This mini adventure webquest puts students to work compiling information about a Spanish speaking country of choice. I recommend partners and a day in the lab together where you can guide them through the website and help them to form conclusions and comparisons to their own lives in the US. Assignment can be completed in one class period. Allow two more class periods for students to present their findings to the class. Assignment is in English as its designed for lower level or introductory courses but could easily be converted into Spanish for a higher level class, or used for a French class with Francophone countries.

This practice packet will take students through the basics of when accents are needed and when the stress falls naturally on words. It also looks at special cases like interrogatives, and words that change their meaning with an accent. There are practice exercises integegrated throughout the packet as well, so students can practice subbing out pronouns and adding accents, dividing words into syllables and determining if they need an accent or not. Answer key for you also included. This packet works best with a level 3 or higher class when students have already built a good level of vocabulary in Spanish. It is also suitable for a heritage learner class when students need a refresher.

This movie is great for a middle school beginning Spanish class. It deals with a young Mexican athlete who lives illegally in Los Angeles and has a chance to realize his dream as a professional soccer player in England. Dialogue is mostly in English, with some family interaction in Spanish with subtitles. This film works great as a conclusion to a chapter on sports or as an opener to the discussion of the importance of soccer to Hispanic people and around the world. Film is rated PG-13, and contains a couple of swear words, but otherwise is "safe" for a middle school audience. Movie guide contains 29 questions in order of the film and 5 follow up themes for discussion. Movie is available from Amazon, on Netflix or on Youtube.

This powerpoint contains 20 photos of famous people that students can practice describing with adjectives. There is also a supporting worksheet that accompanies it. Students circle the correct adjective for each famous person. Great activity as a warm up after a couple of days of adjective practice. Powerpoint photos also work as a stand alone activity where students produce adjectives that describe the photos.

Movie guide follows the film La Lengua de las Mariposas, a film about a friendship between a teacher and young boy during the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. This film has one strong/violent scene in it that should be omitted by teacher and is not necessary to the plot. The movie gives students a very good idea of the fear that people felt during Franco's reign. Film is in Spanish, so are study questions.

Teaching the Cultural Component to a foreign language class can be challenging. This collection of 99 independent projects grouped together by interest (art, music, history, internet, etc) has something for everyone. Students select which projects to complete and present their findings in the first five minutes of the class daily. Projects have different point values based on time and difficulty levels which students combine to complete 50 points each semester. This portfolio is the ongoing work and revision of 15 years of teaching cultural topics in foreign language classes. Years later students tell me that these are the projects they found to be the most interesting and memorable in their foreign language experience because they connected to areas of personal interest. Download contains goals of investigation, step by step instructions on how to complete the projects, activity sheets for students, 99 diverse cultural activities, supporting guided adventure sheets for community excursions and an exit survey to collect their feedback year end. You will need a couple of days in class to explain to them how to do the projects and to field any specific questions they might have. I ask students to read the activity list and highlight projects of interest to discuss in further on day 2. Afterwards, every day is a new adventure as your students lead the class in their discoveries. Projects help students hone their presentation/public speaking skills while everyone learns. This portfolio works great for home-schooled students as well, they can work at their own pace to discover as many different adventures of interest and connect them to other curricular areas such as art, history, music and culinary. Load up your printer, download is 43 pages long! Note: You will need to insert your own "approved restaurant list" as it will vary depending on where you live and teach. Keywords: differentiated, internet, culture, French, presentation, community, historical, artistic, culinary, communicative

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.

40 point quiz on positive and negative commands in all forms focusing on basic conjugation of regular and irregular verbs in command forms. Answer key is included.

This 12 paragraph news article discusses the dangers of listening to music at high volumes for prolonged periods of time: http://bit.ly/1Rptva6 Lesson plan includes a word doc format of the article and an in depth lesson plan that guides students through reading a text critically. Lesson begins with a brief survey of student listening habits, followed by 7 youtube sound effect links you can play in class for students to measure decibel levels on their smartphones (fun and free) Students read article and mark text (AVID strategy) and then reflect on what they read by completing some sentence starters based on the text. Lesson also includes key vocabulary with space for student definitions and an answer key for you so you don't have to look them up. Lesson is best suited for AP Level 5-6 students or a Heritage Learner class who is preparing for the AP test. Article falls under theme of Science and Technology and is relevant to students daily life choices about how they listen to music. Takes one full class period to complete.

This documentary claims to be 50 minutes long, but is really only 40. It serves as a nice introduction to Machu Picchu, the history of the Inca who built it, how they got conquered and looks a little bit at the stone cutting techniques used to build Machu Picchu and other Inca structures. Movie guide has 18 questions in English that follow the film chronologically and a couple of topics for further discussion. This documentary bounced around a bit, but students will receive a decent overview of the basics on the Inca Empire and Machu Picchu. I purchased this DVD on half.com for $2.00, it was worth it for a decent emergency lesson or to tie in with what you already teach about Machu Picchu/Inca.

This HBO/National Geographic Documentary chronicles several immigrants perilous journey to attempt to cross into the US. Its one of the best films I have ever used to teach this theme to students of all levels. Most of the film is in Spanish, but has subtitles. Suitable for Spanish students of any level or ESL students of Hispanic origin, this film will open students eyes to the dangers and despair that illegal immigrants face while trying to pursue the American dream. 20 chronological questions in English and a 2nd version in Spanish. Word bank of additional vocabulary for students should you wish to give them an out of class follow up writing assignment.

This worksheet can be used with any episode of EL INTERNADO if you turn on the subtitles. Heritage Learners struggle especially with words that begin with a silent H and words that contain "V" that sounds like "B". Kids track words as they view the episode.

This download will print onto Standard office mailing labels. There is a wide variety of clock times in Spanish and with numbers for students to match up. There are 6 rounds to the game, just print out the labels, stick them on colored notecards ( 1 sheet of labels for each color of notecards) and you have 5 sets of puzzles kids can use in class to race against each other. Rotate the puzzles after each round and practice telling time for 30 minutes! There is even a challenge round where clock times are given using military times. Great for practice after students have been working with telling time for a couple of days or as a review before the quiz. You can also use each deck for students to play MEMORY in small groups at tables, or as flashcard study aids for students who need extra practice. REMINDER: YOU WILL NEED TO LOAD AVERY 5160 size mailing labels to get these to print properly!

This activity is designed for Sp II level or higher where students have had at least a basic exposure to forming regular verbs in the preterite tense. Day one can be completed in class the day before or assigned as homework. Day 2 incorporates the principles of Native American Discussion circles, where all students engage in a large group conversation about the best and the worst of past parties they have attended. You will need a "talking piece" (any object that can be safely passed around the room from student to student to control the conversation". I use this strategy frequently to encourage conversations in Spanish with my students and its very effective. Lesson will take the entire class period to run after you do your anticipatory set. Arrange chairs in advance whenever possible. Product includes template for students to complete and detailed instructions.

Ever noticed how much harder it is to understand and obtain information when you cannot see the person? This mini project tests students ability to comprehend a simple phone conversation. Students receive a phone call from you and must take a message for someone else who isnt there at the moment. An easy way to practice interrogatives, numbers, basic vocabulary and get students speaking Spanish to obtain information and clarify answers. Students think this project is a little nerve wracking but very funny, and their parents really enjoy listening in at home to hear their student conversing in Spanish. Download includes outline of project with rubric, instructions for the teacher and a blackline master form to distribute to students and record your own notes. Project is designed for Spanish II and up students but could be easily adapted to French or German.

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 partner practice reviews big numbers with food items. Students take turns asking about prices of items in a supermarket. Works best with students in Spanish I who have been studying fruits, vegetables and other basic food items. Each partner has 8 items to inquire about and 8 items to record. Takes about fifteen minutes in class to complete and is a great review or a warm up before a quiz.

27 different questions in the preterite with individual instructions. Just print them, cut them apart and distribute to your class on a Monday to have them conduct a survey of their classmates about what they did over the weekend. Most of the questions are chore based, but there are a few others. After students have "questioned" classmates walking around the room, number the board and request the tally totals. Which activities were most/least popular? Easy warm up for Monday, students like that they are only asking one question and hardly realize they have answered dozens. Activity works best with a class of Spanish II or higher who has been working with regular preterite verbs and SER/IR for a while.

This short but powerful documentary Recycled Life presents the sad reality of the thousands of people who live and work in the Guatemala City Dump. Narrated by Edward James Olmos in English with interviews in Spanish of Guaejero dump workers, this film presents the sad day to day reality of the thousands of people who recycle millions of pounds of trash every day. The film will most certainly provoke discussion with students and for many serve as the first time they actually see the kind of poverty that motivates immigrants to risk their lives to come here. Movie guide contains 17-18 questions in chronological order and a couple of personal opinion/reactions. Guide is in English and Spanish. Amazing film, it will bring you to tears, while still leaving you with a sense of pride and dignity that these humble people maintain intact despite horrific circumstances.

Another round of "better than you", this game keeps the whole class moving, engaged and receiving instant feedback on the concept of Preterite vs Imperfect. Put desks in pairs, number each station of paired desks. Students write the first station number on their paper and game begins. Students decide preterite/imperfect and race their partner, slamming pencil on desk when finished. Reveal the answer and have ALL students rotate desks. Winning student goes one station lower 6-->5, losing student goes one station higher 6-->7. Settle all ties and disputes, dual wrong answers with a round of ROCK PAPER SCISSORS and continue the game. First student back to their seat WINNING wins the game. Game can be played for entire class to practice or as a warm up before the quiz. Product contains 35 practice sentences with alternating answers to play the game. This lesson works great with level II or higher students who have been practicing the Preterite vs Imperfect concept for some time.