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Activities centered around pop culture are great for capturing student attention without forfeiting space for strategic writing, speaking and listening practice. Pop culture consists of many things; it can be music, movies, art, tv series, or anything else that draws the attention of the public eye. Netflix's Squid Game (El juego del calamar in Spanish) has taken the world by storm. Almost everyone in my class has seen it. Those that haven't seen it have at least heard about it and know the general plot. After watching the series myself, I knew it would be the perfect theme for a fun Halloween-inspired activity. 

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Materials needed: 

-Worksheets and worksheet answer keys

-Tape or something similar to create boundaries on the floor

-De la rosa marzipan or other Latin American snack 

-Prize of choice (candy, extra-credit, trinkets, etc.)

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When creating this activity, I wanted it to be as authentic as possible. I wanted it to resemble Squid Game, but with a Latin American twist. Before the activity began, students played a game of Quizizz with the grammar and vocabulary topics of the module. The three winners were assigned the task of the "pink soldiers" and given a small prize. Since going event by event with the entire class would take too much time, I decided to create stations. There were three stations in total: a De la rosa station inspired by the honeycomb challenge, a "glass bridge" station, and a listening challenge. At the De la rosa station, students were given a worksheet puzzle to complete with verb conjugations and vocabulary from the module. After completing the worksheet with100% accuracy, students were challenged to unwrap the Mexican marzipan without breaking it. Extra points were awarded for not breaking the candy. At the "glass bridge" station, students were randomly assigned numbers. They were told to "cross" the bridge in the order of their number. Each "step" had two choices; depending on which step students chose, they were required to answer a random question from the "easy" or "hard" pile (read by the pink soldier at that station). If students got a question wrong, they had to go to the back of the line. Each correct answer was awarded one point for easy questions and two points for hard questions. At the listening station, students were given a worksheet with fill in the blank and multiple choice listening comprehension questions. Three listening activities were played: two excerpts from VHL and one song. Full points were awarded for correctly completing all answers. Partial points were awarded for correctly completing most questions, and no points were given for completely wrong answers. Each pink soldier was in charge of controlling/supervising one of the three stations. If a group finished before the time to switch stations was called, they were given a backup worksheet to complete. Each rotation lasted 10 minutes. Since there were three stations, students were divided into three groups. A point system was used to determine the winner. Completing each station successfully resulted in the highest number of points; completing some of the station resulted in some points.The pink soldiers were in charge of keeping score; if a student spoke in English, they were told to deduct a point from their score. At the end, final points were calculated for each student. The student with the most points won. In the case of a tie, a "speed game" was utilized to determine the final winner. The winner at the end was given an Alebrije "piggy bank" inspired by the prize money in the television series. 

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Instructional Goals:

-Students will be able to translate what they hear in the target language to written sentences

-Students will be able to fill-in conversational gaps in both written and oral dialogue in the target language using context clues

 

Link to Instructional PowerPoint: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WIFrvQAxnXdhwfTK_iU1QgyeUQjl6GoXOPAdsHE61Ec/edit#slide=id.p  

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Link to worksheets:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O7Nk8gbK24ZHOXk2iBSEgOxffIz8gQ-k/edit 

Many students are familiar with the concept of "spin the wheel" games, whether from popular gameshows on TV or from previous class experiences. This activity allows students to participate in their own "game show". Students will learn interpersonal speaking skills as they work as a team to deduce the correct answers and compete to get the most points.

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Materials needed:

-Online spin the wheel generator (I prefer https://wheeldecide.com/ but there are many other available sites) or a physical spin the wheel cutout 

-White board (can be small whiteboards per team or one large whiteboard at front of room) 

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Before class, the teacher will create a wheel (either online or in-person) with different tasks on each segment of the wheel. This could be specific verbs that students will have to translate/conjugate/make sentences out of or it could be any other type of grammar/vocabulary task. Team-oriented games are great as they allow students to communicate with each other and answer questions in the target language without the pressure of committing to an answer individually. Students that are introverted or shy have the opportunity to participate in a supportive environment. Students will be divided into teams of 4. For each round, the team will elect a "spokesperson" to represent their team. This person will be in charge of reporting their team's answer for that round (either orally or by writing on the whiteboard, depending on the question). For each round, the spokesperson will rotate so that every student has the opportunity to participate. The teacher will spin the wheel (either by clicking the button on an online platform). With each wheel spin, teams will have to complete the selected task and report their answers. For example, if the wheel lands on the verb "tener" and the task is to use the "yo" form of tener in a sentence, teams will discuss the answer and raise their hand to answer. The first team to give a correct response receives a point. If they answer incorrectly, however, a point will be deducted from their overall score. In my class, spelling counts for written verb conjugations.

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Instructional Goals:
-Students will be able to collaborate as a team and communicate interpersonally in the target language to form a coherent response and report their response to the class

-Students will be able to spontaneously write sentences on a variety of topics (chosen randomly by the wheel) using correct grammar and spelling 

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Sample instructional materials:

Irregular verb "spin the wheel" generator: https://wheeldecide.com/index.php?c1=hacer+&c2=tener+&c3=venir&c4=decir&c5=poner&c6=traer&c7=suponer&c8=salir&c9=o%C3%ADr&c10=ver&c11=dar&t=Irregular+yo+forms+&time=5

Contests are a great way to motivate competitive students to participate in class. While "drawing" contests may seem daunting to students who are not artistic, the competition is not designed around a student's drawing capabilities but rather their ability to communicate and comprehend as much detail in the target language as possible.  

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Materials needed:

-Projector with unit-related image

-Blank sheets of paper (enough for entire class) 

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For this activity, students will be divided into pairs. One student will be assigned the speaker, and the other student will be assigned the artist. The speaker will face the front of the classroom (facing the projected image) and the artist will face the back of the room. When each student is facing the correct position, the instructor will display a unit-related image on the board. The speaker will describe the image to their partner in the target language, and the artist will draw an image based on this description. The artist is allowed to ask clarifying questions about the image in the target language. Depending on the level, the instructor may choose to put limits on what kind of vocabulary can be used. This allows students to communicate information using vocabulary that they may not normally use (for example, describing the objects rather than just flat out saying them). At the introductory level, I typically leave the vocabulary open. After a description of the image is given, students will work individually to form sentences about the image using vocabulary from the unit. After the allotted time, the artists will turn around to compare their own image to the image projected on the screen. Students will present their drawings to the class and say one sentence that they created about the picture. They will then vote on the image that best matches the one on the board. Instructors can choose to repeat the activity with a new image and students will switch roles. This activity utilizes speaking skills, listening skills and writing skills. 

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Instructional Goals:

-Students will be able to communicate and interpret details in the target language

-Students will be able to form spontaneous sentences (both written and orally) from visual and auditory clues

-Students will be able to transform oral material into written material in the target language

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Instructional Materials:

Sample images:

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"Around the World" Game

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"Around the World" is a popular primary school game that is easily recognizable to many students in the United States and abroad. In this game, students form a large circle in the center of the room. Each student will receive a random card. Each card has an "answer" and a question. The instructor can make these questions as easy or difficult as needed. Questions can be made from scratch or copied from the instructor's manual. This activity ensures that every student individually participates multiple times in class while still maintaining the "low-pressure" environment of a game. 

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Materials needed: 

-Notecards or sheets of paper (enough so that each student gets a card); it is a good idea to laminate them to prevent damage

-Question bank

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The instructor will make enough notecards so that each student has a notecard. Each notecard should have a random question and a random answer (the random question and answer will not match). No two questions or answers should be the same. The "starter" card will only have a question and will not have a response; this card will be used by the professor. On the second card, the answer to the first card will be listed as well as a new question. The answer to the new question will be written on card #3, as well as a new question. This pattern continues until all of the cards are utilized. To play, the instructor will shuffle the cards and pass them out to students in the circle. The instructor will start the game with the starter card, and the student who thinks they have the card with the answer will read their card out loud. The card will have a new question that the student will read, and the next student that believes they have the answer will read their card out loud. The game continues until all of the cards are utilized and each student has had their turn. At the end of the game, students will be given an "exit ticket" assessment in which they have to write the answers to a few of the questions in the game. In this way, oral, reading and writing skills are practiced.  

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Instructional Goals:

-Students will be able to listen to material in the target language and identify a written solution 

-Students will be able to present written material to an audience in the target language and will be able to identify the correct oral response to their material

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Sample Instructional Materials: 

-Sample question bank: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xlFQ7sEoz048GgSXvVBjK4Rfx4kGmRQNlmrc4yj5yFs/edit 

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Find Your Match

 

Introduction: 

For this activity, students will be given a sheet that describes the character that they are playing and the character that they are looking for. Every student will have a match. Once they have found their match, students will write a paragraph in the target language discussing their match's characteristics. 

 

A possible prompt could be seeking a match for a talent show audition. Once every student finds their match, they will present to the class their talents and try to "sell" their pitch for the talent show. 

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Materials Needed:

-Role-play cards explaining what character the student is and what character the student is looking for (one per student)

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Instructional Goals:

-Students will be able to orally negotiate meaning in the target language and transfer oral material to written text

-Students will be able to present information learned from interpersonal communication to the class

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Sample Instructional Material:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SIMyhEldz5ySrYIqp3tsc329EJfJtHkG-liB-xlkpKM/edit 

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