Hey friends!
I can hardly believe I’m typing this… but here we are! After a year of quietly rolling out Ça Marche! and ¡VALE! to schools around the country, the moment has officially arrived: May 1, 2025 marks the official national launch of my French and Spanish curricula for Levels 1 and 2! My blog has been quiet, but I had to develop the curriculum and it took all my time!
If you’re new here—welcome. I’m a high school French and Spanish teacher who’s been in the classroom for three decades (yes, you read that right!) and earned my doctorate in Teacher Leadership. Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of trends come and go, but one thing has remained true: students learn best when they understand and connect with the language. That’s what Ça Marche! and ¡VALE! are all about.
So… what exactly are Ça Marche! and ¡VALE!?
These are full-year, fully structured French and Spanish curricula designed for Level 1 and Level 2. There are 10 engaging units per level, and every lesson is built around comprehensible input strategies paired with intentional grammar instruction.
Whether you’re a CI veteran or just dipping your toes into input-based teaching, this curriculum gives you everything you need to create a rich language-learning experience: stories, games, music, movement, culture, assessments, and more. It can be used as your main curriculum or as a supplemental resource that fits beautifully into what you’re already doing.
What’s included?
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✅ Level 1 and Level 2 French & Spanish
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✅ 10 Units per Level, ready to use
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✅ CI-based lessons with strong grammar integration
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✅ Culture and storytelling woven in
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✅ Assessments and review activities
- ✅ Games and Brain Breaks
Everything is designed with teachers and students in mind. This isn’t something I dreamed up in theory—it was built out of real classroom needs and tested with real students.
Where can you find it?
You can get the full curriculum now on VerbNinja.com (yep, that’s this site!) and also over on Teachers Pay Teachers. However you shop, it’s there waiting for you.
What’s next?
This is just the beginning. Over the next year, we’re expanding in big ways:
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🏆 Contests for students and teachers
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📘 Printable readers coming soon
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📝 A national exam designed to align with CI-based instruction
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🔄 Ongoing curriculum updates and support
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💬 Teacher community and resource sharing
This isn’t just a curriculum—it’s a movement. Over 100 schools are already using our curriculum and LOVING IT! This movement is about giving teachers the tools to actually enjoy teaching again and helping students actually acquire the language in a way that sticks.
So if you’ve been curious, now’s the perfect time to jump in!