Inside: Spanish reading practice with Flangoo.com. Spanish reading and comprehension practice for Spanish class. Plus World Language teacher giveaway for a year of Spanish, French & German reading practice with Flangoo.
Why Flangoo.com?
Teacher’s Discovery reached out to me about a service they offer Flangoo.com. It is a website with hundreds of online fully narrated books and Spanish reading practice. As you know, I only suggest and review resources I believe in for World Language teachers. All opinions in this post are my own.
I also want to make sure there is something in it for you. This means there is a risk-free 30-day trial & discount code just for you. Plus make sure to make it to the end of this post for the links, plus a chance to win a year’s subscription to Flangoo.
If you are looking for an affordable way to build your classroom library, keep reading. Flangoo.com is an online library. It has hundreds of fully narrated e-readers for your students on a variety of topics. Each book now has auto-graded quizzes, short answer questions, and other optional activities.
Using Flangoo as Spanish Reading Practice and FVR
I did a free trial of Flangoo.com during the 20-21 school year. I was teaching in person on a Hybrid on a Block Schedule. Students had the choice to use Flangoo as an option for FVR, or free reading in Spanish. Every other day, we started each block with 5-10 minutes of reading in Spanish.
Flangoo worked great for students who were virtual, or who liked reading on a screen. At that time there was a much smaller selection of books in Spanish. It was Spanish reading practice, but at that time I do not remember any comprehension questions. It was just an online library of books.
2024 Flangoo Reading Practice
Now in the Spring of 2024, there are many more books, and short stories in Spanish, French, and German. Plus they have added comprehension activities. Teachers who currently use the website really like how easy it is to use. You can even get a personal walkthrough of the site over Zoom to quickly learn was to use it in your World Language classroom.
Student Accounts. You can add students to different class groups and have them create an account. From here you can see what your students read, and their grades on quizzes, and control what readers your students can see.
Glossary. In addition to the quizzes and narration, every reader has a “mouse over glossary.” Random words will be underlined in blue. If you hover the mouse over a word, you get the English translation. This is especially helpful in building confidence in beginner learners. As a teacher, you can adjust the frequency of these words.
Teacher Customization. As a teacher, you can customize Floangoo however you want for each of your classes. You can turn off books individually or use filters to curate a library to suit the needs of each class. There are options for unlimited retakes on chapter quizzes, adjusting the frequency of the mouse over the glossary, and more.
Weekly shorts. There are also weekly shorts added every week on different bits of pop culture. They are short 2-3 minute reads on topics students would click on if it were on tic-tok or Instagram. But now they get to apply their Spanish skills to something interesting. According to other teachers, these shorts have been a hit for Spanish students.
Ideas to Use Flangoo
Flangoo Friday
You know I love a good Spanish Class Routine! So after Baile viernes, you could try Flangoo Friday. This could be with FVR time every Friday to explore a book of their choice from the website. With the large library of titles, students should be able to find a story about something they are interested in. Or it allows them to explore some of the more cultural titles.
Flangoo Friday would work well after an assessment. This gives you a chance to grade, while students explore the site.
Unit Pairing
Pair a story alongside a unit on a particular topic. This helps students cement what they have learned. For example for a Sports unit read José Altuve: «Gigante» or La Mamba Negra, Kobe Bryant from Flangoo. These readings with self-checking questions are a great no-prep sub plan.
Read Weekly Shorticles in Spanish
The Weekly News Shorticles would be another great Bell Ringer. There are both news and pop culture articles included. These short comprehensible articles are another engaging reading comprehension option. Many students enjoy reading about topics they are already interested in. These fun quick reads would be an excellent extension or fast finisher option.
More Ideas for how to use Flangoo right now
- Option for students who do not take the AP or AAPPL test.
- Fast finisher or extension for Differentiation.
- Literature Circles unit – multiple groups reading the same book – get this Lit Circle
- Individual Novel unit – choice books
- Try out a full class novel – read How to Teach Comprehensible Spanish Books
- Use these Spanish Novel Conversation Cards to have students chat about their books
- Independent study reading comprehension practice
- No prep sub plan or for a day when you just can’t
My Review of Flangoo.com
Flangoo would be a great digital option for Spanish reading and comprehension practice. If a physical Classroom Library is not an option or in the budget, this would be a start for offering free reading as a Routine.
What I like the most are the weekly news and pop culture articles. They also have audio to help support all students and add in listening practice. The optional comprehension activities with the readings make it a no-prep sub-plan.
Flangoo is also a much cheaper way to try using a class novel. You can create classes and assign a certain book to everyone. As a teacher, you can see students progress and have auto grades quick comprehension checks. The selection of comprehensible books is not extensive, so check to see if you would want to try the titles they include.
I like that during the reading when you hover over more tricky words it provides the translation. You can also download a helpful vocabulary list for each story or book. These lists would be great for planning and front-loading vocabulary if you use the book as a full-class reader.
What levels would you use this Spanish reading practice with?
If you teach Spanish 2 or above, there is a nice variety of Spanish reading practice on Flangoo.
If you only teach super novice Spanish 1 or Exploratory Spanish and are looking for just stories in Spanish for beginners, this might not be the best fit. Even the short articles would be pretty tricky to super novices.
Something that bothered me was it does not feel like a book. There are no page numbers and you scroll down the page for longer texts. I could see this as confusing if you do not finish a long chapter and want to return. Besides pictures breaking up the text, some readings do not have chapters or dividers. I have used other online books where you still get the satisfaction of flipping the digital page.
For example, there is a text called Soy Salvador Dalí labeled Pre Level 1. Since it is one giant chapter, it doesn’t have breaks in the text. It is a lot of text without breaks for comprehension, even for a late Spanish 1 student. If you are looking for a story in Spanish for beginners, make sure it has the Acquisition Readers seal.
Acquisition Readers Seal for Spanish Reading Practice
But, I figured out that books with the seal Acquisition Readers are much better. They have shorter chapters with comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. But, unfortunately, you can not look back at the text while doing the compression questions. I get it if you are using it as an actual quiz, but for reading comprehension practice you can usually always refer back to the text. This gets more repetition of the reading.
I would suggest students start with the books with the seal Acquisition Readers. Or there is a section called Comprehensible Input with some good books from Bryan Kandel, Mira Canion, etc.
Spanish reading and comprehension questions included
There are auto grades multiple-choice questions after the book. I like the idea of these for self-comprehension checks of Spanish reading practice. These Spanish reading and comprehension checks would be great to assign for a sub plan, or a long-term sub plan.
But, some of the multiple choice questions are pretty hard, and they no longer have helpful translations for trickier words. When you get an answer wrong it does not let you know the correct answer or let you guess again. You have to retake the entire quiz. Also, from what I have seen there is not much variety and it is just comprehension questions.
There are also open-ended optional short answer questions at the end of the chapter. These would work well if you are all reading the same book. As a teacher, you could project these to discuss as a class.
Or there is the option of a downloadable doc or an interactive PDF for students to type in and submit. Printing these would be another option to get students off of the screen if you would like.
Flangoo.com FAQs
Do you collect student emails or data?
No. Students sign up through an invite link specific to their account. They are given a login code with a password.
What levels are supported?
For Spanish they have it listed as pre-level 1 to level 3. But, as I stated earlier I think the books are leveled a little high. This is especially true if they are doing free reading. It is always better to start with easy readers to build confidence. I say it could work for late Spanish 1-4.
Can you link Flangoo to an LMS?
Yes, you can link Flangoo with your LMS. Your school’s LMS administrator must complete a quick configuration. It should take less than five minutes and can be done through the help menu.
Will Flangoo work on any device?
Yes. Flangoo is designed to work on laptops, desktops, iPads, iPhones, Android phones, and Android tablets. Whatever devices you and your students have, they will work with Flangoo.
How much is Flangoo?
Flangoo is $149 a year. But if you sign up with my link you can get Flangoo for $129 a year.
Free Learning of Spanish with a 30-Day Free Trial
The end of the year is a great time to take advantage of the Flangoo 30-day free trial. You do not have to enter your card, so you won’t get charged. If you want a subscription you get $20 off using the code MISCLASESLOCAS.
Giveaway – Get a Year of Flangoo.com!
Fill out the quick Google form below by midnight CST on April 24th, 2024 to be entered to win a year subscription to Flangoo.com.
Save Big on Flangoo!
Don’t forget that everyone is a winner with a risk-free Flangoo 30-day free trial.
If you decide to get a subscription, get $20 off by using the code MISCLASESLOCAS.
Do you also need Spanish Listening Practice?
Tierra Incógnita is the perfect show for upper-level Spanish! Grab the free character introduction slides below.
I may receive compensation for resources and products that I review. While I was gifted access to this site, all opinions and views are my own. Affiliates & Disclaimer. While the trial is free, I may receive compensation if you choose to make a purchase. Thank you for your support of Mis Clases Locas.
