Getting ready to start a unit on Pablo Neruda? I use this worksheet to review students prior knowledge of poetry terminology while giving them the terminology vocabulary in Spanish. If you have a basic DVD in your schools library on English poetry, you can use this to accompany it, but its not required, and students can complete the terms with you in class. I created this after slogging through poetry for a couple of seasons while having to re-teach students necessary terms. It made a big difference at how quickly they were able to apply similar skills to poems in Spanish.

7 mini quizzes for conjugating irregular preterite verbs. SER/IR/HACER, PODER/PONER, TENER/ESTAR/ANDAR, QUERER/VENIR, DECIR/TRAER and LEER/CREER/OIR, SABER/HABER Each quiz has conjugation boxes, and simple sentences for students to choose the correct verb and conjugation in the preterite tense. Verbs are quizzed by spell change groups to help students get a grip on all the irregulars step by step. Each quiz takes about 10-15 minutes and work great as a warm up. Quizzes could also be used as study guides for a bigger preterite test.

This powerpoint works well to accompany El Pachuco y Otros Extremos by Octavio Paz. The powerpoint walks students through what a Pachuco is, some famous Pachucos, an contains links to some short video clips to illustrate various Pachucos. I created this powerpoint for a Heritage Speaker Spanish class where students have a high level of conversational Spanish but lack prior knowledge on the history of the Pachucho movement. Could also be used in a level 5 AP class where students already have a high level of comprehension.

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.

I use this as a reference card for students when we start Preterite VS Imperfect. It covers formation of the tense in regular and irregular forms with a few practice examples, then provides a list of "buzz" words to help students identify when to use imperfect, on the back there is a detailed use of reasons for usage of the imperfect with lots of examples so students can see the tense in context. I print it up on green card stock and give it out as a reference. My students tell me that they have saved these cards and used them again when they went to college! Very helpful.

Tortilla Soup is a cute little movie that examines the relationships in a Mexican American family and intertwines the theme of food. This is an excellent film to show after finishing a unit on either food or family to show students the importance of meals and family relationships. This film is rated PG-13 and contains no bad language, only one mildy suggestive scene and overall is really enjoyable. Students will recognize many of the actors from other films and TV shows. Movie guide contains 20 questions chronologically orderd and 2 follow up themes for discussion or out of class writing. Film and questions are in English.

Need a quick and entertaining formative practice for E--> IE stem changer verbs? Number the stations in your room, have students grab a sheet of paper and fire up this game! Powerpoint includes detailed instructions and enough e--ie verb practices for 20 minutes of practice. Perfect before a quiz on Stem changer verbs. Everyone is engaged 100% of the game and it provides instant feedback as to if they "get it". Rock scissors tie-breakers are hilarious to watch too.

This quick partner practice gets students using regular and irregular preterite verbs to share information about what they did yesterday in an out of school. Students complete their own information and then take turns sharing answers. Practice takes about 15 minutes to run and is a great review before a quiz or after learning a variety of preterite verbs. Best suited for Spanish II or higher.

This assignment is excellent for students just beginning their study of Spanish. I assign it as homework on the first day of school as a contest. Students use friends, family, internet to research and discover dozens of connection of Spanish to their own country and surroundings. 10 in-depth questions with multiple answers send kids looking for all kinds of geographical, literary, cultural and historical information. You could also do this assignment in pairs in a computer lab. Students enjoy the challenge and discovering how many Spanish words are part of our lives already. Answer key also included so you have no homework tonight!

This quiz covers conjugation of ER verbs. It contains a listening section for students to identify what subject they hear in verb endings, a conjugation box for ER verb endings, 10 short sentences to conjugate verbs, conjugated verbs where students read and convert meanings back into English and several questions in Spanish for students to answer using an ER verb. Download also contains an answer key.

Students never seem to get enough practice with interrogatives in the text book generated materials. These practice pages give an introduction to the different ways to form questions in Spanish, to answer questions negatively and positively and to practice selecting the correct interrogative to complete a question. Four pages of different kinds of practice with question words. These work best when students have already been working with interrogatives for a couple of days or as a review in second year Spanish.

This game pits students in the room against each other with a different partner every round. Students compete to come up first with the right answer and then everyone rotates chairs after each round. Powerpoint comes with instructions for teachers and a slide of instructions for students, 7 slides of SER vs ESTAR examples and answers for a 28 round game. Kids bounce around the room until a winner returns to their seat winning. Great fun, no non participators and all you do is run the mouse and discuss the answers when necessary. Game takes about 30 minutes to play.

A quick little interview grid for students to practice using preterite verbs in class as they return from break. Students interview classmates and obtain signatures in Spanish. You can play along, or run it as a contest, NO INGLES and first one to obtain all the signatures wins. Uses a wide variety of preterite verbs and easy vocabulary so students can "review" while they get back into the swing of speaking Spanish in a "safe" venue.

This partner practice has students answering questions about their study habits and class behaviours and then surveying 2 classmates. Takes about 20 minutes to run and is great for practice with school vocabulary and frequency words (siempre, a veces, nunca) This practice works best with level II students and lines up nicely with Realidades 1A vocabulary.

This is a reference card on the formation of the present progressive tense. There are lots of examples and practices on the back for students to complete. It takes students step by step through the formation and use of the progressive tense.

Spanish students never seems to get enough practice with interrogatives. This packet begins with students choosing from a couple of interrogatives, and finishes with students selecting the correct interrogative. There are forty total exercises in a three page packet. Makes a great review or additional practice opportunity. Questions use school and classroom vocabulary as their main focus.

An easy handout to accompany introduction of TENER and associated expressions. I copy this blackline onto coloured cardstock and 3 hole punch so students can refer to it in their binders.

This film chronicles the challenges that poor Hispanic students face in LA when they try to pass the AP Calculus Exam. Based on a true story of a Hispanic teacher in urban LA this film is great for Spanish I to open discussions about Chicano students and discrimination. Questions are in English. Colleagues have also shown this film to math students and social studies when studying Chicano culture.

Gives a brief explanation of verb pairs and a chart of many common helping verbs with their definitions. Following two pages of practice examples, first from Spanish to English and then production from English into Spanish. Good as in class practice, homework or remedial.

Students use their cell phones in class to send and respond to text messages in order to discover the identity of the mystery texter. Also included are a list of popular abbreviations that native speakers use around the world to text their friends. This activity works well in claasses of 16+ students and will fascinate them while practicing interrogatives!