Sometimes I think the most exhausting part of teaching isn’t even teaching. It’s constantly figuring out what to do next.
What activity should I use? Will this fill the period? Is this too easy? Too hard? Will this actually work?
And then somehow you’re still thinking about Spanish 1 at 8:30pm. 🙃
(We’ve all been there, right??)
One thing that has helped me a LOT over the years is reusing the same activity formats with different vocab instead of trying to reinvent every lesson from scratch.
The issue usually isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s constantly reinventing the wheel.
These are 3 repeatable listening activity formats you can use with almost any topic or level in Spanish class.
Listen and choose the picture
How it works:Students hear a sentence (or a few sentences) and choose which image matches what they heard.
This is one of the easiest listening activities to reuse because you can swap out the vocab and keep the exact same structure.
Example:
Students have several food pictures on their classwork.
You say “Me gusta la sopa de tomate con pan para la cena.”
Students choose the correct image.
Ways to make it easier or more challenging:
You can make this easier by directly using the vocab words shown in the pictures. Or you can make it more challenging by describing the image without explicitly saying every vocab word students see.
This format works really well for:
You can make this easier by directly using the vocab words shown in the pictures. Or you can make it more challenging by describing the image without explicitly saying every vocab word students see.
This format works really well for:
💫 food
💫 clothing
💫 weather
💫 school supplies
💫 animals
💫 rooms in a house
Basically anything with visuals.
💫 clothing
💫 weather
💫 school supplies
💫 animals
💫 rooms in a house
Basically anything with visuals.
Listen and draw
How it works:Students listen to a description and sketch what they hear.
This one works especially well when students need to connect meaning to vocabulary in a low-pressure way. And for some reason stick figure drawings become VERY serious business. 😂
Example:
Students have large empty boxes on their classwork in which to draw. They are learning geography vocab like el océano, la selva, la Tierra, etc.
You say “A Ricardo le gusta mucho el agua. Le gusta el esquí acuático, le gusta nadar, y le gusta pasar tiempo en la playa.” Students draw the ocean.
This format works especially well for:
🎨 clothing
🎨 physical descriptions
🎨 rooms/houses
🎨 weather
🎨 school supplies
Students have large empty boxes on their classwork in which to draw. They are learning geography vocab like el océano, la selva, la Tierra, etc.
You say “A Ricardo le gusta mucho el agua. Le gusta el esquí acuático, le gusta nadar, y le gusta pasar tiempo en la playa.” Students draw the ocean.
This format works especially well for:
🎨 clothing
🎨 physical descriptions
🎨 rooms/houses
🎨 weather
🎨 school supplies
Simple. Interactive. Easy to reuse.
Listen and decide what someone should do
How it works:Students hear a statement and decide what the next logical step is.
I love this format because it naturally encourages students to think about meaning instead of just identifying isolated vocab words.
Example:
Students have “next step” options on their classwork.
You say “Tengo fiebre y me duele la garganta.”
Students choose between:
💊 debe tomar medicina
💊 debe ir al hospital
💊 debe correr una maratón
(Hopefully not the third one. 🤪)
This format works great for:
👉 sickness/injuries
👉 advice
👉 school rules
👉 subjunctive triggers
👉 sickness/injuries
👉 advice
👉 school rules
👉 subjunctive triggers
Why repeatable activity formats make planning easier
The older I get as a teacher, the more I realize I do NOT need a completely brand new activity for every single vocab topic.I need activity structures that:
👉 work consistently
👉 students understand quickly
👉 are easy to prep
👉 can be reused all year
Because once students already know the format, you spend way less time explaining directions, reinventing activities, searching Pinterest for something “new”, or wondering what to do tomorrow.
Teaching already comes with enough decisions. If I can reduce planning fatigue by reusing structures that already work, I’m going to do that ALL. 👏 the. 👏 time. 👏
What listening activity formats do you reuse all the time in your Spanish classes? Let me know in the comments!
👉 students understand quickly
👉 are easy to prep
👉 can be reused all year
Because once students already know the format, you spend way less time explaining directions, reinventing activities, searching Pinterest for something “new”, or wondering what to do tomorrow.
Teaching already comes with enough decisions. If I can reduce planning fatigue by reusing structures that already work, I’m going to do that ALL. 👏 the. 👏 time. 👏
What listening activity formats do you reuse all the time in your Spanish classes? Let me know in the comments!
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