Wooly Week returns, the Dentista saga continues, and we have new lesson plans, new tools, and a few surprises on the way.
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Before Spanish can connect students to a bigger world, it has to feel like something they can actually use in the world they’re already in.
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Challenges, custom assignments, individual student controls, and the other new tools built for teachers who want more from Wooly.
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20 new activities turn a Wooly classic into a deeper look at descriptions, identity, and the image we present to the world.
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Today we launch the 10-year edition of our first graphic novel, Billy y las Botas!
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Ridiculous food, an onion chef with terrible breath, and 12 activities that give students a reason to actually use me gusta and me gustan.
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A complete 64-page Spanish story beginning students can actually read, built with just 33 unique words.
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Two new shirts. Two packs of vinyl stickers. Terrible decisions in merch form.
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How we gave one of the dullest topics in beginning Spanish some actual stakes.
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Why Señor Wooly is organized around stories instead of units, themes, and vocabulary lists.
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If you teach beginning Spanish, there are a few phrases you know your students are going to need almost immediately.
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Looking for a Spanish Halloween lesson that’s actually worth spending class time on?
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We rewrote La casa de La Dentista at Novice Low without shortening the book, simplifying the story, or removing the mystery.
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A children's book for beginning Spanish students, with gorgeous illustrations, goofy characters, and remarkably little Spanish.
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A darker, bigger sequel to La casa de La Dentista, written so even beginning Spanish students can read it.
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In 2014, we released Es una ganga, the story of two women with an almost supernatural ability to find a bargain.
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Over two years ago, Nate Niederkorn and I sat down to write a rock song about a princess who accidentally drank a glass of poison.
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Student Choice Assignments let you set the goal while students decide which stories they want to work on.
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At the beginning of another uncertain school year, I kept coming back to the one thing Wooly could offer classrooms: joy.
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We didn't want to turn our Spanish graphic novels into PDFs. So we built a reader with four proficiency levels, contextual glossaries, audio, and more.
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It's time to finally unveil what we've been working on for the past year. This is one is huge. And yes, we say that all the time, but this time we mean it.
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After much debate, we have made a tough decision. It’s a decision many of you will disagree with, but one I hope you consider deeply as you read our rationale.
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A look back at Señor Wooly’s first decade, from the original 2009 website to the stories, books, and mission that shaped what Wooly became.
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Great news! Starting today, you can finally pre-order my 3rd graphic novel, Me llamo Víctor, Parte 1.
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It's time to spill the beans: For the past 4 months, Juan Carlos Pinilla and I have been creating a new graphic novel about a well-known Sr Wooly character. It’s the most ambitious, detailed and complex project either of us have ever taken on, and bringing it to fruition has pretty much consumed both of our lives.
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NOTE: These are not the Wooly Week 2020 Lesson plans. They are from 2019. To find the Wooly Week 2020 plans, please go to the Resources of either Diego y sus amigos or Vibra viral.
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IT'S DAY FOUR OF WOOLY WEEK!! And we are not slowing down in the slightest. In fact, today might be the biggest day so far.
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WOOLY WEEK DAY THREE!! That's right, we're only half-way through this Wooly extravaganza, and we're not nearly done with the fun and games.
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WOOLY WEEK, DAY 5! And we are keeping the awesome experiences going right to the end...and even beyond.
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Today is the SECOND DAY of Wooly Week! Two days in and the weeklong celebration of all things Wooly is just getting warmed up!
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It's finally here! The 3rd annual Week starts TODAY!!
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The 3rd Annual Wooly Week will be February 4 to 8, and we have quite a few fun things to share with you.
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To celebrate the start of the new school year, we just released the most comprehensive updates to Señor Wooly ever.
If you have a minute, I'd love to tell you about 12 major changes to Señor Wooly PRO.
For the first time ever, we here at Señor Wooly are dipping our toes into French!
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With the help of over one hundred Wooly Raffle participants, we have officially finished Me Duele 2!
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As you probably guessed, I'm a bit of a film geek.
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Today is the SECOND day of Wooly Week!! Every day this week we will release something completely new.
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Today is the 3rd day of Wooly Week!!
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People have been requesting this video for years. And, truthfully, we really tried to have it ready for Wooly Week. However, it quickly became clear that, to do this amazing story justice, we needed a little more time.
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With 25 music videos, it's very easy for newcomers to not know where to start. What video should you watch first? What is the appropriate level for your students?
I encourage you to watch this video blog, in which I help to answer this question.
Gorro, the devoted best friend of Billy la Bufanda, only wishes for two things in life. First, he wants to help Billy find his beloved boots. Second, he wants to keep your head warm.
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The 2nd Annual Wooly Week starts TODAY!! But you've waited long enough. Let's talk about what's new.
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My newest 114-page graphic novel, La Casa de La Dentista, is officially available for preorder!
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A huge thank you to everyone who participated in this contest. We had a very large turnout, far bigger than we expected, and we wish we could have given a prize to everyone. To all those you participated, thank you for the time and enthusiasm that you put into this contest. Wooly Week and the Wooly Raffle were a ridiculous amount of work, and you all made every second of it worth it. Thank you so much for everything.
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To properly celebrate Wooly Week, I wanted to do something a little offbeat with this raffle. This is not some run-of-the-mill raffle to win, say, a DVD.
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We have reached the final day of Wooly Week, and I have one last thing to share with you.
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It's the second-to-last day of Wooly Week, and buckle up, because I have a LOT to share.
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We're at the midpoint of Wooly Week, and I've got quite the surprise for you.
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Wooly Week starts TODAY!! But enough hype. Let's get started.
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Interrogatives are some of the hardest words for Spanish students to acquire.
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Sure, you could just kick back and watch ¿Puedo ir al baño? again. But what if there was another way? What if, instead, you could pull out your guitar and play it live? Can you imagine it? You would become a legend.
Well, stop imagining.
Many people have told me that, although they're incredibly excited about the new Billy y las Botas graphic novel, they aren't necessarily sure how to teach with one. And I totally get that. It's a new medium, one in which the majority of the story is told through visuals, not dialogue. It's for this reason that I spent the last month creating an 18-part video tutorial series on how to teach with a comic book!
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You may have seen the music video, Billy y Las Botas, but you don't know the entire story!
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Sr. Wooly talks about the need for graphic novels in second language classrooms. Length: 2:59
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Sr. Wooly explains why he wrote the graphic novel with an emphasis on visuals. Length: 2:11
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Why you need to hold off on letting students read the book. Length: 1:06
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How to pull Spanish out of the visuals instead of relying on the dialogue. Also, an introduction to the Circling Guide. Length: 3:47
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In this tutorial, we finally get into the classroom with Carrie Toth and her students. Carrie will pre-teach some key phrases and vocabulary that students will need for the activities ahead. This tutorial is also a primer on teaching with comprehensible input. Length: 5:40
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An additional video on pre-teaching, this time with a focus on the structure "se pone". For those experienced in teaching with comprehensible input, you probably don't need to watch this video. However, if these concepts are new to you, this video will have essential review alongside a handful of new ideas. Length: 5:24
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Carrie Toth models how to bring a scene to life through Reader's Theater. Length: 6:51
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Although this activity might look similar to pre-teaching on the surface, there is one big difference. We're going to ask "WHY?" Length: 4:54
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At a certain point, you just have to let students read the graphic novel. Length: 1:34
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Most likely you have played Matamoscas (or Flyswatter) in one form or another in your classroom. Here are some practical ideas on how to adapt it for a comic book. Length: 3:24
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Total Physical Response is one of the easiest activities to implement in the classroom. Just tell your students to do stuff, and they do it! Length: 4:38
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Volleyball is probably the single most concrete idea in this entire series. It's easy-to-learn, easy-to-implement, and it's a phenomenal way to ensure that all students understand all of the comic book. Length: 4:29
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It's one thing to read a comic book. It's another thing to have students assemble the comic book! Length: 2:35
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A low-pressure activity to get students beginning to speak. Lenth: 3:30
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In Fishbowl, we begin to push our students to give more verbal output. Length: 3:01
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Our final verbal output activity puts students on the hotseat! Length: 3:57
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In this quirkly activity, students get to alter the comic book to make new, weird and funny combinations. Length: 1:24
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The conclusion to this video tutorial series. Length: 0:46
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This week, I release a fun Behind-the-Scenes video for Ya Está Muerto. It doesn't have much educational value for Spanish, but it does provide insight into how much work and time goes into these productions.
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I have a very important secret to share you guys, but under no circumstances can you tell your students.
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Over the past year, I have had the pleasure of working with the extremely talented Juan Carlos Pinilla Melo.
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Teachers and students have been begging me to make a sequel to Billy y las Botas since 2012.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the present tense conjugations of IR (to go).
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La Casa del Sr. Wooly was the very first video I ever made for my Spanish classes.
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In 2005, I created this short video to introduce my class expectations in a fun way. It was one of the first videos I ever created, and it is still one of my favorites.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the present tense conjugations of PONER.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the preterit tense conjugations of IR.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the present tense conjugations of AR, ER, and IR verbs.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the present tense conjugations of HACER.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the present tense conjugations of SER (to be)
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La Salvavidas is a song from my first album, Billy la Bufanda y Amigos. It's a catchy little song about a boy who falls in love with a lifeguard. It was very much inspired The Sandlot, a great little movie that I've seen far more times that I'd like to admit.
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This song is a simple rhythm combined with a melodic chant that was designed to teach the preterit tense conjugations of hacer.
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¿Dónde queda el museo? is a song from my first album, Billy la Bufanda y Amigos. It's a simple rhythmic song to teach prepositional phrases.
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Odio la clase de español is a song from my second album, Billy la Bufanda Presenta Más Amigos. It's a silly little song about a kid in Spanish class that, well, hates Spanish class.
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My newest music video, La Invitación is here!!
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This new video tutorial will teach you a fantastic activity for reviewing numbers called ¡ARRIBA!.
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If you only use my videos and songs, you’re not even close to touching the sheer quantity of resources available on this site.
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Reviews of my music video, ¡Es Una Ganga! are all across the map. Some teachers have told me me that their students have never responded so positively to one of my videos, and others are telling me that it’s the worst thing I have ever made.
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This new video tutorial will teach students a fantastic conversational activity called Una Ganga.
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Sr. Wooly’s seventh activity is a unique take on the jigsaw puzzle. Unlike other activities in this series, this one requires very little explanation. Although there is nothing particularly ground-breaking about this puzzle, I think you’ll find that it’s simple, easy-to-administer, and valuable. I hope you like it.
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Today I'll show you a game called Noventa y Nueve. It’s a really fun, addictive little card game that’s great for reviewing numbers.
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Today’s video tutorial is the first, all-out competitive game that I have presented in this video series. And, for that reason, it absolutely will not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, in my opinion, it is ridiculously fun for both teacher and student.
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What if I told you that there was an activity that you could easily implement with any age group, deeply engage all students for an extended period of time, and guarantee a much-needed tranquil classroom environment on that crazy Friday afternoon?
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This activity is adapted from an old theater game. It's extremely easy to implement, it’s also applicable to any age group and level of study. Quite simply, this is a fun and structured way to allow students to share their opinions.
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This week’s activity teaches a concentration activity that is perfect for reinforcing any type of sequential vocabulary such as numbers, days of the week, etc. It’s a great supplementary activity to the video Las Excusas, since as you’ll see in the video below, it’s perfect for teaching ordinal numbers.
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Assuming you are willing to sing in front of your students a little, this is a great activity that requires no preparation, no materials, and very little instruction. It’s also a phenomenal way to start the class.
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Although SenorWooly.com has only been around for a couple of years, I have actually been making educational music since 2006. However, over these 6 years, my ideas on how to write my stuff have changed quite a bit.
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Putting aside the ridiculous, attention-getting title of this post, there is of course no doubt that exposing students to authentic, native speaker materials is essential in any student’s Spanish education.
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