Señora Speedy: Hobbies and Sports - Authentic Resources for Spanish Class & How to Use Them

A staple of every Spanish I class is hobbies and sports and we just started this unit with eighth grade.

This is actually a mini-unit that is a review of last year's content but the challenge is to expand on what we learned last year for students who had me in 7th grade but keep it accessible enough for students who are new to the school and/or didn't have me last year. The solution? Lots of comprehensible input using authentic resources!

First, students filled in a picture dictionary of different after school activities.

I love to have students make picture dictionaries to put in their Spanish notebooks. This helps us to avoid translation and I think it helps them to remember if they have to write it down rather than me just giving them a vocabulary list.

This year I also made filling it in a little more challenging because they had to find the vocab words in several school websites and fliers. Once they filled in the activities they also rated each one.

https://colegiocalatrava.edu.co/actividades-extracurriculares/

https://www.colegiocholguan.cl/extra-escolar

Their next challenge was to do a survey of 11 different schools to see what kind of after school activities they offered. I gave them a list of school websites from around the Spanish speaking world and they kept a tally of the different activities. They also answered questions about what they like to do and why, as well as what activities our school has and doesn't have.

There were definitely some groans as they realized how many websites they had to comb through but they're middle schoolers - they're going to complain no matter what we do. Once they got to work, it was really cool to hear comments like, "I did NOT expect volleyball to be so popular."

The last question had students reflecting (in English) on if where you live influences which sports you like and participate in. Their answers were really thoughtful.

"I do think that where you live and go to school influence which sports and activities that you like and participate in because what is embedded in the culture of the area you live influences what you participate because those sports are what are available and popular."

"For the most part, many sports are universal. Things like soccer, volleyball, and basketball are found in most schools both here and in schools around the world. Some other activities that aren't sports are more influenced by where you live, such as chess, horseback riding, and skating. Those are not very common everywhere and only certain locations have activities like that."

We spent three days on these activities and we could have spent more time but anything unfinished became homework so we could stay on track with pacing. Overall, it was an engaging way to jump back into hobbies and sports.

Keep scrolling for ALL the websites we used in class - they are very comprehensible and/or easily scaffolded.

Chile -

https://www.colegiocholguan.cl/extra-escolar

https://colegiobicentenariosantamariadepaine.cl/actividades-extracurriculares/

Colombia -

https://colegiocalatrava.edu.co/actividades-extracurriculares/

Ecuador -

https://ladolorosa.edu.ec/extracurricularesyclubes/

https://www.colegioamericano.edu.ec/_files/ugd/33009f_aaf4238819bd4e19b64ab824d02ae123.pdf

https://uejavier.edu.ec/actividades-extracurriculares/

Mexico -

https://colegioethelsutton.edu.mx/actividades-extracurriculares/