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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/

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Feeling exhausted trying to keep students engaged at the end of the school year? 😅

In this re-released episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, Claudia Elliott shares three powerful low-prep strategies that help world language teachers create communicative, comprehensible, and sustainable lessons without spending hours planning.

If you need great strategies to keep students interacting and using the language, this episode is for you.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
✨ How to use anchor charts to co-create vocabulary and ideas with students
✨ Why model texts increase confidence, comprehension, and participation
✨ How Write and Discuss creates compelling and comprehensible input
✨ Ways to support mixed proficiency levels with student-centered activities
✨ Why low prep does NOT mean no prep in the language classroom

These strategies work for Spanish classes, French classes, and any world language classroom focused on language acquisition, comprehensible input, and communication.

Whether you teach novice learners or upper levels, these routines can help you reduce overwhelm while increasing engagement and interaction during the final weeks of school.

🎧 Listen now and discover practical strategies you can use tomorrow!

🔗 Resources & Links:
Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy
Follow Claudia on Instagram @claudiamelliott

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At this point in the year, many of us are feeling it. Students are distracted, energy is low, and if we say “read,” suddenly half the class needs the bathroom.

In this episode, I’m sharing a simple sequence I use to turn any reading into an engaging station-based lesson that keeps students reading, moving, and participating without creating more work for you.

Whether you’re using a Cinco de Mayo article, a Panorama Cultural reading, or your own class text, this structure helps students process one shared reading in a way that feels interactive and manageable.

✨ In this episode, I share:

• How to choose the right text (this part matters most!)
• Simple pre-reading activities like predictions, images, and quick movement
• How I structure the “during reading” phase with audio + small groups
• My favorite post-reading stations: matching, sequencing, graphic organizers, and open-ended questions
• Why I duplicate stations instead of creating more
• How one reading can easily become 3 full class periods

🎁 Resources mentioned:

• Free Cinco de Mayo Reading Resource
• Full blog post with classroom pictures + step-by-step breakdown
• Panorama Culturales for more high-interest readings
• Episode 21 if you want more station ideas beyond one shared text