Inside: 15+ Free Spanish lesson plans for both high school and middle school Spanish. Free lesson plans for high school Spanish teachers.
Author: Allison Wienhold
Published: February 17, 2025
Struggling with Spanish Lesson Plans?
Creating Spanish lesson plans can be a challenge. This is especially true when you’re juggling multilevel classes with different proficiency levels of Spanish students, and classroom needs. Whether you’re teaching high school students, middle schoolers, or beginners, having a clear plan can save you time and help your students succeed learning a new language.
This guide will walk you through how to create effective Spanish lesson plans. Plus free Spanish lesson plans to save you time teaching the Spanish language.
Why Effective Spanish Lesson Plans Matter
A good Spanish lesson plan provides structure and purpose for your class period. It ensures that you cover all the necessary material while keeping students engaged.
Spoiler, a great Spanish lesson plan does NOT look like the ones you created in college. Who has time for a multi page plan for all the different preps?! Literally no one.
Whether you’re introducing classroom readers, reflexive verbs, vocabulary lessons, or exploring cultural topics, a well-organized plan helps you stay on track.
Good Spanish teaching resources are a great way to adapt to your students’ needs.
Learn more in this blog post > Differentiation
Spanish Curriculum
This post will mostly focus on free Spanish lessons for a class period. If you are interested in planning Spanish curriculum for the year, check out these blog posts:
- NEW Middle School Spanish Curriculum
- Spanish 1-4 Curriculum
- Sustainable Lesson Planning for many preps
- How I create a Comprehensible Input Spanish Curriculum for the school year
- Also teach French? > Comprehensible Input French Curriculum
Elements of a Great Spanish Lesson Plan
Daily Routine
- You might know I love starting class with a themed daily routine. Ready to go bell ringers are the perfect way to integrate Spanish culture every day.
Language Learning Through Comprehensible Input
- Provide appropriate reading &/or listening input from Spanish speakers. This might be a movie talk, story, or persona especial (from Bryce Hedstrom). Or your full unit could focus on a comprehensible book.
- I prefer to not focus on intense grammar like verb conjugations, indirect object pronouns, definite articles, etc. These come up as students are ready for them through pop up grammar.
- I also do not put a focus on long lists of vocab like farm animals, body parts, or classroom objects. These Spanish words come up as needed in context.
Guided Practice
- Spanish students can work in small groups, pairs or individually to practice the new input. They get to use the useful words in context. This might be a game to Get Your Spanish Class Moving as well.
- You may also have exit tickets at the end of class to get a better idea how all students are doing.
Cultural Connections
- Introduce students to the cultures of Spanish-speaking countries as the core of your units. You can use video clips of educational videos or music from a native Spanish speaker. The first step of culture is showing positive representation that does not make Spanish seem like a “foreign language.”
Need a Spanish Lesson Plan Template?
- Digital Spanish Lesson Plan Template for the week, month & year
Free Spanish 1 Lesson Plans
Teaching novice Spanish students? All of these early Spanish resources would work well with Exploratory Spanish, Middle School, or High School Spanish 1.
They all focus on the Spanish Super 7 verbs. Learn more about the unit I would pair all of these free Spanish lesson plans here > High-Frequency Verb Unit to Start Spanish 1
- Ser Mini Unit – Spanish Lesson Plans – A great early Spanish digital emergency sub plan to practice present tense ser. Great for a snow day remote learning plan.
- Find Someone Who – Chat using Tener Spanish Lesson Plans – Looking for print lesson plans? A one day interactive speaking activity practicing tener. Learn more of how to use this activity Find Someone Who Interpersonal Speaking
- Spanish Lesson Plans practicing Tener Google Slides Freebie – A great digital, individual practice activity for tener. Perfect for test review or a Elearning sub plan.
- Name Game Speedball Slides Freebie – My go-to 1st day of Spanish class lesson plan with an interactive activity.
Spanish Lesson Plans – Music & Routines
Looking for Spanish Class Music & routine resources for any level of Spanish? Here are some free Spanish music lessons and resources to get you started.
- Free Spanish Music Google Slides – Try out a variety of Spanish music activities.
- Copa Mundial in Spanish Class – Get these free music slides in the Blog Post. More authentic Spanish class music slides related to the World Cup.
- Discuss & Vote for Music Bracket Freebie – Perfect to pair with your Spanish class music bracket lesson plans. Learn more mania musical – March Music Madness & Hispanic Heritage Month Music Bracket.
- Spanish Bell Ringer Google Slides – Editable Google Slide Spanish Bell Ringers.
Spanish Movie Lesson Plans
We all know Appropriate Movies for Spanish Class make perfect emergency Spanish lesson plans. You are in luck since I have a Ton of Free Spanish movie lesson plans for you!
- Free Spanish Documentary Lesson Plan – Grab a free Spanish movie lesson plan for any documentary at the bottom of this documentary blog post.
- Coco Spanish Lesson Plan Freebie – You can get a free Spanish lesson plan for Coco with character intro slides & Coco IPA.
- Ferdinand Movie Character Intro Slides – Teaching about bullfighting or Spain? Get free Ferdinand slides at the bottom of this blog post.
- Encanto Culture of Colombia Free Slides – Want a free Spanish lesson plan about the culture of Colombia? Grab slides + Encanto character intro slides below.
- Libro de Vida Movie Guide + The Book of Life character intro – Perfect Spanish lesson plan for The Day of the Dead.
- Canela Movie Guide + Canela intro – Great free Spanish lesson plan relating to food, family & Mexico.
Lesson Plans for TV Shows in Spanish
Prefer Teaching TV Shows in Spanish Class? Grab these free lessons.
- Tierra Incógnita Character Introduction Slides – Introduce this authentic show from Argentina. Free lesson plans at the bottom of the blog post.
- Maya y los tres Character Intro Slides for show – Introduce this Netflix show for younger leaners. Get slides at the bottom of the post.
Free Spanish Culture Lesson Plans
Want to integrate more Spanish culture in class?
- Solar Eclipse in Spanish Class – Free lesson plans about eclipse solar in the Blog Post.
- Carnaval in Spanish Class – Blog post with free authentic resources to teach about this cultural celebration.
- Asian Pacific Heritage Month in Spanish – Blog post with free resources to teach about Asian-Latinx people in Spanish.
Free Spanish Classroom Decor
These are not Spanish lesson plans, but they are free Spanish class resources.
Best Free Apps for Spanish Learning
Basic Spanish Lesson Plans by Theme
- Greetings Song in Spanish
- Alphabet Songs in Spanish Class
- Days of the Week in Spanish
- Telling Time in Spanish
- Happy Birthday Songs in Spanish Class
Spanish Lesson Plans for Holidays & Culture
- Los 3 Reyes Magos in Spanish Class
- Black History Month in Spanish class
- Valentine’s Day in Spanish Class
- Las Fallas in Spanish class unit
- Earth day in Spanish Class – El medio ambiente
- Cinco de mayo in Spanish class
- Hispanic Heritage Month in Spanish class
- Día de muertos in Spanish class
- Thanksgiving in Spanish Class
- Winter Holidays in Spanish Class
- Culture & Civilization class
Spanish Lesson Plans by Grammar Point
- Present Tense in Spanish Class
- Preterite & Imperfect Spanish Class
- Teaching Future Tense in Spanish class
- Teaching Irregular Verbs Commands in Spanish
- Spanish High Frequency Verbs – Super 7 & Sweet 16
Resources for Spanish Teachers
Finding quality resources can save you hours of planning time. Here are a few places to look:
- Free Spanish Lesson Plans: Use the free Spanish lesson plans that are ready to use above. These can be a great starting point if you’re short on time.
- Planning Templates: Templates can help you organize your ideas and ensure your lessons include everything students need. Save time with my Spanish Lesson Plan template
- Interactive Activities: Use comprehensible input activities, movie talks, or games to make learning fun and effective.
Spanish Lesson Plans
Ready to simplify your lesson planning? Download all of my Free Spanish lesson plans listed above today.
