I’m happy to share my top 3 “must-haves” for any world language classroom. If you are new to world language teaching and are looking to purchase meaningful items for your classroom, I’m here to help you decide what to get! I’ve narrowed the list down to my top 3 must-haves for you.
Keep reading for budget-friendly (AND FREE!) must-have’s for your Spanish classroom.
#1 CLASS SET OF INDIVIDUAL WHITEBOARDS
Individual whiteboards are one of the best tools for the world language classroom. Using individual whiteboards will not only save on paper, but they can make any activity a little more engaging for the students. Plus they are great for a quick formative assessment. There are several cost-friendly whiteboard options on Amazon. For around $40 you can get 32 double-sided individual whiteboards. And I *highly* recommend getting double-sided or the backside will turn into a graffiti contest! Seriously, I’m not joking.
Ideas for using whiteboards in the World Language Classroom:
- FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS: Ask multiple choice, yes/no questions in the target language and have students write their response on the whiteboard. I give a signal when I’m ready for students to hold up the whiteboards which allows me to see all the whiteboards at the same time. I quickly scan the room to see who answered correctly or not.
- DRAWING & LISTENING: Read a short story or passage in target language and have students draw the main points as they listen. Students can then share their images and retell the story in target language with another student. Another great review activity is to say a sentence in either the shared language or target language and ask students to translate.
- GRAMMAR REVIEW: This could be as simple as subject/verb agreement drills or for a more advanced activity, teacher posts a sentence on the board or says it aloud and students rewrite the same sentence from a different perspective (Example: The original sentence read by teacher is, “El muchacho tiene una bicicleta.”Students rewrite the sentence from a different perspective, “Yo tengo una bicicleta.“).
#2 CLASS SET OF CLIPBOARDS
One of the best investments I made for my classroom was purchasing a classroom set of clipboards. These are useful for several different activities. My students are rarely sitting and love using the clipboards to keep track of the papers without having to carry their binders with them all around the classroom. You can get a class set of 30 Clipboards for around $35.00 on Amazon. Check out some of my favorite ways to use clipboards in my Spanish class.
#3 WORD WALLS
Okay, I know I said individual whiteboards and clipboards were my favorite, BUT Word Walls are right up there with my classroom essentials and must-haves for any world language classroom.
Language learners need visual input just as much as they need audio input. Word walls give your students an anchor to fall back on when they are feeling unsure. And don’t we want our students to feel successful and isn’t our ultimate goal for them to be able to effectively communicate in the target language?
I have several word walls for my Spanish 1’s posted around my classroom. My favorites are posted below and are also the ones my students use the most. You can download all of these for FREE in my TPT Store.
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