson. On a smooth day, all of these tasks are done by the 10 minute mark. (But pretty frequently I get a phone call that I forgot to enter attendance. Whoops….)

A quick note

As I mentioned I actually don’t assign homework anymore. But in case you do, I wanted to explain my fast grading system that helped streamline my start of class routine. I wrote this when I still assigned homework often:

My homework grades are as follows: I do not give homework every night, and I am actually trying to assign it less and less. But when we do have homework, each assignment is 2 points. If the assignment has been done on time and I can see it received a fair effort, the student earns 2 points. If it is done late (usually with us in class) the student earns 1 point. 0s are only given if the student never makes any attempt to make up the assignment, which is difficult since we always go over it in class.

To quickly mark these codes in my planner, I use the attendance/checklist/gradebook page. I make NO MARK if a student is present and has the homework that day. If a student does not have the homework, I draw a triangle in the top righthand corner of that day/assignment box. When they turn it in late, that triangle gets colored in. SO when I am adding them into my computer: no mark = 2 points. Empty triangle = 0 points. Filled-in triangle = 1 point. I hope this makes sense!

This is also the same page where I track attendance, so it was easy to multitask.

Looking for ways to stay organized?

You can see my printable  Spanish Teacher Planner , including my attendance and homework trackers  here .

Or check out my  Spanish Teacher and Student Planner Bundle   right here . With the student planner, students can keep all of their warm-ups in one place each week! There are different layouts for you to choose from, based on whether you see your students 4 or 5 days per week etc.

If you and your students work better digitally, my  Editable Class Hub Sites  are the way to streamline everything in one place!

3) Meaningful warm-ups

Need something to help you while you get in the habit of developing your own opener routines? Check out my EDITABLE bundle for Spanish 1  right here , or digital options  here .

I have discovered that there are a few specific aspects of a warm-up that work best for me and my students. For one, I like them to be  fairly quick . I feel best when the routines I mention above are done in 10-15 minutes max (including going over the homework!). Next, It is important for me to include  visuals  with the warm-ups whenever possible. This could be silly drawings by yours truly, or images projected on the TV (we are very very lucky to have iPads and apple TVs). Something I try NOT to include in my warm-ups is English! I try my best to make sure there is  Spanish only . It is also important for me that there be something to  share out  after the warm-up. Lastly, I am mindful of whether the warm-up addresses  reading, writing, speaking, listening …. or a mix of them!

An example of a  visual  warm-up during the intro to our family unit, where students will also  listen  as I speak solely in the target language

With that being said, these are my favorite types of warm-up activities. I have tried to order them from easiest to most difficult, however there are ways to differentiate each style and you may not completely agree with my order:

• List 3 —  Worried about students avoiding the warm-up after a difficult lesson? My fall-back when my students are hesitant is a quick list. List 3 new words you remember from yesterday… list 3 of your favorite foods… list 3 words you need more help with… it can be anything! But it’s so easy that they can’t avoid trying 😉
• Correct my mistakes —  I love to write 3-4 sentences on the board, and only write 1 completely correct. The other sentences have an error/errors of some sort, and I direct students to work with their groups to make corrections. There is often more than one correct way to do so, and I enjoy discussing the options with my students. “How ELSE could we have fixed this sentence?”

• Puzzles–  Students can complete puzzles on the  first  or  second  day of a unit! I often use grammar puzzles before we have even seen the tense. With vocabulary, they can absolutely be used within the first few days as well. They are great for building confidence, and you can use them more than once! I sometimes have students race one another, or race against the clock. To see my favorite puzzles for class,  click here . If you’d like editable templates to make your own, you can find multiple templates  right here.
• True/False —  5 simple true/false statements written on the board. I like these because students don’t have to agree! What one student says is true, another may raise their hand to counter. For example “Me gusta el béisbol más que el fútbol.” You can then direct students to raise their hands to vote for the answer they chose.
• Logical/Illogical —  ¿Es lógico o no? Along the same lines as true/false, but hopefully your students will come to the same conclusions rather than differing opinions. For example, “Me gusta patinar en la clase de español.” ….. No profe. No es lógico.
• Matching —  ideal for new vocab or even a preview of vocab, since students can use process of elimination and make connections to cognates or known words to answer at least a few confidently! I often try to do silly little drawings here rather than use any English.

• Opposites — A great way to avoid using English, even with new vocabulary.

           EXAMPLE

• Alto                   a) tímido
• Ambicioso        b) bajo
• Extrovertido     c) serio
• Cómico             d) perezoso

Sometimes students come up with differing answers here, and it’s important to have a discussion about that! Are some of these words similar? So could more than one option fit?

You can also provide a word and ask students to provide an opposite. This leads to great discussions because students come up with varying answers 🙂

• Multiple Choice  — Depending on the length of discussion you plan to have after each question, sometimes just 3 MC questions could be appropriate! These can be used for vocab, grammar, preferences, anything!
• Reading/Examining —  When we start a new grammar unit, I try to get my students reading that tense / structure from the very first day. I will write 5-6 sentences on the board, and ask students to identify the present perfect verbs in my sentences along with their infinitives, for example. In these types of warm-ups, I motivate them to discuss with their groups throughout rather than working alone. This helps them to jump right into the unit before we have even really started!

• Fill-ins —  Looking to build confidence? Fill-ins offer something slightly more challenging than the other options I have mentioned so far, while still giving students the opportunity to use what IS in the sentence to help them. If you want to differentiate, consider adding a word bank (sometimes with extra words, or sometimes with multiple correct options!)
• Categories — Sometimes I will make a T chart on the board with two or more categories (such as me gusta / no me gusta…. or afuera / en casa) and I ask students to list 5 activities/terms in each category. Differentiate by requiring full sentences rather than single terms. Differentiate further by requiring students to add an extra category.
• Short response — When using these for a warm-up, I include 3 questions max. Often, I’ll write 3 but direct students to choose any 2 to answer. Providing student choice leads to more students completing the warm-up and fewer students saying, “I don’t know how to answer this.”
• Speak with your group — I am always trying to get my students to speak more, so I often try to include it in the warm-up OR during the last few minutes of class. That way, if a student has somehow kept fairly quiet during the class period, they still have an opportunity to produce the language aloud. My speaking prompts may say something along the lines of… “Habla con tu grupo y haz una lista de las 5 comidas mejores en la cafetería.” Or; “Habla con to grupo y explica, ¿cuál es tu deporte favorito? ¿Por qué?”
• Create a question — When I know my students are ready for a challenge, I ask THEM to create either: a statement with an error, a quick matching activity, or a short answer question. They then pass them in a circle around their group to challenge their partners. They love checking to see if the person gets it right! If you have more time, you can continue passing. 🙂

4) Preparing warm-ups for the full day

Before I explain this strategy, I want to acknowledge that it is not possible for everyone to do it exactly the way that I like to do it; however, as with any ideas I share, you can absolutely find a way to adapt it to your own practice.

I am aware that some teachers move between different classrooms, or don’t have the whiteboard space to do this. If you are in one of these situations, I highly suggest purchasing (or finding!) small whiteboards that you can carry with you OR easily prop up near the front of the room. If you aren’t interested in that, I would suggest doing this digitally. You could easily make it happen through Powerpoint or a Google Slides presentation (using a  class hub  for example). This routine has really lowered the stress level of my entire day, and given me more breathing room during the few moments in between classes.

My routine:

When I get to school each morning, I set up my warm-ups for the entire day. I usually have 3 classes to prep for, and I make space for each warm-up on the board. They are always written in the same place so students know where to look when they enter and sit down. Even if my warm-up requires my students to speak aloud with a partner or complete an activity digitally/on paper, I always create a space on the board for volunteers to share answers. No matter the format of our warm-up, there is  always  a way to share ideas on the board. Keeping this routine helps my students know what to expect each day, and gives them an opportunity to participate within the first few minutes of class.

Preparing my warm-ups for the entire day all at once and creating a designated space to do so allows me to check off one of one million tasks that are always on my teacher brain. Since I am expected to be in the hallway between classes (which I now enjoy!), preparing ahead of time means I no longer find myself scrambling to come up with an effective warm-up before rushing outside. Or worse… scrambling to write a warm-up as my students stare at the back of my head. I know that no matter what happens in between classes, my warm-ups have been well-thought out, and are set and ready for my students.

In regards to space:

I am lucky to have two large white boards at the front of my room, and one board is often used *solely* for warm-ups and announcements such as upcoming quiz days as well as information about the specific days that I’m available after school each week. I purchased a third smaller white board from Lowes — shower board… $10! — which I have propped on the side of the room for my agendas and objectives to be written each day. That way, I still have a full whiteboard at the front of the room for my students to use during the day for our interactive notes/activities/what-have-you. I know that this isn’t the case for all classrooms, so definitely consider making  digital  versions of warm-ups to make your life easier!

When do I do it?

We are contracted to arrive 15 minutes before the start of the school day, but I arrive 30-45 minutes early because I don’t like worrying about traffic, and I like starting my day while the building is quiet. This is often when I get my warm-ups ready for the entire day. Sometimes, however, preparing my warm-ups is part of my afternoon routine. Before I leave for the day, I make sure my agendas and warm-ups are done for the next day. I don’t stay late every single day; I make it a point to go home right after school a few days per week. But even on those days, we are contracted to wait about 10 minutes before leaving and it takes about 15 minutes for the parking lot to clear out anyways. Instead of sitting in a line of cars, I get my classroom ready for the next morning.

This routine and being mindful of setting myself up for success has really helped me to have less on my mind at home each night, and helped make my days feel smoother. Preparing the warm-ups and agendas forces me to reflect on my plans for that day beforehand. Since making this a habit, I feel more confident about what we are doing each day and I honestly feel much less stressed during the day. Who knew?

Want me to do the planning for you?

If you’re looking for warm-ups that are ready to go, check out my newly updated (and now completely EDITABLE)  Spanish 1 Openers Bundle . 

The openers are provided as a PDF as well as an editable Google Slides TM presentation.

This bundle includes warm-ups for the entire year, ready made just for your Spanish 1 students.  Alternatively, you can also select the warm-ups unit by unit.

I also have various puzzles and quick activities that I sometimes use for openers (available for all levels)  here .

And again, I love keeping myself and my students organized with the warm-up pages of my  planners , and digitally with my  Editable Class Hub Sites . These are perfect for when I make my own warm-ups on a weekly/unit basis, and the Editable Hubs are great for teachers who may not have the space to display their warm-ups on the board.

Thank you for reading!

I hope the ideas I shared can help you to feel less stressed and more prepared each day, but I’d love to hear from you in the comments! As teachers, we are all as different and unique as our students – I’d love to hear your go-to routines and what works for you 🙂

If you want to read more about the free digital openers offered above,  visit this post  before you leave!

Please feel free to share this post with your world language teacher colleagues and friends!

Looking for more ideas to try.

Inside: Find an intro and overview of 5 of my FAVORITE activities to support proficiency in Spanish class!

Inside: strategies and resources to promote student reflection throughout the school year

Inside: Find a detailed activity tutorial and differentiation ideas for Hexagon Grouping in Spanish class!

What text book is the standard textbook for your district? I don't mean to imply that you follow one strictly, but my school does. I would be interested to know which one you "follow" or what order for topics and grammar you use, to see whether or not it lines up with ours! 🙂

Hi! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂 We follow Exprésate technically, however the majority of my department create our own materials and don't use the textbooks other than as a guide for themes/units! I hope this helps!

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My name is Erin and I have 10 years of experience teaching high school Spanish. I love building positive student relationships and bringing a bit of fun into my lessons to keep my students engaged!

5 Engaging Activities for a Proficiency Focused Spanish Class

My 3 favorite reflection strategies for spanish class, browse categories.

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Spanish numbers 1-100: activities for high school students

The challenge.

Almost all of my high school Spanish students enter Spanish 1 in 9th grade having had ZERO previous experience learning Spanish (or any language). That means they need to learn the basics of the language like Spanish numbers 1-100. My problem was A) textbook resources were woefully inadequate in that they didn’t provide enough practice and B) internet searches for inspiration yielded activities designed for small children, not 14 or 15 year olds.

After searching the internet for Spanish number activities for high school and finding nothing, I made my own.

Number Task Cards

They key was making Spanish numbers engaging. How do you do that? Puzzles . I created Spanish number task cards with numbers in a sequence, but one number was missing. The trick to keep students thinking in Spanish? The numbers are written in words, not numerals.

The other important thing was to make the activity attainable but slightly out of their comfort zone. I like to imagine students having to stand on their tip toes. The goal is within reach but it takes a little extra effort and stretching on their part. I hung these around my room and had students walk around and solve them before reviewing the answers as a class. I also made a hand on version for station use later in the year.

I’m not going to lie: my students grumbled at the start of this Spanish numbers activity because it wasn’t easy. It challenged them. You know what else? None of them gave up! It was one of the best activities I’ve done as far as student engagement, teamwork, and discussion. Why? Because humans loves puzzles! I even had study hall kids, not in my Spanish class, walking around trying to figure them out! What?!

get My Free stem-changing Verb story!

“Joaquín quiere mascota” comes with three version for easy differentiation plus printable and digital (Google Slide) versions.

I created a math edition as well. The student answer sheet is one of my favorite things I’ve made. This was a perfect challenge for my upper level Spanish students to review numbers!

Extension Ideas

Have students create their own cards/sequences of Spanish numbers after doing this activity! If you have a class of 24, each student could create their own or you could even pair them up and get 12 new sequences!

Are classes competitive? Create teams and have them compete to see which team can solve the problems quickest! OR use the student-created questions in a Quizlet Live, Gimkit, or Kahoot!

Another idea is to teach them some math terms (más, menos, por, dividido por) and have them create a math problems like my math edition.

These work great for reinforcing newly learned numbers or reviewing. If you teach multiple levels, use them with higher level classes as review!

Want to See More Cards or Get Your Own Ready-to-use Set?

Here are task cards for:

• Spanish Numbers from 1-10
• Spanish Numbers from 11-20
• Spanish Numbers from 20-60
• Spanish Numbers from 20-100

Here are the math editions:

• Spanish Numbers from 1-100
• Spanish Numbers from 100-1,000

How do you make the basic Spanish number activities fun and engaging for high school Spanish students? Share below!

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Teaching Spanish & Spanglish Living

Valentine’s Day in Spanish Class: Comprehensible Ideas and Activities

Inside:  Día del amor y la amistad: ideas and activities for celebrating Valentine’s Day in Spanish class and at home.

Looking for ideas and activities for Valentine’s Day in Spanish?  I’ve collected some amazing resources to share comprehensible Valentine’s-themed activities in your classroom.  There’s enough here to fill a week, if you want to!

Valentine’s day in Spanish goes by several names–  El día de los enamorados, Día del amor y la amistad, or Día de San Valentín — and it’s not always celebrated on Feb. 14th. But either way, it’s fun to celebrate friendship and love, and the theme lends itself well to relevant, engaging activities.

Some of the links are divided into high school and elementary, and middle school classes could probably use some from both categories. Please share if you have fun ideas for Valentine’s Day in Spanish, as well!

For decor inspiration, see my post on  Spanish Valentine’s Day Bulletin Boards and Decorations .

ACTIVITIES FOR VALENTINE’S DAY IN SPANISH CLASS

You can my full list of Spanish Valentine’s Books here .

FREE PRINTABLES FOR DÍA DEL AMOR Y LA AMISTAD

For younger kids.

Free Bilingual Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids  from Ladydeelg

Valentine’s Sentence Building Activity Sheets   from Mommy Maestra

Matching Hearts Game   from Mundo de Pepita

Spanish Valentine Game with Silly Rhymes  from Spanish Playground

Spanish Numbers 1-10 Hearts Interactive Notebook Activity  from Island Teacher

Activities FOR MS/HS

An amazing lesson on la amistad from Señora Jota Jota, with slides, Jamboard activities, and more, based on the video La máquina de la amistad .

Candy Love Letters   from Creative Language Class

Como Escribir un Poema de Amor  from Throw Away your Textbook

¿Quieres salir conmigo? TeachVid Resource

Spanish Valentine Game: Matching Verb-Pronoun Combinations  from Spanish Playground

Mi pareja ideal   from Sol Azucar

Valentine-ThemeD Lesson IDEAS for Spanish class

• Draw and label hearts like in the image to the above, with students picking what hold a place their heart.
• Do  speed dating as described here with older classes. So fun!
• Write letters to family or friends, using these FREE Spanish Valentine’s Day Cards  .

• Ask or tell a funny Valentine story. If you need somewhere to start, El primer beso de Froggy is a lighthearted story for older elementary or up. I link to a bunch of videos below as well!
• Make your brain breaks Valentine-themed with the freeze game:

PRINTABLE DECOR in Spanish

Printable Valentines Day Banner in Spanish  from Living Mi Vida Loca

Spanish Valentine Treat Boxes  from Spanish Playground

Spanish Valentine Decorations  from World Language Cafe

Spanish Valentine’s Day Cake Toppers  from Ladydeelg

Bulletin Board Ideas and Printables  from Spanish Mama

Valentine’s INFOGRAPHICS in Spanish

There are lots of infographics related to Valentine’s Day. These are perfect #authres for students, to spark discussion and give some input. I’ve collected some good ones here:

Credit:  Infografías en castellano

SONGS IN SPANISH FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

Here are some fun picks from YouTube, or click on the images below to see the playlist with my complete list of recommendations.

If you don’t have much time, choose a song and just focus on a few keywords (like  te quiero !). Do a  really easy  listening activity like  Draw, Listen, Check .

MOVIETALKS for Spanish Class

These would make great MovieTalks for a Valentine’s in Spanish day. You narrate the stories in language the students understand, discuss, possibly type up a reading, and voila– you have a high-interest, language-packed activity.

Valentine’s Day Google Doodle

Elite commercial about la amistad. 

La máquina de la amistad (Coca-Cola). 

Animación para el mes del amor y la amistad (short film). 

Pasta del amor

Post-it love (short film). 

MOVIETALKS OR VIDEOS FOR YOUNGER STUDENTS

Pocoyó celebrates love and friendship. 

Feliz San Valentín con Pocoyó. 

VIDEOS FOR DÍA DEL AMOR Y AMISTAD

Quick “Historia de San Valentín” with subtitles in Spanish. 

San Valentín de Charlie Brown (2 min). 

El Chavo del 8, El Día de San Valentín (22min).  

An introduction to Valentine’s Day in Spanish for beginners (more comprehensible for novice high and up).  

DÍA DEL AMOR Y AMISTAD

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Wow! What an amazing compilation…I feel like there’s enough stuff in here for me to be set for years! Thanks for the hard work of putting it all together.

I am so glad it was helpful! I will keep adding as I find more! 🙂

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The best international schools in Moscow

• 3 months ago

Embark on an educational journey in Moscow with a selection of elite schools catering to diverse needs. From the British-focused MCS, offering personalized bilingual education, to Riverside School’s immersive English environment in the picturesque Novogorsk, each institution stands out. Brookes School Moscow, part of a global network, promises quality education in a central location. Russian International School, combining Russian and British curricula, ensures holistic development. Whether it’s “Classika” emphasizing language proficiency or the innovative “Tomorrow’s School” with a unique biblical approach, Moscow’s educational landscape is rich and varied, ready to shape students for success on the global stage. Explore the options and discover the perfect fit for your child’s academic journey.

Let’s explore the top 11 schools in Moscow that meet the best criteria.

• 1.1      Advantages of the school:
• 2.1    Features:
• 2.2    Licenses and Certificates:
• 3.1    Key Features:
• 4.1    Advantages:
• 4.2    Location:
• 5.1    Advantages:
• 6.1    Special Features:
• 6.2    Licenses and Certificates:
• 7.1    Key Features:
• 8.1    Features:
• 8.2    Licenses and Certificates:
• 9.1    Special Features:
• 9.2    Licenses and Certificates:
• 10.1     Features:
• 10.2     Licenses and Certificates:
• 11.1     Features:
• 11.2     Licenses and Certificates:

     Advantages of the school:

– Students begin learning English from an early age, not only as a subject but as the primary means of instruction and communication.

– The program offers a comprehensive international-level education starting from kindergarten.

– Qualified teachers from English-speaking countries are involved in the teaching process.

– Small class sizes (up to 14 students) allow for individualized learning.

– The school provides additional activities such as drawing, dance, ballet, football, chess, jiu-jitsu, fencing, robotics, diving, vocal training, graphic design, and animation.

– Infrastructure: Modern campuses equipped for comfortable and engaging learning. Campuses are located in Skolkovo (western Moscow near the Skolkovo innovation center), Festivalnaya (northern Moscow near Rechnoy Vokzal metro station), and a campus in St. Petersburg near the Gulf of Finland.

British International School

BIS is one of the oldest international schools in Moscow, providing high-class education and a comprehensive approach for children aged 3 to 18. Over 2000 students have graduated from the school, gaining admission to leading universities in Russia and worldwide.

The school operates two departments:

– International Department: Education follows the best traditions of British schools based on the National Curriculum of England and the pre-university IB Diploma program.

– Russian Department: Education aligns with Federal State Educational Standards. English is intensively studied, and students can choose a second foreign language (French, Spanish, German, or Chinese).

BIS holds an “Excellent” rating in every category according to the British Schools Overseas inspection.

   Features:

– International accreditations (ECIS, CIS, COBIS).

– Six schools in different areas of Moscow.

– Class sizes up to 15 students.

– Large team of qualified teachers.

– Over 25 school clubs including 3D modeling, programming, chess, ballet, mental arithmetic, martial arts, fashion design, etc.

– Comprehensive approach including school bus services, extended day programs, and psychological and speech therapy services.

   Licenses and Certificates:

– Moscow Department of Education and Science License.

– Edexcel Approved Centre Accreditation.

– Cambridge International Examinations Accreditation.

– IBO Accreditation.

– ECIS Membership Accreditation and Certificate.

– CIS Membership Accreditation and Certificate.

British School MCS

British School MCS focuses on the individual development of each student, offering a diverse range of courses and a creative atmosphere – fulfilling expectations of what parents seek from British schools. MCS provides bilingual education, skillfully combining British educational programs and Russian Federal State Educational Standards (FGOS). Graduates receive two diplomas.

   Key Features:

– Modern and high-quality education comparable to private English schools.

– Emphasis on developing critical thinking, curiosity, and increasing academic motivation through solving non-standard tasks.

– Full-day school with teaching based on individual educational routes, along with pedagogical and psychological support for each student.

– Balanced workload, collaboration of psychologists, educators, healthcare professionals, and a tailored schedule contribute to effective learning of both programs without mental exhaustion.

– Certificates such as A-levels, GCSE, and/or Cambridge CAE are awarded, granting the right to university admission in any English-speaking country.

Riverside School

Riverside School is a bilingual primary school located in the Moscow suburbs, in Novogorsk. It simultaneously follows British national and Russian educational programs. The British program includes Key Stage 1 (ages 5–7, grades 1–2) and Key Stage 2 (ages 7–12, grades 3–6). Alongside the British program, children undergo Russian primary education based on FGOS.

   Advantages:

– Full immersion in an English-language environment.

– Experienced English-speaking educators in the English department.

– Wide range of extracurricular activities: sports (swimming, tennis, football, wrestling, skiing, golf), creative workshops (drawing, dance, music, theater), intellectual development clubs (chess, robotics).

– Professional security and daily bus transportation.

– Extended school hours until 20:00 with various activities and amenities for children.

   Location:

Riverside School is situated in a nature conservation zone in the Skhodnya River valley, surrounded by over 1 hectare of forest.

Brookes School Moscow

Brookes School Moscow is an international coeducational private school founded in 2018. All subjects are taught in English, and it is part of the Brookes Education Group with schools worldwide. The institution includes a preschool section for children aged 2 and a school for children aged 6 to 7.

– Highly qualified teachers, many with advanced degrees.

– Exchange programs with schools in the USA, Canada, UK, South Korea, India.

– Healthy three-meal daily catering.

– Convenient location in one of Moscow’s best districts.

– School representatives assist with organizing accommodation in Moscow.

Russian International School (RIS)

RIS is an elite educational center offering dual programs: Russian and British national. The school features experienced educators from Russia and the UK, adhering to high standards in both Russian and British education.

   Special Features:

– Class sizes limited to 10 students.

– Additional sections and workshops: ballet, karate, artistic gymnastics, football, Chinese martial arts, theatrical studio, chess, and English clubs.

– Collaboration with British educational institutions, aiding with admissions and document processing.

– Accreditation from the British Examination Commission (Edexcel Approved Centre) to prepare students for A-levels and GCSE.

– Accreditation from Cambridge International Examinations, along with an educational license from the Russian Ministry of Education and state accreditation.

Academic Gymnasium

Academic Gymnasium offers preschool, primary, basic general, and secondary education according to the Russian educational program. It is also an ESOL center for conducting Cambridge English tests. Graduates successfully pass these tests, facilitating admission to foreign universities.

– Extensive extracurricular activities, including excursions, clubs, conferences, roundtable discussions, Olympiads, research, sports sections, and competitions.

– Options for full-time, homeschooling, part-time (external), and their combinations.

– Educational program supplemented with individual subjects from Cambridge University.

– Learning a second foreign language.

– Accreditation and license for educational activities.

– Certified Cambridge ESOL center.

European Gymnasium

European Gymnasium is one of the few international private schools in Russia using the International Baccalaureate (IB) program from grades 1 to 11. Children also follow the state educational program. In the primary school, the state program integrates with the PYP IBO approaches. From an early age, students deeply study English and begin learning a second foreign language.

– Preparation for the IB and Russian exams on individual programs.

– In-depth study of two foreign languages.

– Students in middle and high school can choose the language of instruction: English or Russian.

– Preparation for KET, PET, and FCE exams.

– Authorization for all three IB programs: PYP, MYP, DP.

– State accreditation and license.

School of Tomorrow

“School of Tomorrow” is a bilingual school based on biblical principles, using the proprietary teaching methodology created by Dr. Donald Howard. The approach involves individualized learning, allowing students to progress at their own pace.

    Features:

– Mandatory SAT and TOEFL testing for graduates.

– Authorized to conduct Stanford testing since 2004.

– Graduates easily pass the Russian Unified State Exam (EGE) and gain admission to top global universities.

– Annual “School of Tomorrow” Olympiads with participants from various countries.

    Licenses and Certificates:

– NCPSA and Accreditation International certificates.

– Fire safety declaration.

– CITA accreditation.

Marina International Private School

Marina International Private School operates based on the federal program with a focus on mastering several foreign languages. Children start learning English from the 1st grade, and from the 4th grade, they choose French, Spanish, or German. In higher grades, a third foreign language is added to the curriculum.

– Collaboration with leading universities in the country, British, Canadian, and American universities.

– Educational exchanges and trips during holidays.

– Participation and victories in Olympiads and project work competitions (including in India and California).

– Marina, together with the California Theater, stages musicals in English.

– License and accreditation for educational activities.

– CIS (Council of International Schools) membership.

– Conclusion C (unknown context).

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5 Fun High School Spanish Activities

When learning a language, it’s important that students stay motivated while also having fun. The key to achieving this is to make sure that you have a creative Spanish language activity that reinforces learning goals. 

In this post, we’ll share 5 fun and engaging Spanish activities for high school  that you can start using in your Spanish classes.

1. Describe People to Police as a Crime Scene Witness

2. create spanish stories with storybird, 3. move around the room while playing “find someone who…”, 4. use authentic spanish menus in a fun “take my order” game, 5. lead a successful field trip to a local spanish-speaking restaurant, what makes a good high school spanish activity, considerations for planning high school spanish activities, relatability.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

This activity is great for getting students to talk to one another and practicing their descriptions of people. You’ll need at least one picture of a person for every student, and a few spares if you want things to be more challenging.

Explain to your students that they are going to help solve a crime. Split the students into pairs. In each pair, one student will be a policeman and one student will be a witness. Call the witnesses to the front of the classroom and have the police officers turn their backs.

Give each witness a picture of a person to look at. Tell them that the person they are looking at is a criminal. Once they’ve had some time to memorize the picture, they can go back to their seats. Then you can put all of the pictures up on the board, as well as a couple of red herrings (those extra pictures) if you want to make it more difficult!

Now the police officers must ask their witnesses questions in order to discover who their criminal is. If your class can handle the extra element, it’s fun to give the police officers a notepad and have them make a sketch based on the witnesses’ descriptions.

Once the police officer has a complete description of the criminal, they can come to the front and try to point out the correct suspect. Don’t forget to compare the sketches to the real pictures to see who the best artist is!

Creating a story in your target language can be a great way to see if your class is able to write in Spanish just as well as they can speak, listen and read.

Storybird is a free website that allows students to create their own beautiful stories, practice their writing skills and get creative! You’ll need to create a sample story before the lesson to demonstrate what your students are going to do.

Once you’ve read the sample story as a class, show the students how to make a page of their own. They’ll have to choose an existing illustration, then come up with the accompanying text by themselves.

It might also be a good idea to review the tenses you will need , as well as pre-teaching some vocabulary that your students might want to use.

Encontrar a alguien que  (find someone who…) activities are great for speaking practice, but they are also brilliant for class bonding and getting restless students out of their seats for a minute.

Create a list of sentences that are appropriate for your class and put the heading “Find someone who” at the top of the page. Give each student a copy.

Example sentences might be:

Encontrar a alguien que haya visto la televisión anoche.

Encontrar a alguien que haya ido a bailar el fin de semana.

Encontrar a alguien a quien no le guste la pizza.

Encontrar a alguien que nunca se haya subido a una montaña rusa.

Encontrar a alguien que se vista de amarillo.

Students must stand up, walk around and ask each other questions. When they have found someone who meets the criteria for a question, they can put the name of that person down next to the relevant sentence.

When they have a name for each question on the list, they can shout, “Finished!” and let you verify their list. If you’re satisfied, they are declared the winner. You could also set this up in a grid as an interactive variation of the classic BINGO.

Remember to tweak the tenses, subject matter and vocabulary according to your class needs.

This activity brings authentic Spanish menus into the classroom to help students improve their vocabulary, comprehension and speaking.

Hand out copies of an authentic Spanish menu to all of your students. Review the food words that they already know , and then help them with the more difficult dishes. As you go through and explain the menu as a class, put up a picture on the board of each meal that you want to practice. This is also a good moment to pre-teach some useful restaurant phrases.

Tell the class that you are going to do a role play. Divide the class into groups of three to five students. In each group, one person will play the role of the server, while the others will be customers.

The customers are allowed to read the menu and place their orders, but the server must try to remember all of the orders without checking the menu. Once servers have taken the orders, they can come and try and take the correct food pictures from the front of the class. The servers score points for each correct order, and then the students swap roles.

To make it even more challenging, and to get in some additional numbers practice, you can have the server give the bill and have the customers pay in play money.

This activity works really well with an authentic local restaurant menu , but if you can’t find one, there are hundreds of Spanish menus online. Use Pexels or another image-sharing site to source the food pictures for the game.

Field trips are an excellent way to give your students real-world speaking practice, and they don’t have to break the bank. Something as simple as a trip to a local Mexican restaurant can really motivate learners to improve.

Here are some pointers to make it a success:

• Introduce the trip as part of a lesson. Remember the last activity I mentioned with the menus? It’ll be even more successful if students know that they will soon be visiting that restaurant on an upcoming field trip.
• Have the students use their Spanish during the outing. Learners must read the menu and give their orders in Spanish. Not only that, but you should have some conversation topics prepared to discuss with the meal.
• Continue the learning once the trip is over. As a teacher, you should maximize the potential learning outcomes of the field trip by reflecting on it afterward. An excellent way to do this is to do a creative writing assignment, like writing a restaurant review for Google or Tripadvisor.

There are potential risks involved in taking students out of the school grounds that should be properly assessed and planned for according to your school rules. Remember to discuss behavior expectations beforehand, and be sure to obtain parental permission as well as fill out the appropriate medical permissions forms. Also, consider taking additional chaperones to help you keep tabs on all the learners and make sure that no one gets left behind.

When implemented correctly, Spanish activities can be both enjoyable and stimulating for your high school class. Here’s what makes a great activity for high school Spanish:

• Students should be engaged and active. A learner that is getting hands-on experience can be far more likely to remember new content than one who is passively listening. Activities should also be student-centered rather than teacher-centered.
• The activity is meaningful and relevant. Students should be able to understand how the particular activity relates both to their current Spanish course and also to potential real-life uses.
• Students should feel good once the activity is complete. They should also be able to understand how the activity has helped their Spanish to improve.

There are a number of factors to consider when deciding if an activity is right for your classroom:

Be mindful both of your school’s resources and your students’ resources. In particular, check whether your students have internet access at home before assigning homework that requires them to be online.

All new teachers are guilty of sometimes planning lessons so elaborate that the students can’t understand what they are supposed to be doing! Keep activities as simple as possible until you are confident both in your students and in your ability to explain new tasks.

The unfortunate reality of teaching high school students is that sometimes behavior will be an issue. As a teacher, it’s your responsibility to know what kind of activities might “set your class off.” If you can’t trust your students to leave their seats without getting into trouble, then don’t make them leave their seats as part of an activity.

Students at the high school age respond better to learning that’s relevant to them. Find out what’s popular among your students—what students are listening to, watching, reading, etc.—and look for ways to bring the things they care about into the classroom.

This is a great time to incorporate technology into the lesson. For example, you could play clips from the FluentU program that your students will find engaging like movie trailers, music videos and vlogs. Each video features interactive subtitles, so your students will be able to compare the languages and hover over any new vocabulary for extra information.

If your students have the right resources (see above), then you could assign homework on FluentU. Alternatively, you can keep the learning in the classroom and create communal flashcard decks so students can practice together.

The key to teaching Spanish at high school is to make sure that the activities you use are both relatable and engaging for your students. 

Activities are a great way to make your high school classes run more smoothly and effectively as they will keep your students motivated and engaged.

Try one of these lively activities with your high school Spanish class today!

For more creative ideas, check out these Spanish art projects next. 

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