Reflexive verbs in Spanish are fun to teach because they allow students to talk about themselves! When we provide students with more ways to talk about themselves, they can share more with us in the target language. I love learning more about my students and their daily routines during this unit!
Quick overview of the article:
- Introduce vocab with TPR
- Draw pictures
- Recall games (Quizlet live, Flyswatter)
- Reading
- Movie Talk
- Grammar
- Charades
- Video project
Introducing vocabulary with TPR
Because I want students to be able to talk about themselves right away, I introduce vocabulary for reflexive verbs in the first person, using TPR. Since 95% of the time they will say “me despierto” instead of “despertasme,” I want them to see the conjugation and hear me say the word over and over again. In this sense, I am turning the grammar into vocabulary. This makes it more comprehensible and provides more useful input. Acting it out also provides us with some giggles and is great for those kinesthetic learners!
We act out: me despierto, me levanto, me cepillo los dientes, me lavo las manos, me pongo la ropa, me quito los zapatos, me acuesto, me duermo.
Listen, then write
We act out these words before they ever see them, and then I pass out some pre-typed notes. Students have heard and acted out the reflexive verb phrases enough times that they are able to fill in the definitions quickly. Since I am always towing the line of teaching with CI and prepping my students for a more traditional high school program, I show them both the infinitive and two conjugated forms.
The following day I continue the daily routine unit with reflexive verbs in Spanish by talking about my own day. I share a presentation with students and have them write down the vocabulary as I provide input.
I use PQA as I move through the slides by sharing what time I wake up and then having various students share when they wake up. We do this with several slides. Input, input, input! Repetition, repetition, repetition!
For me, it is important to remember that students can only acquire and retain language in small chunks. So even though my textbook provides 18 reflexive verbs in Spanish, I don’t teach them all at once. We divide the list in half to make sure we are actually getting enough repetitions of each word.
So after the first day of notes, students work on a homework assignment that only focuses on a small number of reflexive verbs in Spanish.
The next day we will play flyswatter or plaza de toros (for a big class) and some Quizlet live. We are still only focused on the vocabulary of reflexive verbs in Spanish.
Spanish reflexive verbs in context
Reading
Next we move on to this reading activity using Spanish reflexive verbs in context.
I have used this story in several ways:
- Read the picture book to students and ask circling questions
- Read the story and have students act out what I say
- Ask students to watch the video of the picture book on their own
After students have read/heard the initial story, I pass out the reading and have them re-read and answer the comprehension questions.
Next students rewrite pieces of the story from Tarzan’s perspective. They are practicing using “me” instead of “se,” as it appears in the reading.
Movie talk with reflexive verbs in Spanish
Another great activity to teach about our daily routine is this movie talk from Mr. Bean.
This year, as I questioned and talked, we wrote down what was happening. I split my screen between the movie and a document. Each time we paused the video, I typed out what students told me and they copied it into their notebooks. This was a strategy to engage the non-auditory learners. It worked great! And when we finished, we had a piece of writing we could read to get yet another form of repetition!
At this point, I quiz my students on the vocabulary. I provide a word bank where each reflexive verb in Spanish is conjugated in the third person. They have been hearing me say “se despierta” all week, so this is what they should produce on a quiz.
Spanish Reflexive Verbs: The Grammar Part
I have taught my students gestures for every pronoun. So at this point, I gesture the first and third person over and over again until students can tell me “I wake up” “s/he wakes up.” Then I add in and gesture the other forms.
I pass out grammar notes and we talk about how to conjugate a reflexive verb from the infinitive. I have to show them this to prepare them for future teachers.
We play a lot of Kahoot and Blooket to drill the different forms of the reflexive verbs in Spanish.
Listening activities
Finally, we work on listening to other people talk about their daily routine in Spanish. I always do the first activity with students so I can prep them for how to do a listening assessment. After that, I usually assign one of these a night as homework.
These listening activities are also great when you need a day off from being in front of the class. Students use headphones and listen on their own devices.
Charades with Reflexive verbs
Once I have taught students the pronoun gestures, we use those to play charades! Students provide the pronoun gesture and the class knows to use the reflexive pronoun. I type the words on the board as they guess each piece. Here are some silly examples:
“¡Me miro en el espejo y pienso que soy guapo!”
“Se lava la cara pero tiene jabón en los ojos!”
Final project: Mi rutina diaria
This has always been a really memorable project for students. They film a video of their own daily routine in Spanish. I ask students to work in pairs or groups so they can also illustrate “se” and “nos.” Students love watching each other’s final projects!
If students don’t have access to technology for filming or are uncomfortable, I provide two other options as well. Students can either type a paragraph about their daily routine or create a picture book, comic strip, or slideshow illustrating their understanding.
