What does my Alebrije Look Like? - Alebrijes Project for Spanish Class

 What does my Alebrije Look Like? - Alebrijes Project for Spanish Class


This alebrijes project is such a fun way to wrap up Día de los Muertos lessons, or after watching the movie Coco in Spanish class.

My students love being creative, and getting to hang their projects in the classroom or hallways - something they don’t get to do often being in high school!

This project works for all levels: Spanish 1, 2, 3 and beyond!

How this project works:

  1. Students will take the 10 question “questionnaire” which is similar to old-school magazine quizzes, or like those modern day Buzzfeed-type quizzes. It asks them about their personality characteristics, when their birthday month is, and some of their “favorites” relating to vocab often covered by November 1st, in Spanish 1. 

  2. Once they answer all 10 questions, they will use the “answer key” to find out what their alebrije consists of (colors, design, and which body parts are made up of which kind of animals). The list of animals consists of animals that can be found in Mexico, and the students thought it was so interesting!

  1. Students can then begin to sketch out their alebrije, and officially draw and color their alebrijes. 

  1. In the past I have had students write about their alebrijes on 1 standard piece of computer paper, allowing them to write in colors if they want! However, I made templates for a “neater look” for this project, and I love having them! It makes their alebrijes be more consistent in sizing (some kids would make them so small!), and it helps keep their writing straight.

  1. Students will also write about their alebrije, either using the sentence stems provided for them (especially helpful for Spanish 1) or they create their sentences on their own.

    1. I have students describe using “tener”, “ser”, “los colores”, and what animals make up the body parts of their alebrije.

    2. It has them practice word order and noun-adjective agreement in addition to the tener, ser, colors, and body parts vocab!

  1. Once they’re done, have students hang their writing and drawings in your room, or out in the hallways! It’s a fun way to show off their work, and get the school buzzing about the cool project students are doing in Spanish class! 

How this can work for multiple levels:

  1. I have editable rubrics for Spanish 1, 2 and 3+ that use ACTFL Can-Do Descriptors for the Presentational-Writing Standard. 

    1. The rubrics vary in difficulty, working towards the path to proficiency with Intermediate-Mid being the “Advanced” section on the rubric for Spanish 3+. 

    2. Each rubric comes with sentence stems with and without hints in parenthesis, making it perfect for meeting the needs of learners who need more guidance!

How long does this project take?

  1. Three 45 minute class periods would be a great spot to start!

  2. If you incorporate more of the Listening, Writing, and Speaking ideas I include in the teacher notes, then this project can go several more 45 minute class periods!

If you want to save yourself time, and have this multi-day project completely done for you, then you can get more details from the preview by taking a look at my TPT store.

I hope you’re inspired to try this project with your students!

I’d love to see your students’ Alebrijes Projects! Tag me on instagram @espanolconemily if you try this activity out with your students! 



If you’re looking for more Listening, Reading & Writing ideas, check out these posts!


Engaging Classroom Routine - Music Tuesday


Word Walls - Improving Reading Comprehension

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