Back to School Spanish Activities: The Ultimate Round-Up of Plans and Ideas

Inside: Back to school Spanish activities and plans.

Remember when the words “back to school” used to give us butterflies?

Well, 2020 is taking it to a whole new level. Yeah.

This post gather all kinds of ideas and plans for back-to-school in Spanish class from Spanish teachers, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. In browsing what other teachers are doing, of course, it’s important to remember that this is NOT a normal year.

So first, let’s collectively l-o-w-e-r our expectations and give grace to ourselves and our students as we figure out this year together. 

A lot of the activities and links from the original blog post can be adapted for distance learning. However, I know many of you are looking for ideas with specific suggestions for online teaching or teaching with social distancing measures in place. I’ve been collecting those and have updated each section below. Hope this makes your planning a little easier and gives you ideas to start with!

Related: Tips and Hacks for Teaching Spanish Online

To help you navigate the ideas and links in this post, here are the main topics (you can click to jump to those sections):

• Activities for the First Days of Spanish Class
• Planning the First Weeks of Spanish Class
• Decorating and Organizing
• Classroom Management
• Ideas for Setting up Interactive Notebooks
• Building Relationships in Spanish Class
• Staying in the Target Language
• Teacher Self-Care and Prep

BACK TO SCHOOL SPANISH ACTIVITIES: THE FIRST DAYS

Here are ideas and activities just for the first days that you are back to school with your students.

Distance Friendly:

Icebreakers for Spanish Class (with Distance-Friendly Ideas)

Social-Distancing Activities for the First Days of Elementary Spanish Class from Mundo de Pepita

Back to School Kahoot Idea for Spanish Class from Señora Chase

First Day of School About the Teacher PPT Freebie from Fun for Spanish Teachers

Video from Christy’s Classroom Showing Slides for the First Days of Spanish 1 from Christy Lade

First Day of an Upper Level Spanish Class from Diego Ojeda

Card Talk Simple Activity and Slides from Palmyra Spanish

Welcome back-to-school video (template) for students from CI Liftoff

Free Starter Curriculum and Lesson Plans for Spanish Teachers (All Levels) from CI Liftoff

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First Days of Elementary Spanish Class from Mundo de Pepita

First Days, First Impressions from Creative Language Class

Back to School Lessons (Spanish 2 or 3) from Mrs. Spanish

Name Gold: Kindergarten Edition from Mrs. Spanish

First Day of Spanish 1 on the Block Schedule from La Libre Language Learning

10 First Day of School Ideas from Palmyra Spanish

First Day of Spanish 1 and 2 with Jolly Ranchers from Señora Chase

First Day of Spanish 2 from Lugar para pensar

First Day of Spanish 2 and 3 from Mis Clases Locas

Back-to-school with Soy Yo from Mrs. Spanish

First Day of Spanish Class from Maris Hawkins

5 Things You Need to Tell Your Students on the First Day of Class from TCI By the Lake

The first video below from Diego Ojeda talks about the first day/ first weeks of Spanish class during Covid:

BACK TO SCHOOL SPANISH PLANS: THE FIRST WEEKS

Distance Friendly:

Spanish Class Distance Learning: How to Start the Year Online from Secondary Spanish Space

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First Two Weeks of Spanish 1, in the Proficiency-Based Classroom from Spanish Mama

First Week of School, PreK – HS from La Maestra Loca

First Two Weeks Focused on High Frequency Verbs from Mis Clases Locas

First Week Using Comprehensible Input from Mis Clases Locas

Free Unit for Week 1 of Spanish 1 from The Comprehensible Classroom

DECORATING AND ORGANIZING 

Creating a Digital Classroom or Open House

Create Your Bitmoji Classroom from Fun for Spanish Teachers

An example of a virtual Open House from Sra. Johnson, created on Google Slides. Her site is super helpful!

Student create digital lockers – example from Sra. Johnson and Google Slides to copy

Bitmoji Scenes for the Proficiency-Based Classroom from La Maestra Loca

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Spanish Classroom Tours – A Huge Collection of Pictures from Everyday Teachers

7 Awesome Classroom Hacks from Secondary Spanish Space

Organizational Lifesavers from Señora Chase

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

New Pandemic, New Procedures from Sra. Chase

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CHAMPS in the WL Classroom from Sra. Shaw

Tips for Traveling Teachers from Fun for Spanish Teachers

Tips if You Are on a Cart from Mundo de Pepita

Hand Signals for Classroom Management from Fun for Spanish Teachers

5-Minute Brain Breaks from Secondary Spanish Space

BACK TO SPANISH CLASS WITH INTERACTIVE NOTEBOOKS

Distance Friendly:

Digital AP Notebooks from Aventuras Nuevas

Creating Digital Interactive Notebooks from Señora Jota Jota

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Back-to-Spanish Class with Interactive Notebooks from Spanish Mama

Getting Started with Interactive Notebooks from Island Teacher

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

Distance Learning:

Building Community in Spanish Class During Distance Learning from Minute by Minute Spanish

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Creating Good Vibes in Spanish Class from Sol Azucar

Creating an Environment of Respect and Rapport from La Profesora Frida

Establishing a Culture of Learning from La Profesora Frida

First Days: Building Relationships from Sra. Cruz

Building Relationships from Day 1 from Desk-Free Classroom

Free webinar on building a positive class environment during remote learning in Spanish class:

TARGET LANGUAGE

Staying in the TL from Day 1 from Spanish Plans

First Week of Staying in the TL from Señor Howard

TEACHER SELF-CARE AND PREPARATION

Back-to-Spanish Class: 9 Ways to be a Happier Teacher from Secondary Spanish Space

Top Priorities for Day One from Secondary Spanish Space

Advice for a First-Year Teacher from World Language Cafe

GENERAL

Starting off the Year: Core Ideas from Bryce Hedstrom