Building Community during the first few days of Spanish 2 & 3

One of my biggest priorities during the first week of school is building a strong classroom community. Before we dive into content, I want to know my students, help them learn about one another, and create a classroom where everyone feels comfortable participating.

By the end of the first week, my goals are to:

• Know every student's name.

• Learn a few personal details about each student.

• Help students build connections with their classmates.

  
  

Because my Spanish 2 and 3 classes typically include students in grades 9–12, many students do not know one another. I intentionally structure the first few days so students work with different classmates each day.

Some of these activities require more preparation than my typical lessons, but the investment pays off. By Day 4, I usually know every student's name and have learned something about each of them. That foundation makes a tremendous difference for classroom culture, student engagement, behavior management, and language learning throughout the year.

Before School Starts

The week before school begins, I start learning students' names by studying their photos in our gradebook system.

I also prepare large, brightly colored notecards. At the top of each card, I write a student's name. These cards become an essential tool during the first five days. I use several different colors of notecards. The colors make it easy to create random seating arrangements each day so students interact with as many classmates as possible.

Here is a link for several of the resources I use during the first few days.

Links - Google forced copy for the first 5 days of class .pdf

Download PDF • 93KB

Day 1

Before class

• Place the colored name cards on desks, grouping students by similar card colors.

In class

• I Introduce myself with a Google Slides presentation in Spanish that includes pictures.

• I review required school emergency procedures.

• I have students complete the front of their notecard with information about their family, two things they like, and any questions they have for you. ***Be sure to collect the notecards.

• We play a name game to begin learning everyone's names.

Day 2

Before class

• I arrange randomly the name cards on desks so each group contains four different colors. This ensures students have new partners and groups.

• I prepare a Mentira slide featuring five students from the class. Include four true statements and one false statement.

Tip: Make sure every student's name appears at least once during the first week. I place a small dot on each student's notecard after they have been featured so I can easily keep track.

In class

• I begin with the Mentira warm-up. We read the statements together and vote on which one is false. This is a fun way to learn classmates' names and interests.

• I answer any questions students wrote on their notecards the day before.

• I distribute the Lo que me gusta más sheet. I give students 5–6 minutes to choose their favorite item in each category and record their responses on the back of their notecard.

• Review the phrase Me gusta más... and have the students share their names and favorites in each category in groups of 4.

• After everyone shares, students record one thing they have in common with each of their three group members on their notecards. *** Collect their notecards.

• We review the course syllabus.

• We play another name game.

• And if there is time I take a volunteer and end class with a  "Student of the day interview."

Day 3

Before class

• I create another random mixed-color seating arrangement with the notecards.

• I prepare a new Mentira slide featuring five different students.

  
  

In class

• We review and complete the Mentira warm-up.

• I give students 3–4 minutes to complete the final two sections on the back of their notecard. I display a slide with past-tense sentence starters to support their writing.

• Students share their responses on their notecards in Spanish with their small groups by where they are sitting.

• I have the students complete their posters about themselves. They first fill in the paragraph with their own information. They also create a simple illustration or digital image of themselves doing one of their favorite activities using an AI image maker - at my school they can use canva AI or Magicschool AI. ***Make sure you know which AI your students have access to at your school before class. 

Day 4

Before class

• Prepare another Mentira slide.

• Print students' completed "About Me" posters in color.

• Display the posters in the hallway, organized by class.

• Create and copy a gallery walk worksheet. I have the students work in pairs so you would need one copy for every 2 students.

Tip: Be sure every student's name appears at least once on the gallery walk questions.

• Arrange desks again using the colored notecards in a random order so students have new partners.

  
  

In class

• We complete the Mentira warm-up.

• I have students share three facts about themselves in Spanish with their new shoulder partner using the information on their notecards. *Collect their notecards.

• Students complete the gallery walk. Partners work together in pairs to answer questions by reading classmates' posters displayed in the hallway.

• We finish with two "Student of the day Interviews," followed by write and discuss activity.

Days 5 and Beyond

I continue using the Mentira warm-up everyday until every student has been featured at least once.

After that, we begin our first instructional unit, but I usually include two or three additional community-building games over the next couple of days depending on how well the students seem to know one another.

Some favorites include:

Kahoot: Who Is It?

Using information from students' posters, I create a Kahoot with two possible answers for each question. I try to make it easy because the purpose is learning names and information about each other.

Examples:

• ¿Quién tiene los ojos azules? - Sarah or Bethany

• ¿A quién le gusta jugar al béisbol? - Jack or Brian

Students choose between the two classmates shown.

True or False - white board game

Students work with a partner and a small whiteboard. I read about 20 statements in Spanish based on students' posters or notecards, and pairs the students write whether each statement is true or false.

You can prepare the statements ahead of time or create them spontaneously from the notecards or posters. I usually have about 20-25 questions.

Pop-Up

I also enjoy playing Pop-Up using short statements about students in the class. If you're unfamiliar with the game, Señora Chase has an excellent explanation on her blog. Again you can type up statements ahead of time or just create them during class with the notecards or posters. For this game at the beginning of the year short sentences are better. 

While these first few days require more than normal daily prep, they establish the relationships and classroom culture that support successful language learning all year long. The stronger our community is at the beginning of the year, the easier it becomes to build trust, encourage communication, and create a classroom where students are willing to take risks with the language.