Picture-Based Spanish Reading for Beginners

With remote teaching and social distancing in classrooms, there is no more crouching beside a student to examine words and pictures together. However, this picture-based Spanish reading provides lots of support for beginner learners. 

My goal is always for students to understand what they read, and one of the best and easiest ways to do that is creating readings that refer to detailed pictures. This illustration of a happy little mouse is a good example. There is plenty to talk about and you can do it using high-frequency vocabulary.

Be sure to check out our Spanish Reading Resources page for more activities and book recommendations. You may also be interested in the present tense comprehensible story videos on our YouTube channel.

Picture-Based Spanish Reading Comprehension Questions

Below you’ll find the short reading I made for this drawing as well as a modified cloze exercise where students choose from a pair of words. I’ve also included yes/no questions, additional questions and personal questions you can use with the reading. 

The PDF has the reading, cloze and questions as well as a larger version of the picture, but you also download a full-size image separately. 

Download the free printable versions and the full-size image at the end of the post.

Short Spanish Reading for Beginners

Students use the picture to understand the paragraph. The reading has short sentences and you can certainly modify it to use vocabulary that is familiar to your students. 

If you are working with pre-readers, you can also tell the story of Valentina as you point to the picture. It works just as well orally!

This is the paragraph on the PDF:

Valentina va de viaje

Valentina va a visitar a su amiga Olivia. Lleva muchas cosas. A Valentina le encanta leer, así que lleva tres libros en la mano. A Valentina también le gusta mucho pintar. Tiene tres pinceles en el sombrero. Tiene una cámara sobre el hombro. Lleva en la cola dos maletas con su ropa. ¡Qué cola tan larga! Lleva botas rojas. Tiene una linterna en la mano porque es de noche y necesita luz para ver. Hay muchas estrellas en el cielo. Valentina camina rápido. Está muy contenta.

Short Spanish Reading with Choice Cloze

Here, students use the picture to complete the paragraph with the correct word. On the PDF, the choices are in bold and a slightly different font, with instructions to underline the correct word. Again, modify the reading to use vocabulary that is familiar to your students or language you want to target.

This is the choice cloze on the PDF.

Choice Cloze – Valentina va de viaje

Valentina va a visitar a su amiga Olivia. Lleva muchas cosas. A Valentina le encanta leer, así que lleva tres (libros, manzanas) en la mano. A Valentina también le gusta mucho pintar. Tiene tres pinceles en el (sombrero, pie). Tiene una (camisa, cámara) sobre el hombro. Lleva en la cola dos (maletas, casas) con su ropa. ¡Qué cola tan larga! Lleva botas (azules, rojas). Tiene una linterna en la mano porque es de (día, noche) y necesita luz para ver. Hay muchas (estrellas, mariposas) en el cielo. Valentina (camina, corre) rápido. Está muy (triste, contenta).

Yes/No Questions

On the PDF you’ll find a series of yes/no questions. They are for teachers and parents to use with Spanish learners as they look at the picture together. The questions reinforce the vocabulary from the reading and build comprehension. Point to the illustration and use gestures to create comprehensible language. Again, adapt the questions to your learners. 

Additional Questions

On the PDF, you’ll also find these additional questions about the reading and as well as a few personal questions. Personalize them for your students as much as possible. 

Más Preguntas

¿A quién va a visitar Valentina?

¿Cuántos libros lleva?

¿Cuántos pinceles lleva Valentina?

¿A Valentina qué le gusta hacer?

¿Qué tiene en las maletas?

¿Por qué necesita una linterna?

¿Cómo se siente Valentina?

Preguntas Personales

¿Qué te gusta hacer? ¿Pintar, leer, correr, caminar? ¿Otras cosas?

¿A quién te gustaría visitar?

¿Te gustaría salir a caminar con Valentina?

Get the Picture-Based Spanish Reading

Valentina va de viaje Reading and Questions

Full-Size Image – Valentina va de viaje

I have had lots of success using illustrations like this one to create comprehensible input. If you try it with your students, let us know how it goes!