One of the hurdles for new Spanish students to overcome is learning to express themselves and their needs in a foreign language. Having a list of useful classroom expressions for the student is the first step, but beyond that, the student must practice using them and internalizing their meanings. While the common expressions in the chart below can also be used by the teacher, they are commonly needed by students. Similar to the list of common teacher expressions, this list can also be easily tailored to accommodate for specific classrooms and situations.
Instruct students to create isolated scenes portraying various and realistic student needs. Each scene should target one of the common classroom expressions below, or those provided by the teacher. After creating multiple scenes, students will associate and write the correct expression below each cell. Other vocabulary in the model is limited, assuming that these expressions are part of a student’s initial exposure to Spanish. However, if students are more advanced, they can include more dialogue or narrative.
| Classroom Expressions — Student | |
|---|---|
| ¿Cómo se dice…? | How do you say…? |
| ¿Cómo se escribe…? | How do you spell…? |
| ¿Qué quiere decir…? | What does… mean? |
| Más lento, por favor. | Slower, please. |
| ¿Puedes explicar en inglés, por favor? | Can you explain in English, please? |
| ¿Puedo ir al baño? | Can I go to the bathroom? |
| ¿Puedo beber agua? | Can I get a drink of water? |
| No sé. | I don’t know. |
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)