Online Listening Activities {Free Printable}

There are so many more opportunities for students these days to listen to Spanish as the internet and podcasts have opened up a whole new world. When I was learning Spanish (oh, so long ago!), your options were to go to a language lab or use tapes! So I would like to share with you two options (among the many) that I use with my students and a free printable to use with them.

Veinte Mundos is an online magazine for language learners. There are a plethora of articles (close to 200) categorized for students by intermediate and advanced levels. These articles include audio, the transcript of what was being said, comprehension questions, defined words, and other videos related to the article. I love that culture is taught through the articles. Students can learn about dulce de leche, biblioburro, tapas, and so much more!

Duolingo has just introduced a new podcast! These stories are for intermediate students and are bilingual. My understanding is that they are real life stories. The Spanish is a bit slower and English is injected throughout the story. These podcasts are definitely for high schoolers and up who are still struggling in their listening skills. My favorite podcast so far has been Memorias y Milanesas which touches on a compelling story of the Falklands War in 1982.

If you would like a follow-up activity, see the printable below. It can be used with the podcasts from Duolingo or with the Veinte Mundos articles. Students need to identify the places that are mentioned on the world map, make a list of vocabulary they don't know, and write a summary of what they listened to in Spanish.

You can download the free printable HERE.

Dice Sentences {Free Printables}

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Want a quick and easy way to do some review in groups with verbs and the formation of sentences? All you need are these printables {see below} and some colored dice {These work well.}. Basically, students roll four dice at a time (red, green, blue, and orange) and depending on what numbers they get on each colored die they create sentences.  Here's an example:

Let's pretend that a student rolls the following: red 2, green 3, blue 4, and orange 6. The sentence he or she creates would be "Tú estudias español todos los días en la biblioteca." These sentences can be done in groups out loud as a class starter. They can also be written by students. Small groups of students (3 to 5) tend to work well for this activity. 

I have created four printables: 

Basic verbs (present tense)

Shoe verbs (present tense)

Verbs with "GO" in the Yo form (present tense)

Irregular Preterite verbs

You will notice with some of the charts the students create a sentence that conveys four pieces of information: who, what happens, when, where. Other charts have three pieces of information and then the type of sentence they are to create (affirmative, negative, interrogative). This adds another level to just straight sentences and makes them think about how to form different types of sentences.

So pull out some colored dice and get your students forming sentences!

Hide-N-Seek Vocabulary Game (for Second Language Learning)

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I struggle sometimes on how to get my youngest students to use the language especially when they are in the first few months of exposure to Spanish. The first problem is that with lower elementary-age students their attention span is very short, and when you add the fact that they have limited vocabulary at the beginning it can be challenging to find activities to get them talking in the target language. This week though I came across an activity that really worked! Not only does this activity require that they speak in Spanish, but it incorporates repetition of the vocabulary in a way that keeps them motivated. Here's how it works...

I create picture cards with the vocabulary on them we are working on. The ones you see here are for the weather, but the cards could be any group of vocabulary as long as you can use pictures: clothing, rooms in a house, places in a city, foods, etc. I laminate the cards (VERY IMPORTANT) so that I can use the dot stickers on the back of them. If the cards aren't laminated then you won't be able to get the sticker off as easily.  I lay out the cards face up on the table. If you have a large group of students you can make bigger cards and hang them up. Then I ask my students in the target language to turn around (away from the cards) and close their eyes (young ones are expert "peekers" so I have them do both actions). I then take a colored dot (See these here as they are easy to remove.) and stick it to the back of one of the cards. Then all my students can turn around and open their eyes. They take turns asking in the target language about a card to see if the dot is behind it.

So for example, if we are working on weather words they would ask, "¿Está nublado?" or "¿Hace viento?". I then reveal the underneath of the card to show them whether the dot is there or not. After I have hidden the dot a few times, I let some of my students do the hiding. If you have a large group, you may not be able to let everyone hide each time you play the game. So you may want to keep track of who has hidden the dot so that next time other students can do it. My students absolutely LOVE hiding the sticker and being in charge of answering the questions and revealing the backside of the cards. Another variation I do (normally at the end of the activity) is for me to "hide" the dot one more time. However, this last time around, I don't actually hide the dot on one of the cards. I put it some place else out of sight. This forces the students to ask about ALL the cards and review all the vocabulary. When the last card is revealed there may be some surprised looks! 😊

While I have used this with great success with elementary-age kids, it can be used as a quick review for older students (like in high school). I love how it requires students to use the language and how they get to hear the words/phrases over and over again. The other added benefit? If a child has the task of hiding the dot, he or she then also has to practice finding which card the other student is asking about. There's plenty of repetition and review without it being boring!

Motivate Target Language Speaking

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Have you ever been to a baby shower where they hand you a clothespin or two and forbid you to say the word "baby"? If you do, another party guest can take your pin. The one with the most pins at the end of the party wins a prize. I have been to tons of baby showers and even some wedding showers that have played this game...

So today I was teaching Spanish to a small group of kids who were speaking WAY TOO MUCH English during the lesson, and the idea hit! Why not do the same thing with my students? So I pulled out some clothespins and gave each student about three of them and told them the rules. I was thrilled at how well this worked! My students immediately started to strive to speak Spanish. When they couldn't communicate in the target language they acted out to the best of their ability what they were trying to say. It was stretching for them and satisfying for me to watch them go through the process, or shall we say...the struggle.

Here are a few tips to implement this idea:

• Limit the game through groups. If you teach a whole classroom, you might want to break the kids down into groups. They may only take from those in their group. Those they sit closest to would be the ideal candidates.

• Define the time. How long will you maintain the game? With bigger groups, you may want to start small when it comes to length of time...maybe have them complete one or two activities while maintaining communication in the target language.

• Be creative with the item you use. It doesn't have to be clothespins. At my daughter-in-law's bridal shower this past summer we played the game with gaudy plastic rings. You just need an item that they can attach to themselves so they don't lose it unless they start speaking in English.  Binder clips would work. These smiley face clips would be cute. There are also decorated clothespins like these that might be fun.

• I give my students the option to use English once during the session if they have a question about what they should be doing in the lesson. They must request from me in the target language the ability to speak in English. They are allowed one question, and that's it, which makes them really think through how to avoid English until they absolutely need it. Many students will opt to not even request a question in English. 

• How about some prizes? Here are some ideas... These bilingual cookies. My students adore getting them! Or how about something cultural like worry dolls from Guatemala, stickers in Spanish (These are really cute!), or serape bookmarks. Another option if you work with high school students is to make it a part of their grade for the quarter or semester.

Have fun! By limiting English you will find that your students will become more animated with their gestures and more creative in their communication. Another side benefit? Your classroom will become a bit quieter since they can't speak in their native tongue!😊

Teaching Words with Multiple Meanings

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As students of a language get more experience with its vocabulary, they can then branch out into learning multiple meanings of words. Homographs are words that are spelled the same way but have more than one meaning. For example, "perezoso" means "lazy", but it is also the word for "sloth". "Sierra" is both a mountain range and a saw. This fall I will be doing the following activities with my high school students to increase their vocabulary. Below you will several free printables I have created: flashcards that can be used in games and several worksheets. Many of these activities can be used with younger students as well.

I created these flashcards so that I could teach my students the words and double meanings. These cards could also be used to play Memory or Go Fish. I am also planning on using them for what I call the "Slapping Game" (more on that later in the post).

Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5
Set 6
Set 7
Set 8
Set 9
Set 10

Here are three worksheets you can use. The first one is just fill in the blank. The other two are definitions in Spanish where the student has to provide the word for.

Worksheet 1
Worksheet 2
Worksheet 3

With the definitions I plan on playing the "Slapping Game" with my students. You need a set of cards for each group of students (Groups of five work well.). Have the students lay out the cards in front of them. You call out a definition for one of the cards (You can use the definitions in the worksheets). The first student to put their hand on the correct card gets to keep the card. The object of the game is to get more cards than your opponents.

KLOO {Great Language Learning Game}

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Games are so vital to my language teaching. Through them, students can learn vocabulary and grammar in a less tedious way. A few weeks ago, one of my parents mentioned the game KLOO to me. I immediately went and ordered it and fell in love with it! 

The game requires that you can read in English and then have a basic knowledge of the sound system of the language you are learning. I would say that it is appropriate for late elementary kids all the way to adults. The players DO NOT need to know all the vocabulary to play. Actually, the point of the game is to play and learn the vocabulary as you go. 

The game involves sentence building, but your students don't need to know necessarily how to build a sentence in the language as the arrows on the cards indicate what type of word comes next. Points are earned by creating longer sentences and translating the words. After my students create a sentence, I do make them say the sentence in the target language before translating it. That way I can check their pronunciation. Because the cards are color-coded you can actually use them to talk about the parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective).

The game comes in Spanish, French, or Italian, and the vocabulary is based on vocabulary from Spain, France, and Italy. I have never been to Spain; I speak Argentine Spanish, but that in no way lessened the value of the game. There were a few words I didn't know. I would say it is just another opportunity to talk to your students about dialectical and vocabulary differences between countries.

Here is the KLOO game site with videos that explain how the game is played. {I believe there are several ways to play.} The original version, "Classic KLOO" is super-easy to learn in a few minutes. Here is a look at all the versions that are available:

Spanish

KLOO's Learn to Speak Spanish Language Card Games Pack 1 (Decks 1 & 2) {Food and Clothing}

KLOO's Learn to Speak Spanish Language Card Games Pack 2 (Decks 3 & 4) {Everyday Objects and Places}

KLOO's Learn to Speak Spanish Language Board Game - Race to Madrid {The board game version with all four decks}

French
KLOO's Learn to Speak French Language Card Games Pack 1 (Decks 1 & 2) {People and Food}

KLOO's Learn to Speak French Language Card Games Pack 2 (Decks 3 & 4) {Places and Everyday Objects}

KLOO's Learn to Speak French Language Board Game - Race to Paris {Board game with four decks of cards}

Italian

KLOO's Learn to Speak Italian Language Card Games Pack 1 (Decks 1 & 2) {People and Food}

KLOO's Learn to Speak Italian Language Card Games Pack 2 (Decks 3 & 4) {People and Eating/Drinking}

Happy Sentence Building!!

Using Realia in a Language Classroom

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One of my favorite activities with my students is pulling out realia (especially when we do a food unit) from Spanish-speaking countries for them to look at. They get familiar with several aspects of the language that we normally don't focus on in our lessons. For example, they get to see the metric system in use on food packages. They see how the number one thousand is written (1.000). They get exposed to the culture of the country the realia is from.

I have collected realia over the years from my own travels and the travels of my students. I have items from Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Spain, and Bolivia. I saved ads and wrappers...anything with Spanish on them. This was before the days of the internet. You can now do online to find a plethora of realia items. Here is my Pinterest board collection...

Follow Debbie in AK's board Teaching Spanish- Ads and Realia on Pinterest.

Realia can be used in multiple ways...for example, you can use pictures of license plates from various countries to have your students practice letters and numbers. (NOTE: There is one picture of plates on my Pinterest board). You can use menus during a food unit. You can talk about how the ad works or doesn't work to entice people to buy. You can introduce cultural items through realia. The ideas are endless!

While it is far cheaper to find realia on the web or if you are already traveling to a Spanish-speaking country, there is one resource available that uses realia to teach. Big Book of Spanish Realia Volume I & Volume II is on the pricey side, but provides you with realia in different categories (food, fashion, home) and activities to go with them. I have not personally used these volumes so I can't speak to how well they are put together, but it might be something to look into. If anyone has personally used it I would love to hear about the activities!

More teaching tips can be found here...

Language Facts in a Classroom

Last year I started making mini-posters to display where my students could read a few facts about Spanish. Many times there just isn't enough time in a lesson to go over concepts, history, or other facts about a language. These tidbits of information can be read when students have down time. So here is a look at some of my fact cards. These can be done for other languages also. It is just a matter of finding information on the language or the history of it. I also do a series of cards called "Which word do I use?" to show my students the variety of vocabulary in the language. For languages spoken in several areas of the world these cards are great for exposing your students to the idea that there are many differences in the language.

Need some more ideas for teaching another language?

Comics in Language Learning

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Humor motivates learning. Whenever I can I try to add comics in Spanish into what we are doing. I post them on the door leading into where my students take lessons from me. I collect comics to read with them that demonstrate the future tense when they learn the endings for it. I go over with them the ones they don't understand so they can get the meaning they missed. For several of my students, it is motivating to try to figure out what is going and to find the humor in the scene. So here are some resources if you would like to add comics to what you do with your students...

Here is my Pinterest board filled with comics in Spanish. I tend to print these, laminate them, and then display them where my students can read them.

Follow Debbie in AK's board Teaching Spanish-Humor on Pinterest.



Laugh 'n' Learn Spanish : Featuring the #1 Comic Strip "For Better or For Worse"- I have not used this book, but it looks intriguing! Using the comic For Better or For Worse in Spanish, this book also has a simple exercise for each comic and language tips.



10 años con Mafalda-I have the complete collection of Mafalda, the famous comic strip from Argentina. This book is a collection of some of the best of them. Please note that the Kindle version has significant issues, but as a teacher having the book in print is better anyways. Not all of these will be accessible to language students, but I hand-pick ones that my students can understand and learn from.



Spanish a la cartoon- I have used this book before. It is more appropriate for high schoolers and up.

Here are great ideas for you in you teach another language...

Flyswatters in a Language Classroom

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Many people used to walk by my classroom when I taught at a local high school and would shake their heads in disbelief. During my high school teaching career I would hand each of my students a flyswatter, break them into groups of five and then start a vocabulary review game that would bring out excitement in my students. So, yes, flyswatters are useful in a language classroom! It may not look like learning with a bunch of students with swatters in hand, but it actually was a great way to review vocabulary.

Basically, I would make multiple decks of cards (one deck per group...each deck contains the same cards) with either Spanish words or pictures. My students would lay the cards out on the floor and form a circle around them with their flyswatters in hand. I would then call out a word. Depending on the cards I had I would either call out a word in English for them to find the written word in Spanish or I would call out a word in Spanish and they would have to find the correct picture. The first student to put their flyswatter over the correct card would take that card. At the end of the game when all the words had been called out, students would count out how many cards they had. The one with the most won in the group.

This game was one of the absolute favorites of my students. They begged for it! Yet, because I was using flyswatters with them and things can get out of hand easily I had some strong rules associated with the game. They were NEVER allowed to use their swatters on another student. If they did, they were out for the duration of the game. Normally, I didn't have too many problems with this since I was real consistent with this one particular rule. My students enjoyed the game so much that they rarely violated the rule. However, you know your students and what they can handle.

These days I work with much smaller groups (less than five in a lesson) and we use our hands. I still have the same rule...no slapping each other! However, because fingers can get hit easily I may end up getting a few swatters. The beauty of this game is that it works with one small group all the way up to a large classroom of students that you break up into groups.

{The type of cards I use.}

Another variation of this game is to used cards in which you have pairs (like pairs of opposites or pairs of rhyming words). You then call out one word and students need to put their swatters on the opposite word or rhyming word.

So here are some possible ideas for flyswatters...

Word And Number Swatters
Hand Swatters
Fly Swatters (set of 24)

Need more ideas for your foreign language classroom?