Numbers are one of the first things your Spanish students learn. The following interactive classroom activities help your students practice this basic vocabulary, along with pronunciation and listening comprehension.
Counting in Spanish
Start by pronouncing the numbers first; have the students repeat after you. Then take a few minutes and go around the room, calling on each student in turn to say the next consecutive number, continuing as high as they're able to count. Often, the numbers 1 - 20 will be introduced in the first chapter, with 21 through 100 following in the next chapter. Switch things up every so often by calling on students randomly instead of just going down the rows, or by counting in multiples of two or five. Start by letting your students look at their books as they count, but once most of them seem comfortable with the numbers have them do this activity without the books for reference.
Once the majority of the class seems comfortable with pronouncing numbers in Spanish, split the class into pairs. One student tells his telephone number, in Spanish, to the other student. The listening student writes down what he hears, using numerals.
Have the student who spoke his number check to see if the other student got it right. If the other student made a mistake, the first student will speak his number again; if he has to repeat himself a third time, the student doing the writing can use his book for a reference.
Once the first number is correctly recorded, the partners switch roles and repeat the activity. More advanced students may finish before other groups are done; have them repeat the activity using friends' telephone numbers, or any other familiar activities.
Math in Spanish
Have your students write the numbers one through ten in their notebook, down the left side of the page. Then recite ten different simple math problems in Spanish, using the numbers that are part of the current lesson's vocabulary. Keep the problems simple so that all students can do the math and write the results in Spanish--spelling the numbers out, this time--on their paper. Go over the answers as a class, calling on individual students to read off each original problem (in Spanish, of course). As each student does this, write the Spanish words for the numbers out on the board, so everyone can see and hear them at the same time.
Even if your students have already memorized the names of the numbers in Spanish, this is still an excellent exercise for developing pronunciation and listening comprehension at any level of Spanish ability. If you have fun with the exercises listed here, your students will too.