Is Your Classroom Pet A STAR?
It’s a new year, and with that comes NEW Garbanzo lessons. But we need some help from your classroom!
We’re on the lookout for the next Garbanzo Pet Stars. In order to find them, we’re holding a worldwide STAR discovery context. Spoiler alert: it’s probably not what you think.
We’re looking for classroom pets, but…
… they don’t exist yet.
It’s up to you and your students to invent one! The exact method is up to you, but ideally it’ll be through a communicative activity like Storyasking or One Word Image, and your final entry will be complete with details and a picture of the pet.
Keep reading for more!
How To Enter
Classrooms will submit one Pet Stars entry via the link below. The entry must be a pet that the classroom communally creates, ideally based on a StoryAsk, complete with a picture of artwork of this pet. The submission must also include a written description, in Spanish or English (based on the language your students are learning), which answers the following questions:
• What is the pet’s name?
• What kind of animal is it? (Remember, this doesn’t have to be an animal currently existing in reality - it can be a hybrid or completely made up. It depends on what students want to create)
• Where does it live?
• What does it like to eat?
• Is there any other important information we should know about your pet?
In your entry, we’ll ask you to submit a piece of artwork of the pet. Who draws this and how is up to you - you might let your classroom choose the artist representative or even create a communal drawing of the invented pet.
The contest opens January 6th, and classrooms have until January 20th to submit their entries via a Google form:
What Happens Next
Entry closes at the end of day on January 20th, and then public voting for the Top 10 Pet Stars runs from January 21st - January 30th.
The Top 10 Pet Stars entries will then be written into a Garbanzo Spanish and English lesson.
All submissions will also be entered into a giveaway drawing to win 1 FREE Garbanzo subscription for a year.
We’ll announce the Top 10 winners and giveaway winner on January 31st.
Key Dates
January 6th: Contest submissions open
January 20th: Entry closes
January 21st: Voting opens
January 30th: Voting closes
January 31st: Top 10 winners and giveaway winner announced
Rules and Regulations
- Only teachers may submit Pet Stars entries
- All entries must include artwork
- Teachers aren’t required to have a Garbanzo subscription to enter
- All pets entered must be imaginary, which is to say that students must collaborate to create their entry. The entry itself can be any kind of animal, real or imaginary, so long as it’s created by the students.
Frequently Asked Questions
I don’t teach Spanish or English. Can my class still participate?
Absolutely! When you submit the details about your pet, submit them in your target language AND in Spanish or English, which are the common language of the contest.
I’m a private school/virtual/homeschool teacher. Can I still enter?
Yes! The only requirement is that only teachers can submit Pet Star contestants, but it isn’t limited to teachers within a school district. If you teach world languages and want to enter, you may!
My class wants to create a story about one of the students’ pets. Can we use this as a submission?
Nope, sorry – our Pet Stars contest is limited to invented pets created BY the classroom. This achieves two purposes: while we recognize that while many students may have beloved pets, not everyone does. This contest gives everyone a chance to feel included. Secondly, it gives you, the teacher, an activity and a way to get more language acquisition flowing in the early days of the second half of the school year .
Will we still be entered for the Garbanzo giveaway even if we don’t make the Top 10?
Yes! ALL entries, regardless of how far they get in the voting phase, will be entered to win a Garbanzo subscription.
I’ve already paid for my Garbanzo subscription this year. If I win, will I receive a refund?
No. It will be applied to next year’s subscription.
What kind of Garbanzo subscription is it?
It’s a Premium subscription, which means you’ll have access to all the audio lessons, Biblioteca, and more. Read this support desk article about what’s included in a Premium subscription here.
