Video reports can be a great, open-ended way to regularly encourage students to listen and assess their understanding of Spanish spoken by native speakers.

In this simple form, students fill in basic information about any Spanish video (I recommend videos around 5 minutes in length). This may be a video that you select and show in class, a video of their choice, or you may direct them to videos on certain topics that you are currently covering in class (cooking, sports, weather, etc.). While watching and listening, students will list which words they recognized, which word they now know as a result of watching the video, and a summary of how much they understood.

I have found that this is an opportunity for students to learn a wide range of vocabulary that a typical Spanish curriculum doesn't cover early on, especially if they are watching news stories. It is also helpful for students to practice using context, visual clues, and rely on cognates to infer meaning. This activity is flexible enough that it can truly be used for any level of Spanish.