I spend a really long time teaching Spanish subject pronouns to my students because I believe it’s critical for them to understand this before we begin using any verbs.
We start off by making sure they know what pronouns are in English and I show them this School House Rock video. It’s old, but they still really like it.
Then we do one of their favorite activities all year: Spanish Pronoun TPR. Here’s a video demo.
These TPR gestures are so effective that students remember them for years to come! I often use the gestures when talking to students to reinforce who we are talking about. I also see students using them when they are trying to recall something. There is something magical about the mind-body connection that really makes this idea stick for them! We have made the grammar into vocabulary!
After we take some notes and do some written practice, I post a sign around the room for each Spanish pronoun (except Yo/I) and give each student a notecard with a subject on it.
I give them 10 seconds to go stand under the sign that they think describes their card. Then I give them another 10 seconds to check with the other people in their group and move if necessary. Each student holds up their card and we go around and check our work. Finally, I have them do a multi-trade and repeat the activity with a new card. From within their clumps, they find a partner and trade in their cards for a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Each board is within a plastic sheet so they can write on top of it with a dry-erase marker.
