My first day of Spanish class is all about building community and making my students feel successful in Spanish. I do this by including several activities that helped my students and me learn each other’s names, give more information about myself, go over expectations, and show them that they already can understand quite a few Spanish words. Let me preface this by saying that I teach Spanish twice a week for one hour each time so if you only get 30 minute blocks you would probably have to split this lesson into two days.
Here is what it looks like:
- Asking what is your name activity: I start by having my students stand in a big circle. I ask the question: ¿Cómo te llamas? I point to myself and say: Me llamo Señora Osborne. Then I pass a ball to the first student and ask: ¿Cómo te llamas? I say me llamo Señorar Osborne and then I say me llamo…as I point to the student with the ball. They tell me their name and then I have them sit down after I say sientate with a hand gesture. I go around and ask each student having them sit down after they respond to the question. (I tweaked this idea from from another great Spanish teacher Julie. Check out her blog and youtube video by searching Mundo de Pepita).
- All about me artifact bag: After this I have them scoot together and I give a brief presentation about myself using an artifact bag. Usually I include family pictures, coffee mug, some chocolate, a book, and a map that shows the country I was born in, Venezuela. This just gives them a little idea who I am some of my likes.
- Cognate activity: Next we do a cognate activity as a class. (Want more information about cognates. Click here for the post I wrote related to this topic) I print out Spanish word and picture cards ahead of time. I put the cards in a bag and have a student pick one out and read it in Spanish. Then the class has to guess what it is in English. For example, chocolate in Spanish is chocolate in English. I also have picture cards for non-readers where I say the word in Spanish and they guess the word in English.. I do this until I see interest starting to die. This activity creates a lot of excitement around learning Spanish and they are motivated to keep learning more.
- Pass the ball name game: Lastly we circle back up and play a pass the ball game where I play some catchy Spanish music and when the music stops the ball stops. Then together everyone asks the question: ¿Cómo te llamas? and that student with the ball responds with: me llamo and their name.This game reinforces the introductory activity we did at the beginning of class and gives everyone tons of practice hearing and saying the phrase: ¿Cómo te llamas? And the response.
- Say goodbye: After this I wrap up class by having them line up and saying adiós to each student as they leave.
I complete day one of Spanish class entirely in Spanish except for the English cognate part. I tweak this lesson depending on student engagement level but this is the basic outline of what I follow. By the end of the lesson I want students to know how to answer the question what is your name and be excited to keep learning Spanish. What activities do you do for your first day of Spanish class in the Elementary classroom? I would love to know!
Here are some more beginning of the year resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
