Teaching Supplies {for World Language Teachers}

As a language teacher there are certain supplies that I come back to again and again.  Here's a list of the top ten supplies I use in teaching...

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1. Dice are useful in playing games and creating sentences in the target language. Read more about using dice to teach a language here. 

2. I recently invested in a classroom calendar which I find helpful for young kids. Reviewing dates, days of the week, weather, and seasons on a regular basis helps solidify the vocabulary. What I love about doing a calendar at the beginning of a lesson is that it only takes a few minutes, yet if you are consistent students really learn the information.

3. File folders are great for making games like this game to tell the difference between the preterite and the imperfect or this one for the days of the week. Library Card Pockets are also useful when making file folder games.

4. Speaking of games, there are some pre-made ones that work well in a language classroom like Spot It! Alphabet, Spot It Animals, and Guess Who.

5. Stickers are also great for listening activities. These monster stickers are great for reviewing body parts. Penguins stickers are great for reviewing prepositions {See this post.}

6.Color bean bags can be used to not only review colors, but also to work with prepositions. For example, you can give commands like "Put red next to blue." or "Put the yellow one under the black." I also use the bean bags with other items like plastic food or plastic animals so that I can review colors, prepositions, foods, or animals as the need arises.

7. An atlas in the target language is also invaluable to have. So many times students (elementary through high school) don't know where countries or landmarks are located. When you are teaching history or culture it is great to have an atlas in the language you are working with.  Here are some atlases in Spanish:
Atlas del Mundo
Mi Primer Atlas

8. Sharpie Permanent Markers can be used by students (especially high schoolers) to take notes. I like to have my students put verb endings in a different color to highlight that the endings are what need to be memorized.  See this example:

Hablar

hablo

hablas

habla

hablamos

hablan

Or to emphasize a stem change in verbs:

Pensar

pienso

piensas

piensa

pensamos

piensan

9. Having a laminator can help preserve any items that you create for your lessons or classroom. Even if you have access to a laminator at your school, it can be helpful to have a small one at home. This laminator works really well and is compact and not very expensive. I love mine!

10. Literature or reading material can play a big part in your teaching. Check out this post on literature for high school students and this post on children's books in Spanish.

So what are your favorite supplies when you teach? I would love to hear what you use!