Spanish Prepositions of Location Puzzle Activity
I created six puzzles to practice Spanish prepositions of location with my novice Spanish students. I love a puzzle and so do my students. There is something intrinsically motivating about solving a puzzle. I thought this activity would go well and boy was I wrong. It went GREAT! Here’s why.
Pre-teach the Activity
This was a key part of the success. I gave each student a puzzle grid and instructions with Spanish prepositions of location and estar. Students completed these preposition puzzles individually. Doing an individual round gave them practice with the Spanish prepositions and it also helped them understand what the activity was so when they did it with a partner, they wouldn’t be confused.
Partner Time
I teach on an A/B day schedule so Tuesday students did the individual puzzle and Thursday I told them they’d do the same Spanish preposition of place puzzle activity as Tuesday but this time a different puzzle and with a partner. I gave each student a puzzle just like last time. They cut the instructions off and gave those to their partner who read the instructions as they listened and drew.
The Benefits
- Engagement Galore! I was honestly surprised at how engaged they were for the entire activity! This is a group that has struggled to stay on task and they were very engaged in this activity. Who knew Spanish prepositions of place were exciting?!
- Double the Practice! I figured students reading the instructions would just read them and then zone out but it turns out they were working to understand the instructions just as much as the student who was listening/drawing! This was the most shocking part to me!
- Team work! Students actually high fived each other.
- Speaking Practice/Exposure to Sentence Structure. These are very novice students in their first language class ever as 9th graders. This activity gave them a lot of structured practice speaking Spanish and tons of exposure to how sentences are formed.
- Pronunciation Practice. As I walked around I was able to listen and make some corrections to pronunciation. “Reloj” is “ray-low” not “ray-lowjah”. I could make corrections 1:1 and not make a student feel embarrassed.
- Right level of Challenge. These puzzles seem simple but to a novice they are a challenge. A challenge but not impossible. I like to envision them standing on their tip-toes. The goal is within reach but they have to work and stretch a little.
One Activity – Lots of Mileage
Because there are six of these Spanish preposition of place puzzles, I used two for the individual work, 2 for partner work, and have 2 left for time filler or review before an exam. I’ll be gone next class so may use it for a sub plan since students know the procedure. I may make it a race! Another extension is to have students draw their own puzzle and write their own instructions. This one activity can be used so many ways!
I put so much time in to making these and I’m so happy with how they turned out! If you want to save yourself time and energy, and have a no-prep activity ready to go that you can get tons of mileage out of, click below!
Spanish Prepositions of Place Puzzles Drawing Edition
Spanish Prepositions of Place Puzzles Card Edition
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