I am a High School World Language Teacher of Spanish, French, ESL and Bi-lingual education with 25 years of experience teaching all levels K-University level language classes. I love teaching and always ask for new responsibilities to broaden my knowledge. I am a documentary buff so I also write movie guides on a variety of Social Studies and Health related topics in addition to World Languages. I am excited to be able to share lessons with others and welcome your feedback.
I am a High School World Language Teacher of Spanish, French, ESL and Bi-lingual education with 25 years of experience teaching all levels K-University level language classes. I love teaching and always ask for new responsibilities to broaden my knowledge. I am a documentary buff so I also write movie guides on a variety of Social Studies and Health related topics in addition to World Languages. I am excited to be able to share lessons with others and welcome your feedback.
This lesson includes start up notes for students on how to identify the gender of a noun and decide the correct article to use with nouns in Spanish. Each note section is followed by practices that can be completed indidivually as homework or together as a class during introduction of the concept. Page 2 outlines rules for making nouns plural and includes 40 practice examples. Lessons can be taught separately or together.
Roy Germano PhD in poli sci visits small Mexican towns to interview people about why many people risk their lives to leave for work in the US. Germano talks with workers, farmers, spouses, families and municipal employees to discover reasons people leave and what happens to their families when they go. This compelling documentary is 55 minutes long and fits neatly in 1 class. It is an excellent companion to one of the many movies about undocumented immigrants and their journeys to the US. Most of this film is in Spanish w English subtitles and works well with any level high school Spanish or Social Studies where you have spent time discussing the immigration. This film is very well made, not rated, and has won awards at film festivals, available on Netflix or for purchase on Amazon. Movie guide contains 22 questions that follow the film. I divide students into small groups and assign each group sections to answer, then share out. Questions included in Spanish and English.
No matter how much practice students get with question words, they always feel sticky at the beginning of the year. The powerpoint contains 56 practice sentences for students to select the correct interrogative. You can use it with whiteboards, or as a warm up, or load it into a clicker lesson if you have them. The "preview file" is a word doc on question words that can be assigned following the powerpoint, and practices similar questions. This lesson works best after students have already been introduced to interrogatives and has a few days to practice. answer key for worksheet is included.
125 practice examples for using preterite and imperfect. Some in English to start, some more in Spanish, then some simple sentences and some challenging sentences. Four pages of practice that you can give all at once or break apart and assign daily, use in class for discussion, whatever you like because we all know we never ever seem to have enough practice using and choosing Preterite vs Imperfect!
This 40 point quiz within the context of the fairy tale Little Red Ridinghood works best for students at level III or higher who have been working with Preterite vs Imperfect within the context of a short story. Students prior knowledge of this famous fairy tale will help them to comprehend the context of the story and select the best verb choice. Answer key included, quiz takes about 20 minutes to complete in class. Quiz could also be used as a practice.
This powerpoint presentation will launch the unit on subjunctive, covering requirements for a subjunctive verb, formation of the tense and many of the irregular, weird Yo, stem changer verbs, and lots of practice examples. There are several slides for oral practice where students can shout out then check their conjugations, followed by a list of WEDDING conditions for subjunctive sentences with examples and 32 practice examples on slides with answers so students can check their work and discuss along the way. I use this presentation over the course of several days to work on subjunctives and follow up with a practice packet of additional exercises, but the powerpoint could easily carry students through the first three days of notetaking and practice. Presentation adapts nicely to the AVID style of Cornell notetaking. I was observed using this lesson and the administration loved it!
Take your students to the computer lab for an hour to learn about Day of the Dead. Webquest guides students through important vocabulary and provides links to video links for students to observe Day of the Dead traditions and to respond with their own reflections. Lesson takes one class period to complete and is appropriate for level III or higher where students have some comprehension of Spanish.
This 23 slide powerpoint walks students through making comparisons of equality and inequality. Slides use celebrities and athletes to help student practice making comparisons. Examples of each kind and opportunities for creative examples from students. This presentation works well as an introduction to comparatives (have students take notes and copy examples) or as quick review before a quiz.
This practice sheet explains the conjugation of Perfect tenses in Spanish. (Present, past, future and conditional) It covers how to form the past participles for regular verbs and provides a list of irregular verbs for students to use. There are practice examples, 50 easier sentences and a few more challenging sentences for students to practice using the perfect tenses. This lesson works best for Spanish III or higher who are just learning the perfect tenses and how they can be used.
This project works best for students who are completing French II or higher and have already had practice with partitive articles and passe compose verbs with AVOIR. Students prepare and demonstrate a recipe giving commands to a classmate to prepare their project step by step live in class. Hilarious project, especially when a student is randomly paired who has never cooked before. This project works best as a final assessment after a unit on food and incorporates their knowledge of past tense verbs, words of quantity, partitives, words of order and food vocabulary. Project takes several days to watch in class, you can see about 5 students per day in a regular class period, more if they are making sandwiches. Students will need time outside of class to write their presentations and you may wish to give them a day in class to proof their work and make corrections before they begin to memorize.
Whether you are just learning preterite vs imperfect or reviewing it with higher level classes, this presentation takes you through the usage step by step for all cases involving preterite and imperfect tenses. There are 45 questions sprinkled throughout the lesson for students to choose the correct tense. This lesson was written to accompany classroom clickers remote learning systems but could easily be completed with a pencil and paper if you don't have access to remote learning systems. Takes one full class period to complete if your students are taking notes while you present.
This five page packet contains everything you need to introduce your students to reflexive verbs in Spanish. Includes: a list of reflexive verbs and their definitions, a step by step explanation on the use and conjugation of reflexives with practice samples, three worksheets to practice conjugations, deciding if a verb s/b reflexive in simple sentences and box charts of stem changers.
21 chronological questions in both Spanish and English to accompany the film Motorcycle Diaries which chronicles the early life of Che Guevara. This film won awards and is excellent for any level of Spanish or Social Studies. However, one should note that the film carries an R rating for the language that appears in the subtitles. (the English is harsher than the original script) and you will want to obtain parental permission or limit this film to junior and senior students. Movie guide also contains 9 follow up topics for class discussion or independent student writing. Great film! Your students will love it.
This 12 question checklist survey about childhood activities and preferences makes a great introduction to the unit on childhood. Students read a series of statements in the imperfect tense and check off any applicable answers. Download also contains a two column vocabulary list of helpful childhood words. Free preview file is a powerpoint that matches the questions, so the day after you assign students the homework you can review the questions together. I like to print a class roster on a grid and copy it for students. Then they can tally their classmates answers to the questions as you call on students to report their responses. Worksheet works best with level II students who have recently begun learning childhood vocabulary (Realidades II and En Español ) and can recognize verbs in the imperfect tense. Powerpoint survey takes about 20 minutes to run in class the next day.
This 4 page practice packet on the conditional explains to students step by step how to form it and when to use it. Packet contains detailed notes, 40 practice exercises and conjugation boxes, and an essay prompt for students to demonstrate creatively their usage. Can be assigned as homework, extra practice or completed in class. Best suited for a level III or higher class as introduction or extra practice for this concept.
Ever wish you had a list of prepositions to give to higher level Spanish students to use when they are doing journal entries or guided writings? Well, now you do! :) I let my students use these when they are composing paragraphs on assessments. I ask them to use a finite number (you decide) and underline or circle them as they write to identify they have used them.
My Spanish IV students asked me to prepare them a review grid of tenses (present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional and subjunctive) for most commonly used verbs. There are no conjugations on this grid, but its a useful template if want to give students extra practice or a review before they start creating or narrating a story. No answer key for this one, but its free for anyone who can use it. :)