Are you looking for ways to spend less time lesson planning? Even when you have no textbook or resources, there is a way to shortcut your activity creation without short-changing your students! The trick is in creating something you can use in more than one way!
Tell Me How To Spend Less Time Lesson Planning!
I’m not sure why I spent so long believing that every single activity had to be a new and different thing that I created! It’s not necessary! Instead, create one high quality “thing” for your students, and then adapt it so that you can use it in a variety of ways.
This can be something they read, something they answer questions about, something they listen to, something they adapt or change based on your original, etc. Keep reading for some specific examples.
I Need a Specific Example of How To Spend Less Time Planning
I’m a concrete kind of person. Let me give you an example of something I made recently for my students and repurposed to help me spend less time lesson planning. Here is a story I wrote about 2 natural disasters. (That’s the theme of our unit.)
Activity 1: I blanked out the new vocab words and turned it into a game (Dame el lápiz). The students compete against each other to fill in the vocab words but at the end… oh! We need to answer the questions about the story?!? Yes! This gives them practice with new vocab and a chance to read it in context! They LOVE this game!
Activity 2: I use this story and check for understanding with a listening activity. I quickly created 10 True/False statements that I read to them. They write T/F, and if I want, I can collect it as an exit ticket, or have them correct it themselves.
Activity 3: A few days later, this story re-appears. Same story, but now the verbs are blanked out. They have a copy of the entire story with the present tense verbs underlined. In the blanked out version, they are asked to change the story to the past tense. I make this into a group competition game to add some fun for them!
This is how I use one activity in a variety of ways, usually separated by other things during a week, to spend less time lesson planning!
I Need Another Example
For those that need another example to get their creative juices flowing, here’s another activity I created that lasts me several class periods! It can really help you to spend less time lesson planning in the end! Here’s a writing activity we did earlier in the year. I created a set of writing papers which each contained a picture of a different student. I broke students into groups and gave each group 3 o4 4 students. Their job was to write about the students and what their interests were. (Our unit was about teens today.)
Activity 1: Create with language- students worked together to develop personalities for these students in writing.
Activity 2: Peer Edit: Students exchanged papers with another group. They used my provided guide to edit their work. Students took back their original work and discussed the suggestions given by their peers to improve their work.
Activity 3: Read the Room: I hung up the writing sheets around the room. Before I did that, I created statements like: “This person has a dog named Strawberry.” Students were able to get out of their chairs, read the descriptions for details and find the answers to all of the questions! This reinforced their new vocab and showcased the creative work of all of their classmates!
Activity 4: I didn’t do this, but now my creative juices are flowing too, and I can think of so many ways to continue using this! What if we asked them to make a case for which 2 people would make a good couple, or would be most likely to be siblings? What if they needed to practice comparisons and they wrote statements about the people comparing their talents, interests, etc.? Who are they most similar to or different from? With very little work on the teacher’s part, you have so many activities from the one original that can help you spend less time lesson planning!
Resources
Here are some of the lessons I use every year with my students that have more than one part, which allows me to extend the original activity for days and spend less time lesson planning during my unit! They’re on sale!
On my website:
Spanish Emergency, Disaster or Accident 911 Call Activity
Spanish Write the Room Activity Teen Life Theme (pictured above)
On TPT:
Vacaciones en España Culture Presentation with Linked Activities Past Tense
Spanish Write, Speak and Listen Activity: Any Level!
Other Posts You May Like
How To Make the Most of Your Planning Time
