Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Top Posts from Sra Cruz

I'm Katherine of sracruz.com.  2015 marked my first year of blogging.  As this year winds down and a new one begins, I wanted reflect on my most popular posts of the year and share them with you.

I love to joke that memes are my love language!  I have a folder of memes on my phone ready to text to my friends when the moment arrives!  Spanish memes can be a great teaching tool, especially for verb tenses.  In this post I talked about using memes in class and shared my Pinterest boards with memes grouped by verb tense and topic.

2015 was also the year that I joined the Instagram world!  In this post I shared the 9-square stories of some of my Spanish teacher friends, talked about hashtags to use for Spanish class and to find your #spanishtribe, and linked to SpanishPlans' great post about using instagram to find authentic resources to use in your class.

This blog post was a compilation of 10 ideas to teach and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in Spanish class.  It has lots of activities, crafts, and teaching tools to learn about and celebrate the histories, culture, and contributions of Hispanic Americans.

If you struggle to fit in culture with the rigor of your Spanish curriculum, this post is for you!  This talks about how I've used a resource called Cultura Diaria to teach a Hispanic culture facts for each day of Spanish class.  It's a great class starter and resource to help you teach culture every day.

My most popular post of 2015 was a 3-part post on what to do during the first days of Spanish class.  I talk about relationship-building activities, going over rules and procedures, and using TPR vocabulary to get students speaking and understanding right away.  

Don't miss any posts in 2016!  You can subscribe to my blog or follow me on Bloglovin.  Happy New Year!  

Monday, December 28, 2015

Fun for Spanish Teacher's Top Posts of the Year

¡Hola! My name is Carolina, and I run a blog called “Fun for Spanish Teachers,”  a little corner of the internet dedicated to build connections and share ideas amongst the world language teachers anywhere on this planet! I have been teaching for 15 year in the United States, and I love having a space where I can share what has or hasn’t worked for me in the classroom. After all, teaching is always filled with surprises that you constantly learn from.  My goal for the upcoming year is to continue adding content for the elementary level, but I also plan to grow to offer more for middle school teachers! I invite you to subscribe to my blog to stay tuned for more teaching tips, ideas, and resources for Spanish class.

Here are the most visited posts in the 2015!

5. An Idea For The First Day of School
It doesn’t matter how long you have been teaching, the “first day butterflies” in your stomach are real! This post gives you some ideas for that first day. Many of the ideas shared in this post can be adapted for different levels.

Knowing how to bring language, culture, and fun together is key when teaching Spanish at any level. This post is a compilation of some traditional games that students at the elementary, middle, and even high school level will enjoy. And YES, you will be teaching language in context!

This post lists a group of Spanish teachers of different levels who are active on social media. All in one place!

Not having a classroom represents a challenge for many teachers at the elementary level. Since many visuals and props are needed, and we teach so many different grades, this requires a special degree of organization and planning. In this post, I share how I've tackled this challenge, and what has worked for
me. If you are a traveling teacher, you might be able to find some useful ideas here!

Interactive Student Notebooks have been a life-saver for me and a wonderful teaching tool at the elementary school level. I started using them last year and fell in love with them! Finally, the Interactive Student Notebook is a way to keep my students’ work in one place and an awesome tool to connect with parents.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Top 5 Posts from BestPowerPointsforSpanishClass

Read my blog to save time and learn how to bring your students to proficiency in Spanish and French.  The blog describes strategies gleaned from 30 years of teaching that have worked for me and they will work for you, too.


 
 How to use INBs in your class.

 Read about the hilarious things students say.


 Be the bad guy. Be persistent and hold students accountable.

 The goal of the world language teacher is to use comprehensible input so that students get a sufficient amount of repetition in context for the language to stick.  One of the best ways to do this is through TPR Story telling.  This post describes the many ways to story-tell, recycle language, and provide comprehensible input.

 How to get the structure to stick through story telling and ensure students don’t make EVERY sentence thereafter non-intentional.

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Top 5 Posts from SpanishMama for 2015

¡Hola! I'm Elisabeth Alvarado and blog at Spanish Mama, where I share ideas for teaching Spanish for all ages. I also write about being a bicultural family and raising bilingual kids. I love games and creating materials that get students speaking and active!   


5. Christmas in Spanish-Speaking Countries: A Collection A round-up of posts on Navidad in Hispanic countries that includes crafts, songs, activities, videos, printables, and more. This one keeps growing as I come across more posts!

4. Conversation Jenga A fun way to get your students speaking by writing questions on Jenga blocks. I love coming up with creative ways to have students to Q & A together, beyond reading from a textbook or worksheet. This also works well for groups who finish early, or as a reward. My students beg for this one!

3. Our Favorite Colors Songs in Spanish I am doing a favorite songs on YouTube in Spanish series, for parents who want their families to learn Spanish, or for teachers looking for songs by topic. So far I've covered numbers, colors, farm animals, Christmas songs. and nursery rhymes. 

2. Printable Euro Tickets for Accountability This printable is part of a system I came up with for keeping students accountable for speaking in the Target Language in the classroom. It helps keep me organized as well! This would work for any language spoken where euros are used.

1. Los Animales: Ideas and a Freebie! A free "Yo tengo... ¿quién tiene? printable for learning 36 animals in Spanish. The post also includes 6 fun ideas for practicing animal terms. 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Mundo de Pepita's Top Post of 2015

I founded Camden Rockport Elementary School's K-4 Spanish program over 18 years ago, building it from scratch using the ACTFL standards as a guide and creating my own materials to implement my curriculum. Mundo de Pepita is a dream come true, bringing together my love of illustrating with my passion for teaching Spanish to young children. My blog strives to provide resources, ideas, and tips for elementary language instruction. ~Julie, Mundo de Pepita

5. Activities to Introduce Venezuela into Your Elementary Spanish Program Bring culture to your classroom with a focus on Venezuela! Arts and crafts, links to videos, books, and recipes provide tangible resources to highlight this incredible country.

4. Tips for the Traveling Foreign Language Teacher Many of us at the elementary school travel from classroom to classroom, often on a cart. Here are a plethora of tips to make this more manageable and productive.

3. Mystery Country Bags- Let's Play Detective! How to create mystery country bags to engage your learners and present culture in tangible ways! My students love looking at all the items in each bag and trying to figure out which country they come from!

2. Frida Kahlo in the Elementary Spanish Program Loads of resources for talking about Frida Kahlo in the elementary school, including apps, links, books, and more. 

1. 21 Listening Comprehension Activities for the Elementary Foreign Language Classroom Twenty-one activities to foster listening comprehension with children, including games, movement activities, and more!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Top 5 Posts from Miss Senorita

Hello!  My name is Jessica and my blog is MissSenoritaTpt!  I just started my blog in July 2015, so I’m still pretty new to the blogging world.  I taught Spanish in middle and high school for 7 years, and now I work full time on my TeachersPayTeachers store. Here are my top 5 blog posts from 2015:


5.  Coloring Activities in the High School Classroom – I love coloring activities! And so do high school students, I promise. This blog post gives you 3 ideas for how to incorporate coloring activities into a variety of lessons from lower level to upper level Spanish classes.

4.  Listening Activities for Lower Level Spanish Classes – It can be so hard to find good listening activities to play in class for lower level classes – native speakers frequently speak too quickly and used far too advanced vocabulary. This blog post gives 2 ideas for websites that have great listening
activities you can use in lower level classes.

3.  What’s in my Teaching Bag? – This is a fun blog post about what I kept in my bookbag “teaching bag” – chapstick, stickers, pens, ibuprofen…

2.  Letting Students Choose Their Seats – I let students choose their seats in high school and also when I taught middle school, and I explain in this blog post why I chose to do that, and how I used it as a classroom management tool.

1.  Ask & Switch – A Speaking Activity – Ask and Switch is a speaking activity I did frequently with students in my classes.  It gets everyone up and out of their seats, and they practice a variety of questions and answers, so it can be used in classes of any level.

I hope these blog posts will give you some ideas for activities you can use in your classes!  My next blog posts will center on traveling abroad with students – I hope you’ll stop by and check it out!


Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing the top posts of the year from numerous World Language Teachers. Today is our first installment. Check out all the posts



Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Top Posts from La Profesora Frida Blog

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing the top posts of the year from numerous World Language Teachers. Today is our first installment. Check out all the posts

Top 5 Posts from La Profesora Frida Blog 

Top 5 Blog Posts of 2015
La Profesora Frida’s goal is to help your life be less stressful by offering teaching tips and useful lessons that save you time!

How to Add Pronunciation and Speaking Activities to your Spanish class without interrupting your
schedule.

Helping you stay organized for the first day of school (or a new quarter / semester) with a checklist of things that need to be done!

Suggestions for encouraging your students to continue studying the Target Language even after they’ve finished their required work!

La Profesora Frida offers maps, lists, printables, quizzes, puzzles and suggestions for making this part of a foreign language curriculum engaging!

1. Do you Differentiate in your Spanish classes? Lesson ideas for Spanish teachers!

Differentiation in your foreign language classes can be easy when students are given choices! 

Monday, December 14, 2015

Top 5 Blog Posts from Spanish Sundries

Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing the top posts of the year from numerous World Language Teachers. Today is our first installment. Check out all the posts


I have been teaching Spanish in public schools for the past 15 years.  About 10 years ago I threw

away my textbook and started to love my job again.  My blog is dedicated to helping other teachers do the same by sharing great activities and ideas created by real teachers, not textbook companies.

Add some authentic foods to your food unit with these ideas that help teachers merge the language and the culture of food.  ¡Delicioso!

 How to tackle that most difficult mode of communication – interpersonal speaking!  Ideas for prepping students, setting up a format, getting kids to practice, and assessing them


How to use the simple information on a driver’s license to help students practice giving basic personal information.


 Activities for teaching physical description that get students reading, listening, speaking, writing, and creating!

 Ideas for structured speaking practice using essential questions and, you heard it right, SLAP BRACELETS!


Don’t miss a single idea in 2015!  Subscribe to our blog and start the New Year with fresh ideas for your classroom.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Guest Post: Day of the Dead

Ever since my mom passed away, two years ago, Day of the Dead has taken on a new significance for my family and me.  My mother fought breast cancer valiantly for ten years, but her body just wore out.  She was an amazing woman who gracefully raised three kids, including my very handicapped brother.  She dealt with the many challenges that life brought her way with a positive attitude and kind spirit.  Such strength and love!  This is why we are all so eager for her spirit to return to us on November 2nd, Day of the Dead.
Day of the Dead - My Mom
                                        My Mom
I used to teach my students about Day of the Dead through a short video or a brief explanation, but this year

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Halloween in the World Language Classroom

Are your students quickly turning into ghosts, goblins, and witches?  Has the workroom been inundated with tons of candy and chocolate?  Then odds are Halloween is coming to class!  This post will provide several activities to help you celebrate and talk about cultural comparisons when it comes to Halloween in the World Language Classroom.  Simply click on the titles to access the activities.

Free Spanish Activities
Free 10 Halloween Creatures Feelings
Free Halloween Chants in Spanish
Freebie Day of the Dead Sugarskulls
Spanish Halloween Mixed Up Sentences

High Quality Spanish Activities
Authentic Reading for Spanish Halloween
Halloween Spanish Color by Number
Halloween Printable Spanish Minibook


Free French Activities
Chat à la Pleine Lune
French Halloween Bingo
Halloween Themed Game in French

High Quality French Activities
Les Zombies Attaquent
French L'Halloween Bundle
Halloween Craft en français

Free German Activities
Halloween German Sudoku 
Bewegungspausen Halloween

High Quality German Activities
Halloween German Coloring Pages
German Halloween Madlibs

Enjoy these activities with your students!  We hope your halls will be haunted with learning!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Hispanic Heritage Month Resources

We've compiled a list of great resources and links to get you through Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15. You'll need a month worth of ideas and we've got your covered with the following blog posts, pins, freebies, and resources.

Blog Posts
10 Ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month by Señora Cruz
Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the Spanish Classroom by World Language Café 

Hispanic Heritage Month Project for Elementary by Fun for Spanish Teachers
Hispanic Heritage Month Ideas by SpanishPlans
Keeping a  Perspective when learning culture by SpanishPlans


Pinterest Boards
Hispanic Heritage Month by SraCruz
Hispanic Heritage Month by World Lang Cafe
Hispanic Heritage Month in a FLES Classroom by Fun for Spanish Teachers
Hispanic Countries and Culture by Spanishplans
Hispanic Holidays and Celebration by Spanishplans


Free Items

Easy Ways to Decorate Your French Classroom


1.  Print out high quality photos from trips you've taken to Francophone countries, laminate them, and add them around the room.
2.  Laminate some post cards from various French speaking places and place them around the room.
3.  Use a search engine to find quotes from famous French speaking people.  Write down your favorite and print them out in various colors and fonts.  Laminate them and post them around the classroom.
4.  Buy some colorful fabric in blue, white, and red and use that as the background of bulletin boards.  Fabric lasts longer than paper and it is more appealing to the eye.
5.  Display student work around the classroom.

FREEBIES
Étiquettes pour Tiroirs
Affiches de sons
French Second Language Questions Posters
Les Hiboux Classroom Décor Pack
French Target Language Flag Posters
French Color Posters
French Good Manners Poster 

High Quality Sets
Les Prépositions
French Alphabet Poster
French Accent Posters
French Weather Posters
French Number Posters

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Identity and Personal Information

I was looking for a way to review and practice students giving information about themselves. I found this great activity that was perfect.

On Day 1, I used this slide where students had to complete the sentences with the correction question word. I had been asking these questions to students for the past week.



The following day, on Day 2, I asked students how to ask for the following information (How do you ask for someone's name). After coming up with the question, I projected this on the board:




Then, to go along with our school's theme of Superheros, I told students they were getting new identities/aliases today and they had to interview their partner. Each student got a character card that had the following information on it:
32 Character Cards

*Name
*Age

*Country 
*Birthday
*Characteristic
*Hobby


Students interviewed their classmates and used the information from the card to answer the questions. The next step was presenting themselves to the class. I left the slide on the board for students to reference putting it in a full sentence. 
As students listened to their classmates, they had to write the name of the classmates on a chart that described the characteristics of certain identities (Busco a alguien page).


If you want a set of 32 Character cards and a whole lot of other activities, check out all the details here.

This ready to print lesson contains 30 pages and many different activities to practice!



If you want to practice just Name, age, country, birthday, then you might want to check out Tarjetas Personales. These are also a great way to match up classmates. We also have a French version


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Customized Spanish Stories

Need a fresh activity to reinforce vocabulary in your unit?  I want to write you a customized Spanish story that will fit with your specific vocabulary! 
Here's how it works: 
1) Email me a list of the words you are hoping to teach
2) Let me know the age group and level of your students. Do you want only present tense or just accurate tenses?
3) I will write you an original, custom story with comprehension questions, post it in my TpT store, and email you that it's ready for purchase!   The whole thing only costs $3.00!

For more information or to request a custom story, please email me at sesheridan@gmail.com. ¡Gracias! 

Monday, August 31, 2015

Punch Cards in the WL Classroom



If you've been a World Language teacher for a while you're probably like me and tried using Euros as an incentive for classroom participation, winning games in class, or going above and beyond what was expected. You've probably even spent more than a few hours perforating the really colorful set from Teacher's Discovery, laminating them, and then cutting them out to provide to students. And, you've probably found several a few of them in the washing machine soaking wet when you forgot to remove them from your pockets. There is a new strategy to promote target language use and classroom participation and it's called PUNCH CARDS. Now, this doesn't mean you have an opportunity to knock a kid out when s/he isn't speaking the language you teach! All joking aside, punch cards are definitely rocking my classroom this school year.

What are punch cards?
Punch cards are cards that you create for your students.  They are usually rectangular or square shaped and they have holes or other images that can be removed with a hole puncher along the outer edges.

How to implement them in class?
This school year I created a version that has J'ai parlé en français.  Trois points de plus in the center of the card.  Along the outside I added 24 hexagons.  I specifically chose hexagons because this symbol refers to France and often times one can hear it being used in listening activities to refer to the country.  Once I liked the visual look of the card, I copied it and pasted as many as I could fit on one page and then printed several off on card stock.  The next thing I did was to go to Michael's to purchase a hole puncher that would create a specific design.  I chose one that cuts out heart shapes and it was a minimal expense at $5.99 (If you go online to their website they often have 40% off coupons).  PlEASE NOTE:  If you plan to use a regular hole puncher that creates circles, there's no way to gauge whether the student punched the hole or you did.  I was certain to choose something that would be almost impossible to replicate for this reason.


On the first day of class I included a punch card with each student's packet.  I then explained that as they are caught speaking French they would receive a punch on the card.  After a student receives 24 punches and all of the hexagons are gone they can then turn in the card to receive 3 extra points on an assignment.  The students were very excited and immediately wrote their names on the back of the card.  During partner and group activities I pull out my hole puncher and randomly create little hearts on students' cards.  Consequently, I'm finding myself saying "pas d'anglais" less and less and I'm hearing my students speaking the language more and more.

When to punch cards?
I have punched cards for the following reasons:
1.  Using the target language with a partner and with small group work exclusively
2.  Volunteering
3.  Rewarding the winners in a class game
I've also taken away current punch cards and replaced them with a brand new card if a student consistently uses English.

So far I really enjoy this method so much more than the Euros I spent so many hours preparing.  The plus side, too, is that I doubt I will find my heart hole puncher in the washing machine anytime soon!  Ha!

Have you used punch cards in your classroom?  Please feel free to share your experience in the comment section below.

This was a guest post by Madame H.  You can visit her Teacher's Pay Teacher's Store by clicking here to view other creative ways to share the French language with students.