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 project is best suited for first semester French students or young learners, and is designed to create an awareness of the presence of French on items everywhere in our daily lives. Download includes directions for project, grading rubric and a blackline master of artifact sheets you can copy en masse for your students to archive their findings. This project is meant to be completed outside of class, I recommend several interim due dates within the first semester to hold students accountable to making progress with their project.
I use this activity to start my foreign language classes but it would work really well for ESL students, Social Studies or even a psychology course. Students examine components of culture, both surface and deep and discuss what makes up a person's culture. Small group brainstorming sessions interspaced with large group share outs and individual reflections on culture, social circles and deep vs surface. Project and reflection questions at the end for students to complete at home. This lesson takes at least one-two class periods to complete and is a great introduction to get them thinking about cultural differences and how people assimilate.
This mini lesson takes one class period and it a fun way for students to practice asking questions of their peers through the forbidden venue of texting in class. Lesson includes the sheet for students to use to create their questions and record the answers they receive, step by step directions for you to explain the lesson and a three page list of popular abbreviations used by Spanish speaking teens in their communications. Lesson is best suited to finish a unit on interrogatives with a level of Spanish II or higher.
This online webquest works best for Middle school or Spanish I classes and can be completed in a class period in a computer lab or assigned as homework. Questions are in English and several different sites are provided to students to gather information and view colorful photos of this celebration. Webquest contains questions, tables, charts, compare and contrast and a terms section and takes about an hour to complete.
This download is a great way for students to practice using interrogatives while socializing in large group. Students first answer 30 simple questions using a wide variety of interrogatives. Then they each receive one question and "work the party" to take turns asking and answering questions. Students switch questions every round and activity runs until most students have asked or answered most questions. Lesson is best suited as a review of interrogatives for Spanish II students or for Spanish I students at the end of the year where they have some working knowledge of simple sentences, and have been practicing with interrogatives for several days. Download has a blackline master for students and 30 large size questions you can print onto cardstock and cut apart, all ready to go for class. Lesson takes about 30-40 minutes to run, 15 minutes for students to complete the questionaire and another 20-30 minutes to work the room.
This is a short quiz for students to use interrogatives. 24 questions and answers where students choose the correct interrogative word from the word bank (no definitions) to logically complete the question. Questions are all written in present tense using basic vocabulary typical of Spanish I curriculum. Quiz would work for Spanish I or as a review for Spanish II. Answer key also included.
This A-B partner practice gives students the opportunity to practice conjugation of reflexive verbs, to differentiate between reflexive and non reflexive verbs and to review telling time French. Students first answer questions about their own daily routine, then take turns exchanging information to complete the grid about themselves and other people. Practice takes about 15 minutes to complete in class and works well as a review or warm up before a quiz or after students have been practicing reflexive actions for a few days.
This A-B partner practice is designed for students to practice conjugating reflexive verbs, differentiating between reflexive and non-reflexive actions and reviewing telling time. Students first complete their own answers, then take turns with a partner exchanging information to complete the grid. Activity takes about 15 minutes to complete in class. Great for a warm up before a quiz or after having a few days of practice with reflexive verbs.
This partner practice contains 8 questions and 8 images for each person. Students take turns asking and answering questions about items they need to perform reflexive actions. Practice takes about 15 minutes to run and is a good way to review/reinforce thematic vocabulary while practicing conjugation of reflexive verbs with the pronouns attached to the end. (Verb pair sentences) Best suited to Spanish II or higher students who have already had a few working with reflexive verbs and thematic vocabulary.
A short listening practice that combines knowledge of clothing/accessory items with big numbers. Students listen as the quantities and prices are read to them and record their answers in the boxes. Practice works best with Spanish I students in their second semester as a practice for numbers up to 1000. Takes about 10 minutes to complete. Listening script is included.
I created this powerpoint to help Spanish heritage learners and advanced Spanish students identify the key components of a story. the powerpoint explains the elements of a story, including narration styles, how to break a story apart and key terminology in Spanish. This lesson will be useful to students who are reading short stories in Spanish and/or preparing for the AP literature exam. Download alsohas a graphic organizer for notetaking, so students can take notes as you present the information. Takes one class perdiod to cover the information and could be followed up the next day with a short story that students can practice identifying what they have learned. Best suited for a level IV or AP class or any middle or high school language arts class conducted in Spanish.
This giant 36 slide powerpoint covers Direct Object pronouns from beginning to end. We start by identifying them in English, then moving into Spanish, we replace Direct Objects with pronouns in 1 verb, 2 verb, gerund, postive command, negative command and use them in questions. Slides contain step by step notes, explanations of accents, personal "a" usage and contains tons of examples. This powerpoint is best used over several days of instruction with classroom activities and exercises as students learn all the uses for DOP's. Best suited for SPanish II students learning pronouns for the first time or as a review for a higher level course. All practice examples reveal the answers as you go along, so no worries about an answer key! Total teaching time is at least 90 minutes if students work the practice examples as you go along, but I would chunk this up over several days as DOPs can be overwhelming.
This notes and practice packet works well for introducing students to usage and placement of Indirect Object pronouns. Notes take students through function and placement of IOPs in 1 verb, 2 verb, gerund, positive/negative commands, questions and answers. Packet contains 50 practice exercises grouped together step by step and finishing with open ended questions using IOP's students can discuss with peers in class. This lesson works best for level II or higher, could also be used as a review of Indirect Object PRonouns for higher levels.
This reading activity is designed to accompany the article BUENOS MODALES EN LA MESA. The reading guide contains a section to make pre-reading predictions, some key vocabulary, a fill in the blank section based on what they actually read and a couple of questions for in class discussion. This reading works best for 2nd semester level II or higher to accompany a unit on food, table manners and polite commands. Takes 1 class period to complete or can be assigned as homework. Activity also includes a copy of the reading, which is also available on line for free.
This two sided worksheet works well when introducing students to stem changer o --> ue (and jugar) verbs. It has an easy explanation, practice boxes for conjugation, a word bank of verbs and definition and page 2 has pictures and sentences for verb conjugation. Worksheet can be assigned as homework, extra practice or used as an intro to stem changers in class. Takes about 20 minutes to complete.
This short quiz is best suited for Spanish I or II students completing all 3 families of stem changing verbs. There are 3 box charts at the top for students to conjugate an entire verb from each family, and 16 short sentences with assorted verbs to be conjugated. Takes 15-20 minutes to complete. Download also contains answer key.
This project has pairs of students investigating a major event in the history of a Spanish speaking country. Options include: Social issues, terrorism, crime, wars, dictatorships, civil wars, natural disasters. Students work in pairs to research a big event and create a presentation to educate the class. Students also design a creative activity to include in their presentation to help peers understand the big event. Activity can be conducted in class (need computer lab internet access) or as independent research outside of class. Students can work individually, in pairs or small groups on a topic of their choice. Lesson includes project outline, rubric,list of potential topics, questions to guide students, and a brief brainstorming activity to introduce the concept. Lesson works best with high school students who have had at least one year of Spanish, and is excellent for higher level classes to do their entire presentation in the target language. Also suitable for homeschool students.
This project is designed for students at any level of middle or high school Spanish to investigate the life of a famous Hispanic athlete, artist or musician. It could be completed in English at the lower levels or Spanish at level II or above. Students have four options in the presentation of their person, but all of them treat the famous person as if the student were producing project as an autobiography. Project includes overview, list of famous Hispanics for a class to sign up, questions to consider in their work and a grading rubric that applies to any of the students project choices. Project appeals to a wide variety of student interests and will lead to some very entertaining moments in class when they present!
This is an entry level worksheet to accompany vocabulary for furniture, parts of the house, and chores. Students inventory their homes for various items and answer questions as to who is responsible for tasks around the house. This assignment works well in the early days of a unit on housework, house parts and chores and is good for either levels I or 2. You can use their answers in class to create discussion or form comparisons based on their results.