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If you’ve ever wanted your students to feel genuinely excited before reading a novel or watching a movie in class, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I sit down with Rita Barrett, an outstanding Spansih teacher, to talk about the Tea Party strategy, an engaging pre-reading activity where students become characters from the story before they even begin reading.

Students walk around the room meeting other characters, uncovering relationships, discovering conflicts, making predictions, and communicating in the target language the entire time.

One of the biggest takeaways from this episode is this: Tea Party is NOT the moment to introduce lots of new language.

Instead, the focus is on highly comprehensible language so students feel confident speaking, interacting, and listening while building curiosity for the story ahead.

We also talk about:
✨ How to set up a Tea Party step-by-step
✨ What character descriptions should look like
✨ How students create relationship webs and predictions
✨ Why this strategy creates authentic communication and engagement

Rita Barrett teaches Spanish at Portland Adventist Academy in Portland, Oregon. The 2016 COFLT TOY, Rita has been a frequent presenter at state and national conferences and co-hosts a Portland area language teacher PLC. She is passionate about inspiring students to become lifelong language lovers.

Resources Mentioned:
Growing With Proficiency:
https://growingwithproficiency.com

The Spanish Teacher Academy:
https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

AnneMarie Chase’s Tea Party Blog Post:
https://senorachase.com/2025/11/15/tea-party-round-up/