To start my school unit, I begin with the story of the new girl. Get it here free at Teacherspayteachers.com. La Nouvelle Fille in French and La Chica Nueva in Spanish. This is the first story I teach each year as I train students to react to my statements with the appropriate Ohhhhh when a new fact is introduced, and Oh-no, oh-no, oh-me, oh-my, when a problem occurs. It is good way to introduce subjects in school and high frequency verbs.
Comparing class schedules, lunches, subjects, calendars, uniforms, attitudes is more fun with hula hoops as venn diagrams! Create sentences in the target language for students to sort into similarities and differences. Examples are: We wear uniforms. Schools are free. School starts at 8:am. We go to school on Saturdays. We have school all year long. We have a summer vacation. We have our own computers. We are allowed to have phones. We eat lunch at school. We get out at 3:00. We get out at 5:00. We have sports teams at school. We study English. We study French. Create your own sentences or use the ones I created at Teachers Pay Teachers.com in French and Spanish.
For another comparative activity, have students create a table in a Google document and type up their own schedule. Practice interpersonal speaking skills by having students ask each other which is your favorite class, which is your least favorite class, who is your favorite teacher, who is your least favorite teacher, which class is the most difficult, which class is the easiest for you? Search the internet for some authentic schedules from schools in the target culture and have students compare and contrast.
Mi Horario
| Hora | Clase | Profe | Opinión de clase | Opinión de Profe |
| 1 8:00-9:00 | Los Estudios Sociales | Señor Choe | Dificil | Simpático |
| 2 9:05-10:00 | Ciencia | Señorita Dombroski | No Me Gusta | Simpática |
| 3 10:05-11:00 | Educación Física | Señor Turcott | Fácil | Gracioso |
| 4 11:00-12:30 | El Inglés | Señorita Gronvold | Aburrida | Estricta |
| 5 12:35-1:30 | El Español | Señora Johnston | Comica | Divertida |
| 6 1:35-2:30 | Las Matemáticas | Señora Ericksen | Me Gusta | Inteligente |
Recently, story listening has been a hot topic on many blogs. Telling stories to children is a lot like reading to children! I like to use David Va al Colegio and David Va à l’Ecole to introduce commands. I read the story to the students like I would to my own kids at night, stopping to point out details in pictues and asking questions. As a follow up, have kids write commands for what David should be doing, or make their own versions of things they should not be doing in school, like no texting in class, and no speaking in English.
I recorded a French and Spanish version.
Another one of my favorite activities for teaching commands is Sentence Strip Simon Says. Combine class objects, body parts, and commands and write them on sentence strips. Create some novel commands for fun. Be sure to include: Put your pencil in your ear. Put a book on top of your head and walk. Open the door and say “Bonjour Mes Amis.” Make your own sentences or check out my sentences in French and Spanish at TPT. Place the sentences face down on the floor and have students draw one, read it to the class, and act it out.
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