There are a lot of free resources available to world language teachers that provide scaffolding for student interactions as well as functional room decor. To start, welcome them into the classroom with these free cómo estás and comment ça va posters from the Creative Language Classroom. They also have signs to post inside your door so you can say goodbye in different ways. I frame them and change them up every couple of weeks.
My opening routine each day involves the student greeter or special person. There are special person interview posters in many languages available from Bryce Headstom. Here are other free options for special person posters in French and in Spanish.
There are many question word posters available in French, Spanish and other languages. I transformed an old cork board with black chalkboard spray paint. Here are some chalkboard style question posters in French and Spanish. Add lists of possible answers for each of the question words below the posters as they are learned so students can refer to them in their writing and conversations. For example, under the “where” sign, list possible responses like: in the school, at the restaurant, in the park, at the mall.
One of the first things I focus on is high frequency verbs. I like these “sweet 16” verb posters in French and in Spanish.
The TPRSbooks.com website has free emoji rejoinder posters in several languages as well as lots of other goodies (click on your language after following the link). Rejoinders are words and phrases people say to keep the conversation going. I laminate them and have students hold them up and say the expression at appropriate times. Here are a couple of rejoinder lists from Amy Lenord in Spanish and translated to French by Catherine Ousselin. I use them to make my own graphics at spark.adobe.com.
Circumlocution is a strategy for describing or defining a concept instead of saying or writing the specific words. Teaching students circumlocution techniques helps them stay in the target language when they don’t know a word. I use these Free Circumlocution posters at the Teachers Pay Teachers website. I have lists of rejoinders and circumlocution words for students to create class posters, or digital versions with images posted to a Padlet, as an emergency substitute assignment.
It’s always great to spend Fridays talking about what students want to, or are going to do, for the weekend. Then we return on Mondays and talk about what students did or wanted to do. Past tense doesn’t have to wait for second year. Students can be given supports for the weekend conversations. Here are some free products I really like to support the weekend conversations in Spanish. Also available for free is a weekend chat human bingo in Spanish.
I use these four corner signs to get students out of their seats and practice a little spontaneous interpersonal communication in Spanish and French. I like to make things for my home and classroom and I recreated these direction word signs that I saw in Saint Malo, France. These signs are also great for four corner activities. Check out my other free classroom decor hacks here.
I also like to print quotes of the internet and frame them for my classroom. Again, using the same frames, I can switch them up to go with different themes.
These are a few of the free supports I have found so far. If you know of others please share here and have a great year!