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.

This lesson is designed to get students thinking about cultural "norms" and all the different ways good etiquette, customs and rituals are practiced around the world. There are 48 simple statements on a chart for students to ponder in small groups and then guess as to where these practices are considered the norm. Survey is written in English so it will work for teachers of any foreign language, as well as ELL classes. The survey will open up students minds for the wide variety of cultural diversity, and for ELL students give them an opportunity to share out cultural norms from their home countries. This activity would be excellent for the first day of school to open the dialogue and get students interacting. Download also includes an answer key for you to share with students afterwards.

A really difficult very tense for students to integrate into their spoken vocabulary, this A-B partner practice has students asking their partners what they would do under a certain set of circumstances. Best suited for a Level IV or V AP class, this exerise is also fun for Heritage Language Speaker students who seldom get the practice they need in past subjunctive tense. Takes about 15-20 minutes to run in class and you will enjoy sharing out some of their answers large group afterwards to hear how they responded.

20 slide powerpoint to discuss use of reflexive verbs with students. I break this up into several days of shorter presentations and intersperse practice and partner activities as we look at reflexives in 1 verb sentences, verb pairs, gerunds and positive tú commands. Lots of practice slides in between for guided practice on white boards or just plain paper. Answers given on the following slides so students can check their progress as they experiment with reflexive pronouns. This presentation is best suited to a level II class for introduction or as a quick and comprehensive review to higher levels who need a quick refresher.

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.

This powerpoint is designed as an introduction to Indirect Object Pronouns and works best for level II where students have already had some experience with DOP's or reflexive pronouns and where placement of pronouns in relation to verbs is somewhat familiar. This presentation walks students through idenitification of IO's and replacement with IOP's in 1 verb and two verbs sentences. It also introduces students to clarifiers and how they are used with IOP's in sentences. Takes about 30 minutes to present and practice in class. Works great with white boards if kids like to practice as you present.

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.

A simple lesson plan for beginning students to use expressions with GUSTAR to describe personal likes and dislikes. Directions for students step by step in Spanish and English. No rocket science here, but a great way for students to practice GUSTAR and related verbs in a differentiated way while acquiring vocabulary to describe their personal interests. Takes one class period to complete, you will need a stack of old magazines or access to the computer lab to download images. This lesson is easily adaptable to a powerpoint presentation if your students have easy access to computers.

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.

Students follow a Telenovela for 5 episodes and take notes to then create a powerpoint presentation for their class. This project works best for Spanish III or higher and incorporates review of preterite and imperfect tenses, subjunctive tense and relationship, conflict and resolution vocabulary. Students become familiar with the cultural phenomenon of the Telenovela while listening to native spoken Spanish in context. I recommend students use close captioning while watching to further their comprehension and this project includes a list of helpful thematic vocabulary. This lesson won a prize for Missouri's Best Lesson Plans.

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.

The famous story of the ant and the grasshopper by Aesop serves as inspiration for this preterite vs imperfect practice that works best for Spanish II or III after students have been working with choosing preterite vs imperfect in sentences. Fable includes 33 blanks for practice and an answer key for you.

This is a simple one page reference chart of common BUZZ words and cases for using either the preterite or imperfect tense. I usually photocopy it onto coloured cardstock where students can reference it quickly as they are slogging through my packet of fairytales deciding which verb to use. Its not rocket science, but my students tell me its been quite useful to them and that they have kept it through the years as they move on to higher levels.

This 40 point quiz covers the basics of conditional tense conjugation and usage. It contains a box chart for the verb endings, a section asking students to identify irregular conditional stems. 10 practice sentences for conjugation and an open ended reponse section where student complete sentences in the conditional based on a hypothetical situation. Takes about 20-30 min to complete and works best as assessment for Spanish 3 or higher where students have been practicing the conditional for a few days.

Lots of practice words organized alphabetically for brand new Spanish beginners to practice pronunciation.

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!