SpanishPlans.org

Graphic Organizers

Posted on September 11, 2011 by spanishplans

The following graphic organizers are a great way to help students understand the subject pronouns and verb conjugation.

The Hand Graphic Organizer
1. Have students trace their right hand (or their left hand palm up). The idea is make sure the thumb is on the left.

2. Write in the subject pronouns at the top of each finger, where the fingernail would be. 3 of the subject pronouns relate perfectly with the imagery of the hand. Start with the thumb. The thumb stands for “Yo” because you can use your thumb to point back at yourself. The index finger is “Tú” because you can use your index finger to point to someone that you are talking to. And lastly, the ring finger stands for “Nosotros” because when you wear a ring, it symbolizes your relationship with someone else, “me and someone” equals “we”. Go ahead and add “él, ella, usted” to the middle finger (nothing to note on this one!!) and “ellos, ellas, ustedes” on the pinky. Someone students have come up with you make a “pinky promise” with “other people”.

3. Have the students think of a verb. If you are studying -ar verbs, then they would choose an -ar verb. Have them write this at the bottom of the palm and to draw a quick sketch in the middle of the palm.

4. Write the forms of the verb in each finger according to the subject. You can do this activity with any tense you are studying. The end result:
5. Finally, cut it out. You can hang these up in your classroom or have the students use them as study tools.
Hand cutout to teach Verb Conjugation

Make a bulletin board of these…

Bulletin Board of Verb Conjugation Hands

Bulletin Board of VerbHands

For more graphic organizers for your Spanish class, including verb graphic organizers for conjugations, and for a FREE verb chart document……..
Continue reading →

Posted in Flashcards, Resources | Tagged conjugation, graphic organizers, verb chart | 9 Comments

August News

Posted on August 22, 2011 by spanishplans

We are excited to be honored this week as the “Featured Teacher Author” in TeacherPayTeacher’s weekly newsletter which goes out to thousands of teachers. To see the newsletter (along with its 10 free teaching downloads) click here.

We are also now a contributing blog author at The Lesson Cloud and have posted a blog about a good starting activity for back to school as an icebreaker or getting to know you activity, which I just used today with my homeroom.

If you follow us on twitter or facebook, you know we often post some corny chistes. We keep a log of them on our Chistes page, where you can find a few of our comics as well. We are please to announce that we are now selling a “Papa” Comic focusing on the differences between “la papa” “el papá” and “el Papa”. For only 1.75 (which includes FREE SHIPPING) you can order your own postcard of this comic to display in your classroom.

And speaking of comics, we would like to offer our latest creation of this Spanglish joke:
Spanish Comic

Posted in Chistes | Tagged chistes, comics, education, Spanglish, tiras comicas | Leave a comment

Spanish Bulletin Board

Posted on August 19, 2011 by spanishplans

It’s that time of year again. Putting up bulletin boards and getting your classroom ready for the students. Hope you had plenty of Stikki Clips on hand to hang up those posters, otherwise cross your fingers that you won’t walk in on Monday with the posters laying on the floor.

This year I decided to make my bulletin board reflect the theme of Mexico. I have two bulletins on the side of my white board, so I bought red and green plastic tablecloths at Dollar Tree for $1. It is such much easier than using that big ol’ butcher paper that all schools have.

On the green side, I put up a poster of “Mexico” that I got free years ago by writing to airline companies and asking for donations. I don’t know if they still do this, but it might be worth a try if you need some free decorations and posters. You will also see a panoramic picture of “Piramide del Sol en Teotihuacan” and other souvenirs I have bought or collected over the years, including some leftover currency.

For the right side, on the red background, I decided to feature two of Mexico’s most famous artists: Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.
I have 3 pictures that I took from when I visted La Casa Azul and Diego’s studio. The rest are postcards of the artists themselves or of their works, or brochures from exhibits. I also bought the Diego and Frida “Facebook” poster from Teacher’s discovery, which you can see closer here. I will also be putting the Scholastic Books of “Diego” (Jonah Winter) and “Frida” (Jonah Winter) which have fantastic illustrations! Great books if you don’t already have them.

The end result:

Posted in Bulletin Boards | Tagged bulletin, bulletin boards, classroom, diego rivera, frida kahlo, mexico | 1 Comment

Why I don’t give my students Spanish names

Posted on August 15, 2011 by spanishplans

You won’t find a Lupe in my classroom. You won’t find a Felipe, Margarita, José, Rosa, or even Pedro. That’s because I don’t assign “Spanish names” to students in my Spanish class. So yes, I call on Dylan, Tiffany, Chad, Brett, and Brittany.

I don’t see the “appeal” of assigning fake names to my students. The first few years I taught, I started the program so students were not accustomed to having Spanish names. When I moved schools, students wondered why they no longer chose a name like they did the previous year.

When students ask me, the conversation usually goes like this:

“Profe, why don’t we have Spanish names?”
“Do you have a ‘Math name’? Does your math teacher call you ‘Hypotenuse?”
“No.”
“Ok, then. When your Math teacher gives you a ‘math name’, and your History teacher gives you a ‘history name’, then I will give you a Spanish name”

I never understood the point of having a special name just for class. I guess my first reason was to make connections with the actual student. I remember when I was in high school I only shared Spanish class with certain students. I could tell you their Spanish name, but I had no idea what their actual name was. That just seemed odd to me.

Becoming a teacher, I didn’t want to memorize twice the number of names. Call it lazy, but when I meet Danny’s mom at conferences, I want to be sure I am talking about Danny and not Pepe. And just because they are speaking Spanish, doesn’t mean they need a new name. If students go to Mexico, people aren’t going to start calling them “Marta” instead of “Madison”.

I feel this perpetuates the notion that only some people are allowed to speak the language. “Tom” can’t speak Spanish, but “Juan” can. I want my students to know that ANYONE with any name can speak the language.

The point is, your name doesn’t have to be “Spanish sounding” in order for you to speak Spanish. Britney can be the name of a Spanish speaker. It is just another unnecessary stereotype that we perpetuate by saying that because you are speaking Spanish your name must be in Spanish too.

Some teachers will argue that having Spanish names is “fun.” Some say it helps students with pronunciation of authentic names. What do you think? Do you give your students Spanish names? It’s a worthwhile discussion to have as a department. If you decide to give Spanish names, I hope it is more than just because it is “fun”, “kids like it” or because it’s “always been done.” If those were acceptable reasons, wouldn’t every subject be choosing different names?

Posted in Discussion/Methodology | Tagged class names, nombres, spanish, spanish class, spanish names | 117 Comments

Using Magnets to teach Location

Posted on August 9, 2011 by spanishplans

This activity feels like a game because students are engaged and they get to play with magnets. Little do they know, they are also following instructions in Spanish, and responding to verbal or written cues to accomplish a task. Using magnetic “Create-a-scene” playsets and similar products, I have used this activity in conjunction with Location of Prepositions.

There are many scenes, but I mainly use the “Doll House” playset with our Casa unit. If you do stations, you can lead a station where the teacher physically verbalizes the cues while the students put the appropriate magnets in their appropriate locations. Or you could have the cues written out and the students must read the cues. Or if your school has the technology, you could have a recording on an mp3 player or iPod and the students have to listen to the track to find out where to put the pieces.

You can have a picture of the “correct” placement of the pieces ready for the students to self-check when they have finished. This is a great listening and processing activity for students. This type of lesson could be adapted for various levels and units, since they are different types of Magnet Boards available besides the “Doll House”.

Places to buy these magnetic boards, which are about $12 each.
1. Beyondplay.com –
2. Amazon.com –
3. JanellePublications.com
I happened to find one at a garage sale and negotiated down to 50 cents!

Board and Magnet Pieces

For additional lessons on Location:

5 page Prepositions activity integrated with Body Vocab

9 Page Lesson Unit

Posted in Games, Lesson Plans, Resources, Speaking | Tagged activity, decoding, education, engaging, estar, hands on teaching, listening, location, magnets, prepositions | 7 Comments

Online Flashcards

Posted on August 3, 2011 by spanishplans

My favorite web2.0 tool for the foreign language classroom has to be WordChamp.com I started using this site several years ago, a little at first, but now have really started to integrate it into my classroom.

The site is free for public schools, and teachers can create “classes” so when their students log in, they have access to the teacher’s pre-made flashcards and can start on “homework” set up by the teacher. Teachers can create a magnitude of activities, depending on the type of flashcards.

Just some of the options of activities you can select

The best part is, you can attach audio and a picture to every word, so students can hear a native speaker pronunciation and associate the word with a picture.

"Picture" flashcard. Type in the word.

In the above activity, students type in their answer (bañarse) and submit and it will give them the correct answer if they are wrong. If your list has verbs you can have your students practice the conjugations (you can set which forms and which tense), much like other sites that only offer these services such as conjuguemos.com. Why limit yourself? Open yourself up to loads of potential with wordchamp.

I have created thousands of vocabulary words into flashcards…

My Folders of Vocabulary

When you “assign” an activity, you can even see a detailed student report summary.

Student Report

I used to just use this website during class time by taking my students to the computer lab. Now, I assign certain activities as required homework and also post other activities as suggested practice. I give students several days to complete the homework, helpful since 100% of my students have computer and internet access at home, although they also have time to use the computers in school. I also will use it if there are a few minutes at the end of class to review new vocabulary. I project the picture to the class, and they (sometimes I call on every student or sometimes we do it as a whole class) say the word.

For other web2.0 tools for the classroom, check out our “Tech Tools” sqworl.

Posted in Flashcards, Vocabulary, Web2.0 Technology | Tagged education, flashcards, spanish, web2.o, webtools | 1 Comment

TiraComica

Posted on July 31, 2011 by spanishplans

We are now posting all the jokes, chistes, and tiras cómicas, that we regulary post on our twitter account, on a new page on our blog: Chistes. So if you are ready to get your funny on, check out that page regularly.

Here is today’s new comic:

Click to enlarge

Posted in Chistes | Tagged chistes, jokes, tiras comicas | Leave a comment

Teacher’s Back to School Event

Posted on July 29, 2011 by spanishplans

By now you’ve checked out our summer savings post, our 10 Spanish Freebies post, and as school gets ever closer, you’re now starting to think about the upcoming school year. Well, fear not. We are here to offer you good news! TeachersPayTeachers is hosting its annual Back To School Event with 10% off everything. In addition, we are also offering 10% off all our products. That’s 20% off! And we are not the only ones. Many teachers are participating in offering their own discounts as well. So if you are a new teacher, been assigned a new class to teach, or are just looking for new engaging activities, check out the links below….

For a free account to download your purchases (or to download thousands of free teaching resources), sign up now. And don’t forget to bookmark this page and look for more Spanish lesson ideas throughout the year.

For a list of sales and featured products and how to get the 10% off PROMO CODE…. Continue reading →

Posted in Resources | Tagged back2school, education, Sale, spanish, tchr2tchr, teacher, teacherspayteachers | Leave a comment

Chiste

Posted on July 24, 2011 by spanishplans

Posted in Chistes | Tagged chistes, tiras comicas | 1 Comment

Summer Savings

Posted on July 17, 2011 by spanishplans

The end of summer is becoming more and more of a reality. As the summer winds down, it’s time for teachers to start thinking about getting ready for the new school year. Getting your classroom ready and buying supplies can be a huge burden, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are 6 ways to save you money, including many free giveaways for teachers:

1. Teacher Appreciation Giveaways
Usually middle to late August, supply stores such as Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, and Walmart have special events for teachers on a designated Saturday morning where they offer free coffee, juice, breakfast snacks, and supply giveaways. In addition to coupons, you might receive free classroom supplies such as post-its, pencils or pens, paper clips, and more. Call your local office supply store and ask what date their “Teacher Appreciation” day is.

2. Dollar Tree
Dollar Tree has a great education section for teachers. Stock up on Stickers, Cut-outs, Posters, Passes, curriculum specific items, as well as any office supplies, all for $1.
But why stop at the teacher’s section? I buy wrapping paper and colored plastic tablecloths to cover my bulletin boards! Super easy background!

3. Garage Sales
Garage sales are a great place to buy items such as Board Games for as low as 50 cents to up to $2-3. Spanish teachers, specifically, can be on the look for Guess Who?, a great game to practice descriptions in Spanish. You might come across some other useful items such as organizational crates and manipulatives that you can incorporate into your classroom.

4. Party Stores
Looking for decoration ideas? Check out your local Party stores for themed decorations. Spanish teachers, specifically, can find Mexican-related decorum in the “Fiesta” section. Yes, some are very stereotypical, but if want to spice up your classroom walls, I suggest the Mariachi scene setter.

5. Target Dollar Bins
Who doesn’t love shopping at Target? During back to school shopping, don’t forget to take a look in the Dollar Bins at the front of the store. Many great incentives for students, such as stickers, pencils, erasers, as well as other items for teachers are a great find, and a great deal!

6. Teacher Created Resources
If you are a new teacher, or are just looking for new ideas to make that boring lesson more engaging, check out thousands of teacher-created lesson plans and resources available online. TeachersPayTeachers is a great network where teachers can buy and sell their work. You will be saving so much in comparison to buying through teaching catalogs. Besides, many teachers offer sales this time of year as well, and the site itself is hosting a back-to-school sale starting August 1, with 10% off your purchases. Combine that with the discounts that many sellers offer, and you could save up to 30%! If you are looking for Spanish resources, check out our catalog, and if you don’t have a free account at TpT yet, be sure to sign up now. You will also find thousands of FREE items on this site to download as well. Who doesn’t love free?

Don’t forget to check the local advertisements from your newspaper too. See which stores are offering sales. Don’t forget to carry your Teacher ID with you, as many stores will allow you to buy more than the limit on these sales! Good luck shopping!