¡Hola profe! April is here and you know what that means – longer days, warmer weather, and, since Earth day is on April 22, you have a perfect opportunity to teach an environment unit to your Spanish students!
What I love most about teaching about the environment is that there are SO MANY resources out there that can be utilized in the classroom. Caring for the environment is a contemporary issue and so you’ll be able to find a TON of authentic material to use in your classrooms – news articles, videos/audios, posters, brochures, and more! Not only that, but if you teach AP and/or are preparing your younger students to take AP one day, protecting the environment addresses the Global Challenges theme.
I teach an environment unit to my Intermediate-Mid/Intermediate-High students in Spanish 4 and this week, I wanted to share some activities that I use in my unit. (I also teach a different environment unit to my Novice-High/Intermediate-Low students, and next week, I’ll share activities I do with them, so stay tuned!)
With my Spanish IV students, we learn about the environment with the present subjunctive, and I have my students give recommendations and express their feelings and doubts about taking care of the environment (i.e., Yo recomiendo que tú recicles or Es triste que haya tanta contaminación del aire en la ciudad). This is a great way to incorporate a grammatical concept in context!
Here are some of my favorite environment and the subjunctive activities:
#1: Read authentic articles.
A quick online search will bring you countless news articles and blog posts in Spanish about environmental concerns and/or conservation. Find one that best fits with your unit and your students’ proficiency levels and write some comprehension questions/activities. (Not sure what activities to do with an authentic article? Check out this blog post for ideas!)
If you love the idea of reading an authentic article but don’t love the idea of finding the perfect one and writing your own questions, I’ve got you covered!
#2: Listen to TV clips or other audios that discuss the environment and conservation.
It is also super easy to find video and audio clips that pertain to the environment! An Internet search will pull up countless results. Find the one that best suits your needs and create some comprehension questions/activities. (Not sure what activities to do with audio clips? Check out this blog post for ideas!)
I totally get it if the idea of sorting through video and audio files seems daunting – there’s so much material out there! I’ve sifted through a lot of it and have come up with two sets of audio activities, each set featuring five different videos/audios featuring native Spanish-speakers discussing the environment! Grab them below – lesson plans = done!
#3: Create a proposal to make your school more environmentally-conscious.
Have your students examine ways in which your school protects (and doesn’t protect) the environment, and then write recommendations for ways in which the school can improve. If you wish, your students can also present their ideas to the class to add in a presentational speaking component!
If you like this idea, you can grab the project/presentation directions, rubric, and active listening sheet below!
#4: Participate in a simulated conversation speaking activity about environmental habits.
Simulated conversations are great for helping prepare students to use spoken Spanish in real-world scenarios outside of the classroom, and are also fantastic for preparing students for the AP Spanish Language and Culture exam. For this activity, have your students participate in a conversation in which they discuss their environmental habits and give recommendations to others to help them become more environmentally-conscious. I find that it is easiest to pre-record your part of the conversation and have all your students record their parts on their computers, iPads, or other devices. Check out this blog post for tips on websites, apps, and platforms you can use for this purpose!
Love this idea? Love it even more by getting a ready-to-use simulated conversation that includes audio files in .mp3 and .mp4 formats, student outline, teacher script, and grading rubric below!
#5: Play games!
My students LOVE to play games in class, and I’ll get that yours do, too! You can use electronic gaming platforms like Kahoot!, Blooket, or Gimkit, but sometimes I prefer low/no-tech gaming options too. You can make a board game to practice the vocabulary and grammar, make a Jeopardy-style trivia game, or create a scrambled sentences puzzle. All of these are interactive, hands-on options that will reinforce the concepts but will keep your students engaged and having fun!
Grab some games below and get ready for the fun to start!
Interested in teaching an environment/present subjunctive unit, but don’t have one (or don’t have many supplemental materials), check out my completed unit below! Get everything you need to teach, practice, and assess your students’ understanding of these topics! No need to reinvent the wheel when I have made everything for you!
I hope this was helpful and gave you some ideas that you can use in your classroom! Have a wonderful week, profe!
Señora Q 