El día de los muertos and Halloween in Spanish

There are two great videos which are to be found on and which are great to talk about two major cultural events happening very soon!

The first one “La noche de brujas” is perfect for one lesson:

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article46 brain break6 celebration20 channel2 cultural10 day of the dead4 día de los muertos1 Education20 fun413 halloween6 key structure10 Mary Glasgow6 miscositas1 repetition42 ressources40 Spanish33 spanish cuentos1 story46 storytelling39 target language12 target structure20 thematic1 unit3 video350 vocabulary256 website1 youtube67

Reading activity: una televisión para los perros

I believe reading in the target language is crucial because it promotes fluent reading skills which then leads to fluency in the other language skills such as speaking and writing. Fluent reading means reading without a dictionary, which can be challenging if students read an authentic text or a book.

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acquire50 acquisition65 article46 ci145 collaborative3 communicate9 communication10 comprehensible100 comprehension250 connection105 dictionary3 discussion39 Education20 group work5 input47 interest10 listening52 magazine3 Mary Glasgow6 media2 reading252 ressources40 skill4 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 story46 storytelling39 television5 text4 understand67 understanding22

Back to school with a song: mi persona favorita

I am back to school after a wonderful summer vacation and in order to get back into the swing of things, I found this catchy song which I played to my grade 8 and 10 classes:

As I mentioned in an earlier post,

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acquire50 acquisition65 answers24 communication10 comprehensible100 future32 input47 listening52 lyrics2 past316 personalized16 PQA8 present565 questions74 Rio Roma1 skills26 song29 Spanish33 speaking73 structures7 vocabulary256 youtube67

Spanish story script: se vende

This story comes from the wonderful Martina Bex who posts so many brilliant ideas and resources on her blog. I started a new unit with my grade 6 class which is about going shopping and this story fitted perfectly!

Speaking/vocabulary: I first started by introducing the different shops to my students using this slideshow: SHOPS.

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acquire50 acquisition65 comprehensible100 comprehension250 creative13 expression21 flashcards8 key structure10 language45 Martina Bex11 pattern1 quizlet9 repetition42 se vende1 sell6 selling1 shop9 shopping13 skills26 Spanish33 speaking73 story46 storytelling39 target9 writing55

How to use poems with first year Spanish learners?

I found this lovely poem on Pinterest and I used it with my grade 6 students (11-12 years old) as it was the prefect review for physical description and family.

Listening/comprehension: I told the poem “TPRS style” by drawing the “abuela”

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beginner318 description96 family164 grade 68 physical10 poem71 pronunciation11 re-telling1 re-write2 read40 reading252 Spanish33 speaking73 story46 storytelling39 structures7 vocabulary256 write59 writing55

Storytelling: arranging to go out

I am using stories more and more often in my lessons as I believe my students greatly benefit from listening to them as well as reading them and writing new ones. Apart from inventing my own stories, my favorite source is The Comprehensible Classroom which has a wealth of fantastic resources and story scripts.

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arranging to go out1 comprehensible100 comprehension250 create6 creative13 creativity4 film41 free time7 go out2 high frequency217 hobbies8 key structures8 listening52 output44 project11 Spanish33 speaking73 story46 storytelling39 video350 writing55 youtube67

Spanish story script number 5: ¿Por qué?

Here is another story script which follows the last story about Elena trying to apologize to Pedro. This time Elena offers a present to Pedro and he has to open different packages. The focus is on the difference between “¿Por qué?

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acquire50 acquisition65 because4 beginner318 ci145 comprehensible100 comprehensible input36 comprehension250 creative13 Education20 escuela1 furniture9 grade 68 grade 74 history92 imagination7 imagine9 input47 intermediate707 key structure10 languagelearning9 learn spanish1 material escolar1 por qué1 porque1 present565 re-write2 read40 reading252 school35 school furniture2 Spanish33 spanish input3 story46 story asking15 story listening19 story telling4 structure10 surprise6 target9 target language12 target structure20 vocabulary256 why8 write59 writing55