No podemos descartar la posibilidad de que los dinosaurios se vieran algo así… (imperfecto del subjuntivo)

imperfecto del subjunctivo. los dinosaurios se vieran algo así

«Ya que el cabello no se conserva durante la fosilización, no podemos descartar la posibilidad de que los dinosaurios se vieran algo así»

¿Qué opinas?

¿Es posible que los dinosaurios fueran diferentes a los que vemos en los museos?

¿Es posible que ellos tuvieran el cabello largo y bonito?

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El desfile de los alebrijes: A Story in Spanish for Beginners (Video & Text)

3 alebrijes

     Many of our students have gotten to know the fantastically colorful and imaginative alebrijes of Mexican folk art through the film Coco. This video-story allows students to build upon that background knowledge and acquire new language while watching compelling film coverage from the Desfile de los alebrijes, an annual parade sponsored by the Museo de Arte Popular in which hundreds of alebrijes come to life throughout the streets of Mexico City.

     I play this video first with no volume and lead students in identifying what they see. After watching and discusisng the video, students design their own alebrijes by drawing and writing a detailed description. Finally, students share their unique alebrijes with their classmates in lively, small group discussions.

     You can click «CC» in the lower right corner of the video to turn on accurate Spanish subtitles. Also, here is a full transcript of the story if you would like to use it for reading activities: El desfile de los alebrijes Full Text Transcript (PDF)

     Enjoy the video! Any comments are welcome and appreciated. I’d love to know if you share this video with your students!

Learn Spanish with Family Guy! Video & Activity (Free PDF)

Family Guy THUMBNAILBefore making this activity a few years ago, I polled my beginner Spanish students about the most well-known families from a TV show or movie. The Kardashians won, but Family Guy consistently took second, ¡so I went with la familia Griffin!

First, we watch the video below together to provide comprehensible input for introducing family vocabulary.  I pause frequently to ask «circling» style questions, all in the target language, Spanish. (Click here for a great video on circling by Kaizen Teaching).

Next, students work together to fill in the blanks with the target vocabulary. Click here for a free, printable PDF of the handout! Or click here for a LiveWorksheets copy that can be filled out online!

Finally, students put what they learned into production by writing a similar description of a family on the back of the handout. Here are the instructions I project on the board:

¡A escribir! Descripción de una familia
Use the Family Guy presentation as a model

  • Describe una familia famosa (de la televisión, el cine, un libro, la historia, etc.)

  • Usa el vocabulario para expresar las relaciones entre los miembros de la familia.

  • ¿Qué hacen los miembros de la familia?

    • –Escribe 1-3 frases sobre cada persona.

  • Dibuja (draw) un árbol familiar.

I instruct the students who finish writing early swap papers to do peer editing.

Any feedback welcome in the comments! I´d love to know if you use this activity in your classroom or have any suggestions for expansion/improvement!

10 Hábitos Diarios: Actividad de Discusión, Escritura y Diseño Creativo

Actividad Creativa: 10 Hábitos Diarios

Tema: El bienestar y la salud

I. Discusión en grupos:

  • ¿Tienes algunos hábitos que haces cada día para mejorar tu calidad de vida?  

    • ¿Cuáles son?

    • ¿Cómo estas acciones diarias mejoran tu calidad de vida?

    • ¿Crees que es importante tener algunos hábitos diarios? ¿Por qué?

  • ¿Estás de acuerdo con los hábitos diarios sugeridos en este póster?

    • ¿Qué cambiarías? ¿Por qué?

habitos diarios

II. Escritura y Diseño

Diseña tu propia versión de un póster con 10 hábitos diarios para mejorar la calidad de vida.

  • Incluye texto e imágenes.

  • Usa la creatividad para diseñar un formato original.

 

III. Colaboración y Reflexión

Comparte tu póster con 3 compañer@s de clase.

Escribe algunos comentarios sobre cada póster.

Después, comparte tus ideas en una conversación.

  • ¿Qué tienen en común los pósteres? ¿Cómo son diferentes?

  • ¿Piensas adoptar algunos de los hábitos sugeridos por tus compañer@s de clase? ¿Cómo crees que estas acciones van a cambiar tu vida?

  • ¿Qué te gusta del diseño y formato de los pósteres? ¿Por qué te gustan estos aspectos?

 

 

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Los líderes no crean seguidores…: Actividad de conversación y/o escritura rápida) (descripciones) (ser) (el presente)

 

los lideres crean «Los líderes no crean seguidores, crean más líderes.» – Tom Peters

¿Cómo interpretas esta frase?

¿Cómo es un buen líder? ¿Qué hace?

 

¿Conoces a un buen líder? ¿Cómo es esta persona?

 

Escribe 5-7 frases para describir a un buen líder.

 

 

Chick-fil-ar: Spanish verb inventing for beginners (metalinguistic awareness activity)

Yo chick-fil-o,

tú chick-fil-as,

él/ella/usted chick-fil-a

I just came across this hilarious meme and decided to make my own version with an added vaca hispanoparlante. At first it just made me laugh, but then realized it could be a starter for a verb-inventing game for beginners.

The objective, in addition to mastering present verb conjugations, is to develop metalinguistic awareness about how verbs conjugations work and the processes by which new verbs are created/adopted into a language.

Even though «chick-fil-ar» is a silly example, we know that new verbs are created in this same way! Googlear, tuitear, etc.  (To follow this pattern, it should be chicfilear, right?)

Let me know in the comments if your students come up with any good, new verbs!

chick fil a estudiafeliz

Mad Libs in Spanish: La fiesta de cumpleaños (Beginner) (Free PDF)

mad libs thumbnailRemember Mad Libs? I used to love doing them as a kid! Now I love using them in the Spanish classroom!

Here is a simple Mad Lib activity that I wrote for my beginner level class.

Click here for 2 page Mad Lib PDF activity sheet.

I hope to share more soon, and there are many other Spanish teachers who have shared their Mad Libs online as well!

If you use this in your classroom, I´d love to hear how it went in the comments!

Fun descriptions with SER writing activity: ¡Mentirosos!

Mentirosos activity handoutMy Spanish 1 students are working on descriptions with SER right now, and I’m always trying to find ways to switch up the usual «¿Cómo eres?» activities for practicing personal descriptions.

In this activity, Peter Griffin and Voldemort are «mentirosos» who have written very inaccurate dating profiles.

Students first re-write each profile to make it more accurate, and then write a new profile for a character of their choice. Correcting the profiles first serves as a model for writing the last profile on their own.

Finally, students swap to share their (often comical) character profiles and peer edit.

Peter Griffin and Voldemort are very recognizable for my college-age students, but the characters could be changed to best suit your students’ interests.

Here is a link to the printable PDF of the handout:

Descriptions. Mentirosos Handout Peter Griffin Voldemort

If you use this activity with your students, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments!