50 minutes goes by fast when you're trying to teach a lesson AND give students time to practice. If you're wondering how in the world you can fit it all in without figuring out a completely different schedule every day, here's how I structure a 50-minute Spanish class period.
My sample schedule for a 50-minute Spanish class
My general agenda for the period will look like this:
8:00-8:05am bell work (5 mins)
8:05-8:20am teach that day's new vocab or grammar lesson with an animated powerpoint (15 mins)
8:20-8:45am classwork (25 mins)
8:45-8:50am exit ticket (5 mins)
It's definitely not possible for students to do a listening activity AND a speaking activity AND a reading activity AND a writing activity absolutely every single day.
But let's make that our lofty goal, mmmkay?
Or at least hit all 4 of those several times a week.
Some Fine Print
I should start by saying that this is not The Only Way or The Best Way to structure your 50-minute class period. There are tons of ways to do it.
This is what has worked for me in middle and high school classrooms. Please take my ideas and make them work for you and your classroom.
Some lessons will be shorter than 15 minutes. Some will be longer. Think of this as a starting point, not a schedule you have to follow down to the minute.
The Why
Students (and honestly everyone) thrive in routine. They like knowing what to expect each day.
Also, it's easier to plan your lessons when you know what parts you need to create and fill in. You're still choosing what to teach and how students will practice, but you're not also deciding how to structure the entire class period from scratch.
What this could look like in a Spanish 1 class
Let’s make this concrete with an example: teaching the yo and tú forms of regular present tense AR verbs.
For this sample lesson, students have already learned the meanings of about a dozen regular AR verbs (like hablar, estudiar, and escuchar), along with the subject pronouns yo and tú.
8:00–8:05: Bell work
Students match clipart images for regular AR verbs with their Spanish vocabulary words. They can use their notes, so they have something they can do on their own while you take attendance.
They’re reviewing familiar material, not guessing endings you haven’t taught yet.
8:05–8:20: The lesson
Use an animated PowerPoint to model removing -ar and adding -o for yo or -as for tú. Start with hablo and hablas, then work through estudio/estudias and escucho/escuchas. Include choral repetition ("¿Cantas bien?" "Sí, yo canto bien." "No, yo no canto bien.") and a few examples students complete with you.
You don’t need to introduce every subject and every ending in this one lesson.
8:20–8:45: Classwork
Start with a listening activity for about 3-5 minutes. You read a sentence that has the yo or tú form of a regular AR verb and students choose the clipart image they hear being described.
Then spend about 5 minutes on partner speaking practice. One student asks a question with a regular AR verb in the tú form ("¿Estudias los domingos?") and the other answers in the yo form of the verb. Partners switch roles.
Finish with a writing activity where students see "yo / estudiar" and they write "estudio".
8:45–8:50: Exit ticket
Have students complete 4-6 sentences like “Yo ___ español. (hablar)” and “Tú ___ música. (escuchar)”. That gives you a quick check of whether they can use the endings before you add more forms.
The topic changes, but the four parts of the period stay familiar.
Here’s how I think about each part of the period
Bell Work
I make sure the bell work is so easy that absolutely every single student can do it without my assistance. Taking attendance while six students ask how to do the first question isn't the routine I'm going for. 😂
It's also something that every single student can do in 2-3 minutes. Matching vocabulary words with a clipart image, fill in the blank with the correct form of the verb that they absolutely have in yesterday's notes... They get 4-5 minutes, so it should be enough time for them to get settled, open their notebooks, and get started.
Sometimes I review the bell work and sometimes I don't. It depends how easy it is or if students have questions.
For specific activities you can use in this part of the period, see my 3 Easy and Engaging Bell Work Formats for Spanish Class. It includes examples and ways to keep students from needing your help while you take attendance.
The Lesson
I use an animated powerpoint to teach that day's vocab or grammar or whatever the lesson is. I include lots of choral repetition, so students have ample practice saying the words before they get the classwork.
Some lessons will be much shorter than 15 minutes. Some will be longer.
Classwork
Depending on how long it took to teach that day's vocab or grammar, I have about 25-ish minutes for classwork.
If students spend 5-10 minutes on each activity, then I can give them 3-5 activities total.
Exit Ticket
I give students an exit ticket in the last 5 minutes of class, which they put in a bin on their way out the door.
This will be more challenging than the bell work, but something students can do in just a few minutes to show me if they understood the lesson or not.
Pro Tips
I have a timer and I use it religiously for just about every activity students do. It's got a magnet on the back and it's on the whiteboard, so I can't lose it.
I try not to spend more than 10 minutes on any one activity. Interest wanes and chaos increases after that.
How do you generally structure your class periods? Let me know in the comments!
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