Take your Spanish class outside

I do not know about other parts of the country and world, but Spring in the Midwest is literally a breath of fresh air. After six months of bone chilling cold, wind and snow, in Iowa we have earned some warm weather. Personally sunshine and being outside gives me life, so any excuse to outside in May and June is fine by me. Normally all it takes in the afternoon is a student asking if we can go outside and I am easily convinced. (It is too bad for the morning classes, since it often starts out pretty chilly, but by the afternoon it is perfect for outside time).

My classes do know that going outside for Spanish is still time for learning and not just a free for all. For the spontaneous and randomly beautiful days, it might be as easy as bringing activities outside on clipboards to sit on the sidewalk or grass and work. Or you can have a planned day and celebrate Outdoor Classroom Day on May 23, 2019. Since 2012 there has been a movement to have all classes outside for a day. You can learn more on their website, with resources available in many language.

Here are ideas that you can use to celebrate this day, or anytime you want to plan or spontaneously just go outside for class.

This can be as easy as taking your free reading books to read in the sunshine.

With a class novel, I like to have scrap paper by the door and instruct students to grab scrap paper, a clipboard and their novel, read a chapter and do one of the following on the fly:

– Write a 10 question True/false quiz (& then give this quiz out loud to 3 friends)

– Come up with 5 comprehension question quiz in Spanish (& then work with a partner to discuss)

– Free write to retell the chapter

– Smashdoodle or storyboard to visually show comprehension

See this post for more ideas for reading outside.

Have students write or draw to retell something in Spanish. Or write questions in Spanish for students to walk and talk about. this would be great as a final review.

Have clues in the target language around the school and outside. I would recommend letting admin and other teachers know that students are out and about and you do need to set the expectations pf behavior expected outside of the room. For example, we just did this Internado Muffin Hunt to review Internado and gets kids out and about.

If you are teaching a unit on sports or the book Felipe Alou, making cardboard gloves and going outside to use them is perfect for right now. Check out this blog post to learn more

If you can not take your classes outside for the whole period, take them outside for brain break. Have a race when talking about comparatives or do a couple yoga or dance moves outside. there are more ideas of brain breaks here.

Basically, just walk around the school and talk in the target language! Learn more about a WalkTalk from Sarah Breckley here.

Talk about the environment in your classes and then spend a day with gloves and garbage bags walking around school and cleaning up. While you are cleaning you can chat in the target language as well.