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Top 5 Reasons for and against Spanish names

Posted on July 28, 2015 by SpanishPlans

One of our more popular posts is about an issue that most Spanish teachers are divided on. I recently asked a Spanish teacher group on facebook if they give their students Spanish names and to give their reasons and the response was split. This post is probably not going to change your mind one way or another, but maybe give you some insight on why other teachers do things, or give you support for the way you do things. I do find that while the polls seem split 50-50, more teachers who do not give names state their reason for doing so.

Below are the top 5 reasons you should and should not give your students a “Spanish name”.
Continue reading →

Posted in Discussion/Methodology | Tagged class names, spanish names, Top Lists | 19 Comments

Facebook in Spanish

Posted on July 7, 2015 by SpanishPlans

We just gave one of our most popular product a huge upgrade. We are quickly approaching 1,000 licenses sold for our Spanish Facebook Profile Project. If you are one of those who already has this project, you will want to log in to and re-download the new version. If you don’t have this project yet, this is a perfect way to start the school year and gather information from your students by having them fill out a Facebook profile with their favorite things.

Along with the 3 page template (Profile, Newsfeed, Notifications), this also comes with a list of Facebook vocabulary (tagging, commenting, sharing, etc.) as well as texting-shorting such as “tmbn” for también and many more!

And to correspond with this re-release, we are happy to say that our Facebook “Me Gusta” stamp Continue reading →

Posted in Projects, Resources | Tagged Facebook, project, projects | Leave a comment

Travel Documents

Posted on June 30, 2015 by SpanishPlans

Now that our students have their plane tickets, it’s time to make sure they have their travel documents with them!

It’s time to have students make their own passport, make sure their VISA is filled out, and carry their ID card with them.
Get our passport covers, passport pages, Colombian Visa, and Colombia ID card here.
You may also want to check out Passport Pages for all 21 Spanish Speaking Countries from Creative Language Class.

And if you are going to use passports, why not get our Passport Stamps?

Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged countries, passports, travel | 3 Comments

Spanish Instagram

Posted on June 25, 2015 by SpanishPlans

If you’ve haven’t read how to use Instagram in your class, first read this post. Once you’ve set up a class account, we recommend the following accounts below. Once you are following, you can project your feed on the board and let students see the pictures. You can even select one student to use an app such as “Repost” to repost an image to the class account. Encourage students and parents to follow the class account. You can post questions and have students respond on IG or use it to spark a discussion in class.

Travel and Culture:

Amazing pictures of sites of interest in the Spanish Speaking World plus some of the official accounts of the countries’ Tourism department. Continue reading →

Posted in iPads, Web2.0 Technology | Tagged authentic, culture, instagram, travel | 4 Comments

Music Recommendation

Posted on June 16, 2015 by SpanishPlans

Last week, Raquel Sofia released her first album, Te Quiero Los Domingos. If you are looking for some good music to listen to this summer, then you need to check this out.

You may have heard her song “Agridulce” that we featured in our Lyrics Training post.

One of my favorite songs on the album is a jazzy-sounding Te Odio Los Sabados. There is also a reggae twist to the song “Lo que te di”. No matter what style, her voice is amazing.

Check out our earlier feature on this Puerto Rican born artist.

Posted in Music | Tagged música, music, raquel sofia | Leave a comment

Top Pins 2015

Posted on June 15, 2015 by SpanishPlans

A few years ago, we brought your our Top 10 Pins as determined by the number of repins on pinterest. At that time, we only had 500 followers. We now have almost 7,000. If you aren’t following us yet, here is your personal invitation!

Click on any of the images below to re-pin to your own boards.
1. Cuando tu profesor te separa de tu mejor amigo en clase

Using Instagram as authentic resource of images in our Spanish Lessons. Real life language used as comprehensible input.

2. Uh oh. Teacher called on me. Wasn’t listening. Minion Meme.

Our minion meme is one of our most popular teacher memes. Forget “Grumpy Cat”; the minions are the big hit of using memes in the classroom. Use these images to remind students to pay attention.

3. Subject Pronoun Door

Remember the subject pronouns can be tough work for early Spanish students (heck, they sometimes struggke with the English versions) so these posters are perfect to hang on your door as visual reminders.

4. Trivia Crack Questions in Spanish
Using Trivia Crack in your Spanish class. Great way to see authentic questions such as
“¿Cúantos ojos tiene el personaje Mike Wazowski de la película Monsters Inc.?”

5. How Fluent are you?

A comic that deals with language aquisition.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Pinterest, Top Lists | Leave a comment

Hispanic Novels

Posted on June 1, 2015 by spanishplans

First, let me say that the librarian at my school rocks! A few years ago, I approached her about getting my students to read some novels to learn more about the Hispanic culture. She compiled over 60 titles from our school library and has since grown the list to over 90.

Here are a few titles that I recommend: Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged books, culture, novels, reading | 1 Comment

Decorating with Postcards

Posted on May 28, 2015 by spanishplans

I know we have all bought some beautiful postcards during our travels. Let’s use them to decorate our classroom and turn our hospital walls into a charming space that allows students to see the beauty of the target culture.

Step 1: Buy postcards during your travels. I bought these in Bolivia.
Step 2: Buy a collage frame. Tip: I bought this one for $1.99 at a secondhand store.
Step 3: Use 3m hanging hooks to hang up frame in your classroom.

For a few dollars, you have a beautiful exhibit of the culture. You could do the same with any photos you have taken.

You can do the same with monthly calendars, or find out how to easily hang up those country flags.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged classroom decoration, decoration, postcards | 5 Comments

Travel Theme

Posted on May 20, 2015 by spanishplans

After coming back from a year of absence traveling South America, I want to bring my experience of travel to the classroom. So this year, one of our major themes throughout the year will be travel and the richness of culture.

We are going to kick it off on the very first day of class. When students enter the room for the first time they will find their seats by looking for an airline ticket with their name on it, which will be placed on the desk.

You can create your own airline ticket, print off our blank template. Or to make it extra easy, just type and print with our editable template.

Here is our student sample:
Student Boarding Pass Template
Our flight is our class number. The boarding time is the time the class starts, the gate is my
classroom number, the group is the class period, Editable Airline Ticket Template the seat is their position on the roster.
Stay tuned to see what other ideas we have planned for our travel theme.

What do you do on the first day of school to set the tone for the rest of the year?
Check out these passport sticker books from the Dollar Tree. Available in “Nations of the World”, “Flags of the World”, and “Landmarks of the World”. You can order a box of 36 on their website.

You can also print your own with our Passport Template which also includes a Visa, and Foreigner ID Card.

Posted in Lesson Plans | Tagged countries, culture, travel | 2 Comments

End of Year Awards

Posted on May 7, 2015 by spanishplans

In Colombia, students graduate at the end of year 11. The school celebrates with a ceremony during the school day where the 11th graders give performances. Some groups sing songs, others dance. One of the activities was to present students with awards. The following awards were given out a students: Continue reading →