Are you looking for a fun way to get your elementary Spanish students moving during class? We know kids benefit when we incorporate movement into our lessons at school. One of my favorite ways to do that is a simple movement game: 4 Corners.
I’ve heard about a variety of different ways to play 4 Corners and I thought I’d share how my students and I like to play. When I plan to play this game in class, I have two goals: get students moving while engaging with Spanish.
Movement Game Set Up
I love this movement game for several reasons…but my favorite might be the easy prep. All you need in order to play are signs to hang around the room. I tend to put the signs in plastic page protectors and then hang them up with masking tape.
If you travel to different classrooms, make sure to have a student help you remember to take them down at the end of the lesson. It’s easy to forget them!
What goes on the signs?
Images or images plus text!
Depending on the content you’re working with, you can have anywhere from 3-6 signs. I always use at least 3 signs at a time. If you plan to use more than 4 signs, I encourage you to only use 4 at a time. Switch out a few signs part way through the game or the next time you play.
It never fails that the lesson after we play this game, students are asking to play it again! I often plan to play it the second half of one lesson and then just a few rounds at the start of the next lesson.
Student Instructions
Since the main idea of this game is that students are MOVING, it’s very important to review the rules each time you play. I remind students that we have to follow these rules for safety and if we don’t, the game will end.
#1: Use walking feet
#2: Be near a sign by the time I get to 10. If you’re not, you’re out. (No hiding somewhere being goofy).
After reviewing the rules, have students check around their desks and put away anything that could get stepped on or tripped over. I ask students to push in their chairs and stand behind their table spots when they’re ready to play.
During the Game
The game starts when I start counting slowly to 10 in Spanish. During that time I “keep my eyes closed” and students move to a sign. I cover or close my eyes so I don’t know who is where when I call a sign. *I usually need to give a few reminders about walking feet as students get quite excited to start the game.
Once I get to 10 I pause and listen for all the little feet to stop moving before I call one of the signs. Whoever is standing by that sign sits back at their table spot and helps me count for the rest of this round. Play resumes when I start counting to 10 again.
I used to play this game until there was only one person still standing. That is definitely always an option. When you play that way, make sure to tell students once there are fewer students than signs, there cannot be two kids at the same sign.
I found that after a while, the students who were “out” had trouble waiting until the next round. Asking them to wait in their seats all that time felt counterproductive. So, I came up with a new version that restarts when there are still several students who are “in.” You can restart at any time but I usually do it if I call a sign that has no students standing by it.
Playing 4 Corners with Kindergarten Classes
Teaching this game to kindergarten students at the start of the year can be hit or miss. They definitely enjoy the game but it also comes with some challenges.
I like to introduce this movement game after we’ve been in school for at least a month. We play it when we’re learning to describe our basic feelings with this freebie set. During the game set up, I stress that there are no winners in this game and when you “get out,” remember you’ll be back “in” soon.
I tend to monitor students a bit more when playing with kindergarteners. There are always a few students who never sit down when they’re supposed to. This can be frustrating for others who are trying to follow the rules.
Overall, kindergarten students love this game and as the year goes on, they do quite well with it.
Wrap it Up
It always feels good to get students up and moving during Spanish class. Moving is such a big part of learning for kids at the elementary level; and, it serves us well as teachers to plan for movement.
Read more about planning for movement within your lessons here!
Woah, start the countdown to the end of the school year! I love this time of year. You can actually feel the energy and excitement in the air as the weather gets warmer and the calendar moves closer to summer.
I find myself looking at my planner every year around this time–trying to make sure I can fit everything in and still have time for some fun end of year activities before we send the kids home for summer.
My Favorite End of Year Activities for Spanish Class
Reading Stories
It won’t come as a surprise that I love teaching with stories. Reading and talking about summer can be a fun way to capture student attention towards the end of the school year.
Kindergarten & 1st grade
I have several super simple stories that I choose from for kindergarten and first grade at the end of the school year. I have several in the Hay un Animal series that are a fun way to review basic vocabulary and structures they’ve learned throughout the school year.
2nd grade
My second graders love reading the story, El Verano de Llama. We read the story, act it out, connect the story to our own opinions, and match up photos with sentences. After all that hard work, I love to bring out a student favorite and do a Kahoot based on the story.
3rd grade
My third graders learn about Puerto Rico and I’m so hoping we have time to read the fabulous story, El Chivo en la Huerta, by Mundo de Pepita. This is such a fun story to read and act out. The story is more involved than others they’ve read and I love to see students rise to the challenge.
End of Year Review Games
Celebrating what students have learned throughout the school year can help end the year on a positive note. Review games with content they already know is such a great confidence booster at the end of the year. Plus it’s fun to see their faces light up as students find they easily know the answers.
I love to mix it up and have some lessons with technology and some without. My favorite techy review games are Kahoot, Blooket, and Baamboozle.
I don’t play it often and perhaps that’s why they love it, but a good old fashioned game of Bingo is my favorite non-tech review game. It never fails–the lesson following a Bingo lesson has students requesting to play it again. 😂
Walk to Read Activities
I find students to have extra squirrely energy as the year winds down. This always has me looking for ways to intentionally allow for them to move. Walk to Read or Write the Room activities are great for that!
Since I don’t have a classroom dedicated to Spanish, I tend to use Walk to Read more often. That way I can set it up in the grade level hallway and use it with each class I teach.
In my 1st and 2nd grade classes I’ve found great success keeping things simple using this activity that focuses on basic sentences with colors. First, I post the clues around the hallway for students to find. They aren’t really “hiding,” just taped on the walls with the goal of having to walk around to find them.
Students have to go out and find one clue at a time. After reading it, they come back to their desk and color the correct letter the correct color. Then they can head back out to the hall in search of another clue.
Printing the clues on colored paper helps them stand out a little better. *There’s nothing worse than making it too challenging at this level! (And when you have limited time for your lesson…)
You can create a Walk to Read Activity with whatever content that makes the most sense for your students. They could read sentences describing an animal or a shape and then come back to color it. They could read opinion sentences written by people at school and then record it. Once you start brainstorming, the possibilities are endless!
Go Outside and Play
Lastly, it’s so great to just take a day and let the kids play outside. I love to bring groups of students outside to draw with chalk. It’s a simple way to get outside while still incorporating our content. If we’re working on a story, I have them draw their favorite part of the story.
Planning fun lessons that you’ll enjoy teaching can definitely help you make the most of the last few weeks of school. ¡Suerte, profes!