Find Your Blob: A Fun Brain Break for Spanish Class

Inside: A fun brain break in Spanish for the language classroom.

I’m working hard this year to make sure I break up our classes with some sort of movement. I came up with Find Your Blob for something that’s quick and ties into the lesson. The students are speaking the TL, but because it’s related to their opinions and preferences, they get into it. (It’s also LOW-PRESSURE. I don’t consider it a brain break if an activity creates anxiety for the participants!)

HOW TO DO “FIND YOUR BLOB”

The idea is simple: Come up with a question related to the content you’re working on. ¿Qué te gusta hacer?, for example.

Then, list or brainstorm 4-6 answers (depends on your class size). Me gusta: correr, dormir, leer, viajar, etc. The students silently pick their answer. 

When I say so, everyone stands up and walks around asking the question. If the answers match, those students stick together. Then those two look for more people. Everyone with the same answer has to be in the same blob (or group of people), until the whole room is sorted into four blobs.

That’s it! I like to erase the two most popular answers, and replace them, so everyone has to mix it up again. Most everyone in Spanish 1 this morning, for example, chose cansado in response to ¿Cómo estás? So we erased that, and added in more creative options. Once they get the hang of it, you can add in things like ¡Yo también! or ¡A mí también! 

If the groups are interesting (perhaps one person is alone, or one group is huge), it can make for some fun conversation and helps you get to know your students. I ask what the groups represent, which could bring in ¿Qué les gusta hacer?, and then Nos gusta… I’ve really liked this because the language is organic and memorable. Sometimes we do two or three rounds of responses, and then sit down, ready to work again.

You can do this with anything– any tense, any topic. Some more ideas:

If you could be any _________, what would you be?
If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
What would you like to do this weekend?
What’s your favorite _______?
You’re going on vacation. Where are you going?
Which book would you like to live in?
If you had to wear one outfit the rest of your life, what would it be?

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