First Day of Spanish Class Lesson Plan

At a loss with what to do with your Spanish classes on the first day? I got you. Personally, I never go over rules and procedures until a few days into the term. I always end up with new students every day for the first few days and I don’t want them to miss anything important, nor do I want to repeat myself a million times. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Here’s a great lesson plan for the first day that will set the tone from Day 1 that your class is going to be fun and you care. ❤️ I would recommend doing these activities in this order.

# 1. WELCOME

This is a super quick hola and introduction to let them know my name and that I am happy they are there. They will learn more about me in #2.

#2. STAR GAME

Rather than just telling your students about yourself, make them work for the fun facts! Plus, you get to learn about them when it’s their turn. Day 1 is all about building relationships!

HOW TO DO THIS FIRST DAY ACTIVITY

a. Draw a star on the board and write 5 numbers, one on each point.

b. Have the students ask yes/no questions to try and guess what the numbers mean to you and your life. For example, if I were playing it might be a 2 for the number of children I have, a 3 for the number of years I lived in Ecuador, a 19 for my birthday, etc.

c. Once all of your numbers have been guessed, brainstorm other facts about people that involve numbers up on the whiteboard (# of siblings, basketball #, etc.). Get a good list going so students have something to peek at if they get stuck on the next step.

d. Have students draw a star and write 5 numbers for themselves on a scratch piece of paper and take turns coming up to the board, writing their numbers, and having the rest of the class guess. It is always really fun!

You could also have students complete the activity in small groups if you are in a time crunch.

#3. BALL TOSS

I want to hook students into Spanish class from Day 1 and have them walk out the door that first day feeling proud that they can already speak some Spanish. A ball toss is a great way to accomplish that goal!

HOW TO DO THIS FIRST DAY ACTIVITY

a. Before you begin, write the following on your whiteboard:

¿Cómo te llamas?

Me llamo _______

Model the pronunciation and practice saying each of them several times as a whole class, encouraging students to insert their own name after me llamo.

b. Toss a Nerf ball or something else soft to a student in the class. I use a foam globe about the size of a baseball that I got at the dollar store. I always pick a student that I feel will be okay going first.

c. Ask the student, ¿Cómo te llamas?”. The student answers the question in a complete sentence, tosses the ball to another student, and asks that student, “¿Cómo te llamas?”.

d. That student answers the question, tosses the ball to a new student who hasn’t gone yet, asks that student, “¿Cómo te llamas?”, and so on until every student has had the ball.

e. The last student with the ball gets to toss the ball to you and ask you the question. Stay up by the whiteboard while the activity is going on because you might need to point to the question and answer if a kid panics.

This first day of Spanish class activity goes quickly and is great speaking practice!

Want ideas for decorating your Spanish classroom? Check out this blog post with tons of cheap and easy decor ideas!

#4. COLLABORATIVE POSTER

Having your Spanish students do a collaborative poster will not only be a great team-building activity for your students, but you can also use the finished poster to decorate your classroom, door, or hallway! Having students work together towards the common goal of creating a poster will be a memorable experience for them AND set the tone for all the collaborative learning that will take place in your Spanish class this year.

Grab a FREE collaborative poster here!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Students will each color one square of the poster and cut it out. After they finish coloring and cutting, use the included guide to put the pieces together like a puzzle to create a beautiful 2′ x 3′ poster!

WHAT’S INCLUDED:

• 3 poster options to fit your class needs (18, 24, and 36 squares)
• Detailed student instructions
• Assembly directions with grid
• Extension questions for students to answer about the quote

THIS COLLABORATIVE POSTER IS GREAT FOR:

• Hallway display
• Door decor
• Bulletin board
• Sub plan
• Brain break
• Ice-breaker
• Team-building activity
• Fast-finishers

Or grab the bundle and save $3 on all three!

NEW!

NEW!

#5. STUDENT SURVEY

Welcome your students to Spanish class with this free student survey! This survey has 14 questions to get to know your students better. You can give this survey to them on the first day of school to find out what name they prefer to be called, some of their favorite things, their style of learning, what they hope to learn in Spanish class, and more.

Then, use that information throughout the year to build relationships and support them. For example, if I see that a student is participating in choir, I will make sure to ask him/her about it. If a student shares they have trouble seeing the board and needs to sit in the front, I make sure to put that student in the front row when I make my seating charts.

I also like to keep the surveys by my desk and pull them out when I am writing examples. I love seeing my students’ faces light up when they see their favorite band or TV show in a sentence. Lots of great ways to use the information!

Get the printable version HERE and the editable Google Form HERE.

#6. COGNATES MYSTERY PIC

Show students they know more Spanish than they think they do with this fun self-checking pixel art activity! Students will have fun uncovering the hidden image pixel by pixel as they type in answers to cognate questions in the Google Sheet. It can also be downloaded as an Excel file! Click HERE to download this freebie.

Looking for routines and procedures to make your Spanish class run smoothly this year? Check out my Proven Routines and Procedures for Spanish Class blog post for the ones I swear by!

As always, if you loved this post, I would greatly appreciate you re-pinning it for me. Thanks and have a great first day of school! ❤️

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