A first lesson in Spanish for beginners

A list of events and pictures with descriptions of what Spanish people do at Christmas. Can the children match the pictures to the sentences? Discuss with children what they like about Christmas in different cultures. Show children the calendar for this year, and then see who can remember what comes next.

Write a letter to Pedro. Include 3 time frames and appropriate greetings. Have a conversation with a Spanish friend about what to do, as you are feeling unwell. Read about Spanish around the world and answer questions in English. Write to the Spanish family you are going to do a language exchange with, telling them about the county (eg. Devon) where you live.

Finding past tense endings Past tense battleships Some irregular past tense verbs What you did yesterday Talking about your last holiday Using direct object pronouns in the past Gloria Estefan sings in the past tense

A typically drama filled lovesong from Matt Monro, which is easy to understand due to the clear pronunciation of a singer who's native tongue is not Spanish. I have made a wordsearch, strings of words, and gapfill lyrics to engage learners with the song and the future tense. I can&'t include the song here, but I have included guidance on where to buy it. I hope that helps.

Words and expressions for weather A telephone conversation about the weather A postcard about the weather A narrative about the weather through the year in a place you know well (invention allowed, as always)

Famous Spanish films and their English and Spanish titles. Inviting a friend to the cinema – accepting and refusing. Sorting television and cinema words out from transport words. Spelling out unknown words.

An everyday good morning song. A circle song, with 2 ladybirds in the middle. At the end of each verse each ladybird goes to the circle to choose a friend ladybird until we get to 8 and it stops there each time. (The singing is just for demonstration and never sounds like I would like it to!)

This lesson shows learners how to give advice in Spanish, and has several 'problems' that can be developed and used to practice the advice language. I have also included a 'Ser and Estar' poster making activity because we think about inherent permanent aspects of a person and ones that are changeable in this class.

Learners read a Spanish text with the teacher about what Mexican children do for their birthday, and answer questions about it. Learners study the months, sing the months, and write about their own birthdays.

This lesson guides learners into asking about, giving, and understanding opening times, making a description of markets in your country, writing back to a friend to give information about a shop. The Spanish is all quite simple, and uses the present tense.

Vocab and phrase work to build confidence and fluency in booking the type of hotel room you want for the day and date you want it.

Exchange personal information like telephone numbers and where you live, through situations like meeting in a cafe, or exchanging business details. Roleplay being grown up.

When did x happen? (which decade) How do you spell your name? What does each letter of the alphabet sound like?

Whether you have Spanish speakers in your class, or you are teaching a little Spanish with young children, these pages with simple tasks and instructions in both languages might be useful. I cut mine up and make them into little books for the children to take home.

I show the learners the 3 bears and their belongings to teach the vocab, then we have hunts to find the objects that I have put out on the tables. We learn the song and pretend to be each of the 3 bears, practicing our different voices for baby, mummy and daddy. Goldilocks turns up for the book, which I read to the learners, before giving them a copy to colour and take home.

Learners use a questionnaire to think about their diets and to use adverbs of frequency. Then learners watch a youtube Spanish tv chef prepare a typical recipe with a comprehension worksheet in Spanish to answer.

Based on a short story I read at school, this document gives students instructions to produce a play in Spanish to perform for other learners - ideal to encourage the study of language.

Some colouring sheets with opposites all related to animals. We try and invent actions for these words and incorporate them into a Spanish dance to the Hawaii five o tune.

I use this to incorporate a bit of physical learning and Spanish to learning about the life cycle of frogs.