You might be wondering: what is a weekend chat? Don’t worry, I was there, too. A few months ago I was Googling “weekend chat spanish class” to get a better understanding of what it was. I heard so many people talking about it and honestly, I was embarrassed to ask (thank goodness for Google!)
So what is it? Exactly what it sounds like- It’s a chat with your students about what they did (or will be doing) over the weekend. It’s a great way to start your classes off on a Monday by talking about what you did over the weekend. It’s great practice of authentic conversation and it’s yet another great way to get to know your students a little better.
Here are 10 ways you can start your Spanish class with a Weekend Chat:
- Weekend Chat with Mat
If you’re just getting started, an absolutely amazing resource is this totally free Weekend Chat Mat from Sra. Dibujo
You can print this out and give it to your students to use each week or project it on the board. It’s great because it has a lot of variety and support for your students who need it. Before you know it, most of them won’t even need to look at it anymor
2. Small Group/Partner Discussion
A simple modification to the weekend chat is to ask students to discuss with a small group or partner and then report what their classmate did over the weekend. If you have a large class, you can have all students submit written answers in a Google Form after participating in the conversation.
3. Two truths and a Lie
This is one of my favorite versions! I ask my students to come up with three things they did over the weekend, but one must be a lie! We then listen to each person’s response and we vote on which of their sentences is the lie. My classes and I had a lot of fun with this one and it’s one that I highly recommend!
Sidenote: this worked great in our virtual class. I had my students unmute to respond to the question and then the other students guessed in the chat which statement was a lie.
4. Answer as Someone Famous
This was another fun and creative spin on weekend chat! I created a Jamboard for my classes with the question “¿Qué hiciste este fin de semana?”
Then, I asked each student to create a sticky note. On the note they wrote their reply to the question “qué hiciste” but they had to respond as someone famous. I asked them to write THEIR initials (so I know who wrote each sticky note) but told them to keep the famous person’s identity a secret. The rest of the class had to guess who each sticky note was.
I am not going to lie…this activity made me feel OLD lol! They chose a lot of Tik Tok stars that I couldn’t guess so I felt a little out of the loop but they easily guessed each others’ identities.
This was another great way to build classroom community, a fun spin on weekend chat, and a little creative thinking.
If you’re looking for more info on how to use Jamboard in your classes, check out Profesora Delgadillo’s blog for more info
5. Answer with a Meme or GIF
This is my FAVORITE way to switch up weekend chat. I ask my students to find a Meme or GIF to represent what they did over the weekend. To streamline the process, I have created a Google Slide for each of my classes. Each student has their own Google Slide with just their name on the top. They then insert the Meme or GIF that they choose.
This works great in my hybrid classes because students who are in class can explain to the class what they did over the weekend and what the Meme or GIF represents. My remote students can still participate, they just write out their explanation. I make a point to read the remote students’ answers out loud so that even though they aren’t physically in the classroom they are a part of the conversation.
Do this…trust me…you will laugh!
6. Answer with your favorite show/movie
This is similar to the Meme/GIF answer. Students find a picture from their favorite show or movie to represent what they did over the weekend. I do the same set up as the Meme/GIF with Google Slides and it works pretty much the same way.
Added bonus: you’ll get to learn more about your students by seeing what they are in to. What shows are they watching? Why did they choose that show?
7. This or That Weekend Chat
If you know me, you know I love This or That Activities.They are super simple but lead to great discussions. For this activity. I prepare 5-10 slides with different options for students. They are questions like: Did you spend time with friends or family? Did you do your homework or watch tv? Did you go outside or stay inside?
Students answer but holding up one or two fingers to show their preference, or I use Pear Deck and students answer by dragging the dot, typing their answer, or choosing multiple choice.
This option is a little more prep, you have to have the slides ready before class, but it leads to a lot of great discussion. I always ask follow up questions and ask them to expand on their answers.
8. Find someone who
This is an interactive way to get students talking about their weekend! Students start off with a worksheet or Google Slides version of “Find Someone Who”. The idea is to have students ask their classmates if they did the listed activities.
If a student (or teacher) answers Yes to the question, they may write their name in the box. This is a great activity for lower level classes as it provides a lot of support during the conversation. It supports authentic conversation between students and will help even your weakest students participate in the activity.
I also love this activity because you can add on some great extension activities and really work on developing more detailed sentences with your students.
9. Write your name under the activity
For this activity, I put a bunch of typical weekend activities on the board (or create a Jamboard with the activities). Some examples would be: hacer tarea, ver la televisión, pasar tiempo con amigos.
Students then write their name (or use a sticky note on Jamboard) to indicate what they did over the weekend. To follow this up, you can have students write out sentences to elaborate on what they did in detail or write about what five other classmates did. Sometimes I will ask them to create a follow up question to ask their classmate. For example, if Maria wrote her name under “hacer tarea” some great questions would be: when did you do your homework? How long did your homework take you? How much homework did you have?
You can then extend this even further and invite students to ask their classmates some follow up questions to get more information. Yet another reason that I love weekend chats- so many possibilities!
10. 5 Things you did and 5 things you did not do
This is similar to two truths and a lie but will get your students speaking or writing more. Ask students to come up with five things they did over the weekend and five things they did not do. For example: I did my math homework. I did not do my English homework.
Why do this? It requires some creative thinking which is always a plus but also, it allows students to practice with even more vocabulary and use expressions they may not typically use. I have one student who plays soccer every weekend. Every time he answers the weekend chat, he is using the same expression. This activity offers him a chance to try some new expressions.
I hope you found some ideas to change up your Weekend Chat. Weekend Chat is great because it’s no prep and we get to learn a little more about our students. It’s such an important (and super easy) activity to incorporate in our classes.
If you are looking for more ways to plan less and get more out of your lessons, check out this post.
