This is Unit 1 of the ¡Vale! Exploratory Curriculum. For your best value, purchase the whole curriculum together. It includes extra resources not included in the individual unit purchase!
Welcome to ¡VALE!, an innovative Spanish language curriculum designed to make learning engaging and effective. Whether you are looking for a primary curriculum or a supplemental resource, ¡VALE! is tailored to meet your teaching needs with a focus on comprehensible input and comprehensive grammar instruction.
The full Unit 1 has 7 Lessons. This is a sample that includes Lessons 1-3. The full unit comes with a slide deck (156 slides) and a printable packet (84 pages) of lesson plans, activities, supplemental readings, guided writing, graphic organizers, assessments, and IEP modifications. The slides and the lesson plans are customizable. The printable sheets are not customizable, but could be edited in Kami.
This unit is called the El Zoo Mágico. This unit is meant to teach students an introduction to Spanish like their names, basic numbers, and colors while making it interesting about animals. Most of the animals included in the unit are cognates. Students will learn some animals that are part of the Spanish-speaking world as well as animals from around the world. Students will compete on color zoo teams throughout the unit to create and manage their zoos to build the best zoo possible.
There are
7 Lessons (for 40-60 minute lessons) – 3 lessons in the sample.
- Starters (called “Timbres”)
- Vocabulary lists
- Customizable Date Slide for Calendar Talk
- Weather slides to discuss weather conditions
- TPR prompts
- Guided Practice (can be reading, writing, listening, speaking)
- Brain Breaks
- Guessing Games
- Group and Partner Games
- Music
- Cultural information
- Learning intentions and success criteria mentioned throughout the lesson
- Bulletin Board Materials
Lesson Plan Packet (84 pages in the full unit)
- Lesson Plans (editable)
- Graphic Organizers
- Master Vocabulary List
- Numbers chart
- Game Materials
- Printable Activities
- Supplemental Reading
- TPR Guide and printable pictures
- IEP Modifications
- Assessments (vocabulary quiz)
Topics in Unit 1
- Basic introductions
- Colors
- Numbers to 10
- Cognates
- Animals
- Spanish speaking countries
Readings:
- Basic readings about selected animals (in slides reading)
- Supplemental reading (very basic)
Access to verbninja.com is FREE! There are many activities for students to practice their language skills. Student use is always free. Teachers can manage their classes for a small annual fee.
¡VALE! Exploratory is a growing bundle that will feature 1 unit per month beginning June 2025 until all 10 units are published (ending in 2026).
¡VALE! Exploratory features 10 exciting units for Exploratory Spanish. The first year introductory price will be $179 and when you buy it, it is yours forever, even with the lifetime updates! (See the bundle in the store.) The price will increase on September 1, 2026.
Consider joining the ¡VALE! community Facebook group to make communication easier.