Profe Pingüino

10/24/2026

Eleven years ago, my brother-in-law in Mexico passed away at just 25, leaving behind two young children. A few years later, I wrote a Choose-Your-Own-Ending story in his memory, featuring my niece and nephew, for my Spanish classes.

In the story, Dante and Eleonor (Leo) set out to buy three things for their papá’s altar, and students decide what happens next.

There are 8 possible endings, but only ONE happy ending! My students ask to reread it over and over until they find it. Every new attempt gives them more exposure to comprehensible Spanish!

This story is part of my Día de los Mu***os Spanish Bundle, which includes:

📖 Choose-Your-Own-Ending Story: Project the reading and let students vote on each choice.
🃏 Slap-Style Card Game: Bring vocabulary practice to small groups.
🪰 Flyswatter Game: Get students listening and looking for the matching pictures.

The reading is designed for Novice High–Intermediate Mid learners, with present-tense narration and other tenses defined when they appear.

Get all three resources for $9.99—a 23% savings compared with buying them separately.

🌼 Tap Learn More to preview the bundle on TpT!

10/12/2026

Eleven years ago, my brother-in-law in Mexico passed away at the age of 25, leaving behind 2 young children. A few years later, I wrote this Choose-Your-Own-Ending story in his memory. The two children in the story are my niece and nephew. In this story, Mexican kids Dante and Eleonor are on a quest to buy three things for their papá’s altar. There are 8 possible endings, but only ONE happy ending! Students won’t know whether their choices will lead to a funny mishap, misfortune, or the one happy ending until they keep reading. (And they ask to re-read the story over and over until they can find the happy ending!! Great for loading them up with lots of comprehensible input!)

When I read through my Choose-Your-Own-Ending stories with my classes, I always do it as a whole-class reading, projecting the story on the board. Depending on the class proficiency, I sometimes will do just a little bit of circling, PQA, or choral translation of the text, but never spending too long on any given slide. You want to keep the excitement for the storyline going!

When we get to a choice in the story, I like to use popsicle sticks with the students’ names written on them to randomly select who will make a choice. This also helps ensure that all students eventually get to make a choice. You better believe that the other kids have opinions though, and start calling out to that student what choice they think should be picked. It makes for a fun dynamic! There are other times when I have the entire class vote instead. Both work, and sometimes it’s just good to mix things up a bit.

This story is a fun way to introduce cultural references while giving students lots of repetitions of ve, va, corre, compra and other useful vocabulary.

Designed for Novice High to Intermediate Mid students, but Novice Low-Mid can follow along too with enough guidance. The story is narrated in the present tense, with any other tenses defined right on the page when they appear.

These Choose-Your-Own-Ending stories have been a student favorite, and they always ask me to write more!

Comment STORY and I’ll DM you the link! 🌺💀🌼

08/30/2026

📚 Looking for a meaningful book for ADVANCED Spanish readers? (especially heritage and native!) Here's my best recommendation!

Cajas de cartón is a collection of autobiographical stories about Francisco Jiménez’s childhood in a Mexican migrant farmworker family. It provides rich, contextualized Spanish while inviting thoughtful conversations about immigration, family, education, sacrifice, and perseverance.

My accompanying assessment bundle includes:
✅ 12 print and digital chapter quizzes
✅ A 25-question final exam
✅ Complete answer keys
✅ Editable Google Forms with automatic grading
✅ Vocabulary resources

Perfect for advanced level Spanish 4–5, AP, heritage, and native-speaker classes. Created with permission from the author. Book not included.

Link in the comments! ⬇️

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

⏰ There just under 6 hours left in the TPT Back-to-School Sale! Save 25% with the code BTSBONUS26 at checkout.

📣 Elementary Spanish teachers!

If you’re looking for guidance on what to teach young learners (and exactly HOW to teach it), this CI-based Spanish curriculum includes 10 detailed, ready-to-follow lessons.

The unit uses five children’s books as the foundation for stories, games, movement, songs, and other play-based activities. Students repeatedly encounter useful, high-frequency Spanish in ways they can understand. Although the lessons are CI-based, they include enough teacher support that no previous CI training is required.

One reviewer, a first-time Spanish teacher, said the curriculum made her life “wayyyy easier” and felt “like having your hand held the whole way through!” After just ten 45-minute classes, her students were using Spanish with friends and family, and “kept asking for more!”

Money-saving tip: Check your previous TPT purchases for eligible resources you haven’t reviewed yet. Those reviews can earn you TPT credits!

Comment STORIES below and I’ll send you the link! ⬇️

Or search TPT for “Early Elementary Spanish Curriculum Stories Unit” and it should be the first result!

08/25/2026

Today is Day 1 of the TPT Back-to-School Sale! 🎉

This resource is probably the one I’m MOST proud of! It includes Choose-Your-Own-Ending stories, Flyswatter (Matamoscas) games, and card games for five holidays: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Día de los Mu***os, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Students LOVE having choices in the stories, and they’ll willingly read as many versions as necessary to find the ONE happy ending! The games provide even more comprehensible input while recycling the vocabulary in a fun way.

Today, you can save 25% with the code BTSBONUS26 at checkout!
One more money-saving tip: Check your previous TPT purchases for resources you haven’t reviewed yet. Leaving reviews on eligible purchases earns you TPT credits that you can use toward future purchases!

See link in comments. ⬇️

08/23/2026

The Back-to-School TPT Sale is coming up this Tuesday and Wednesday! 🎉

Want to win a $10 TPT gift card just in time for the sale? To enter:

1️⃣ Give this post some love ❤️
2️⃣ Sign up for my 📧 email list—and receive a FREE Animal-Themed Spanish Flyswatter Game!
3️⃣ Comment below with your favorite 🏫 back-to-school classroom activity!

The winner will be chosen at random after 9 p.m. tomorrow night. Good luck!

Follow the link in the comments to sign up! ⬇️

08/23/2026

The Back-to-School TPT Sale is coming up this Tuesday and Wednesday! 🎉

Want a chance to win a $10 TPT gift card just in time for the sale? To enter:

1️⃣ Give this post some love ❤️
2️⃣ Sign up for my 📧 email list—and receive a FREE Animal-Themed Spanish Flyswatter Game!
3️⃣ Comment below with your favorite 🏫 back-to-school classroom activity!

The winner will be chosen at random after 9 p.m. Monday night. Good luck!

Follow the link in the comments to sign up! ⬇️

08/02/2026

A FREE Spanish game your novice learners will actually beg to play! 🦁🪰

This complete Animals Wildcard Flyswatter Game includes 50 comprehensible Spanish prompts, a PowerPoint with automatic audio, and a Google Slides version—perfect for adding movement, listening, and high-frequency language practice to class.

Comment ANIMALES and I’ll send you the link!

07/30/2026

🎉 FINAL DAY of the Sale!

Today’s deal: 50% OFF select Spanish resources! 🙌

☀️ Search on TpT to find all the deals, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Today only! ⏰ My resources are linked in the comments below.