Exercise with your students in Spanish!
This activity is designed for non-Spanish speakers to learn Spanish while teaching it to children!


​Hello Teachers!

This lesson is super easy and fun! The audio file teaches the exercises for you! You'll have a blast doing these three simple exercises with your students plus teaching them to "STOP", all in Spanish!

Let's get started! 
Materials Needed: 

1. Your bodies:)  and enough room to stand and move in place. 

2. Print out the page to the right entitled Activity 4 Game: Exercises. This page is your "cheat-sheet". See how each word is written in English followed by Spanish and there's a pronunciation key to the right of each word? Read the pronunciation key as though you're reading English and your pronunciation in Spanish will be really good! Be sure to stress the syllables that are in bold and underlined. We try to make everything as simple as possible when it comes to families learning Spanish! 

​(This activity is taken from the book: Teach & Learn Spanish in February, but of course you can do this activity any month of the year.)
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Step-by-Step Directions
1. Get Comfortable with the Vocabulary
Spend 10-15 minutes listening to the audio file below and reading the words on the handout. Pay special attention to the pronunciation column too. Read the pronunciation as though you are reading English. Stress the syllables that are bold and underlined. As soon as you feel comfortable with the audio file and the vocabulary, move on to number 2 below. 

2. Play the "Exercises" Audio File 

To play the audio file, click on the small gray triangle. 
Tell your students that you're going to do some exercises in Spanish together. Tell them they will listen to a song that will walk you through the exercises. Tell them to be aware when you must STOP and FREEZE your bodies! Who can be the most still? Make it a competition. Who can freeze in the strangest poses? Encourage your students to repeat the exercises with the audio file and with repeat them too!

​Be DRAMATIC! If you are dramatic when doing the exercises and your students will be DRAMATIC JUST LIKE YOU! Smile and show them you're having fun and they'll be more eager to join in and have fun too! 

When you hear the word for "Stop" which in Spanish is "Alto" FREEZE YOUR BODY IN FUNNY POSITIONS and point out when your kids freeze their bodies in funny positions too. This will make the activity more fun!
3. Teachers Lead without the Audio File

After doing the exercises with the audio file several times you should feel confident pronouncing the words in Spanish. Now you're ready to lead your students in the exercises without the audio file. See who can "Freeze" the fastest when you call out "Alto" (Stop). Repeat this as long as the kids are interested. Remember, the more dramatic and excited you are, the more engaged the children will be!

4. Let Your Students Be In Charge

Depending on the ages of your students, let them take turns calling out the exercises and calling out "Alto". They will enjoy "being in charge" and making everyone in the family do as they say...for a change :)

5. Involve other Classrooms and Teachers

​When other students or teachers come to your classroom, brag to them about how your students can teach exercises in Spanish! Ask them if they'd like to learn a few exercises. Consider recording your students leading others in Spanish exercises and share the videos with their parents

How cool will it be that your students are teaching Spanish to others! Wow! 

6. Random Exercise Times
​
Do the exercises every morning as a warm-up or every afternoon. Find a time that works well with your schedule. By doing the exercises for 5 minutes a day you're literally becoming a bit of a  "bilingual classroom." You should be very proud of yourselves, teacher! Learning a second language is a lifelong gift you're instilling in your students, and in yourself too! 
Now that you have mastered exercises, you can add to your Spanish activities for your students with our Teach & Learn Spanish curriculum. There is one lesson book and CD for each month of the year. All of the activities are as user-friendly and fun as this one. If you want more Spanish for yourself and your students, click on the button below! 

If you have questions about how to teach your students Spanish feel free to contact me. 

Theresa Gunderson
[email protected]
651.264.0404