Learning Activities

This lesson is intended to provide students with an authentic way to use noun-adjective agreement while allowing them to investigate the target language culture. Students will begin by working with a partner or small group to identify the qualities that make a person a leader. Students will then learn how to use a dictionary to look up new words (adjectives/characteristics) of leaders. Ultimately, the students/groups will research leaders from a specified country and identify each leader’s top qualities/characteristics making sure their target language adjectives agree with the person they are describing.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

Students will draw a snowman and identify colors, clothing, and body parts of the snowman. Students will answer simple questions about the drawing.

This activity was created as a result of the World Language COS Resource Development Summit.

This lesson is intended for students with at least a proficiency rating of Intermediate High. Students will have to read, analyze, synthesize, and present information on education in both their own country and in a country of the target culture being studied. Students will learn how to search for information in the target language as well as how to present using academic language in the target language.

Students will explore the products and practices of the Hispanic Culture as it relates to the celebration of Quinceañeras.  Students will participate in a digital escape game and will have to use critical thinking to solve puzzles that require the application of cultural knowledge and interpretation of basic target language usage.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

Students will view target language movie trailers, select a movie that interests them, talk about them with a peer, then complete a graphic organizer. (This lesson includes three phases, uploaded as separate learning activities.)

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

In this lesson, the students will use authentic websites and digital resources to report on the current events happening in the target culture. The students will read the article in the target language, make a summary of the article, and determine what products, practices, or perspectives of the target culture can be identified in the article. Then, students will make a comparison between the reporting of the current event in the target culture and the same or similar event in the native culture. Students may present their current event in the target language and compare similar events in other target language countries through class or small group discussions.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

The purpose of this activity is to have students expand upon their own personal definitions of beauty and aesthetics that they formulated the previous class period. Students will examine beauty through the lens of nature, fashion, poetry, people, and art, using authentic resources and cultural elements from the Spanish-speaking world. Students will also reflect upon their own views of the products and perspectives of beauty and aesthetics while reflecting upon those from people in the Spanish-speaking world.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will research sights to see in a German-speaking city on an official tourism website in the target language. Students will create a suggested travel itinerary for a weekend visit to the city. (This lesson includes 2 phases, uploaded as separate learning activities.)

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This activity expands students’ knowledge of the cultural identity and challenges facing indigenous groups in Latin America. Using the technology platform Padlet and the jigsaw classroom strategy, students will explore and take ownership of content. Interpersonal and presentational communication is used to engage in and share information between students.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will choose a restaurant in a target language city to research and visit virtually. Students will then write a review of the restaurant and finally complete an unrehearsed conversation with a classmate about their experiences during their virtual visit. (This lesson includes 3 phases, uploaded as separate learning activities.)

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This activity offers an opportunity for students to immerse themselves in Mexico´s Day of the Dead celebrations. Through the use of 360-degree videos, students are able to explore on their own as they watch the culture come to life in front of their eyes. Technological requirements are minimal but the awareness gained of Mexico´s products and practices are exponential.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will show an understanding of the parameters of location and movement by noting differences in meaning as the location and movement is changed. Students will view "The Five Parameters of ASL" resource for information and examples needed to complete this activity. Students will compete in pairs or teams to see who can experiment with changing movement and changing locations to create the newest sign meanings.  

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will analyze the various products, practices, and perspectives of the Spanish-speaking world through the lens of music.  Students will practice interpretive listening using the song “Latinoamérica” by Calle 13 to complete a cloze activity with the lyrics.  Then, students will research and analyze the specific products, practices, and perspectives of Latin American culture that are mentioned in the song.  Finally, students will engage in interpersonal discussion to compare their results and opinions of their findings. The basic format of this lesson could be adapted to fit a variety of songs on a variety of themes, from any language.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will write a narrative essay in past tense in the target language about a holiday that they celebrated.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This introductory activity provides a gateway to exploring the town of Hershey, Cuba, a town built by Milton Hershey to produce sugar in the early 1900s. Using their taste buds, students will be captivated by this topic and will desire to learn more about Hershey, Cuba. This lesson provides opportunities to explore greater or reinforce the uses of the past tenses (preterit and/or imperfect) as well as build vocabulary related to sugar production and industry.

This activity is for the intermediate proficiency level and should be taught completely in the target language.

This activity is a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will write a narrative essay about a holiday that they celebrated. Students will then research that holiday in the target language and give a presentation to the class, comparing and contrasting traditions of the target culture(s) to those here. (This lesson includes 3 phases, uploaded as separate learning activities.)

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This activity starts students on their path to knowledge about food. It also gets the conversation going about the view of food in other countries. The students will learn the various food categories in context with an authentic resource and will also have a starting point to compare foods in different countries.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

Students will create culturally inspired artwork to be displayed in a local business. For example, students learning Spanish will create unique works of art inspired by the culture of Mexico to be displayed in Mexican restaurants in their community. Students will also learn simple vocabulary and useful phrases to be able to communicate in the target language when visiting Mexican restaurants. Throughout the lesson, the students will be exposed to cognates and “borrowed words” to help them begin comparing and contrasting the target language with the English language.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will choose a real estate property for rent or sale in a target language-speaking city to research. After choosing a property, students will record information that they can understand from the website, such as price, size, number of rooms, year of construction, date of availability, location, and special features. Students will be using the interpretive mode of communication, as well as strengthening their understanding of products and practices of the culture.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This introductory activity presents the topic of indigenous groups in Latin America. Through the use of a controversial Coca-Cola television advertisement from 2015, students will begin to discover and discuss the unique qualities of indigenous groups as well as issues they face in society. This activity builds upon prior knowledge of content, vocabulary, and grammar in the target language.

This activity is a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will research sights to see in a German-speaking city on an official tourism website in the target language. Students will then create and present a suggested travel itinerary for a weekend visit to the city to their classmates. (This lesson includes 2 phases, uploaded as separate learning activities.)

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, students will use the preterit tense to tell others about things that have happened in their past. Using the free online tool provided by Read Write Think, students can easily create a graphically appealing timeline that features photos and vocabulary relevant to their individual lives.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Create a fun, fictional family in the classroom. This should be a humorous activity. View the family signs and pronoun video, then proceed with the activity. The whole class will be involved as the family members attending a wedding. They will be trying to identify family members and relationships by asking yes/no and ‘wh’ questions with personal and possessive pronouns and answering factual information.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

In this lesson, students will read an authentic literary text, “Las medias de los flamencos,” by Horacio Quiroga.  Students will identify key vocabulary, plot events, setting, and themes of the story. In order to show comprehension of the story, students will create either a storyboard or children’s book version of the story.  Any literary text or story from any language could easily be used in conjunction with this lesson.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will take turns either being a patient or a doctor and conduct an unrehearsed dialogue as if they were on a brief visit to the doctor for a common illness or injury.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This lesson incorporates an interactive image created in Genial.ly to explore three works by Pablo Neruda. Working together, students will listen to and analyze the lyrics of each poem to compare and contrast the themes and symbols of each.  

This activity is a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

Students will research a holiday in the target language to identify key information and compare and contrast traditions of the target culture(s) to those here in the United States.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

In this activity, the students discover the famous Parisian cemetery: le Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. They use computers and the Internet to explore the cemetery and the French (and sometimes international) celebrities buried there in order to complete a short web quest. They will also use professional vocabulary as they categorize the celebrities they find. This activity enables the teacher to cover the community standard as the students are able to use the Internet to view a cultural standard in the target language.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

Students will identify modes of transportation in the target language so that they can answer the question “How do you arrive at school?”

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Prior to this activity, students should have learned to spell basic words. They’ve also more than likely recently learned various greetings and basic questions. In this activity, they put these skills together using a medium with which they are very familiar. It also enables them to discover that teenagers in other countries also text and use abbreviations. Although this activity is about writing, it is communicative because it takes two people to make it happen.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

This activity is part research and part role play in order for students to learn about an important historical/current figure in the target culture.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.

Students will discuss real estate properties for rent or sale in a target language city with a partner. Students will carry on a conversation in the target language, asking and answering questions with a partner about which property is their favorite and why, agreeing or disagreeing with their partner, and providing a reason for their opinion.  Students will be using the interpersonal mode of communication, as well as strengthening their understanding of products and practices of the culture.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This lesson challenges students studying Spanish to examine their own culture and demonstrates the need to step outside of personal views and examine things from another perspective. Through the use of an authentic resource, Level 1 Spanish students will examine the word Americano. This word evokes passion and pride for those in the U.S., but it also evokes the same emotions for all people located on the American continent.  For this reason, the term estadounidense is much more culturally appropriate when referring to someone from the United States.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

Students will research jobs/professions using American Sign Language. They will identify and list various types of jobs/professions and the cities and states where these jobs are most concentrated. Students will identify a job in which they have a personal interest.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages COS Resource Development Summit.

This lesson will connect students with actual artists from Nicaragua while introducing the topic of fair-trade, non-profit organizations as well as opening up the classroom for a discussion on the culture of Central America. It is best to partner this lesson with your school’s Pulsera Project sale, but all resources are available whether or not the sale occurs at your school. You can start the completely free service-learning project by visiting: http://www.pulseraproject.org/getinvolved. The lesson is best for a block schedule or consider providing extended time depending on class make-up/target language reading level of students.

This activity was created as a result of the World Languages Course of Study Resource Development Summit.