Ok – so you probably read that title and thought, “She’s crazy!! Mondays are the worst!”
But honestly, I do love Mondays because we do Spanish speaking activities. Check it out:
On Mondays, I start all of the my classes (even my Spanish 1’s ) with students talking about their weekends during our “Weekend Report”. I write this question on the board for student reference, “¿Qué hiciste este fin de semana?” and ask for volunteers.
If you don’t get any volunteers, just pick a random student to start. Ask the question and then encourage students to ask follow-up questions.
For example, if a student says, “Fui al cine”, other students could ask:
Monday Spanish Speaking Activities
At first, students will struggle to speak and that’s okay. Help them out by writing any tricky words or expressions on the board. Very quickly, they will need to know how to say things in the past tense.
- Use one 8 x 11.5 sheet with a rectangle for each student’s desk.
- Write the student’s name by the rectangle (where his/her desk is in class).
- Staple or tape this sheet to the top of the folder that you use for the class. That way, you’ll always have it nearby. Pro Tip: Use a different color folder for each class).
- Write a tally mark by the student’s name each time they participate. Pull this out from time to time throughout the quarter during speaking activities to encourage class participation.
- To keep track of which students have participated that day, use a different colored pen each time.
- Give each student 3 small squares of colored paper. Have them write their names on both sides of each square.
- At the beginning of class, have a few students pass out the squares or leave them on a side table for students to pick up as they come in.
- Each time a student participates, they give you one of their squares.
- Call on students who don’t usually participate to ask follow up questions. Help them come up with ideas. ¿Te gustó? ¿Te divertiste? ¿Qué tal la fiesta/la pelicula/el partido de fútbol?
- Point to question word signs with authentic realia to spark ideas for asking questions. Keep these posted on the wall for student reference throughout the year.
- The activity continues until each student has used up their 3 squares. If you are pressed for time, pass out fewer squares per student.
As your students get better at speaking, ask for a bit more. Instead of “Fui al cine”, ask them to add on to the sentence. Ex. “Fui al cine con Paco para ver la Guerra de las Galaxia.”
1 Comment
This sounds like a wonderful idea and would love to do this! How soon in Level one do you begin this? I think I could get my level 2s there… just worried I'd get deer in the head lights look. Have any videos?