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.

5.  Using Memes to Teach Verb Tenses

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.

4.  Spanish Teachers on Instagram

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.

3.  10 Ideas for Hispanic Heritage Month

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.

2.  Adding Culture to Your Spanish Class

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.

1.  First Days of Spanish Class

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!  

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.

4. 10 Cultural Games for Spanish Class

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!

3. Spanish Teachers to Follow on Social Media

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

2. Ready, Set, Go! Ideas for Traveling Teachers

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!

1. Five  Reasons to Use Interactive Student Notebooks in Elementary Spanish Class

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.

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.

 

5. My new love of interactive notebooks

 How to use INBs in your class.

4. Why I love teaching.  

 Read about the hilarious things students say.

3. Good teachers need thick skin.

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

2. How to tell a Story Using TPR Story Telling Strategies

 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.

1. The challenges of teaching the “se impersonal” the “se no-intencional” and “la voz pasiva”.

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

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. 

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!

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. 

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!

5. Spanish Class Adding Pronunciation

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

schedule.

4.  Back to school Spanish Teacher Checklist

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!

3.  What to do with fast finishers

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

2.  Spanish Speaking Countries of the World LESSONS made easy! 

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! 

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.

5.  Lesson on Latin American Cuisine

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

4.  Teaching students conversation skills

 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

3. 7 Ways To Use Driver Licenses in the Spanish Classroom

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

2.  Communicative Activities for Describing People

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

1.   Pregunta y respuesta

 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.

12 Freebies for the WL Classroom

Here are 12 freebies just in time to help encourage collaboration amongst students and add a little fun to your plans for the last few days up until the holiday break.  Simply click on the caption to access the freebie!  Enjoy!

Addition and Subtraction in Spanish

Card Game to Practice Descriptions in Any Language

Spanish Holiday Research Project

German Pronunciation Guide

25 Tips for FL Teachers

Self Evaluation for World Language Students

Mis Vacaciones

Les Maths en français

Saludos Greeting Games

Crosswords and Cryptograms with Querer

Venir Quick Lesson

Le Mot du Jour