Resources and ideas for language teachers

En tu mochila …. un bocata cada día

Neil — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:13:38 +0000

I’m working with my AS Spanish group on the topic of health. The following resource is based on a campaign in schools in the Basque Country where they are encouraging kids to eat sandwiches. The PowerPoint presents the campaign website (the picture in the second slide has a hyperlink to the site) as well as a clip from the news on Cuatro. Afer presenting some vocabulary using pictures there is a slide where the students get to see a list of useful words + then these are covered up for the students to reproduce them. As for the video clip, this is embedded into the PowerPoint + available below.

POWERPOINT: dieta MACRO VERSION

Filed under: Spanish KS5

Enjuto Mojamuto

Neil — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:09:01 +0000

I was introduced to this cartoon today (thanks, Paloma!) + I love it. Here are some great examples which can be used when looking at the topic of technology / internet with AS/A2 students.

Enjuto Mojamuto es un personaje de animación de la serie de televisión Muchachada Nui, obra del dibujante, actor y cómico español Joaquín Reyes. El personaje protagoniza una sección de la propia serie que no supera el minuto y medio y en la que aparece sentado delante de su ordenador.

Filed under: Spanish KS5

¿Qué hará el gato?

Neil — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:29:45 +0000

Trying to predict what happens next in a video can be a fun and creative way to get students to practise the future tense. Before getting to that stage clearly there’s a lot of work to be done in teaching the future tense(s). Below is a PowerPoint to support this. The creative outcome stage is where you show one of the “Simon’s Cat” videos from YouTube. You only show it up to the point where the cat appears above the bed, which is quite early on in the video. You pause at this point + ask the class, with the aid of dictionaries or support, to write out what will happen next. Once you gather in suggestions you can then continue with the clip and tick off those that were correct. [As usual the video is embedded into the PowerPoint, but you will need to be connected to the internet for this to work].

POWERPOINT: mis-planes-para-el-futuro WORKSHEET: IMMEDIATE FUTURE use of the verb IR worksheet El futuro WORKSHEET

Filed under: Grammar, Spanish KS3, Spanish KS4

VER-TALL

Neil — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:19:18 +0000

I am new to the amazing website www.ver-taal.com. A colleague introduce me to it + I love it. I assume it is a Dutch site + it has some great activities for both Spanish and French. I am particularly keen on the “reportajes“ www.ver-taal.com/telediario.htm + “anuncios” sections www.ver-taal.com/anuncios.htm .

Filed under: French KS5, Spanish KS5, Useful links

YouTube Channel

Neil — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:08:00 +0000

I have mentioned in previous posts that I put the videos I use on my YouTube channel. The link is http://www.youtube.com/user/sanferminuk

Filed under: Useful links

USEFUL LINKS

Neil — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:56:56 +0000

I thought that I should share some of the links that I love + from which I get loads of ideas. Top of the list has to be www.rachelhawkes.com which will be familiar to many MFL teachers in the UK. The great thing is the vast range of resources Rachel shares. Amazing!

Another favourite is www.espanish.org.uk which has some beautiful resources.

Filed under: Spanish KS3, Spanish KS4, Spanish KS5, Useful links

Beyoncé and the imperfect subjunctive

Neil — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:17:42 +0000

The resources below are ones which I have used to teach the imperfect subjunctive + the conditional tense. As the song “Si yo fuera un chico” can be easily translated by many students it is a good way of quickly teaching this structure. The presentation, as you can see, goes on to look at “chuletas” + whether you would ever copy in an exam. The listening exercise on “chuletas” comes from the amazing Notes in Spanish website although I have only used the last part of this particular podcast – http://www.notesinspanish.com/2007/09/28/advanced-spanish-podcast-80-el-sistema-educativo/ . I used to use this site a lot especially at the advanced level although I am no longer sure whether they are updating it.

In the PowerPoint the only embedded video is that of Carme Chacón revealing the “chuleta” on her hand – hardly essential, but it’s there in case you want to show it. As ever, the videos are from YouTube + you have to be connected to the internet for them to work.

The Beyoncé video has to be watched on the YouTube site itself due to copywrite laws. You click on the link on the relevant slide.

POWERPOINT: the imperfect subjunctive + conditional CHULETAS WORKSHEETS: Si yo fuera un chico BLANKS Si yo fuera un chico The Imperfect Subjunctive SUBJUNCK si COMPLETE THE SENTENCES SUBJUNCL intro to the imperfect subj the conditional tense A2 listening practice las chuletas Aquí copia hasta el apuntador

Filed under: Grammar, Spanish KS5

Los acentos y los gentilicios

Neil — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:13:42 +0000

The work here is based on the accents of the Spanish-speaking world but was a good context for dealing with “gentilicios” and involved some work on the subjunctive. Behind all of this work is the “journey” I have mentioned in earlier posts that I am making across the Spanish-speaking world with my A level students. At the end of this particular presentation we will end up in Argentina.

On the 1st slide I just reminded the students that Spain is made up of 17 regions / autonomies + then introduced them to “gentilicios“. On the 2nd slide if you click on the picture it takes you to a Junta de Andalucía website which presents this element of language nicely. I then tested this using the 3rd slide and asked them to list the accents mentioned in the video on the 4th slide. This video is an editted version of one on YouTube from the TV prgramme El Intermedio on La Sexta. The next slide is not mine and I cannot recall where it came from but it is amazingly good! When you click on the relevant icons you get to hear the toungue twisters in different accents. We then look at the “gentilicios” for the Spanish-speaking countries of the world + do a listening exercise focusing on the differences in meaning that occur with some words across the different countries. The audio is from Radio Nacional de España’s programme called ‘No es un día cualquiera’. The podcasts can be useful for A level teaching when broken down. The link to the full podcast is http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/no-es-un-dia-cualquiera/no-dia-cualquiera-verraco/1281100 . Next the students work out from the picture that the musical / film Mamma Mía has been made in many langauges + we focus on the accent used by ABBA when they recorded an album in Spanish. My overall aim here is to identify what the Argentinian accent sounds like. We then do a but of work on the aspect of the subjunctive that comnes up in the lyrics of the song before launching into a deeper look at Argentina.

The videos are embedded into the PowerPoint but you will need to be connected to the internet for them to work. The audio is also embedded. You just click on the icons to for them to play.

PRESENTATION: los acentos del español WORKSHEETS: El mapa del español VERRACO Chiquitita ARGENTINIAN ACCENT with blanks Chiquitita ARGENTINIAN ACCENT answers Expressions that are ALWAYS followed by the subjunctive

Filed under: Spanish KS5

Ningún niño sin techo – las tareas de la casa

Neil — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:44:03 +0000

Below are resources for teaching about domestic chores in Spanish. I have posted resources on this topic before but this is something I have worked on for an able group of students. The PowerPoint builds up to a section where the students have to work out what country I am going to talk about. The country is Morocco and the reason is to discuss a charity based in Málaga called “Ningún niño sin techo” which works with street kids from Tangiers. There is a video where two boys who are part of the organisations programme to get children back into family life who have been given chores to do as punishment (están castigados). I thought the video was interesting + it presents chores in a different way – as a punishment! I am sure my students will all have examples of this to tell me about.

POWERPOINT: TAREAS DE LA CASA WORKSHEET: las tareas de la casa WORKSHEET

Filed under: Spanish KS4

El español en EE.UU (A level)

Neil — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:14:02 +0000

The activities here are a continuation of the “journey” through the Spanish-speaking world referred to in earlier posts. The aim is to highlight the debate in certain sectors in the US over the growth of the use of Spanish. This can lead to a debate on bilingualism. The worksheet is based on the TECLA resource which is also attached.

POWERPOINT: Hispanos en EEUU macro (The videos are embedded + require internet connection to work) WORKSHEETS: El español en Estados Unidos TECLA

Filed under: Spanish KS5