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Friday, April 29, 2016

Spanish Syllable Song and Games

Spanish Syllable Cards
Click here for Spanish Syllable Cards

 Spanish Syllable Cards is a fun activity to engage young students as they start to learn to read and write.
I will share with you today some practical ways to engage your students or child as you teach them about Spanish syllables and sounds.
Music is a big part of my teaching program.  So I’m always looking, creating or finding songs that correlate to the subject I’m teaching. So for teaching the little ones about the sound of the Spanish vowels and how to combine them with the consonants, I came up with a familiar tune to help with that. This time the tune is to London Bridge is falling down. So for example let’s say you are teaching the vowels and you combine it with the consonant M we will have ma, me , mi, mo ,mu. So this little song is to the tune mention above and it goes like this:
La m con la a dice ma, ma,ma; ma, ma, ma, ma, ma ,ma, la m con la a dice ma, ma, ma, ma—ma—ma.                                                                                                  
La m con la e dice me, me, me; me, me, me; me, me, me, la m con la e dice me, me, me; me—me—me(And so on) Here is a short example.
 I recommend you start singing it slowly and clearly and encourage students to listen before trying to sing along. My students always try to sing along with me, but I always tell them to listen first.  I say to them: “escucha” so they know exactly what I mean by that. At first I needed to be persistent on having them listen first, but after a while they understand.
You can also use a percussion instrument to sing the song. A guitar and keyboard works well too but using a percussion instrument like a drum or rhythm sticks will work just as well! You can also create a chant instead of singing it while using an instrument.
Gather children in a circle and after teaching them the sounds of the selected syllables, play games by calling out words for students to form with the small syllable cards.

They can work in groups for this activity. The syllable picture cards are great for engaging children in finding the correct syllable to form the word to the picture that’s on the card.
Here is another activity you can engage your students with using these word and number cards.
Students can pick out the two and three syllable words and place them on the correct card. You can access these herefor FREE!
There is another activity you can use but instead of little word cards, you can use small picture cards.
Game ideas on how to use these small picture cards are included in the download.(instruction in Spanish is also included) You can access these here for FREE!
These freebies can be use alone but it was really intended to go along with the product: Spanish Syllables Cards to create more games to reinforce the learning. To purchase Spanish Syllable Cards, click here.

Your feedback and comments are welcome!
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Thank you and….                                                                                                     
 Have Fun!



Friday, April 15, 2016

Fun Ideas for Teaching Colors

Fun Ideas for Teaching Colors

Hi, thanks for stopping by! Today I’m going to share some fun ideas and a song to help young children learn the colors in Spanish!
Music is an important part in helping kids to learn; that’s why I’m always looking for a tune or song that goes with whatever subject I’m teaching. Using familiar tunes is a fun and great way to introduce any subject you are teaching. Kids will learn it faster since it’s a tune they are already familiar with. In my previous post I shared how I use a well know tune by kids to teach and reinforce the days of the weeks in Spanish while reviewing emotions in Spanish. Today I will share another well known tune by kids to teach and reinforce colors while learning a new sentence involving the subject they are learning. The tune I use for the colors is: “If you’re happy and you know it. 
My students have already learned their colors well. I’m so proud of them! So I started to introduce one way they can use the colors they have learned in Spanish in a short sentence. They are learning how to say what their favorite color is. (Mi color favorito es…) so we sit in a circle and we go over the colors and I will instruct them to listen as I point to each color and say slowly: “mi color favorito es azul, mi color favorito es rojo…and so on. After I will ask someone: “¿cuál es tu color favorito?” and of course I will help them. As usual they catch on to it so quickly! At first their pronunciation will not be perfect but don’t worry, as the activity is done over and over again they will get it right. Another reason I like incorporating music with language it’s because I noticed how it helps students with the proper pronunciation.
So the tune I use goes well for this little activity.
Here is what I do:

Have children sit in a circle. Put the color cards in the middle. Any color cards will work but if you like the ones I use shown in the picture above you can access them for Free Here J
Teacher ask: ¿Cuál es tu color favorito? 
Student respond by singing to the familiar tune of if you’re happy and you know it.
Student respond: “Mi color favorito es azul, mi color favorito es azul,
azul, azul,  azul, azul, mi color favorito es azul.
Teacher ask: ¿Cuál es  tu color favorito? 
Student respond: “ Mi color favorito es amarillo, mi color favorito es amarillo
amarillo, amarillo, mi color favorito es amarillo.
So you keep going until each child has the opportunity to say what their favorite color is. At first, help students sing the song slowly. After children are familiar with words and pronunciation, it can be sung faster. Another reason I like using this particular tune is because of the opportunity for repetition within the tune itself.
This activity/song is appropriate for ages 4 up to 9. 

Another activity we do with these little color cards is to have students point to the color you call out. You can also embrace the opportunity to introduce: “Dónde está…” (where is…)
Here are two short videos with examples:


Another activity you can do is have students match the colors with the words. They love doing this! This is the time they get to work collaboratively to find and match the word with the color. It’s great as a literacy activity!

You can access these cards and words here for Free. There is also a bonus page included!
Hope these ideas were helpful! Your comments and feedback are appreciated.
If you are looking for additional material to teach colors, you may like:
Coloring book of colors (this is perfect for younger children 2 and 3 years of age. You can access it here for Free!
For older kids 4 and up Mi Librito de Colores is appropriate. To purchase it click here.
Flash Cards Los Colores are also available by clicking here.

Click Here for song Los Colores
Click Here for song Más Colores


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Thank you and….                                                                                                      
Have Fun!

Friday, April 8, 2016

Teaching Days of the Week with Emotions in Spanish

Fun idea with Days of the Week and Emotions in Spanish!

Click here to access these FREE Days of the Week Cards

Looking for a creative way to teach or reinforce the days of the week while reviewing emotions in Spanish? I ‘m always looking for ways to reinforce what has been learned already because repetition helps students remember what has been taught.  Implementing old material with new is a good idea in order to keep students always engaged and helps them to not forget.
So for teaching the days of the week in Spanish while reinforcing emotions, I decided to use a well known tune by kids. The tune for this little activity is: “She’ll be coming round the mountain”
Click here to access Caritas
So here is what I do:

Children sit in a circle. I start singing the tune of the song she’ll be coming round the mountain using the days of the week in Spanish. I use a drum to keep a rhythmic beat. I will write the words here and the part where students get a chance to express the emotions in Spanish.  (At the end is a sample of the song so you can hear it and have a better idea)

So here go the words:

Teacher sings: Hoy es domingo, domingo, domingo, ¿cómo estás?

Student responds: ¡Estoy feliz! (Or they can choose any emotion they want. I’m just choosing one as an example)

Teacher sings: Hoy es domingo, domingo, domingo, ¿cómo estás?

Student responds: ¡Estoy feliz!

Teacher sings: Hoy es domingo, domingo, domingos, hoy es domingo, domingo, domingo, hoy es domingo, domingo, domingo, ¿cómo estás? 

Student responds: ¡Estoy feliz!

*****************************************                                                                                                                             
Teacher sings: Hoy es lunes, lunes, lunes, ¿cómo estás?

Student responds: Estoy triste

Teacher sings: Hoy es lunes, lunes, lunes, ¿cómo estás?

Student responds: Estoy triste

Teacher sings: Hoy es lunes, lunes, lunes,  hoy es lunes, lunes, lunes,   hoy es lunes, lunes, lunes, ¿cómo estás?

Student responds: Estoy triste

And so on using all the days of the week and they can use different emotions. For each day of the week I ask a different student. Go around the circle until all the students have gotten a chance to participate. Here is a short sample of what I just explained)

My students really enjoy this little activity. For some reason they love saying they are “enojado” or “enojada”

The different emotions students can use and can be found in my free product called caritas are:
feliz, triste, enojado(a) aburrido (a) asustado (a) sorprendido (a) cansado (a)

You can have the little emotion faces (caritas) on the floor in the middle of the circle and have each student pick up the one that represent the emotion they choose. Encourage students to show facial expression with each emotion! They so love it!

I hope you find this idea helpful. Your comments are welcome!

You can access the free emotion faces (caritas) here.

You can access the Free days of the week cards in Spanish by clicking here.
 
Click here to purchase the days of the week song in Spanish.
You can also hear a sample of the song by clicking  here.

Thanks for visiting!

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Thank you and….                                                                                                   
  Have Fun






Friday, April 1, 2016

Musical Fun Ideas with Numbers

Musical Fun Ideas with Number Mats

Number mats are great for teaching, practicing and reinforcing numbers.
After introducing the numbers to students, these games will serve for practice and reinforcement purposes.
Here are a few fun ideas you can use.
·         Place number mats on the floor in random order. (There should be the same amount of mats as children). Have lively music at hand to play while children walk around the mats. Another option is to use a percussion instrument with a rhythmic beat.


·       Once the music stops, each student should step on a mat. Ask each student what number they are stepping on. Encourage them to say the number they are stepping on in Spanish. Example: “¿qué número estás pisando? student answer: “cuatro”. (or whichever the number is)
Another way to do this game is to sing or chant a little tune to “¿qué número estás pisando?” and have student respond by saying: "estoy pisando cuatro". I created a little tune and I was trying to share it here but for some reason I'm unable to do so. Once I figure it out I will upload it so you can hear how it goes so you can use with your students if you wish. When singing or chanting the little tune you can use a percussion instrument such as a drum, tambourine, maracas or claves. Ok so here is the little tune I created called: "¿qué número estás pisando?"
·         Have several mats of the same number on the floor along with the other numbers. So for example you could have three or four mats with the number 3. Explain to students that at the specified clue, everyone should go forward to find and step on the number 3. I usually give my instructions in Spanish even though I am teaching children with no previous background in the language. I speak to them in Spanish and I must say that I’m glad I do because it creates an immersion experience for them and I also realize that it is the best way to actually learn, at lease for young children. It has also proven to me that children more often than not intuitively understand what I am saying.
So here is how this game goes: you will need a drum and a triangle.
Tell students when they hear the drum they will start walking around the numbers. When they hear the triangle they will find the number 3 and step on it. The other students that did not find it fast enough comes back to the initial position. The game can be done several times. As a variation, you can decide to omit the triangle and use only the drum and instead of using the triangle as a clue, you could just say: “Busca y pisa el número 3”. 

·         A variation to game number one is to ask general questions for the children to respond. Example you can ask: “¿quién está pisando el número 5?” and so on. Students respond by saying who is it.
It is recommended that children take off their shoes while playing the mat games. This will prolong the life of the mats. Stepping on them with shoes on will put more ware and tear on the mats. It also helps to keep them clean.

Another fun way to use the number mats is to have children sit on them when its circle time. I often have problem with children been too close to each other which creates distractions and complaints. Sometimes they want to move from one location to another, and so on. Arranging the number mats on the floor helps to give each child their space and it’s a good way to continue to reinforce the numbers. You can say something like: “Sara, siéntate en el número 2 and so on…..
I got these number mats at Lakeshore teacher’s store, but you can also make you own number mats using yoga mats and number stencils.
Number Flash Cards in Spanish
If you are looking for number flash cards you can check out the ones above here.
Thanks for stopping by. 
Hope these ideas were helpful. Your comments and feedback are appreciated. Stay tuned for more ideas on Music and Spanish Fun!
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Thank you and….                                                                                                     
 Have Fun!