We are always looking for authentic resources to use in our lessons. Right now, instagram is the social media of choice for students. We found an instagram full of authentic quotes that pertain to students, especially regarding school. What a great way for kids to read authentic texts and be engaged.
Ways Instagram could be incorporated in foreign language class:1. Print the image and make a bulletin board.
2. Insert the images into a powerpoint. Go over in class, or print out handouts and have students read them.
3. Post image to class IG account (or blog or edmodo) and have students comment.
4. Have the students create their own images using an app such as PicCollage or a website like RedKid Sign Generator.
5. Have students search on instagram for vocabulary words and have them comment with a common hashtag that the class can see if they look up that hashtag.
6. You can also use these images as part of your vocabulary. Students don’t need to study the grammar concept to be able to figure these out.
Here’s two more ideas with ways that Spanish teachers are using Instagram in their classroom:
1. Caption their own fotos in Spanish and have a conversation.
2. Desafio Instagram: Instagram ELE Challenge, where students use particular hashtags.
Without further ado, we present our favorite, classroom appropriate images from queboletaoficial, an account managed by a group of teenagers from Colombia. If you know other similar accounts, please let us know in the comments.
For a ready to use lesson, check out this product on TpT:
With 56 Authentic Language Images
Update:
We have now posted a Second Edition with all new memes:
SpanishPlans.org 
Great idea! I will try this maybe at the beginning of the school year with my middle schoolers!
Fun! Looking forward to trying with my 4th grade Spanish Immersion class
just a heads up…that iG page has some curses and currently advertises a vaporizer…
Yes, Like anything on the Internet, discretion and previewing is always a key!
These are hilarious! Thanks!
This is a great idea, and I did offer this last year.
NOTE on point #5 — Hashtags will only link up to a picture if the actual poster puts the hashtag. If I find another picture out there and put a hashtag’d word in a comment, that picture will NOT link up to that hashtag. So it might not work having a common class hashtag. I tried that, and it flopped, until I went into an IG forum and discovered that.
What COULD be done is to TAG a common handle name.
good to know!! thank you for sharing!
Any recommendations on good Instagram sites to follow as a Spanish teacher? Or any I could recommend my students follow?
My favorites are queboletaoficial and minions_amor
I have this available on Teacherspayteachers for free!
Search for “Instagram Handles in Spanish”. Probably not the most exhaustive one, but enough to get students plugged in.
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hi! I’m confused as how to create a class Instagram account. I just created one using my teacher info and followed a bunch of the suggested accounts from the article. But now thinking about it, the students will only see my posts, not the posts of who I am following. Right? How can I get them to see everything in my feed? Thanks!
Short answer: you’d have to Repost any images you’d want your students to see. You can use an app such as “Repost”.