¡Dimos la vuelta por la manzana!

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I finally brought this activity back to my classroom!!! Over the past couple of years, the busyness at the end of the semester had me prioritizing different tasks. And honestly, we still did not get to do this last December, but I made sure to bring it into our New Year line up!!! I just added it to this post of Holiday and New Year Cultural activities, if you want to bookmark it for next year.

This activity was short, sweet, and full of energy! I shared with my students the beloved and popular Latin American New Year’s tradition: on New Year’s Eve, people grab a (usually empty!) suitcase and run around the block at midnight, hoping to invite lots of travel and adventures in the year ahead. I had participated in this tradition myself when we spend the New Year in Barranquilla, Colombia; it’s so exhilarating especially with the backdrop of fire works and loud music playing from every house.

I also believe that getting students moving and immersed in the language and culture increases their intercultural understanding. One of the main activities I implement at the beginning of the year is the School Tour In Spanish to give level 1 students. These types of experiential learning situations stay with them forever! Here’s a little clip from a few years ago.

La maleta Activity

Below I share how I approach “La maleta” activity in my class and some additional ideas! I did this with level 4 students, but it’s easily adaptable for any level.

To bring the tradition into our classroom, we:

Talked about our dream destinations:
- Students identified one place they wanted to visit. They eventually went around the class and shared why they wanted to go. I wanted them to use “me gustaría” because for our next unit, we’ll be using the conditional to discuss how we would respond to character’s decisions.
Made a list of what we’d pack:
- They were able to do this from memory and/or by using Wordreference.com. If you want to extend this activity, you could require they look basic facts about the country, include temperature, and 2-3 things to do while they are there.
Created our own mini maletas:
- We used this template to simulate our maletas. Maybe in future years, we can create an actual maleta.
Ran a lap around the second floor:
- This part was fun because it allowed them a burst of energy, especially the first week back. It also stirred up some conversation. My students found the tradition very interesting; they enjoyed the positive premise.

Pro tip: this is a perfect end-of-class activity. This way you won’t get bogged down with request to go to the bathroom or to get water.

You can download the template I used below:

https://bit.ly/4pALr4R

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