Have you heard about Picture Talk activities for Spanish class? (No? Check out this post for step by step directions for how to implement this awesome activity in your Spanish class tomorrow.) Maybe you’ve tried a Picture Talk and you’re ready for more. I’m ready to let you in on my little secret for getting the most out of Picture Talk activities. Let’s make them cross cultural! Read on to find out my best tips for infusing Picture Talk with culture.
Step One: Pick an Awesome Painting / Artwork
Chose an authentic piece of artwork. It should relate to what you’re discussing in class (family, hobbies, celebrations, etc). Pick your favorite painter or photographer…and even better…. someone from a Spanish speaking country. I love this last option because I can talk to the students about the country and give them some backstory. In Spanish 1 I do this in English. In my upper level classes, I speak in Spanish.
- Some of my favorite Spanish speaking painters: Picasso, Dali, Sorolla, Carmen Lomas Garza, Kahlo
- Some of my favorite painters: Monet, Seurat
- Check out my Picture Talk example here
Step Two: Create your Questions
Brainstorm some simple questions you can ask your class about the painting. They can be more open ended like “¿Qué tiempo hace?” or if they need more support, make it binary like “¿Hace frío o calor?” Try to come up with about 10 questions.
Step Four: Comprehension Check
Take a few minutes to see what they understood by converting those same questions you brainstormed into true/false questions in English or Spanish depending on their level. For example: “Cierto o falso: Hace frío.” Project the questions on the overhead and students can work in partners or individually to answer them on paper or out loud. Or create a quick Google Form for them to fill out digitally.
Step Five: Find Out What They Know
Now is the student’s turn to shine and show what they learned from the Picture Talk. There are tons of options:
- Write & Discuss whole class activity
- Preguntas personales (Example- ¿Prefieres cuando hace frío o calor?)
- Write a short story or paragraph describing the painting.
Including authentic artwork is an easy way to infuse your Picture Talk activities with culture. Get your Spanish students using their vocabulary in a real way while learning about Spanish speakers and their countries. Love this idea? Make sure you’re on my newsletter list to stay up to date with the latest teaching tips and tricks.
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