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Anytime you can get students to practice grammar in a different way especially in game form more learning happens than just straight drill. The concept of when you use the preterite and the imperfect in Spanish can be a hard one for students. One of the best ways is just to practice deciding which tense works in different types of sentences.
I have a simple game using Mini File Folders
and cards cut from cardstock (two inches by about one and a half inches) that I use with my more advanced students to work on the concept of the two past tenses. Each student needs a mini folder (these can also be made with big folders, but I like the compactness of storing this game with the mini size). In each folder you have a side for the preterite and for the imperfect. You need to draw an outline of about the size of the cards you will be using. Each side needs five outlines (see the above picture). The goal is to have a spot for each person/verb form in the preterite and the imperfect. So for example on the left hand side you would have in the preterite these spots:
and cards cut from cardstock (two inches by about one and a half inches) that I use with my more advanced students to work on the concept of the two past tenses. Each student needs a mini folder (these can also be made with big folders, but I like the compactness of storing this game with the mini size). In each folder you have a side for the preterite and for the imperfect. You need to draw an outline of about the size of the cards you will be using. Each side needs five outlines (see the above picture). The goal is to have a spot for each person/verb form in the preterite and the imperfect. So for example on the left hand side you would have in the preterite these spots:
Yo
Tú
Él, Ella, Ud.
Nosotros
Ellos, Ellas, Uds.
Then you need the same on the right hand side for the imperfect. You then need to create cards with the verb not conjugated that would either take the preterite or the imperfect. Here are some examples:
Nosotros____________(ver) un accidente.
Todos los lunes Carla______________(ir) al cine.
Yo estudiaba cuando ella____________(llamar).
Ayer Lisa y Carmen no_____________(hacer) la tarea.
Create enough cards in the pile so that each student could fill his/her file with an example of each (basically so they could cover all their spaces), but then create some extra cards.
Here's how you play:
Students take turns picking up a card and deciding what tense to use. They then say their sentence outloud conjugating the verb correctly. They place the card on the correct tense and person in the file folder. If a student picks up a card for a space they already have covered it is like missing a turn, and they place the card at the bottom of the file. The object of the game is to fill your folder first by covering all the spaces.
This game can be used with other concepts in the language like ser vs. estar.
-My students LOVE Froggy books. In this one Froggy has misplaced several items and has to find them before heading out on a bike ride with his dad. The main prepositions used are debajo, dentro, and en.
-A great classic, Caps for Sale, that uses prepositions.
-Another book with lots of prepositions. It comes in "big book" form or as a board book.
and a plastic cup. I put him in relation to the cup and then tell them the preposition that is being displayed. For example, I put him close to the cup and say "cerca de" or I put him under the cup and say "debajo de". All my students know that when they see Blobby Robby we are going to review prepositions.
. I then give the students instructions like "Tomen el monstruo con dos cabezas y ponganlo debajo de la cama." The students then have to take the correct monster and place him in the house correctly. Even the high school students I work with LOVE this activity!
. This looks like so much fun! While the set is made to work with students that speak English there is no reason why it can't be used with another language. You as the teacher can give instructions on how to position the objects or you can do the extra work of creating cards in the target language like the set has.
and give instructions to my students on where to place them in the room. Depending on which TOOB you use you can review the words for those items also. You can also hide the animals beforehand and then give instructions in Spanish for the students to find them.
, which presents several emotions in a great format! The book has a rhyme for each of the emotions covered. Each rhyme describes a situation that elicits an emotional response. I love the artwork in this book as the colors and scenes really portray the emotions that are being talked about. Even when my students don't know the Spanish word many times they can guess the feeling by looking at the illustrations.
is a cute book about a boy who loves eating books and becomes smarter with each book he consumes. The story line promotes reading and is great for delving into different categories of Spanish vocabulary and exploring some grammar points.
- This book is out of print, but I LOVE the humor in it and the fact that students can practice counting down from ten to one.
- I have written about 
-A trip around the world using numbers.
-I have used this book for over a decade to review numbers and colors.
- Counting by 2's
- Counting by 5's
- Counting by 10's
- A great activity book for reviewing numbers up to 12, colors, and shapes. It even gets into groupings (like "seis grupos de dos").
{Longer book...for students with more Spanish background}
{Not about pumpkins, but everything to do with fall}
. This cute, (if pirates can be cute) little book goes through information on pirates like what they ate, wore, and fought using short sentences in Spanish. Pirate vocabulary is introduced throughout like sword, hook, sails, and flag.
figurines so that we can do some hands-on activities with prepostions by giving them commands like "Pon el tesoro debajo del arbol." They can also give commands to a fellow student once they feel confident to do so.
