Where did you go? Fun Back to School Activity for World Language Classes

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT I ALWAYS ENJOY A NEW BACK TO SCHOOL ACTIVITY for my elementary Spanish classes....even though I have a whole host of ones I've done and loved, I am always on the search for something different, especially as I like to differentiate what I do at each level so I don't hear "we did this last year, Señora" (gotta keep it fresh, my friends!). This past year, after every vacation we did a poll to find out where everyone went during the time off. I framed it as a simple question "¿Adónde fuiste durante las vacaciones?" and gave the sentence starter "Yo fui a ____" as a prompt along with some possibilities (locations such as the name of various states, towns, stores & restaurants, as well as My grandma's house, My friend's house, etc). It was a great way to re-enter school after vacation, and allowed us to expand on the conversation via follow up questions and reactions in the target language.

TO BUILD ON THIS IDEA, having students write a postcard telling where they went is a natural next step! Whether it is as simple as one sentence for younger students, or several lines for middle or high school, telling about your vacation is an authentic way to communicate, and is very relevant- AS LONG AS THE INFORMATION IS SHARED. Having students tell about their vacation only to have the information turned in makes little sense and doesn't give meaning to the activity.

AN EASY WAY TO SHARE WRITING for younger students is to have them read their postcard aloud to the class while you record the answers on the board. As repeats come up, you can put tally marks next to the answer. Once all postcards have been read, debrief, counting up as a class how many people went where, asking follow up questions such as asking other classmates whether they, too, had gone to destinations named during the activity, whether they liked it, etc.

FOR OLDER STUDENTS, have them come to the center of the room and form two circles, one inner and one outer, forming pairs. Provide the supportive language "I also went to ___" and "I didn't go to ____". The activity starts by one partner reading their postcard to the other- the second student has to respond with one of the above. If they both went to the same place, they can raise their hands and you can mark a point on the board. (See more about this in a moment!). They then switch and the second partner reads his/her postcard and first student responds. Again, if they both went to the same place, they raise their hand and a point is awarded. Monitor the conversation, ring a bell or other sound to have the inner circle move over one space to a new partner, and start again. Keep going in this fashion until students have gotten all the way around the circle. Tally up the points and have a competition between classes in the same grade level- winners get a 5 minute dance party or other fun activity!

A NOTE ON DESTINATIONS: Knowing that I have many students who do not leave town or our state, I make sure to provide scaffolding that includes places like Walmart, the local grocery store, the local country fair, etc. The emphasis shouldn't be on 'traveling far afield' but rather heading out somewhere :) 

AND WHY NOT SEND YOUR STUDENTS HOME for summer vacation with a postcard in hand? Whether you encourage them to send it to you over the summer (use your school address!) or to be brought to class at the beginning of the next school year, (or whether they send it to someone else!), giving them a postcard encouraging them to use their foreign language skills over the summer is never a bad thing :)

NEED POSTCARD TEMPLATES TO INCORPORATE THIS IDEA IN CLASS? We've got them in both Spanish and French!