Free Online Flashcards for vocab learning

Posted on January 9, 2011 by spanishplans

One of my favorite websites is WORDCHAMP.com where users can practice vocabulary and language learning using digital flashcards. I have been using this website for the last four years in my classes and have found it to be an excellent tool for my Spanish students. Any foreign language teacher or ELL / ESL teacher needs to check out this site.

The site is completely free to use. (EDIT: They now charge a few of $30 for a year-subscription to use the site.) Teachers can create “classes” that their students can sign up for (free for public K-12 schools/teachers). Teachers can upload vocabulary words, and add pictures and audio. Most words on the site have pre-loaded audio from native speakers so students can hear proper pronunciation.

Teachers can assign specific drills to practice including translation, dictation, picture recognition, listening, and more. You can also create activities such as multiple choice, cloze activities, fill in the blank, and more (see pic)! Students get INSTANT FEEDBACK on their answers, and the ones they miss will repeat, so they practice the ones they don’t know even more.

vocab practice

All of my students have internet access as home so I have started using this website to assign homework to make sure my students practice their vocabulary. As a teacher you can see how long it took them to complete the assignment, which words they got wrong, and other information. If your student population does not have home access, take a trip to the computer lab. Be assured that every student will be engaged for the full class period.

Students DO need an account in order to practice your flashcards or to even create their own.

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Spanish Sub Plans

Posted on January 3, 2011 by spanishplans

It happens all the time. A sick child. A family emergency. The stomach flu. A 102 fever. A car accident.

Things come up at the last minute either before school or during the school day. We may need to rush out of the classroom but worry how the sub can carry on the same lesson you’ve been teaching all day. Stuck at home, you wonder what you can plan that a sub can carry out.

Especially with Spanish, where it is difficult to find a sub that understands the language, we must make our sub plans do-able for anyone to step in and lead the class. Many times this leads to students working by themselves either writing or doing worksheets. Hopefully we can eliminate any plans that are just “time wasting”. We want to fill our sub folder with activities that are meaningful and engaging to our students.

This stress free (and otherwise free) lesson is something that, can be played off a computer, or burned to a CD that a sub can play on a cd player.

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/olga_tracks/nepantla.html

9 mp3 files that can be played off the site or saved to your computer or burned onto a CD. Includes a pdf lesson plan that you can print off for a sub to help them lead discussion.

For more ready to use lesson plans…. Continue reading →

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Feliz 2011

Posted on January 2, 2011 by spanishplans

Feliz año nuevo a todos

I know many of you are coming back from vacation and starting school this week. Hope your vacation was relaxing and you are refreshed and ready to dive back into the classroom. Our goal this year is to expand this blog, including more updates and more diverse entries, and hope to expand our readership. Thanks for everyone for reading this blog. If you have your own blog, please leave it in the comments and let’s network!

Keeping yourself updated:
We teach what we know and we teach what we have learned. But, of course, a language is a living, growing thing and therefore there are always changes. We must continue to keep ourselves in the loop of the latest rules and nuisances of the language. Recently, the REA has approved several changes which affect some of the items we teach at all levels of Spanish. Including new spelling rules and new pronunciation for some letters of the alphabet.
Most notably:
b – “be” instead of “be grande/alta”
v – “uve” instead of “be chica/baja”
y – no longer “y griega” but now “ye”

Accents no longer needed on:
sólo” y los pronombres “éste”, “ése” y “aquél

“Ex” no longer a separate word. Now “expresidente” “exnovio”
*(http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1338084)

We will be updating our twitter account more frequently too. @Spanishplans
Please follow us.

To end today’s post, we’d like to offer a lesson which can be used on the first day back to school. It’s always hectic on the first day back; students want to be talking anyway…. give them an opportunity to practice their speaking and finding out about their classmates in our Conversation Cards activity. Over 160 questions ready to use!!
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-Conversation-Cards-Oral-Speaking-Activity

¡Hasta la próxima!

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Country Research Project

Posted on December 20, 2010 by spanishplans

Groups will research a Hispanic country in South or Central America although this project can be used in any geography or social studies class as well. The student project includes a presentation board, map, travel brochure, and flag. Rubric is detailed but this file is a Word file so the buyer can EDIT any part of the project or rubric to their satisfaction.

Students must research their information and cite sources. This project is great for middle school or high school Spanish classes looking to teach about the countries and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. Can be used for another other country project as well (social studies, geography classes, other language classes)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-Speaking-Country-Research-Project

Spanish Speaking countries

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Spanish 1 Book

Posted on December 12, 2010 by spanishplans

Spanish 1 texbook resource

Welcome to the Level 1 Spanish Teacher Guide. Inside you will find ready to use ideas to help you get started on being the best Spanish teacher. Whether this is your very first teaching position or you have taught before, this Guide is sure to offer you great resources. The resources included are not meant to be the end-all be all, but hopefully some will spark other ideas for you to develop further or simply just edit for your own students. Although these ideas are all geared for level 1/beginning classes, they certainly can be adapted for all levels.

Some items are ready to print and handout to students, or ready to copy onto an overhead. Other items offer ideas and tips for you to build off of. You can edit any activity to personalize it for your own class. These spanish printables are stress free and easy to use.

64 pages in total!!!

Sample Student Survey p 4
Sample Syllabus p 5-6
Book Checkout p 7
Sign out Sheet p 8

Bell Ringer Sheet p 10-11
Bell Ringers p 12-16
Idioms/Proverbs p 17
Exit Passes p 18
Homework Not Done p 18

Games, Activities, and Vocabulary Practice
Game Ideas….. p 20-21
Vocabulary Practice….. p 22-23
Oral Practice for whole class p 24-25
Vocabulario Points p 26
Verb Bingo p 27
Vocabulary Bingo p 28-30
Communicative Notecards p 31-33
Connections to Real Life p 34
Food Vocabulary Using Pictures p 35
House Questions worksheet p 36
Tener que worksheet p 37-38
-AR, -ER, -IR, irregular yo presente p 39-40
Tener and Estar Notes p 41-42
Past Tense Guided Notes ARp 43-46 ER/IR p 47-51
Using Songs in Class p 52

Project for School Unit p 54
Project for Family Unit p 55
Project for House Unit p 56-57
Project for Food Unit p 58
Project for Body Parts Unit p 59
Project for Commands p 59
Project for Clothing p 59
Project for Reflexive Verbs Unit p 60
Project for Doctor/Health skit p 61
Country Research Project Rubric p 62-63

You won’t find a collection of this many classroom tried and tested materials in once place for this great price!

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Spanish Conversation Speaking Cards

Posted on December 12, 2010 by spanishplans

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-Conversation-Cards-Oral-Speaking-Activity

With winter break approaching, many teachers may be looking for some ideas and lessons to use the last few days before break. Well, you’ve found it. This lesson is ready to print and implement right away. Can be used for a whole lesson or as part of a lesson. Includes instructions on different ways to use it in your Spanish classroom.

Great activity for practicing speaking in level 1 class with the topics they are currently studying or in Spanish 2 for a quick and easy review of topics they already know and may now be able to expand on their answers.

8 different topics with at least 18 questions for each topic. Over 16o questions in total!

Cards to be printed measure 2.75 x 3.8 inches. Divided into 8 topics covered in Spanish I and maybe into Spanish II. Makes a great way to practice in Spanish 1 and works as a great review for Spanish 2.

Topics include:
Pages 1 – 3: Introductions,Days /Presentaciones,Días
Pages 4 – 6: Descriptions / Descripciones
Pages 7 – 9: Activities / Actividades
Pages 10 – 13: School / Escuela
Pages 14 – 16: House / Casa
Pages 17 – 22: Food / Comida
Pages 23 – 25: Routines / Rutinas
Pages 26 – 28 Health / Salud

Fits your Speaking or Communication Standard for learning Spanish.
1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.

Continue reading →

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Food Vocab Bingo

Posted on December 7, 2010 by spanishplans

Continuing with our last blog in regards to food, today we present you a fun game that is great to practice vocabulary and increase vocabulary. Instead of just playing Bingo and calling out the word in English and having them find the word in Spanish, this activity uses pictures of the item and they have to find the correct word based on a sentence in Spanish describing the word. Not only does it help them study the vocabulary by looking for the words, but it also increases their fluency as they hear and must interpret the clues.

Rather, than playing as a whole class where the teacher reads the clues and all students play at the same times, we break our students into small groups. This way other students have to be responsible for reading the clues. It also allows each group to think more independently as sometimes some students can’t hold back their excitement and blurt out the word in Spanish, which takes about the thinking from their classmates.

27 vocabulary words have been chosen for this activity, although you can easily add different words that are part of your unit’s vocab

8 Bingo Cards are ready to use!

2 Sets of Clues. Great way to practice vocabulary. Simple descriptions of the food in Spanish. Cut them, put them in a hat, and pull them out.

This activity is ready to use. Print and use it in class the same day!! No planning required!
Click on the picture below:

Comida Juego Bingo

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La Comida : Vocabulario

Posted on December 1, 2010 by spanishplans

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Food-Vocabulary-Unit-for-Spanish-Worksheets-Quiz

VocabulariodeComidaSpanish Food Vocab

¿Quién tiene hambre? Unos archivos para enseñar el vocabulario de la comida.

8 Files:
1) Vocabulary Powerpoint (Expresate Chapter 6)
2)Vocab Quiz (Section 1) – utensils based on meals, and matching
3) Vocab Quiz (Section 2) – fill in the blanks
4) Vocab Clues/Descriptions (would be a good tool if you make a bingo card) or to read if you play flyswatter
5) Vocab Practice (pictures of food), students must write the spanish word of the sentence into the correct pictures
6) Same file as 5 with answers filled in
7) Vocab Quiz of food, same setup as Vocab Practice
8 ) Another version of the quiz of food
Zipped in a folder. All Word documents, so you can edit to your own preferences and make any changes to fit your particular curriculum and vocabulary.

The majority of this vocabulary is from chapter 6 in the textbook Expresate, but a lot of words have been added to supplement this area.

Want a project too? See Below. Continue reading →

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Spanish 1 Book of Resources, Worksheets and more

Posted on November 21, 2010 by spanishplans

This book is a must have for any Spanish teacher. If you have a friend or family member who is a Spanish teacher or studying to be one, this would be an awesome gift for the holidays! Inside you will find ready to use ideas to help you get started on being the best Spanish teacher. Whether this is your very first teaching position or you have taught before, this Guide is sure to offer you great resources. All exercises and tried and true in the classroom. The resources included are not meant to be the end-all be all, but hopefully some will spark other ideas for you to develop further or simply just edit for your own students. Although these ideas are all geared for level 1/beginning classes, they certainly can be adapted for all levels.

Some items are ready to print and handout to students, or ready to copy onto an overhead. Other items offer ideas and tips for you to build off of. You can edit any activity to personalize it for your own class.

64 full pages!
Spanish I Book of Resources

See a breakdown of all the pages after the jump
Continue reading →

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Songs in class

Posted on November 16, 2010 by spanishplans

One of my favorite things to do is play songs in class.

When the students are working on bell ringers or working on homework, I have my favorite Spanish songs playing in the background. I have a CD with my favorite songs, and it doesn’t take long for the students to recognize the songs and ask for their favorites.

I also use songs as lessons. I have the students listen to a song and fill in missing lyrics. Another thing I have done is cut up the lyrics into strips and have students piece the song back together in order.

My favorite artists: Juanes, Jesse & Joy, Maná

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