Don Quijote and a little bit of culture

I found this website for Don Quijote, a company that provides in-country Spanish courses in Spain and Latin America. Their website has lots of resources for teachers and for student self-study.

On this page, the website has links to many different activities: games, verb conjugations, idiomatic phrases, words of the day, song lyrics and more. The games would be fun for student self-study, though they are more "fun" than "serious." What I like most here are the Popular Sayings and Jokes. I think these would be a great addition to any Spanish class. Imagine having a "joke of the day" or "idiom of the day"- what a fun extra to increase your student interest and enjoyment!

One interesting part of the website are the Profiles of Spanish Speaking Countries. At the click of a button, students have access to maps, history, practical travel information and cultural information for any Spanish speaking country. Disappointingly, the information is in English, but for lower level students it could be a nice resource for preparing a cultural presentation.

Though a bit simple, this website has some unique resources to offer, especially the jokes and idioms.

Making Movies

I found this movie-making website referenced on various blogs and teaching resource pages. Students can make an animated movie, choosing the characters, plot and, most importantly, supplying the dialogue.

I think this is a great way to get students motivated to use the language, as well as a nice group project idea. The fact that the characters in the "movies" have conversations gives students a nice chance to practice Q & A forms and conversational, authentic language, as opposed to more "presentational" oral expression. Students can think creatively, and the movie assignment can be as free or controlled as the teacher wishes. It would be great to incorporate movie-making as a homework assignment after spending the class brainstorming plot lines, or learning about expressions or vocabulary to use in writing your scripts. Script-writing could even be a multiple-step process, with the teacher proofreading a first draft and correcting or encouraging elaboration where needed.

I've used similar technology in classes with young learners, and they loved it. I think it would work extremely well for high school students, and could be adapted to any level. This website produces extremely professional looking short movies, much higher quality than other similar websites I've used.

¡Hablamos Ahora!: Videos Divertidos

My colleague Kaki, in her recent post ¡Hablamos Ahora!: Videos Divertidos, presents a link to absolutely hilarious and wonderful mock-music videos about Spanish grammar points. A great idea for capturing student attention and possibly a jumping off point for student projects!