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Foreign Language Activity: Brain Teasers

Thanks to its partnership with publisher Eye on Education, EducationWorld is pleased to present this activity from A Good Start: 147 Warm-Up Activities for Spanish Class by Rebekah Stathakis. The following fun brain teaser activity uses questions and numbers that can be adapted to reinforce many skills in any language.

Although some students may enjoy the challenge of this type of brain teaser, others may become quickly frustrated. Consider providing hints for questions with which students are struggling. For example, you could tell students that “88 t en un p” has to do with a musical instrument. You might also want to encourage students to work with partners to brainstorm different ideas.

 
Directions
In the following sentences, some words have been omitted, and only the first letter of the word remains. Try to find out what the correct words could be.

Examples Solutions

50 e en los E.U.

 50 estados en los Estados Unidos

C llegó a las A en 1492

 Colón llegó a las Américas en 1492

88 t en un p

 88 teclas en un piano

13 r en la b americana

 13 rayas en la bandera americana

7 c en un a i

 7 colores en un arco iris

                                                                                                          

Variations and Additional Activities
After students finish (or as a future activity), they could create their own sentences and challenge their classmates. At the end of each chapter or unit, you could encourage students to come up with a few of these problems utilizing the chapter vocabulary. Then, use the students’ work as fun, challenging exercises if you have an extra moment, as an enrichment activity after a test, or as the next warm-up.

This activity can easily be modified to fit with the chapter vocabulary or other content you wish to review or reinforce with students. Create your own sentences to fit with your curriculum and instructional goals. Some other samples include:

Examples: El Cuerpo Solutions

2 r en las p

 2 rodillas en las piernas

206 h en el c

 206 huesos en el cuerpo

32 d en la b

 32 dientes en la boca

1 c en el p

 1 corazón en el pecho

10 d d l p en los p

10 dedos de los pies en los pies

 

Examples: El Calendario Solutions

52 s en un a

 52 semanas en un año

7 d en una s

 7 días en una semana

12 m en un a

 12 meses en un año

30 d en s, a, j y n

 30 días en septiembre, abril, junio y noviembre

28 d en f, 29 en a b

 28 días en febrero, 29 en año bisiesto


Your Class
Create sentences based on your own classroom. Fill in the numbers in the following sentences based on your classroom. You can use this activity to reinforce classroom words and encourage students to become better acquainted with their classroom environment. Possible sentences might include:

c en la p

carteles en la pared

e en la c

estudiantes en la clase

l en el e

libros en el estante

c en la m

computadoras en la mesa

c d a en el e del (de la) profesor(a)

 carpetas de argollas en el escritorio del (de la) profesor(a)

c en el l

capítulos en el libro

 

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