SER/ESTAR/TENER

I've always taught my students ser and estar, but this is the first year I did it together. I also taught tener at the same time, pointing out the fact that although the verb means "to have" we use it like "to be" for age and "needs" (tener expressions). I introduced the concept (none of verbs were new to my 7th graders) and we practiced for about a week before the quiz. My students took the quiz and.... well let's just say that score is not going in the gradebook. I've never had a quiz go that poorly for so many people before so I reflected on how I taught the lesson and realized that this was one of the first times I didn't have a rhyme or song or actions to help my students remember. So, I went searching on the internet and found this. Because I teach tener with ser and estar, I added my own verse to the end. Here's the whole thing:

For how you feel or where you are, 

use the verb ESTAR.

For who you are or where you're from,

use SER, the other one.

For your age or what you "need,"

then use TENER, if you please!

After students wrote down the rhyme, we broke down the categories more specifically.
- Feel - temporary feeligns
- Where - location, location, location!
- Who - colors, adjectives, jobs
- From - where you grew up/were born
- Age - (self-explanatory)
- "Needs" - tener expressions like hunger, thirst, luck, hurry, etc...

They'll take another quiz next week. I hope it goes better!