I attended the NECTFL25 conference and was lucky to see Christina Margiore‘s presentation, “Keep the Conversation Going with Chat Mats.” It made me aware of all the benefits of bringing them into the classroom. I feel that Chat Mats have been an underrated teaching tool! After attending her session, I’m inspired to incorporate them more into my class. These simple yet powerful resources help create a low-stress environment where students feel more confident using the target language. Whether you teach elementary or older students, Chat Mats can be a game-changer for encouraging communication and keeping conversations flowing.
What Are Chat Mats?
Chat Mats are visual supports that provide students with key phrases, sentence starters, and vocabulary related to a specific topic or conversation structure. They can be laminated sheets, paper printouts, or even digital versions for interactive activities. The goal is to give students a scaffolded way to engage in meaningful conversations without feeling overwhelmed.
Why Use Chat Mats?
Chat Mats help reduce anxiety by giving students a safety net when speaking in the target language, making them feel more comfortable and less afraid of making mistakes. They also encourage authentic conversations by allowing students to mix and match sentence stems rather than relying on memorized dialogues. Additionally, they provide structured support, especially for younger learners who benefit from visuals and key phrases to help them communicate their thoughts. Best of all, Chat Mats are highly adaptable—you can use them for different themes, grammar structures, or cultural discussions, making them a versatile tool for any language class.
How to Use Chat Mats in Class
Here are a few easy ways to incorporate them into your lessons:
Partner Conversations – Give each student a Chat Mat and have them take turns asking and answering questions.
Role-Playing Activities – Assign students different roles and scenarios, using the Chat Mats as a guide.
Exit Tickets – Before leaving class, students can use their Chat Mats to share something they learned or a sentence they created.
Small-Group Discussions – Use Chat Mats to guide students through a structured discussion related to your lesson’s theme.
Storytelling – Have students use their Chat Mats to describe characters, settings, or events in a story.
Weekend Chat Mat
Ready to give it a try? Download this weekend Chat Mat to start using it with your elementary or novice level students right away!
Chat Mats are one of those tools that help students feel successful while making your job easier. They support language production, build confidence, and keep students engaged in conversation. If you haven’t tried using them yet, give them a go and see how well they work!
Using a magic box works with any grade level. It’s a wonderful way to deliver comprehensible input while keeping students curious and engaged. This tool helps reinforce vocabulary and encourages speaking in a fun way. I like using a song to build anticipation before introducing the magic box. You can find the song in this post.
Here are eight creative ways to incorporate it into your lessons:
1. Introduce Vocabulary
Fill your magic box with objects related to your lesson theme, like animals, food, or seasonal items. Pull out each object and describe it in the target language:
“¡Mira! Hay una manzana roja.”
“Es un oso pequeño. ¿Te gusta?”
Encourage students to repeat phrases or respond with simple sentences.
2. Play a Guessing Game
Place an item in the magic box and give students clues in the target language:
“Es un animal. Es grande. Es de color blanco y negro. Dice “Muuu”. ¿Qué animal es?
Take a few guesses before revealing the answer!
3. Storytelling with Props
Turn the magic box into a storytelling tool. Start with: “Había una caja mágica…” Reveal items one by one to build a story. For example, a wand, a frog, or a hat can inspire creative narratives. If students have enough vocabulary, they can add their own ideas in the target language to expand the story.
4. Create a Daily Mystery Box Routine
Make the magic box part of your daily or weekly lessons. Reveal one item each day and connect it to your theme:
“Hoy en la caja mágica hay una estrella. ¿Qué más tiene estrellas?”
5. Categorization Activities
Sort objects from the magic box into categories like colors, sizes, or emotions:
“¿Es grande o pequeño? ¡Es pequeño!”
“¿Es feliz o triste? ¡Es feliz!”
6. Interactive Commands
Add movement by incorporating actions:
“En la caja mágica hay un sombrero. ¡Ponte el sombrero!”
“Hay una pelota. ¡Tira la pelota!”
7. Hidden Questions
Include question cards or mini tasks in the box. For example:
“¿Cómo te llamas?”
“Salta tres veces.”
Students take turns pulling cards and responding.
8. Themed Explorations
Match box contents to specific themes:
Seasons: Leaves, mittens, or snowflakes for winter.
Animals: Plush toys or pictures.
Holidays: Small symbols of cultural celebrations.
The magic box is a simple yet effective tool for bringing excitement, curiosity, and meaningful input to your lessons. Whether you’re introducing new vocabulary, building stories, or creating themed lessons, this activity keeps students engaged and participating in the target language. Try it in your classroom and watch the magic happen!
Let me start with my own story! ONCE UPON A TIME… I used to be a teacher who relied heavily on vocabulary lists and checklists of what my students needed to memorize. For example, my third graders were required to name five fruits, five animals, school supplies, and places in the community, among other things. All these vocabulary words were disconnected and lacked context. I also expected my students to remember these words indefinitely and use them the following year. This often left me feeling frustrated, and I blamed my students for not retaining words they had only heard during the fruit unit.
Everything changed when I started teaching with stories. I began to focus on high-frequency and useful phrases and language. Instead of just concentrating on the five-word fruit unit, I told stories where students not only learned the names of the fruits but also how to express likes and dislikes while following a plot in the target language. These stories were simple, engaging, and provided the necessary repetition for my students to acquire the language, not just learn it.
As a teacher, I felt my teaching toolkit was rejuvenated. I discovered different ways to bring stories to life for my students—through pictures, short clips, picture books, co-creating stories, songs, or short stories I created for them. I didn’t switch to teaching with stories overnight. I started gradually, and with practice, I became more confident in integrating more stories into the various grades I teach. Now, I can proudly say that my curriculum is 90% story-based.
I remember that the first story I told my students was the picture book Froggy Gets Dressed (Froggy se viste). I first read the story and then retold it using props. The story was so repetitive that by the end, they were repeating it with me. From there, I started incorporating more and more stories, and now I have a full repertoire.
The best part of teaching with stories is that it gives you the flexibility and creativity to make language acquisition an enjoyable process for your students. Your students are more likely to acquire the language when they experience it in context, which makes all the difference. Bringing stories to your students can also broaden their horizons and allow them to learn about themselves and others because through stories, you can also bring culture and teach life lessons. Stories naturally incorporate varied vocabulary and grammar, providing a meaningful context for language use.
Are you ready to start using stories in your classroom? Remember to start little by little, ensure that you feel connected to the story, and practice before bringing it to class! And remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect; with practice, you’ll become more confident and proficient at telling stories!
A short story can be used in more than one class! There are many activities you can engage in after telling or reading a short story. Here are ideas some that will help you maximize short stories:
Start by Introducing the Characters of the Story: If possible, print the characters and discuss details such as sizes, colors, ages, and so on. Create gestures for each character and use TPR to introduce them if the characters are animals.
Tell the Story: There are various ways to narrate a story. You can draw the story, use props, or read it aloud.
Retell the Story: Utilize pictures from the story to recount it, and pose questions about it. Depending on your students’ proficiency levels, you can ask yes-or-no questions like “¿Hay un cerdo? ¿Sí o no?”, make statements where students complete your sentences, such as “El muñeco de nieve está ______.” or ask open-ended questions like “¿Por qué está triste el muñeco de nieve?”
Play Games That Connect to The Story: Incorporate guessing games, memory games, and more! For instance, in the case of this story, students can find under which number there is a nose for “el muñeco de nieve.”
And Don’t Forget to Play Matamoscas: “Matamoscas,” or “flyswatter” in English, is an easy game to play. Divide the class into two teams and give each team a flyswatter. Display words or pictures related to the story on a board. Speak a word or describe a picture in Spanish, and players must quickly find and hit it with their flyswatter.
Act it Out: Print out props and take turns allowing your students to act out the story. This is a fun and engaging way to provide repetition. With elementary students, it works best if the teacher narrates the story.
Use Mini-Books: Have your students color the mini-books and share them with their families and/or caregivers, or simply keep the story to read it.
Storyboards: Storyboards are excellent for helping students understand the main ideas of the story. They not only reinforce vocabulary but also check comprehension.
What other activities would you add or use when incorporating short stories into your classes?
Have you ever wondered why your students seem to struggle with retaining the vocabulary you teach them? Or why they sometimes lack interest and motivation when learning new words in your classes? You’re not alone in this struggle. In the exciting world language teaching, making vocabulary come to life can be both an intriguing and achievable challenge. This webinar was hosted and made possible by Klett World Languages. My colleague and friend, Valentina Correa, and I share some tips that have helped us support our students in their language acquisition journey.
In this webinar, we offer practical tools and creative approaches to make vocabulary an integral and exciting part of the language acquisition process. Effective vocabulary teaching goes beyond the simple memorization of words; it’s about arousing curiosity, presenting content that your students can connect with, and promoting communication while respecting their individual process of acquiring the target language. If you’ve felt frustrated due to your students’ lack of retention and motivation, this webinar will provide you with some tools that will assist you in tackling these challenges.
I invite you to relax and enjoy this webinar, which will help you gain new ideas or refresh past ones!
Enjoy!
Don’t have time to watch it right now? Click on the picture to save it for later!
I am one of those Spanish teachers that loves singing in class for many reasons. Through songs, students learn new vocabulary, internalize grammar structures that may be useful in the future, and explore vocabulary in context – and singing along to a tune is a great way for them to practice pronunciation.
I teach at the elementary level and of course some songs may be complicated for my students. However I ensure there is a natural progression, where I first introduce some basic rhythms, and later, with greater familiarity of beats and timing, we use the rhythms in the various songs we learn in class. We sing the songs while adding some features of the rhythms and some basic dance steps, which adds some movement to the singing and gets everyone moving in class to break the ice and get circulation moving! I also have a set of flash cards with some famous singers that I show while doing the activity. You can download the cards for this activity HERE.
This is how I use the cards:
Rock: Pretend you are playing an electric guitar while singing. Bachata: Use a soft voice and pretend to hold a microphone. Salsa: Sing faster and use the basic Salsa step. Merengue: Use the Merengue step and sing fast. Ranchera: Use a deep voice and pretend to hold a sombrero while singing. Vallenato: Pretend that you are playing an accordion, which is the main instrument in Vallenato.
I have put together a list of songs that go along with the pictures. This might help your students identify the rhythms with the singers. This is also a fun way to bring some culture (and pop culture) into your classes. Feel free to add more traditional rhythms to your list. ¡A cantar y bailar!
