Reading and Listening Activities for Spanish Class
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Check out these three activities for ways to incorporate reading and listening skills in your middle school and high school Spanish class! Individual, partner, and small group activities that you can use with any reading!
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Reading and Listening Activities for Spanish Class
Links and Resources
- Word Clouds
- El Ratón Pablito
- Spanish Cuentos – Instagram
- Martina Bex – Comprehensible Classroom
- Partner Matamoscas
- Cognates game board example
- Cognates unit
- Video from La Maestra Loca
- Maris Hawkins (blog, Twitter)
- Reverse Running Dictation
Word Clouds as Reading and Listening Activities for Spanish Class
Set up: You need a story and a word cloud generated from the story
Play: Read the story or play a recording for students. As they listen, they mark the words they hear in the cloud.
Follow up: Use their highlighted words to create an original story or give them a printout of the reading and have them code the words they heard! Read more about Reading and Listening Activities for Spanish Class here!
Partner Matamoscas:
Set up: Create the game board – either have students draw a story board, use another word cloud generator, or create one yourself on Google Slides!
Play: Split students up into pairs or small groups. Read chunks from the story, or call out words in the L1 or L2 (depending on your game board). Students race to be the first to touch the corresponding word, phrase, or picture on the game board. Read more here!
Reverse Running Dictation
Set up: Get at least 10 pictures that go with the story (perfect if using a movie talk or Señor Wooly!) and label them A, B, C, etc. Make sure you write sentences that go along with them. Split the sentences in half – for use with Student A and Student B!
Play: Students split into pairs. Student A picks up the sheet for Student A & reads one sentence out loud to Student B. Student B goes and looks at the pictures, then returns to Student A & tells them which picture matches. Complete all sentences, then Student A hands in their sheet and Student B picks up a Student B sheet. Their roles reverse and they continue until the activity is complete. Read more here!
Turn Up the Curiosity with a Secret Audio Challenge
One way to boost listening skills and curiosity is with a mystery audio activity. Record a short paragraph or dialogue in Spanish, but do not give your students the context just yet. Their job is to listen and figure out who is talking, where they are, and what is going on.
This works great as a warm up or as a transition into a new unit. After they listen once, ask them to jot down clues they heard. Then play it again and let them discuss with a partner or group. Finally, have them write a short summary or guess the title of the scene based on what they heard.
You can keep this activity simple with your own voice or use snippets from authentic sources, like podcasts or short videos. Either way, it encourages focused listening and helps students become better at picking out details and meaning in context.
Use Student Created Readings for Listening Practice
Why not turn your students into content creators? After reading a short story or doing a class reading together, let students work in small groups to rewrite part of the story in their own words. Then, they record themselves reading it aloud.
You can play these recordings in class as part of a listening rotation or gallery walk. Classmates listen to each other’s versions, follow along with a printed transcript, and answer a few comprehension questions.
This keeps students accountable, helps with pronunciation and fluency, and lets you sneak in some speaking and writing practice too. The best part? They are way more invested when they are the ones behind the content.
These Reading and Listening Activities for Spanish Class are easy to adapt and fun to teach. Try one out this week and see how quickly your students get engaged and tuned in.
