What would happen if the artwork on your classroom walls became the catalyst for real communication in the target language? In this episode I’m joined by Spanish teacher Courtney Bonino to explore how adding art to your curriculum can transform engagement and deepen proficiency. We talk about why art is such a powerful entry point for learners at different levels, how to integrate it into units you already teach without adding prep time, and how to keep the focus on meaningful communication. You’ll get practical ideas you can try right away that spark curiosity, engagement and confident language students.
Topics in this Episode:
- why art is such an effective entry point for language learning, especially for engaging students at different proficiency levels.
- how teachers can realistically add art into units they already teach small changes teachers can make to start integrating art without adding prep time
- strategies for using the same piece of art with different proficiency levels and what this looks different for novice versus intermediate learners
- how teachers can keep the focus on communication and the kinds of prompts or tasks that generate the most meaningful language use
- tuning your classroom into an art gallery; what it looks like in practice even in a small or shared classroom space
- Ep 196: Immerse Your Students in Arts and Culture with Heidi Trude
- Free Art Vocabulary Lesson for Spanish Class
- Learning Llama Blog Post – Turning Your Classroom into an Art Gallery
Connect with Courtney Bonino of Learning Llama:
- Instagram – @llearningllama
- Facebook – /thellearningllama
- FB Group – /groups/artinspanishclass
- Pinterest -/llearningllama/
A Few Ways We Can Work Together:
- Ready For Tomorrow Quick Win PD for Individual Teachers
- On-Site or Virtual Workshops for Language Departments
- Self-Paced Program for For Language Departments
Connect With Me & The World Language Classroom Community:
- Website: wlclassrom.com
- Instagram: @wlclassroom
- Facebook Group: World Language Classroom
- Facebook: /wlclassroom
- LinkedIn: Joshua Cabral
- Bluesky: /wlclassroom.bsky.socia
- X (Twitter): @wlclassroom
- Threads: @wlclassroom
Follow wherever you listen to podcasts.
