Inside: Resources for Spanish class for the movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold in Spanish class (Dora y la ciudad perdida). Teach a cultural unit centered around Dora in Spanish class.
Author: Allison Wienhold
Published: January 7, 2020 & most recently updated on February 13, 2025
Live Action Dora Movie in Spanish Class
If you have kids, you may have heard about or watched the newer movie, Dora and the Lost City of Gold in Spanish class (Dora y la ciudad perdida).
My own boys enjoy classic Dora and they got the movie for Christmas. Once I watched it, I knew this cute movie is everything Spanish teachers want for class: appropriate, entertaining, and connected to culture.
Part of the Dora movie takes place in South America and centers on Dora, who is now older and a teenager. Since many of our current middle and high school students grew up with classic Dora, this movie is a perfect throwback to their childhood, without being babyish. You can see more in the trailer below.
Dora y la ciudad perdida Trailer
Who is the Spanish Dora movie for?
The film Dora y la ciudad perdida is rated PG and the actual film length is 1 hour and 35 minutes long. (This means it would be a great sub plan with this TPT guideor Dora movie guide from my website store.)
You can find more about level of appropriateness here, but I personally think it would work with 4th grade on-up Spanish class, or even an Exploratory class.
I purchased the Dora movie DVD online and it had both Spanish and English options for both audio and subtitles. Be careful buying or renting online that you get the language(s) that you want.
My go to for Intermediate classes is Spanish audio and Spanish subtitles, for Novice classes Spanish audio and English subtitles, and English if it is an exploratory or culture class. (There is actually quite a bit of Spanish even in the English version).
Dora Spanish Class Unit
If you want to make a whole film unit using Dora y la ciudad perdida, there are so many cultural themes for exploration including the following:
- The diverse indigenous people of South America
- The Incas
- Quechua – Connections to Quechua from the film
- Legends of South America including El Dorado (compare to the search in Paddington in Peru)
- This song > Soy Yo (from Bomba Estero is the credits theme)
Dora Spanish Resources to save you time
Dora Movie Guide – Includes options for English comprehension or Spanish comprehension, character description and post viewing activities. The directions are in English, so it would be a great sub plan.
or you can get the same Dora & the Lost City of Gold Movie Guide from my website
More Dora Unit Resources
Compare & Contrast to other movies set in Peru – NEW Paddington in Peru or
Pachamama – Pachamama film guide
Inca resources – here & here both from CCC Spanish Store
The Inca Unit – here from Sra. Dentlinger
Elementary Scavenger Hunt – a fun animal hunt for younger kids here
Dora Soundtrack – many songs in Spanish here
Please let me know if there are more resources I should add!
If you are interested in MORE movie guide activities, check out this blog post with more information about all of my appropriate favorites. My others guides I have available are:
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