ES
This is what you’ll see by the end of this super engaging lesson about the Day of the Dead: Your students will make beautiful photo frames to decorate the class. They’ll also describe those frames in Spanish. They’ll know what Day of the Dead is about: when, where, how and why it’s celebrated. They’ll learn the basic vocabulary related to … Read More
Excursiones en el eje cafetero
When tourists visit our home country (Spain), they don’t need to use big numbers. Most of the things they buy -train tickets, souvenirs, meals- cost less than €1,000. Unless they buy several expensive tickets to see Real Madrid or spend many days at a fancy hotel, bills will stay in the dozens or hundreds. Colombia, and most Spanish-speaking countries, are … Read More
Mi barrio
We used to live in Alcorcón, Madrid (Spain), in a small apartment in a building block. There were many places we could easily just walk to: our school, the supermarket, the park… We live in Dover, Delaware (U.S.A.), now. We have a much larger house with our own yard. Even if our schools are really close, as well as other … Read More
Quiero ser… Auxiliar de vuelo
The title of my last school PD of the 2022/23 academic year was Student voice. Its goal was to encourage student participation and to come up with strategies that help us listen to their input. Why?Because when students are involved in the education process they’re more engaged. When they’re more engaged, there are less discipline problems and we can focus … Read More
Voy a ir a Cartagena
We designed this lesson to fix a problem in our classes. Talking about future plans with our students was a struggle. Plans for spring break, weekend plans, plans for their summer vacation… It didn’t matter. We got a lot of Voy a estar en casa. Voy a dormir. No lo sé. Some students really don’t know, or they don’t have … Read More
La cruzada de los niños
We found a really good picture book in our local library called The youngest protester, by Cynthia Levinson.We read it to our kids, Pol and Nora, and we loved how it highlighted the role young students played to put an end to segregation laws in the U.S.We had recently visited Alabama and filmed at the Kelly Ingram Park, where young … Read More
Mi emoji favorito
I start my classes asking my students “¿qué tal”? or “¿cómo están?”. Their most common answer is “bien”. If we tell them that they cannot use “bien” to reply, we have a conversation starter. When they choose words such as cansado, aburrido, enfermo, nervioso or triste, we just ask them why and we’re starting the class with a meaningful and … Read More
Un regalo de Navidad
If you’re looking for a different lesson, one that uses authentic and engaging resources, such as a TikTok video and a Spanish newspaper, you’re in the right spot. And it’s all thanks to Andrea. You may already know her. She’s the wonderful presenter of our Cuatro tradiciones de Navidad video. At the end of that video, Andrea sings El burrito … Read More
Los Reyes Magos
We’re at school almost every day. For some good reason, we rarely get sick. 6th January is the exception. We’ll take a sick or personal day and there’s no way we’ll be at school. This is how important El Día de Reyes is for us. It’s a day to be at home when our kids get up, so we can … Read More
Una familia con encanto
Tell beginner students that Bruno es el tío de Mirabel. Even if they don’t know the word tío, it’ll be fairly easy for them to guess what it means. Chances are most of them have seen Encanto, and they may know the Madrigal family tree pretty well. We wanted to take advantage of that background knowledge, and make a lesson … Read More