Absolutely Everything You Need to teach Spanish 3 Effectively

• Review of the Spanish comparisons and superlative
• The use and conjugations of vosotros
• Reflexive verbs
• The impersonal SE, the accidental pronoun SE
• Review of direct and indirect object pronouns
• Double object pronouns
• The present tense, irregular verbs, verbs with orthographic changes including stem-changing verbs
• Ser vs. estar
• El gerundio in all tenses, estar + participio pasado
• The regular preterite
• The irregular preterite
• The imperfect
• The preterite vs. imperfect
• The present perfect
• The future tense
• The conditional tense
• The possessive pronouns
• Hace que, hacía que
• The present subjunctive, if time permits

Students also begin reading longer passages and learn how to write a five-paragraph expository essay. Whew! I’m tired already!

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What Activities and Resources Do I Need for Spanish 3?

Let’s say you’re planning to teach Spanish three next year. What engaging resources and activities will you need in your teacher toolbox to help your students reach their learning goals? Below is a list of must-haves in my opinion.

COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT FOR LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Because the Spanish 3 learning targets include so many grammar concepts, it is essential to provide non-native speakers with copious amounts of authentic language. I like to appeal to both the conscious and subconscious mind: First I explain the concept, then I inundate students with comprehensible input so they can acquire the language.

WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER WITH GRAMMAR, YOU ASK?

That’s a topic for another blog post, but I‘ll briefly answer it here.

Of course I want my Spanish learners to be fluent, but that’s not enough. My heritage students are fluent but often can’t write. And no, I’m not in the camp of people who believe there is no such thing as a grammar error. People who don’t know grammar typically can’t write or express themselves well. They may make themselves understood, but not as well as they could if they knew the difference between a noun and a verb, an adjective and an adverb. Understanding the intricacies of Spanish grammar is an integral part of the learning process.

To learn more about my views on this topic, watch this short video: WHY GRAMMAR IS IMPORTANT

BELOW ARE SOME RESOURCES I USE TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIBLE INPUT

PowerPoints with Visuals and Sentences in Context

Ser vs. Estar

Preterite vs. Imperfect

El se impersonal and Accidental Se

Videos with Listening Comprehension Activities (My favorite CI)

The superlative

Three Imperfect Preterite Videos: Love Story and Two More

Los demostrativos Spanish Demonstrative Adjectives Video

The Future Tense Video

The Present Perfect

Spanish Object Pronouns and Double Object Pronouns Video

The Conditional Tense

The Spanish Present Subjunctive

The Subjunctive: Las cláusulas adjetivales

FREE Iba a + infinitive Video

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO GET THE FREE VIDEO.

I have also found a few YouTube videos and EdPuzzle videos from time to time.

Songs

Si no fuera rico for the imperfect subjunctive

A Dios le pido by Juanes for the present subjunctive

Stories and Dialogues

The Accidental Se Story

The María y Ana Story to reinforce the verbs SER vs ESTAR

Stories to cement the preterite tense

The Snickers Story for the Irregular Preterite

For Student Production and Speaking Practice

PAIRED AND GROUP ACTIVITIES

Language learning must include speaking practice because production is far more difficult than recognition. A good way to provide speaking practice is to allow students to work in pairs or groups. When students practice with peers, they are much more relaxed and therefore, more able to access the target language. (What Stephen Krashen refers to as a “low affective filter)

Below are a few activities my students love:

La cita rápida Group Speaking Activity to practice the present perfect and the imperfect tenses

The Subjunctive Eight Stations Activity in which students speak Spanish the entire period.

Here is the FREE Eight Stations Activity for the Future Tense

FREE Double Object Pronoun Paired Activity

The hilarious Mandatos Game (FREE!)

Preterite vs. Imperfect Paired Activities

LANGUAGE EXCHANGE

Of course, the best way for language learners to practice their speaking skills is to have real conversations with native speakers. I invite Spanish speakers (mostly volunteer parents) to come to my advanced-level high school Spanish classes to speak to the students for fifteen minutes (thirty minutes in level four and AP). At first, I give them a specific topic. Once they are more comfortable with the language, they talk about their daily life, interests, or anything else that comes to mind.

Students also sign up to email students in Spanish-speaking countries through epals.com
I give them the option to FaceTime and record their conversations. Connecting students to native Spanish speakers is a great way to help them practice their communication skills and Spanish pronunciation. And the best part? They love meeting Spanish speakers their age.

Another communication task students enjoy is texting with the Tandem app. The following blog posts give more examples of ways to provide authentic conversation practice to your students: How to Get Your Students Speaking the Target Language Outside the Classroom and How to Find Conversation Partners for Your Students

When your principal asks you to give evidence of how you incorporate the 5 Cs of foreign language, you can tell him you have the Communities part nailed: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.

BELL WORK, WARM UPS

It’s hard to dive right into learning when your mind is on other things. The bell work gets students working right away while you take roll so you don’t waste instructional time. It also serves to review the previous day’s concepts.

Here are the bell work and warm up activities I use in Spanish 3: Spanish 3 Bell Work

DIGITAL AND PRINTABLE ASSESSMENTS FOR WRITING, LISTENING, SPEAKING, AND READING

Of course, we have to assess students to see if what we’re doing is working and if they are learning and acquiring the new language. And we want to evaluate them in all four domains.

Once we get the results, we can change course or move ahead.

Tests and quizzes work best if we don’t have to create, correct, or grade them. We do too much work already! Whenever possible, i.e., when students don’t have to write essays or open-ended answers, I like to use autocorrecting activities and assessments. Below are the assessments I use, both printable, Google Slides, and autocorrecting Google Forms.

Spanish 3 Printable and Digital Tests and Quizzes

ATTENTION GETTERS AND MEMES

Attention getters aren’t really a “must have,” but I find if I begin the class with a humorous meme that includes the concept I’m teaching, or just authentic language, students are receptive to learning and it helps draw them into the lesson, and away from distractions. Every lesson begins with an attention getter or meme.

You can find memes easily by typing the grammar topic into the Google search bar. For example: Spanish Subjunctive Memes. You can also find many Spanish memes on my Pinterest Board: Chistes, Memes, Cartoons, and Funny Things in Spanish and French

Here are two that I use, one for the imperfect tense and one for the future tense:

GRAMMAR POWERPOINTS AND STUDENT HANDOUTS TO CLEARLY EXPLAIN GRAMMAR CONCEPTS

PowerPoints with visuals not only provide comprehensible input, but are a great way to explain grammar rules and provide clear examples and practice. Below are a few grammar PowerPoints I use:

Los cambios ortográficos Students need to review the orthographic changes in the present tense to prepare them for the subjunctive.

Spanish Reflexive Verbs

And below are the student handouts I use:

Spanish Three Student Handouts

INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS ACTIVITIES AND FOLDABLES

Even when I’m directly teaching, I don’t want students sitting passively while I do my song and dance. I want them to be interacting with the lesson. Hands-on INB activities keep students engaged and, because they use more of the senses, students retain the concepts better. (Google Drive activities are interactive and encourage high student participation as well.) Below are a few interactive notebook activities and foldables I use in Spanish 3:

The Preterite vs. Imperfect Interactive Notebook and Foldable

The Future and Conditional Interactive Notebook Activities and Foldables

Here are all my Spanish 3 INBs and Google Drive Activities

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COMPREHENSIVE CURRICULUM BREAKDOWN: FROM GRAMMAR TO COMPREHENSION AND CONVERSATION

The challenge in level 3 is to teach the grammar and cement it with tons of comprehensible input. So, how do I get students from grammar practice to assimilation of the new concepts and verb tenses in reading and listening sources? How do I get them to communicate verbally and in writing using their new knowledge?

I’ll show you a few examples of how I do it with specific grammar concepts.

HOW I TEACH THREE GRAMMAR CONCEPTS: STEP-BY-STEP

REVIEW OF THE COMPARISONS AND SUPERLATIVE:

• Since this is review, I begin with comprehensible input: Students watch Comparisons and Superlative Videos and I compare people, things, and students in the class. I ask students questions. Who is taller than…? Who is the tallest boy in the class? Etc.
• I show a PowerPoint with visuals for comprehensible input. I put photos of my students in the slides for humor and to engage them.
• I provide more comprehensible input and authentic language. I tell stories with puppets. I tell students they have to help me decide whom to marry. I compare the qualities and defects of the two guys I dated. They examine the details and tell me whom I should marry. (I didn’t marry either one.)
• I check for understanding with questions students answer on whiteboards.
• For the closure activity, students participate in a competition in which students draw the sentences I say and later act them out.
• Students work in pairs to answer questions based on drawings. They compare the people and animals: ¿Qué animal es más pequeño que el gorila? ¿Quién es tan alta como Marta?
• Using a template and sentence starters, students work in pairs to explain why they are just as competent to run for president as their classmates. Click HERE to get the template and student instructions.

THE IMPERSONAL SE

Since I am introducing students to the impersonal se for the first time, I begin with direct instruction.

• I show the Se impersonal PowerPoint in which I explain all the different uses and meanings of the Spanish pronoun se: each other, reflexive, indirect object pronoun, and then the passive voice. Then I show students the sentence structure of the impersonal se. The PowerPoint provides sentences with visuals so students hear the impersonal se in context and get exposed immediately to CI.
• Students write on whiteboards so I can check for understanding.
• More CI: I show a PowerPoint with cultural icons, famous people, students’ photos, and funny visuals. Students answer questions about the people: ¿Se dice que Jennifer Lawrence se parece a Marilyn Monroe? ¿Se dice que Eva (student in the class) se parece a Angelina Jolie? ¿Se dice que Lolina es inteligente?  ¿Se lava la ropa con jamón? Click HERE to get it. (Insert photos of your students in some slides.)
• More Comprehensible Input: I ask questions that include the structure so students can easily answer: ¿Por dónde se sirven buenos tacos? ¿Dónde se venden zapatos deportivos? ¿Qué fiesta se celebra el catorce de febrero?
• More CI with a Kahoot Game. The beauty of this comprehensible input is that it progresses from recognition to student production.
• STUDENT PRODUCTION: The closure activity is a competition in which students change the sentence from the active voice to the passive voice: Cambia la frase de la voz active a la voz pasiva: No puedes votar hasta los 21. No se puede votar hasta los 21.
• The next day, I show a funny meme or attention getter using the passive voice structure. The one below is from the chistes21.com site.

After teaching the passive voice, I teach the non-intentional se as it is a natural progression. The accidental se lesson plans are hilarious, but there is no time to write about them in this post. Here is the link to the lesson plans: Spanish Se Impersonal and Se no intencional Lesson Plans and Curriculum

For more details, read the post: The Challenges of Teaching the Se impersonal, the Se no intencional and La voz pasiva

PRETERITE VS. IMPERFECT

Teaching when to use the imperfect and preterite in Spanish is difficult because it’s a concept that is acquired rather than learned (like most concepts in second language education). Therefore, I spend an entire month (longer on the regular schedule) teaching the preterite vs. imperfect tenses. Most of that time is dedicated to comprehensible input so students can get a feel for when to properly use the different past tenses.

HERE IS HOW I TEACH EL PRETÉRITO Y EL IMPERFECTO:

• Review and practice the preterite. When I teach the preterite, I begin many stories with “Había…” so students get used to the meaning. They also use it to write their own stories.

The culmination activity for student production is the Eight Stations Activity in which students speak Spanish all period. They love this activity and beg to do it again!

• I begin with CI, by telling a funny story. I don’t explain the uses of the imperfect to the students; I just tell them the meaning of the verbs in the imperfect. For example: Supe means I found out. Sabía means I knew. Conocí means I met while conocía means I knew. I act out the story with the students, asking questions as I narrate. Then, I ask comprehension questions and students answer in a competition.
• I use a PowerPoint to teach the imperfect tense of regular and irregular verbs and verb conjugations. Students practice writing the conjugations. At this point, I just want them to recognize the imperfect.
• I give students the fairy tale, “El traje del emperador” written in simple Spanish with many uses of the preterite and imperfect. Students work in pairs to identify the preterite and imperfect tenses, highlighting them in different colors.
• The following day, I start the day with an attention-getter or meme that uses the imperfect tense.
• Then I explain the different uses of the preterite and the imperfect, teaching with the illustrated PowerPoint. So students are actively engaged in the lesson, they fill out the interactive notebook and foldable as they watch the PowerPoint. The PowerPoint provides many uses of the imperfect and preterite in context as well as a list of expressions that are typically used with each tense. (For example, for the imperfect: siempre, a veces, nunca, frecuentemente.)

• Students read passages and sentences and decide which verb to use, the preterite or the imperfect.
• I teach the verbs that change in meaning depending on the verb tense used: tuve vs. tenía, estaba; quise vs. quería; pude vs podia, etc.

And now, the barrage of comprehensible input

• I tell a story about my childhood using the preterite and imperfect.
• I give students the same story written in English and they work in pairs to decide which tense to use for each verb.
• Students still need to practice using the imperfect as it is a new tense for them so they ask each other questions in pairs about what people were doing when the first person landed on the moon. They answer based on the pictures using the imperfect tense. ¿Qué hacía Vicente? Levantaba pesas.
• More CI: I told another story about my childhood. (I have a treasure chest of hair-raising stories.)
• More CI: I tell a simplified story of The Ugly Duckling, El patito feo, using an illustrated PowerPoint. Then, students write the correct verbs in a Cloze activity.
• More CI: I show a video about a girl who thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her (He isn’t) and students do the comprehension activities afterward.

• More CI: I tell a story about a girl who is kidnapped during the French revolution (A silly story I made up). I tell students to listen carefully because they will be retelling the story. I ask questions as I tell the story. I tell it again and students help me tell the story. Afterward, students work in pairs to practice telling the story. They are graded on a rubric. (This TPRS Blog Post Tutorial models how to ask questions while telling the story.)
• More comprehensible Input: Students listen to the song, “Ya no quiero” by Jesse y Joy. Students sing along. Then I divide the class and see who can sing it the best.
• More CI: I show an illustrated PowerPoint of the story, “La niña consentida,” by Elisa Nieves.
• I teach students vocabulary that is often associated with the imperfect and childhood. We practice the new Spanish words together. Then I read the sentences and students act out their meaning in a competition.
• More Comprehensible Input: We play the board game with the new vocabulary. (The teacher reads sentences leaving out one word. Students run to the board and touch the missing word. Click the link for more details.)
• More CI: I tell four more short stories and one illustrated PowerPoint story about something awful that happened when I lived in France. (No worries; there is a happy ending.)

As you can see, most of the time spent teaching the preterite and the imperfect is spent providing language in context via stories, songs, fairy tales, activities, and games.

READY-MADE NO-PREP LESSON PLANS AND CURRICULUM

Don’t want to spend hours writing your own lesson plans? Why not use the proven Todos preparados Spanish 3 Lesson Plans and Curriculum? All the resources mentioned above and more are included in the curriculum. These Spanish lessons do everything for you, except correct and sometimes they do that too!

Click on the link to learn more: Todos preparados Spanish 3 Lesson Plans and Curriculum

If you’d like to get more tips and f-r-e-e resources in your email, subscribe to my newsletter. Just click this link and scroll to the bottom to subscribe: Best PowerPoints for Spanish and French by Angie Torre. You’ll also get a F-R-E-E 122-slide PowerPoint on Spanish verbs and infinitives.

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