I discovered the story, “Miguel tiene que estudiar” (available on TPT) last year with my Spanish 1 students. They absolutely loved it. The raved about it for ever! As I read each slide to them, each fragment of the story was met with visceral reactions as this the main character prioritizes playing games over learning. Then, he disrespected his teacher, which garnered stares (some high-fives) because they know they could not talk like that to me! The story is cute, compelling and comprehensible, but most important it is relatable: a kid who does not like to study but rather play games. What a concept!
Click here for more resources by Spanish Plans!
For context, I have Spanish I class three classes a week for 48 minutes (Spanish IV on the other days).
This year, since we have been online, I decided to reinstitute the story. I worried about reading it online because with the mute function, I would hear the spectrum of their reaction. But as always, I had a plan for that too! I ended up making this story into the week’s lesson, here is how I used it and it went beautifully. This resource was easily adapted to the online platform. Here is what I approached it:
This was a fun activity! You can get this story on Teacherspayteachers.com. It is by Spanishplans.
Other stories on the topic of school
- Picture talk- this is a CI staple in the classroom and is just as versatile online.
- For every mini-activity (such as picture talk), I assign questions. I normally single out 3-5 students (beforehand). I let them know that they are going to respond to the following questions about the picture projected on the screen:
- ¿Cómo se llama el estudiante?
- ¿Dónde está?
- ¿Qué tiene que hacer el estudiante?
- ¿Cuál es el conflicto?
- ¿Qué juego le gusta jugar?
- ¿Qué juego te gusta jugar?
- ¿Lo juegas todos los días?
- ¿Qué es más importante, jugar o estudiar?
- ¿Cuántas horas al día se debe jugar los videojuegos?
- I read the first 4 slides of the story and asked students questions. They then had to read the rest of the story and respond to these comprehension questions first. The next day, we did the Conversation Circle. I wanted them to understand the story and feel confident in responding, which is why I gave them the comprehension questions first.
- The next class, we had conversation circle: I asked students these questions for the Conversation Circle. It went pretty smooth.
- Comparison: Miguel y yo (this activity was the last question on the comprehension questions). Students compared themselves with Miguel. No surprise here, they all prefer playing video games to studying!
I love using resources from Spanish Plans. You can check out their store of compelling imput here! Spanishplans.org or Spanish Plans Resources on TPT
Other short stories exploring school topics can found below:
¿Quién es la chica nueva en la escuela (dialogue with pictures)?
Novels & Resources by A.C. Quintero 
This blog post is fantastic! I have a question regarding reading the slides online. How does that work with copyright laws?
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This product was purchased on TPT and the owner allows you to use it in class.
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