{Affiliate links used.} I am closing out the school year with my Spanish lessons and wanted a way to review the vocabulary we have been working on. I came across on Pinterest a post about Kaboom! It was created for elementary classrooms, but I thought it would be perfect for language learners also! So here is how you go about it: First of all you will need... Jumbo Craft Sticks Sharpie Markers Cups (Not see through) Since I work with a lot of different levels of students I had several categories of vocabulary I wanted to use like house items, the alphabet, clothes, opposites, etc. I decided to color-code the sticks on one end. This helps with two things. Kids will know how to put them in the cup with the colored part sticking out. This allows me to select which sets of vocabulary to use with certain sets of students. For example, I know that the orange sticks are emotions and the pink sticks are foods. {See the final set of pictures for the list I made for myself.} After you color the tips, you write one word towards the other end of the stick. I tend to use about 15 sticks for a vocabulary-themed set. Three of those sticks will have the word "Caramba" written on them. The rest will have vocabulary words you want kids to review. To play the game you put one set (or maybe two or three if you have more advanced students) in a cup with the colored tips up. Students take turns pulling a stick out of the cup and giving the translation of the word. They keep the stick if they can say what it means in English. Otherwise, they put it back in the cup if they don't know. If they pull a "Caramba" stick they have to put back ALL their sticks! I time the game for about three minutes. The student with the most sticks at the end wins! This is a fun way to review vocabulary which at times can be tedious!
I have a couple of fun tumbler quilts to share with you!! If I remember right, they were kits from the local quilt shop. Cut and ready to sew together, which is great because all the fabrics go together so well!
This post is part of a series, 31 Days of Spanish Books for Kids. Please click HERE for the complete list of posts. {Each of these posts contain affiliate links. Thanks for supporting this blog!} I live in Alaska, and my students are extremely familiar with moose. Occasionally we have them even strolling down our street! So El Alce que Tenía Sed gives us an opportunity to talk about a very familiar animal with my students, but what I really love about this book is the simple, clear language and the humor. Based on a Native American tale, the story line is really about selfishness and how others react to our self-centered nature. The moose keeps drinking ALL the water in the river even though several of the animals (fish, a muskrat, a beaver) warn him that he is hurting them by taking the water that all should share. Finally, a fly appears on the scene to convince the moose of the error of his ways. This book would be a great avenue to introduce the tener expressions (tener calor, sed, hambre, etc.) to younger kids as "tener sed" is used repeatedly. Another language teaching point that can be pulled out of the book are various verbs: beber, detener, escuchar, gritar, zumbar. And because of the controlled vocabulary in the book, this is a great story for relatively new readers in Spanish!
{Affiliate links used.} I am closing out the school year with my Spanish lessons and wanted a way to review the vocabulary we have been working on. I came across on Pinterest a post about Kaboom! It was created for elementary classrooms, but I thought it would be perfect for language learners also! So here is how you go about it: First of all you will need... Jumbo Craft Sticks Sharpie Markers Cups (Not see through) Since I work with a lot of different levels of students I had several categories of vocabulary I wanted to use like house items, the alphabet, clothes, opposites, etc. I decided to color-code the sticks on one end. This helps with two things. Kids will know how to put them in the cup with the colored part sticking out. This allows me to select which sets of vocabulary to use with certain sets of students. For example, I know that the orange sticks are emotions and the pink sticks are foods. {See the final set of pictures for the list I made for myself.} After you color the tips, you write one word towards the other end of the stick. I tend to use about 15 sticks for a vocabulary-themed set. Three of those sticks will have the word "Caramba" written on them. The rest will have vocabulary words you want kids to review. To play the game you put one set (or maybe two or three if you have more advanced students) in a cup with the colored tips up. Students take turns pulling a stick out of the cup and giving the translation of the word. They keep the stick if they can say what it means in English. Otherwise, they put it back in the cup if they don't know. If they pull a "Caramba" stick they have to put back ALL their sticks! I time the game for about three minutes. The student with the most sticks at the end wins! This is a fun way to review vocabulary which at times can be tedious!
Take yourself back to your childhood with these homemade oatmeal creme pies! These soft and chewy oatmeal sandwich cookies taste just like the Little Debbie's original!
I was at the thrift store and picked up some records...you remember those..some of you might not know what they even are. Well, I'm always looking for something new and cool to do. What to do with these records. I have never been into Salvador Dali...just can't figure his little mind out...but who could. But I've seen other use clay and sculpt out the Salvador Dali clocks with their students. I don't have a kiln so what could I do. Then I thought, I could melt a record and shape it when it's warm. This is what I came up with. I took a record and heated the oven to about 200 degrees. I put a pot on a baking sheet and then put the record on it. As it melted I would take it out, play around with shaping it...if it didn't work out just put it back in the oven and remelt it. Then I used acrylic paint
{Affiliate links used.} Animals and movement. What could be better for young children? I adore many of Eric Carle's books and have ...
{Affiliate links used.} Se Venden Gorras is a classic book that you can use to reinforce colors, actions, and prepositions in Spanish. Let's take a quick look at what you can do with this book when teaching Spanish... A fun activity to do with this book is TPR (Total Physical Response). There are several actions within the story that you can ask your students to perform through giving commands in Spanish. Here is a list of the actions you can use... Dormirse, despertarse, tocarse la cabeza, buscar a la derecha (a la izquierda), buscar a espaldas, levantar la vista, señalar con el dedo, apretar los puños, dar puntapiés, quitarse la gorra, tirarla al suelo, arrodillarse With these actions, you can also play Simon says. Remember the old game, Barrel of Monkeys? This would be a great time to play that game and practice counting in Spanish. This is a great printable you can do with your students. Give them instructions in Spanish on how many blue caps, red caps, etc. they need. Then also tell them in Spanish the order of the caps (you can make up a new order that's different from the book) that go on the peddler's head. Here are some more printables that are similar in which you can do a sequencing activity in Spanish. Here are some free printables for the book. Yes, they are in English, but be creative and think of ways you could use them in Spanish. Here's such a cool idea...have your students recreate the story with actual manipulatives! This idea comes from Magical Movement Company. You can find it here. CLICK HERE for more book activities.
Knit a stunning blanket designed by Debbie Bliss
Our admiration for the musician is continuing to grow as fashion designers look to her as muse once more
Each semester I teach one unit study to my elementary-age students. It is a time to branch out and learn about the world around them and to increase their vocabulary. So here's a look at all the unit studies I currently have on the site. They include vocabulary lists, teaching ideas, book suggestions, and many of them have free printables. Oceans- I am planning on doing this one in the spring. I can't wait! Here is also a post on ocean-themed children's books in Spanish. Plants-I like to do this unit in the spring or summer. It includes two free printables. Solar System-I just finished teaching this unit to my students, and it has been one of my favorites! Rainforest-With this one, you can incorporate some geography of South America. Polar Animals-Since I live in Alaska, this unit study was near and dear to my heart. Learn about the Arctic and Antarctic animals. If you want to incorporate prepositions into this unit, check out this penguin activity. Pumpkins-We measured pumpkins and talked about buoyancy with this unit. A great one for the fall. This is a great activity to do during this unit. Pirates-Argh! Insects-Great for the spring and summer. You can also incorporate this ladybug unit into it. Are you looking for more teaching ideas? See the whole series here.
Vandaag nemen we een kijkje bij Debbie binnen. Haar interieur is net even anders en naar de foto's op de muur blijf je kijken!
Vandaag nemen we een kijkje bij Debbie binnen. Haar interieur is net even anders en naar de foto's op de muur blijf je kijken!
{Affiliate links used. Thanks for supporting this blog!} I love all things pumpkin! This fall I will be doing a pumpkin unit in Spanish with my younger elementary students. Here are the resources that I have pulled together to use... Vocabulary La calabaza-pumpkin El pedúnculo-stem El zarcillo-tendril La cáscara-shell, peel, skin La pulpa-pulp, flesh Las semillas-seeds La placenta-membrane (the stringy stuff that surrounds the seeds) La flor-flower El retoño-sprout La planta-plant Las rayas-stripes (lines on the pumpkin shell) Todo Sobre Las Calabazas {It includes vocabulary posters, parts of a pumpkin and life cycle worksheets, and some science investigation sheets. I also used the vocabulary cards provided to make a Go Fish and Memory game. This unit is really the backbone of my lessons.} Artificial Mini Pumpkins {These can be used for counting and reviewing parts of a pumpkin. They can also be hidden around a room. The teacher gives instructions in Spanish for the students to find the pumpkins. Great review for prepositions!} Pumpkin Playdough {My students will be required to make the parts of a pumpkin as I call them out in Spanish.} Teaching Ordinal Numbers {When you are teaching life cycles it is a great time to teach the ordinal numbers like primero, segundo, tercero, etc.}. For my pumpkin unit I have expanded it "from seed to pie". We go through ten steps from the time you plant the seed until you eat the pie. Here is the simple list we will use for each ordinal number: Primero-la semilla seed Segundo-el retoño sprout Tercero-la planta plant Cuarto-la flor flower Quinto-la calabaza verde green pumpkin Sexto-la calabaza madura ripe/mature pumpkin Séptimo-cocinar la calabaza to cook the pumpkin Octavo-mezclar los ingredients to mix the ingredients Noveno-cocinar el pastel de calabaza to cook the pie Décimo-comer el pastel de calabaza to eat the pie Related Books El círculo de las calabazas Calabazas {Longer book...for students with more Spanish background} El Otono {Not about pumpkins, but everything to do with fall} Calabaza, Calabaza Also see this post about how to incorporate the teaching of emotions during a pumpkin unit. Here is a drawing game...you can play this game in small groups. The first person to complete all the parts of his or her pumpkin wins. You only need paper and pencil for each student, two dice and this printout... {By the way, each student starts the game by drawing a pumpkin shape on his/her paper before rolling the dice for the first time.} Draw a Pumpkin Printable Here is a science page you can use to investigate several pumpkins. All in Spanish!! You will need three different-sized pumpkins to do this activity. A great way to review numbers, body parts, and a few pumpkin parts!!!
This past year I have been using Veinte Mundos with one of my advanced students to improve his Spanish listening and writing skills. This online magazine is perfect for students to increase their skills and learn more about the cultures that speak Spanish. Looking through the library of articles you can see that there are all sorts of topics to choose from. Here are some that I have used in the past that are good... Dulce de Leche-The delicious caramel of Latin America Quitapenas-Worry dolls El Guarani en Paraguay-The native tongue of Paraguay Silbo Gomero-A language of the Canary Islands that consists of whistles La Selva Peruana La Papa Each article (either categorized as intermediate or advanced) can be listened to as your students read it on the screen. Within the article students can highlight a word and click it to see a definition. Besides the article there are tabs like the "lenguaje" tab that goes over grammar points, vocabulary, and has comprehension questions. Many articles have videos (under the "multimedia" and "viaja" tabs) to watch related to the article. I created a worksheet to be used with any of the articles on the site. It is a place for students to record new vocabulary, color in a map of the country or countries in the article, and then write a summary of what they learned. Veinte Mundos Worksheet This site is such an awesome way to bring Hispanic culture to you high school students in the target language! Not to be missed!
{Affiliate links used.} This summer I will be hosting a Spanish camp where we will focus a bit more on geography and the flags of the Spanish-speaking countries. I have been coming up with activities (games and crafts) to focus on the flags. (You can see more ideas here.) I recently came across a game called Flipping Flags in which you flip over cards with three flags on them. Those playing keep turning over cards on the table until they see a match. As soon as they do, they call out the name of the country. It is fast-paced and looked fun. The only problem was that it contained all the flags from around the world. I only wanted to focus on the 21 Spanish-speaking countries. I had recently bought a thematic unit on Spanish-speaking countries from The Enlightened Elephant (You can see it here.). I printed out the flags at a reduced size. They needed to be small enough to fit three of them on one 4 inch by 3 inch card. I printed out about 10 copies of each flag so that I could make a ton of cards. I then put three different flags on each card and then laminated them. You don't have to worry about which three to put on a card just make sure that they are different. I ended up with about 60 cards give or take which will allow me to split up the cards and have two games going with two different small groups (2-5 players would work). Here's how you play: Give each player an equal amount of cards. Players don't look at the cards. Instead, they place the stack face down in front of them. One player announces "Volteemos" and everyone flips over a card from their stack. If there is a match, then the first player to call out the country with matching flags gets those two cards. If there is no match then leave the flipped cards on the table and keep playing by calling out "Volteemos" and flipping over cards until a match is seen. It can then be called out, but remember, the player can only pick up the two cards that he/she calls and that match. All the rest of the cards are left on the table. You can set a timer and the player with the most cards at the end wins. This is a great way to get kids looking at the flags which in turn will help them recognize the flags later on. Have fun!
{Affiliate Links Used.} Whenever I can use a story or a children's book to help my students learn it is so much more enjoyable. There is something about a story that sucks kids in and once you have their attention you can teach them more than through straight memorization or lecture. Let's take a look at a great book about a farming couple who grow a giant turnip. How will they ever be able to get the huge veggie out of the ground? El Nabo Gigante is a delightful tale of problem-solving and a group of farm animals. First of all, there is a plethora of vocabulary to teach your students...lists of animals and veggies. Some of the colors are touched on in the story which can be a springboard for reviewing the colors with beginners. Also, three of the four seasons are mentioned which means you can review and/or teach those words. Another opportunity with this book is to teach the parts of plants. Please see my post on the plant unit I use with my students. Another great aspect of this book is that there are tons of words with the letters c and g. I take time to focus on these two sounds with my students that are learning to read Spanish. You can do this one of two ways...First, of all I create cards with some of the words from the book. {See the list below if you would like to make your own cards.} Then I either teach my students the phonetic rules for c and g or I read off the cards and see if they can come up with the rules. In case you need a refresher, here are the rules. The letter "c" makes the "s" sound when it is followed by "e" or "i". It makes the "k" sound when it is followed by "a", "o", or "u". The letter "g" make an "h" sound when followed by "e" or "i". It makes the hard "g" sound (like in the word "gorilla") when followed by the other vowels. Here is a list of words from the book you can put on cards for your students to practice reading: "C" words: cama, crecer, arrancar, cintura, campesino, torcida, canarios, cocina, encima, cinco, ratoncito, cuello, cerditos, vaca, cabeza "G" words: jugosa, gansos, agujero, gigante, gallinas, gatos, guisantes Here is a drawing activity: At the beginning of the story you will notice that there are several animals that are described. For example: seis canarios amarillos, cinco gansos blancos, cuatro gallinas pintas, tres gatos negros, dos cerditos barrigudos, and una enorme vaca Using this vocabulary, give your students instructions on what to draw, but mix up the vocabulary. So for example, say "tres cerditos amarillos" or "cinco vacas pintas" and see if they can draw them correctly. You can also work with ordinal numbers with this story. On this page (just below) you can discuss in Spanish who is first, second, and so on. Here is a great story sequencing activity (you would just need to write the cards in Spanish instead.) to go along with ordinal numbers. And finally, you can always do a cooking project after reading this book. Make a stew with the vegetables mentioned in the book! If you would like to read about more book activities in Spanish, visit here.
{Affiliate links used.} Are you getting geared up for fall yet? I recently came across a children's book in Spanish that would be great for the fall or the month of October. I actually read it to some of my students this summer. They adored it! Murciélagos en la Biblioteca is a cute story about bats. For me, the words "bats" and "cute" don't normally go together, but the story line and the illustrations are just so precious that I couldn't help but love this book. One night a whole group of bats find that a window in the library is open. They fly in and spend a night of reading. The book has been translated from English in such a way that it is still written in rhyme which adds more fun to the reading of the story. Brian Lies has written other bat books in the series, but unfortunately I don't see them available in Spanish. Maybe in the future... Here are some other great books for the month of October... Chumba la Cachumba- This is a great book to teach the concept of telling time in Spanish to young children. The illustrations are humorous and the words come from a traditional Hispanic song. Here is Luis Pescetti singing the song with a group of kids in Mexico. Así me siento yo is a great book for teaching emotions. After reading the book we do pumpkin faces based on the emotions we read about. Here is the post with more information and a FREE printable. Another list of books for the fall. A pumpkin unit in Spanish for October contains a vocabulary list, free printable, and children's books suggestions. So what are you doing this October with your Spanish students? I would love to hear your ideas!
