I wrote this mini-lesson for my community service class. Students were studying ethical dilemmas and the consequences and values compromised when making choices. This mini project sends students searching for pop songs of their choice to identify an ethical dilemma. Included are the criteria for an ethical dilemma, some pre-search scenarios to get kids thinking about what comprises an ethical dilemma, a short song list you could present a few songs from to start and parameters for the students choices. Project takes about two days to do in class. One for you, and one for them. This lesson would be good for a Leadership Class, a homeroom activity in character education or as an icebreaker to a contemporary issues social studies class. This mini lesson was not rocket science, but it was fun and students enjoyed connecting the idea of ethical dilemmas to their favourite music.

This amazing 90 minute film about what goes into our food and the effects it is having on people is an excellent way to introduce students to making better choices about what they put into their bodies. This documentary examines what kinds of chemicals are finding their way into our food and the resulting health problems that come from eating these highly processed foods. Movie guide contains 29 chronological questions that accompany the film and an answer key is also included. Follow up link for TED Talk also included. 2 day intro to nutrition, suitable for 7th grade through high school students.

This powerpoint covers step by step negation and other indefinite words. Each slide introduces a different combination and in between there are lots of examples for practice that students can do either orally as a group or on paper. Presentation takes one full class period with time included for practice and checking Best suited for a level II class where students are being introduced to this tricky concept.

Got problems with students using on line translation sites to do their work? Spend part of a class with this powerpoint of 10 pop songs that have been on line translated into Spanish and then back into English! Have your students guess at the lyrics and then play a piece of the songs that correspond to the bad translations. Guaranteed to make them laugh and keep them off the on line translation sites. Powerpoint contains 10 mystery songs and then last slide gives you the "answer key" if you would like to load up pieces of the songs to play from your IPOD or Youtube. Good for any level.

We all have stories of migration or immigration that brought members of our families to this country. I created this project for a level IV class with a mixed population of recent arrivals and long time residents of our city. Students share out either their own personal story or one of a family member in a 3 minute oral presentation. Download includes directions for students, guiding questions to help them interview a famiy member, grading rubric for you (and them) and a listening activity for students to take notes on their friends family stories. Students will need a couple of days to work on the presentations and you should budget to hear no more than 7 a day in class. Worked great in levels IV and V. Also suitable for a Heritage Language learner class if students are comfortable sharing their stories.

Students research a famous Latino musical artist and create a powerpoint to present their artist to their classmates. Presentations are around 3-4 minutes in length and work best for a level III class or higher who already has some prior practice speaking in the past tenses. This lesson also works great for Heritage Learner classes who are already conversant in Spanish as a means to gain some practice public speaking with a topic they are comfortable . Download contains requirements of project with guiding questions for students and a long list of famous Latino musicians for students to choose one of interest. Plan at least 2 days of computer lab time and about 6-8 presentations can be seen per day.

This article examines the role that clothing choices play in expressing people's identities and is a great lead in to a discussion about either identity or a unit on clothing. This article works best for a level III or higher level class where students can already comprehend a simple non fiction article written for a general audience. Download includes a copy of the article and reading questions with some topics for larger group discussion.

The childhood fairy tale becomes the challenge for students to decide if preterite or imperfect verbs should be used. This works best for 2nd semester Spanish II or Spanish III where students have been working with preterite and imperfect in shorter sentences for some time and are ready to transfer their skills to longer texts. The story is familiar so its a good place to begin as students will have prior knowledge of plot. 73 blanks, answer key with reasons for P or I is included. Practice can be done in class together, in small groups or assigned as homework. Answer key also included.

This movie is made in Puerto Rico and is like a combination of Mean Girls + Election with a hint of GLEE in the directing style. Emilio decides to run for student council in order to capture the attention of his big time crush. Its a funny film that deals with a lot of issues that students face in any country regarding acceptance, popularity, friendship and integrity. The movie guide is broken into 11 scene episodes that you could show weekly to students like a serial or all at once. Film is in Spanish with subtitles. Movie guide has35 questions, all in English, as this film is best suited for a Spanish I or II class where the audience is middle school or high school underclassmen. Answer key also included. Total film is about 90 minutes, PG rated and available on Amazon or Netflix.

These are simple step by step notes on how to tell time in Spanish. Each section has practice examples for students to write time on the hour, half hour, quarter hours and random in between times. Page two has blank clock faces where students can practice writing times you read to them, and there is a partner practice where students can ask and answer times in Spanish speaking capital cities. Four pages total to practice telling time reading, writing, listening and speaking. This lesson is best suited for students that are just beginning telling time, or for those students in 2nd year re-visiting the topic for a day to brush up their skills.

This exercise based on the famous fable by Aesop gives students 38 opportunities to practice choosing preterite or imperfect verbs in a manageable context. Story contains both regular and irregular verbs and should prompt some good discussions in class as to why a particular tense should be used. Download contains an answer key in addition to the story and works best when used with Spanish II students or higher who have been working with preterite vs imperfect for some time.

This packet is designed as a review for new Spanish II students at the beginning of the year. Each verb has boxes for conjugation, detailed notes for usage with specific examples and a few practice exercises at the end of each section. There is also a list of commonly used expressions with TENER. After all 3 verbs are presented, there are 50 simple sentences where students choose the correct verb from context clues. This lesson works best for students who have already been exposed to the material, as either a review or remedial for extra practice, but could also be used as a homeschool lesson on these three basic but necessary verbs.

This assignment is ideal for Spanish I or II learners. Students explore the meanings behind coats of arms, then create their own personal shield which they describe to peers in Spanish. An excellent review/cultural activity which incorporates colors, characteristics, animals, symbols, and SER usage. Students present their projects while classmates listen in target language to track details. This lesson could be easily adapted for other foreign languages. Worksheets are primarily in Spanish, additional differentiated scaffolded plans and extra links for enrichment are included.

How well you do know the countries of Latin America? 16 short descriptions of interesting facts about each country lead students on an internet guessing game. Great for beginners, practicing countries and capitals, and learning about Spanish speaking countries in general. Webquest is in English so it could be used for a social studies class studying Latin America as well. Students can do this activity in the computer lab or as homework outside of school. I recommend the CIA world factbook website as an excellent resource to find the information listed in the clues. Webquest takes about 30-40 minute to complete.

This film is set at the turn of the century in the hills of Provence outside of Marseilles and is based on a true story of the childhood of a French film director. In French, with subtitles available in either English or French, its not rated and it totally suitable for French students in either middle or high school. There is a sequel to this film, My Mother's Castle, if you students enjoy this one. Movie guide contains 36 questions chronologically ordered to accompany the film which is 2 hrs. in length. Questions are provided in both French and English.

This lesson focuses on the DOP's LO, LA, LOS, LAS and how to use them to replace direct objects in one and two verb sentences. There are notes, mini practices, group practices and extra examples for students to work individually. There never seems to be enough examples or clear enough explanations for students, particularly in the area of PLACEMENT of pronouns. This lesson makes the process a little easier and provides plenty of opportunity to practice.

Students discover the meaning and excitement of having a Quinceañera. They visit many different websites to acquire vocabulary, become acquainted with events of the big day, plan their own Quince event (keeping a budget) shop for a dress and ultimately connect the Quince experience through personal reflection. Adventure takes at least one day in the lab, could be two or assigned as homework. Adventure comes with a page of useful links that have all been tested (working) and are kid appropriate. Questions are in English, this lesson is best suited for beginning levels of Spanish.

This worksheet guides students through the basics of making comparisons of equality and inequality. Step by step notes, followed by short practices, you can complete these together in class or assign as homework. Page three is a half sheet fun activity you do with your students in class. Takes about 15 minutes to complete, you will need a big bag of M and M's candy and some small dixie cups. Kids love practicing their comparisons and then eating the results.

This popular film from the late 1980's remains a favourite with first year Spanish students. Sweet 15 explores two culturally relevant themes, the significance of the Quinceañera and the issue of granting amnesty to illegal aliens in the U.S. While the film is a little dated, the issues explored remain very relevant today and evoke some good in class discussion about becoming a citizen, illegal workers and the coming of age ritual of the quinceañera. Movie guide includes optional websites and questions for "presearch", 25 chronological movie questions and follow up questions for discussion. Best suited for first year Spanish students.

This is just a file of large words that you can cut apart and have your students put up around the school. Its fun and "gets the word out" to the other students and the administration that you are making people aware of school vocabulary in Spanish. Kids love to put them up. I do this activity every year and its amazing how long the words actually stay up. Education by osmosis. Enjoy!