Five Back to School Tips for the World Language Classroom

Five Back to School Tips for the World Language Classroom 

Okay so the summer has passed too quickly. You’re out of the house and on your way to school for the first day and as you are driving you’re wondering how you can motivate yourself to knock that list of things to do down to begin the school year off with a bang. Here are 5 Back to School Tips for teachers of World Languages.

1. Create a Poster to Remain in the Target LanguageStart the year off strong by remaining in the target language! Recent studies have shown that students of a second language acquire it at a faster rate if immersed in the language. To help keep yourself on target and your class as well create a poster with a flag from a country where the target language is spoken as well as a caption in the target language such as, “We speak ________ here.” On the reverse side create a poster with a flag of the native language of your students with the same expression in the native tongue and with an image of the flag. Place both posters in a page protector or laminate them front to back and pin the poster at the front of the classroom. Throughout the class period if you find that you must communicate something in the native language of your students be sure to walk to the front of the room and flip your poster to the appropriate flag/language. You will find that it is easier to remain in the target language and re-explain the information than it is to walk all the way to the front of the room and reverse the poster.

Question of the Week: Celebrations

This week we discuss ways to recognize students at the end of the year.

End of Year Resources

With the end of the year fast approaching, here are some activities to help you plan the final days.

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French 1 Review Packet

This French 1 Review Packet is a great resource to provide students at the end of the semester to review for the final exam or over the summer months before they begin French 2. All questions are written in French.  27 page download.

(FREE) Communicative activity: Summer Vacation Write, Draw, Pass

In this activity, students can play a game using original sentences about summer vacation or one of the 30 pre-made Spanish sentences (English translations provided so that teachers of other languages can adapt the activity for their classes). In the game, students interpret pictures and sentences from their classmates to figure out what everyone will be doing this summer. Works great to practice ir + a + infinitive! Detailed instructions are included for the game and for several possible extensions. 

Spanish Summer Workbook by Spanish Sundries

This workbook contains over 16 activities covering some of the most common themes from beginning Spanish. Although constructed as a tool to keep students skills sharp over the summer break, these activities could just as easily be used throughout the school year in class, as homework, or as sub plans.

 

Les Certificats by Madame H
These are the perfect certificates to award your French students of any level at the end of the school year! The download includes seven different designs with the same wording, a place to write student name, school attended, and teacher. All wording is in French. There are 2 colored designs (blue, red) and 5 black and white designs. Pick and choose for different levels you teach or use the same one for all of your students.  

Spanish Future Tense - Este Verano

When thoughts turn to summer vacation, use this end of year activity to review the future tense. Students and teacher stand and circulate with their list of questions, trying to find “yes” answers to questions about what students will do this summer, next week or tomorrow. They can only ask two questions per person so they must choose their questions wisely. Students sit down as soon as they have “yes” answers to all questions (or when they have questioned everyone).

Guess Who? in Spanish Game Clue sheet for students

For students playing the game "Guess Who?" to practice asking about people's descriptions, I give students a laminated copy of this sheet for them to remember the correct vocabulary including: hair colors, eye colors, size of hair/nose, if they are man/woman, if they have a mustache or beard, etc.

No English is used on the sheet. Each word has a picture next to the Spanish word.

Using the verb "TENER" or "SER" to describe physical appearance or characteristics.

World Cup in World Language classroom

Many World Language teachers are using this summer's upcoming World Cup in Brazil to provide their students with a learning experience about the world's most popular sporting event and one that is a huge cultural event for many target cultures. Here are some resources to get you started. 

 

Futbol y Copa Mundial Unit

Great end of the year activity and perfect leading up to this summer World Cup (Copa Mundial) which is the world's largest sporting event and kicks off June 12. Have your students learn about this important world culture event before they head home for summer.
This 12 page packet features a 4 page webquest where students will find out information about the tournament, the teams, and its history. Also features 4 songs including the 2010 World Cup anthem by Shakira and 2 World Cup songs from this year 2014 Fifa World Cup as well as an inspiring song about Mexico's national team.

World Cup Spanish Picture Flash Cards & Games

A picture, and these World Cup pictures, can be used 1,000 different ways! All levels of Spanish students can use and play with the Soccer People and Places and Soccer Verbs picture flash cards. ANSWER KEYS INCLUDED. Learners can play independently or with the class or groups. Get in on the World Cup excitement.  

Monday Freebies 5/19

Querer + Infinitive Practice Worksheet
Practice the verb querer combined with an infinitive. Includes fill-in-the-blank, translation, and responding to questions. Great for beginning Spanish students practicing creating simple sentences.

Spanish reading comprehension: Conocemos a Lucia
An easy reading comprehension exercise about a Spanish teenager.(True/False and answer the questions) 2 pages.

It includes family, age, likes, dislikes, and physical description.

Daily Routine - Reflexives - Alejandro Sanz song

Using the song "Lola Soledad" by Alejandro Sanz, students will write Lola's daily routine. They must think about whether each activity requires a reflexive verb or not, then write an original sentence in the third person singular. A list of verbs and transition words is provided so that their work will have continuity and read like a story. A link to the music video is included.

Preterite of AR verbs

4 page packet describing the difference between presente tense and past tense (preterite/preterito) for -AR verbs including the irregular -Car, -Gar, -Zar verbs.

Answers included for partial notes portion (Additional pages)

Completely Free Packet, ready to use. Print, make copies, and use in your class today!

If you like this packet, try our guided notes for -ER, IR verbs!

Organizadores gráficos ( Free Spanish Graphic Organizers Common Core Aligned )

For 2nd-5th grade: A set of 2 graphic organizers entirely written in Spanish. They are specially designed for teaching and practicing problem and solution in both narrative and informational text.

Question of the Week: Absences

This week's question, submitted by a guest, was: How do you use your classtime effectively when you have multiple students missing class due to a school function? Whether it be a field trip, a sporting event, a club meeting, or other school responsibility that forces a group of students to miss class, we still must continue teaching to the students who are present.

Our teachers had some great enrichment activities for the students who were in class to further their language skills, while not creating something that the missing students would have to make up. Here's what our teachers had to say:

Foreign Language Resources 5/14

As the school year winds down, many of us are looking for end of the year activities, review games, and final assessments. Here's some that hopefully give you less stress at the end of the year:

German Speaking Activities, Test, Oral Exam for Midyear, Midterm or Final Exams

These German Speaking Activities are perfect for midyear, midterm, and/or final exams. This German Oral Exam includes 40 situations to ask your students such as:

There is a wide range in the situations from basic to advanced intermediate (using past tense to tell a story). I usually use these questions with my foreign language levels 2-4 students. These German Speaking Test also include teacher tips and a foreign language speaking rubric for grading the exam.
Check out our other languages, including Portugues, Spanish, & French.

French End of Year Game - Parlez ou Pantomime

This fast-paced game makes a fun semester or year end review for French students who have just one minute to give oral clues or gestures, hoping their team can guess the six words in a category (verbs, clothing, foods, animals, professions, places, feelings, transportation, sports and more). Targets multiple intelligences: bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal and linguistic.  

La Primavera Activity Set {Spanish}

This product will help you and your students learn vocabulary related to the spring season.
Vocabulary: la mariposa, el conejo, el árbol, el pájaro, la lluvia, la cometa, el pollito, la flor, la primavera

This set includes:
1. E-Book: La Primavera
2. Counting Flash Cards (1-10)
3. Memory Game (9 pairs):
4. Coloring Book
5. Coloring Page

Expresate 1 Spanish Final Exam

Expresate One Final Exam (8th Grade Level 1, High School Level 1 Semester 2)
This zipped file includes:
- Listening/Reading Document
- 83 Question Multiple Choice Document
- Study Guide of what topics are on the test

Spanish Review Game Cuatro En Linea - Four in a Row, Connect Four

Learn, practice, PRODUCE! Help your students practice their Spanish speaking skills with this fun game, "Cuatro En Linea!"

This game works just like the "Connect Four" game many of us played as children, but with a Spanish twist!

This 9 page packet includes:

-clear instructions
-2 sets of instruction cards to laminate and hand out to partner pairs
-2 pre-made game boards with Spanish questions (beginner's level)
-2 BLANK game boards!! You can fill in these game boards to suit your classroom needs and help your students practice ANY level of Spanish!

Check back next week for even more end of year activities.