Are you having trouble wrapping your brain around teaching a new level?
When you’re used to teaching older students, it can be quite a shock to switch levels and think about teaching students as young as kindergarten. You’d think this would be a fairly uncommon occurrence (switching from teaching high school to teaching elementary). However, I hear questions about it quite often. Having gone through this experience myself, I’d like to share my thoughts in case it might be helpful.
If you didn’t initiate the change (or even if you did), I want to first encourage you to take the time you need to grieve. Acknowledging the sadness you feel about leaving your school & leaving your job as you know it can go a long way in working towards acceptance.
When I switched to teaching elementary, it was because our high school numbers were down and I was told my job would now be 80% elementary and 20% high school. I was shocked and nervous but ultimately grateful I still had a job in the district I love. Taking time to feel all the feelings really helped me ultimately move past them.
*I now teach elementary school full time and love it even more than I loved high school—it’s nice when things have a way of working out for the best.
Where do I start?
My first recommendation for teachers switching levels is to think about what you would like to learn about your new grade levels in your first year.
I had been teaching for 7 years when I switched, but I had a ton to learn about my new younger students! I intentionally sought out opportunities to learn about each grade level and I asked lots of questions. I observed other elementary Spanish teachers and I also asked the classroom teachers I worked with if I could observe them teaching a lesson. That combined with casual daily observations helped immensely as I learned about my new students.
Something important to keep in mind as you plan and teach lessons to younger students is: you are learning right along with them–and that’s a good thing!
-As you try new things and see how it works or doesn’t work, you are learning.
-When you ask if anyone has a question and you get 10 hands in the air, zero questions and ten stories, you are learning.
-When you think your directions are clear but no one knows what to do, you are learning.
-When you practice the new technology ahead of time and still find yourself troubleshooting in front of the class, you are learning.
It’s okay to learn the messy way.
Really, it’s okay to learn the messy way, as you go, with the students.
Be patient with yourself and give yourself grace. One thing I love about younger kids is they give grace freely.
Things I have learned about elementary students
Some won’t know how to write their name when they start kindergarten *Tip: write it for them with a yellow marker and have them trace
They all want a turn, all the time
It’s much faster for the teacher to make the partner groups (with younger grades k-2)
If you say yes to one child going to the bathroom, at least 5 more will ask to go
Kids love to hold things–using manipulatives is very engaging
Attention spans are much shorter and your lessons will need to move quickly. Keep kids guessing and embrace your silly side! I like to add movement breaks or activities that include movement within each lesson to help get the wiggles out.
You don’t need to say all the words–be very intentional about just using the words you need (especially when in the target language)
Awesome things about elementary students
They will LOVE you
You can convince them almost anything is fun
They are super willing to try new things (trying new words and sounds in their new language)
They love to be helpful–you’ll always have lots of volunteers if you need help with anything
They love school
They have tons of energy
You can do this
Switching levels (especially this big of a switch!) can feel like changing jobs entirely. Please remember to be patient and give yourself grace. Work on being yourself and enjoy getting to know your new students. It is so worth it in the end!
These posts might be helpful when preparing to make the shift from teaching high school to elementary Spanish class:
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I don’t know about you, but I love the puzzle that is lesson planning for my elementary Spanish classes. I love looking at the big picture, a specific unit, and the nitty gritty of each daily lesson. I’d love to share with you how I plan lessons for my elementary Spanish classes.
I’m an over-planner and constantly worry about having extra time at the end of a lesson (seriously, that never happens when you have 30 minute lessons!). I often end up having an entire activity that we run out of time for and I have to push off until next time. All that to say, I love planning ahead and also am ever flexible when looking at lesson planning for my classes.
I tend to follow a similar structure for each of my lessons. I’m sure you’ll agree that elementary students benefit from familiar procedures and expectations. I find their self confidence in their new language grows when they know what they can expect from our Spanish lessons.
Lesson Plan Structure for Elementary Spanish Class
Introduction
-Song
-Welcome video
-Conversation question
-Go over the learning goal *every lesson!
I usually do a combination of these ideas. It’s nice to mix things up so there are a variety of attention grabbers throughout our lessons.
Part 1
-Whole group review of previous content followed by introduction of new content
-Whole group game or activity
Part 2
–Partner or solo practice activity
Conclusion
–Gather as a whole group again
–Review learning goals, shorter version of game or activity
–Goodbye song or chant
Let me share my lesson planning worksheet with you!
Click the image below to sign up to receive my lesson planning worksheet. You can edit the google slides if you’re a techy planner OR! make copies from a pdf if you’re a pen and paper planner like me.
How I plan lessons for Spanish class
Basic housekeeping–I number my lessons for each grade level. Starting with number 1 and continuing until the last lesson of the year. Depending on how the schedule works out and when we have days off, each classroom could be on different lessons as the year moves forward. However, I find it helps me keep track of which group needs which lesson to keep them numbered.
I add in extra lessons for holidays or other cultural topics not included in our curriculum as we have time. Some years we might be finishing up a project and not have extra time to do a lesson for el Día de San Valentín in a particular grade. If we have time, however, it’s fun to expand on these exciting or special days in class.
One last thing to keep in mind when planning lessons for elementary Spanish class…kids need to move. Movement breaks are so important! These can be planned right into the lesson or done as a spur of the moment activity as needed. I intentionally think about at which points in my lessons students will be able to move. I find this helps me keep it more balanced and students are sitting for extended periods of time less often. Even moving into partner groups is a chance to get up and stretch / move / get the wiggles out!
A gentle reminder–while it’s wonderful to research and collaborate with others, ultimately, I’ve found it so important to plan for lessons that make the most sense to the individual teacher. We’re most successful when we work to our own strengths and plan lessons we know will work best for our students each year.
Happy planning!
As a Spanish teacher always on the lookout for new ways to engage my students (especially this year), I was pumped when a colleague told me about the online game Baamboozle. (Thanks, Jamie!)
I love this game for many reasons but the best reason is how versatile it is! You can use it with any content and grade level. I like to switch up how we do teams so it feels different each time. Plus, it’s a nice alternative to the individual player online games like Kahoot and Blooket.
How to get set up
Baamboozle is played with just one device. The teacher brings it up on their computer, projects it on the screen or board, and you’re ready to play.
Creating the games is not super time consuming. Add a title, description, and an image to help you keep track of your different games and you’re ready to create questions!
The questions are really simple to create. Type in the question & answer, add an image or gif if you’d like and repeat. If my question asks for students to do a movement, I usually put the answer as “student answered correctly.”
Playing Baamboozle
The free version allows for up to 4 teams. I usually make around 12 questions so I choose the 16 question option. I like to make sure there is room for some of the fun power-ups.
There are a few different options for how to play the game.
The quiz option on the left will just be question / answer.
Classic Jr. on the right has the questions worth fewer points. Plus, it only does the simple power-ups; not the mean (steal from the other team) ones. This version is great for classes that struggle with wining/losing.
I usually play the Classic version. This has positive and negative power-ups.
To keep things simple for teams, I usually divide the class in half down the middle.
I call on the first student to pick which question they’d like, using the Spanish number. If they answer in English, we all count up together in Spanish. The student who picked the question has to tell me the answer but they can check in with their team mates as needed.
If you’re short on time or have a little extra, you can play a lightning round. In that case, I just start with question 1 and make my way through the questions numerically.
Now that we’ve looked at set up and how to play, let me share with you…
Reasons Why I Love Baamboozle
It’s easy to create games
Maybe it’s just me but creating games on Baamboozle takes me way less time than other game sites. I love that they have images and gifs included; and that you can also upload your own images.
You can use different types of questions
It’s so nice to be able to have different tasks other than the typical multiple choice question. This is an easy way to incorporate conversation type content. I also love that students don’t have to be able to read the questions & answer options–the teacher can do that during the game. Students can respond with a word, phrase, sentence, movement, you name it!
Incorporate movement
Honestly, this is my top reason why I love this game. Especially this year, I’m sure we’re all looking for ways to enable our students to move (in a positive way, not like hanging upside down from their chair or draped over their desk…). Baamboozle lets us do that! They can do an action for a certain vocabulary term or repeat an action a certain number of times. Learning numbers? Have them count to a certain number while marching or jumping! Working with more advanced students? Have them act out a sentence.
It’s fun to play with bigger teams
I often play “Clase vs. Señora” during games like tic tac toe or board games as a whole group. However, it’s fun to switch it up and play Baamboozle with two larger teams. Although keep in mind, you are able to have as many as 4 groups with the free version. I typically have the student who picks the question give me the answer but I allow them to check in with their team if they want to.
It works great with all grade levels
This is one of the few online games I will use with any grade level. It’s nice that there is no logging in and the only set up is clicking the link and deciding teams. No running around helping 20 kindergarten friends figure out how to login! 🤣
Some degree of luck
Each class has those one or two students whose brains work really fast and tend to win more often than not. I like that this game throws cards in that help or hurt the team. That degree of luck allows for some epic comebacks and increased engagement from all students.
It allows for teacher scaffolding / support and discretion on answers allowed
Since the teacher is the one deciding if the answer is correct or incorrect, this allows for a little wiggle room. I love being able to provide support for those students who need it and then being able to still award points when they come up with the answer.
Give it a try!
Maybe these games I already made will be helpful to you. Check them out! I’d love to hear what you think once you’ve tried it–leave a comment below.
