Back to Spanish Class: 1st Week of School

The first week of Spanish class is fast approaching. If you are still in vacation mode, good for you. You can bookmark this post and come back to it in a few weeks. If you are like me and already have your syllabus ready, it means planning the perfect first week of school is on your radar. In the next few posts, we will be sharing tips and tricks for the best start to the school year ever.

There are many ways that you could start your Spanish class. I know that each year I stress about prepping the perfect first week of school that sets an excellent tone for the entire school year. While we know there is no secret magic formula for the perfect week, I am going to share many ideas for ways to start your Spanish class on the right foot.

Knowing who is in your classes is imperative to the success of the year. Here are a few ways to help you get to know your classes while staying in Spanish!

• Name Game Speedball – My go-to name learning game is speedball. It works perfectly for the first day of a novice class and practicing introductions.

• Have a Tomatina “fight” – Instead of a review unit, this year my Spanish 2 is going to start with a mini cultural unit on La Tomatina, which occurs right around the first day of school each year. As a part of it, we will build relationships with a food fight, meaning we will do the activity “snowball fight” with red paper. Students will write something about themselves in Spanish & crumple it up. Then we will have a Tomatina food fight, and then read the statements to figure out who is who and find out more about our classmates.

• Special Person Interviews – Give each student special attention by starting Bryce Hedstrom’s Personal Especial Interviews. You can see here how I have implemented them in class starting the first week of school as a part of my first high-frequency verb unit.

• Break Down Stereotypes – Use this first week as a way to break down foreign stereotypes using this post from Sherry at World Language Cafe.
• Talk about your summer – For Spanish 2 and up, let students practice their past tense in Spanish with a Find Someone Who, while learning about each other or mixing it up using Back to school Question Cards. Or if you need to stay fully digital, use this fully digital Mi verano Google Slides activity. Get all 3 mi verano activities in this hybrid bundle for multiple days of preterite practice.
• Ice Breakers – Community building is such an important part of language class. If students do not feel comfortable with their classmates, they are not very likely to speak a new language with them. Here are 10 Beginning of the Year Ice Breakers and Games from Elisabeth and a few more icebreakers to try out.

A few years ago I decided to mix up my first day of school and start with stations. This is a nice change of pace for students that allows them to be up and moving on their first day. It also allows the teacher to float and mingle to get to know students in a casual way.

Post clear instructions on the board and around the room so you do not get asked 100 questions. For middle school, I would set a timer with specific times to rotate, but with most high school groups, I would let them float and do them in whatever order they would like. Depending on how many stations you have, you will need to allow for a couple of days to complete them.  These stations could also de digital for a virtual class as well! Station ideas include any of the following:

• Syllabus – Instead of the teacher reading the syllabus, students read through it on their own and write questions or takeaways on a big piece of butcher paper. (Here is my editable syllabus).

• Student Information Form – This could be a Google form or paper survey that allows you to find out more about the interests, strengths, and concerns of your students.

• Photo Booth – Start the year on a positive note with pictures to remember it. You can create a backdrop with a dollar store tablecloth with fun props, or make an Instagram Photobooth. I allow students to use their phones and post pictures with our class hashtag, or if that is not allowed you could have a designated photographer with a school camera. These pictures will make for great decorations or discussion material later.

• Set Up Learning Management System – Stations are a great way to get through all of those start-of-the-year logistics. Post the signup code for Schoology or Google Classroom. Once in the system, you can then have the other tasks posted as well, such as the google information form or electronic syllabus. You can also have students sign up for other online programs they will be using such as Sr. Wooly, and Duolingo, or create a Spanish class Twitter account.

• Proficiency Puzzle – Have students work in groups to learn about proficiency levels with a proficiency puzzle. It helps to build background vocabulary such as “interpersonal,” and “novice low,” and sets the foundation for the class.

• Interpersonal Speaking – For levels 2 and up, students could be given speaking task Cards, to get their language skills flowing again. This is a great way for the teacher to listen in and see what baseline the students are at. These could even be recorded for the teacher to listen to at a later time. This would be great on Flipgrid.

• Class Expectations – Have students get aquatinted with the interpersonal communication skills that will be expected in class.

The first week of class is the perfect time to put an organizational system in place. If you are using Interactive Notebooks, make sure to check out Elisabeth’s Tips for Getting Started with Interactive Notebooks. If not, it is a great time to teach your students about organization and maybe set up a binder. For a 1:1 school, make sure students know how to effectively organize digital files for your class. Plus, include any other organizational strategies that they will find useful during the year. We have to remember that we are teachers, and were probably the organized kids in school. But, not everyone has that trait and may need some support getting started. Also, check out 7 ideas for getting organized at back to school from Dianna.

Update – 1st Weeks of School Using Distance Learning

If you are still looking for more ideas, here are some posts with full plans for the first week(s) of Spanish class.

Need more ideas for back to school? Check out all of our SSS Back to Spanish Class posts

• Top Priorities Before Day 1
• Teaching Tips to Get Excited for the 1st Week of School
• 9 Ways to be a Happier Teacher
• Classroom Management Strategies for a Smooth Year
• 5 Great Back to School Purchases
• Transition Tips for any Classroom

Also, do not forget to check out a FREE Back to school resource library that many of our Secondary Spanish Space authors are a part of for many free resources!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!
– Allison