February 19, 2019
By Catharyn Crane
One of the most read posts on our Secondary Spanish Space blog was my post on What to do with Spanish Club? 25 Ideas. So by popular demand, here’s my follow up. Yes, more ideas! Remember, these ideas are great for your Spanish Honor Society too. I hope you enjoy! ~Catharyn
Make bulletin boards
Task your Spanish club to redesign a bulletin board in your room or do this for other Spanish teachers’ bulletin boards. They could interview teachers to see what they’re wanting in a bulletin board. Then, create a presentation of ideas to show the teacher. Once approved, students would create the new bulletin board. Pinterest and Instagram are loaded with awesome bulletin board ideas if you need inspiration.
Learn how to make “artesania.”
Artesania, or hand crafts, are such a special part of Hispanic Culture. Students could research and learn how to make Guatemalan Worry Dolls, Paper Mache Pinatas, Papel Picado, or other traditional artisanal crafts. Sherry (World Language Cafe) has shared a few other Day of the Dead Craft Ideas in a recent post here on SSS that might get you thinking.
Host a lip sync night.
Your students pick a Spanish language song, learn the lyrics, and choreograph dance moves to go along. Then they present at a school lip sync night. An alternative is to make it a lip sync day (host it at lunch!). For more specifics, see this SSS post on How to Host a World Language Lip Sync Night.
Use the Remind App to stay in touch with students.
Have you used Remind? It is a free app (desktop too) that lets you send texts to a group without having to send them from your personal cell phone. This is such an easy way to be in touch with your club members for meeting dates, reminders, events, etc. No, Remind did not pay me to mention them. The app is just that great.
Learn a “Frase de la semana.”
“Frase de la semana,” or the phrase of the week is a fun way for students to learn useful Spanish slang phrases. Club members could research a common list of Spanish phrases or colloquialisms they want to learn, having each student take charge for a given week. Or use the Frase de la Semana set that I made for my own students (this links to the resource in my TpT store). You post the frase de la semana in your classroom and then students try to use it as often as they can throughout the week.
Host a children’s book drive for English Language Learners.
Spanish club can be a great opportunity to learn about people in the community who are also learning a second language – English Language Learners. One of the biggest challenges facing young English Language Learners is access to English books at home. Your club could host a drive to collect used English children’s books. This could be done among club members or could extend to your whole school. What prizes can you offer for the group that collects the most books? Donate the books to a local organization or school who can share these books with young ELL students who need them most.
Play some brain break games.
5-minute Brain Breaks can be a great way for club members to get to know each other, have fun, and build a sense of community. Here’s a list of some easy 5-minute Brain Breaks for the World Language Classroom by Elisabeth (Spanish Mama) on our SSS blog. I’m sure some of these would be fun to use with your club.
Create a club Instagram account.
Have club leaders (president, secretary, treasurer, etc.) alternate weeks running it. If you feel comfortable, have club members take a turn as well. Before starting this, be sure to go over what is ok and what is not ok to post on the account. This would be a great exercise for the whole club to do together, establishing the “norms” for appropriate digital citizenship. If you need help with Digital Citizenship, I’m obsessed with the non-profit Common Sense’s free Digital Citizenship Curriculum.
Create mini video documentaries for video announcements.
Do you have video announcements at your school? Spanish club members could work with the video announcement team to create mini documentary style videos on a topic relating to Spanish culture that they care about. I love Adobe Spark Video as a way to make free videos simply (there’s a free app for phone / tablet or use the website). Students might search for current event topic ideas on BBC Mundo, the Spanish language portion of the British Broadcasting Company’s news site.
Send inspirational messages to club members or teachers… in Spanish.
We could all use a little love, right? Club members could write out Spanish language notes or postcards for fellow club members or teachers. They could deliver them personally or you could coordinate them being specially delivered to recipients in class or to teachers’ mail boxes. I made a little set of Spanish language award cards that you can download for free through my TpT store if you’re looking for a simple template. My Spanish Printable Postcards might help too (this links to a resource I sell on TpT). The beauty of this activity is it can be completed in just a lunch period club meeting and makes everyone feel good!
Teach a Spanish language or culture lesson for a local preschool.
Connect with a local preschool, or if you’re lucky, your high school might have a lab preschool attached, like mine did. Have club members talk with the preschool teachers to see what their little students might like in a Spanish language or culture lesson. Club members then design a lesson / activity and share it with the preschool teachers for their feedback. Once approved, students take a club field trip to the preschool to teach it!
Run a school-wide penny drive for a cause of students’ choice.
Club members raise pennies for a cause of their choice. Maybe you want to help a Spanish teacher buy books to Start a Spanish Class Library like SSS’s Allison (Mis Clases Locas) did. Maybe you want to raise money to help efforts to save the Amazon Rainforest or to support schools in Central America. The sky’s the limit.
Make horchata.
It is so easy. And delicious! All you need is rice, water, milk, cinnamon, sugar, and a pitcher. Have students research recipes. Have them vote on the recipe they want to make. Or better yet, small groups of students could make different versions and you could have a taste-off. Club members taste each of the variations to vote on the best recipe.
Listen to some Spanish-language music and chill.
I think today’s students are just so overwhelmed sometimes. It can be a relief to have a quiet, positive place to come at lunch for a Spanish Club meeting, where you know you can just listen to music and relax. Need a playlist? Pandora is an awesome free site. This list of 20 Pandora Stations for the Spanish Classroom might get you rolling; thanks Dianna (La Profe Plotts) for assembling it.
What did I miss?
Hope these ideas got you thinking about activities to do with your Spanish Club (or Spanish Honor Society). If you have other ideas, please share them in the comments below, or hit us up on our Secondary Spanish Space Facebook page!
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