This is a semester long out of class project for students of exploratory, elementary or first semester Spanish I. The project is desigend to create an awareness in students to the presence of Spanish in our everyday lives and products. Beginning students who have completed this project tell me that ever after they can't stop reading labels in Spanish. It's a very easy project to do and grade and is best for younger learners and absolute beginners. Lesson includes directions and a blackline master of artifact sheets you can copy and give to your students to label their items and get the most out of the assignment. This lesson is written for teachers to give to their Spanish students, but could easily be adapted for other languages.

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 activity works well for AP Spanish IV or V students, or Heritage Language learners working with the concept of identity. This project has students choose a specific age from their childhood and then guides them through how to create poem about how they were at that age. Allow at least one day in class to work, one day to help students proof their rough drafts and one day for students to present their poems to peers.

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.

This partner practice combines the preterite tense of the verbs comprar and pagar with a review of big numbers. Each student gets eight questions and eight purchases. Students take turns asking each other what each purchase was, and how much they paid for it. Takes about 15 minutes to complete in class and works best for a level II class where students are first learning the preterite tense and/or could use a quick brush up with larger numbers.

This notes and practice packet is designed to be used with verb pairs. Students get a reference chart with examples of verbs that take a/al/a la de/del/de la en and que. Each section contains notes and practice examples. Page three has 34 practice sentences with verb pairs where students can decide if the sentence requires a helping word or not. This lesson is best suited for level II or higher or as a review for a Spanish 3-4 level in high school.

There are 5 separate Vocabulary squares in this lesson. These work great as warm ups at the start of class for Spanish II or higher level students, or you could assign them as homework if you are studying any of these units thematically. Students choose 2 words from the grid and explain the relationship between two words, either how they are connected, are similar or are different. Gets kids thinking about vocabulary words relationship to each other and offers a change from standard Spanish to English vocabulary practice. Animals, clothes, food, house and weather words all combine with adjectives.

This 17 minute broadcast tells the story of some Colombian musicians who were kidnapped and forced to play music at a paramilitary birthday party in the middle of the jungle. 10 queestions in chronological order that follow the podcast and an essay topic for reflection aftewards make up the guide that follows this program. This lesson is best suited for a Heritage Learners Spanish class or a Level VAP where students can follow sustained spoken Spanish for a period of time. You may wish to break the episode down into smaller segments or repeat the broadcast several times for students who do not speak Spanish outside of your class. Lesson takes one class period to complete. Answer key is included.

Radioambulante.org has many engaging story episodes about various people throughout Latin America. This episode tells the story of a fisherman lost at sea for 438 days who survived until he landed in the Marshall Islands. Episode is about 25 minutes long and is best suited for a Heritage Speakers or AP level class where students already have high levels of proficiency. Non native speaker classes will work better if you pause the program periodically and replay parts to ensure students understand. Download includes 20 questions for comprehension and two follow up questions for students to process after listening. Takes one class period to complete. This is one of the most compelling stories I have heard yet on Radio Ambulante and your students will certainly be engaged. Link to episode is at the top of the page for easy access and absent students who can listen at home on their phones. Answer key also included.

This partner practice presents simple problems and students present simple solutions using the subjunctive tense and impersonal expressions. Students take turns presenting problems and giving advice while making verbs in in subjuntive. Partner practice takes 15-20 miinutes to run in class and works best with level III or higher who have been practicing subjunctive conjugation and usage for a few days.

This project is designed for Level II or higher students to get them using informal commands and food vocabulary. Students guide a randomly selected classmate in the preparation of a simple recipe. Project includes suggestions to prepare, step by step instructions, 2 pages of relevant useful vocabulary and a rubric for grading. You can generally see 7 presentations per class period if you are well organized. Allow 2 days for students to create scripts and one class period for peer editing and proofing. Hilarious fun to watch the kids try to explain how to put things together in Spanish. Winner of Missouri Best Lessons award.

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.

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 newest 20 episode of Radio Ambulante addresses the issue of beauty, through the eyes of Gabi who is very self critical and those around her who have criticized and mocked her for her ugliness since childhood. In the interview Gabi explores the topic of ugliness/beauty and how she sees herself, those around her and how others have treated her. This podcast is excellent for a Heritage Learner class or a Level V Spanish AP class as one of the AP themes is beauty and aesthetics. There are a couple of questions the interviewer poses that may make some students uncomfortable (references to body parts) so its best to listen to the podcast and decide if your audience is mature, or if you want to make a brief comment prior to beginning the listening practice to avoid discomfort. Download includes 13 questions in chronological order and 4 follow up topics for discussion or as writing prompts for students to react. Answers to podcast also included and a link on top to podcasts for absent students. Radio Ambulante never disappoints and this topic is spot on for AP test prep.

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.

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!

This mini unit contains one reference chart fully completed for students, a second reference chart with blank practice grids for students to practice conjugations, two practice pages using Weird Yo's (one easy and one harder) and a small 40 point quiz on conjugations and meanings of irregular present tense YO verbs.

This can be used as a final assessment after learning preterite/imperfect, can be modified for higher level Spanish learners by adding a prediction/reaction section in the subjunctive. Students watch current events on Univision for several days and keep a journal of major events that they use to prepare a powerpoint presentation to present major events in Spanish. Best suited for Spanish II or III.