Halloween is an exciting time in elementary school. There is always so much vocabulary that could be explored around it: colors, shapes, likes, costumes and so on. You don’t have to go anywhere else to find great songs for your class. Below I am sharing five of my favorite ones!
El Día de los Muertos, also known as El Día de los Difuntos or Todos Santos in other places in Latin America is celebrated in different ways all throughout the continent. In Guatemala, the Day of the Dead is celebrated on November 1st. People around the country gather in cemeteries to celebrate and remember their loved ones who are not here anymore. One of the most unique celebrations takes place in the Sumpango, Sacatepéquez where a giant kite festival is held. It’s believed that the kites will fly to communicate with the spirits of their loved ones. Preparations for this celebration start months before the celebration. Take a look at these two clips to learn about this beautiful tradition!
Have your students decorate barriletes and share about El Día de los Muertos in Guatemala in your class. Download the template here!
I partnered with Mundo de Pepita to share activities for the first day of school in Spanish class.These is a collection of what I shared on my blog. Make sure to click on every picture and read all the different activities.
iFLT (The International Forum on Language Teaching) was a mind changing conference for me. I have always been interested in the use of CI (Comprehensible Input) and TPRS in Spanish class. I had actually never attended a formal training on this topic before. I had even heard from other teachers that going to iFTL was a waste of money and time and that it was best to look for free videos and train myself that way. In fact, that’s what I have been doing all this time, but after attending iFLT I realized that I still had a long way to go and was far from perfection.
At the conference, I got to see the use of CI and TPRS firsthand in a live demo in an elementary classroom and even sneak a photo op with Dr. Stephen Krashen during “selfie time.”
Since I am a visual learner, it was best for me to spend time in the language labs. I visited Annabelle Allen and spent a lot of time watching Jason Fritze in action. After seeing both of them in action, I felt inspired and got so many ideas to put into practice in the new school year.
Jason Fritze in action during iFLT 2016
I used the word “challenge” in the title of this post because being able to use TPRS and CI in the classroom is not that an easy task. It requires a lot of planning, willingness to fail, humor, patience, stand up comedy skills and a lot of physical activity. Nothing that a teacher with passion lacks, but something that still requires repetition and practice to get closer to perfection.
My question for your now is: Are you willing to join the CI and TPRS challenge? If your answer is yes and you are feeling ready to start the journey, then I recommend that you visit the links below:
Running a summer program in Spanish? Don’t worry! Mundo de Pepita and I have you covered. Here we’re sharing some activities that can help you enrich your summer program.
¡Hola! I am Carolina, a Colombian elementary Spanish teacher based in Boston, MA. Fun for Spanish Teachers is the result of my passion for teaching Spanish to children and my desire to inspire collaboration and creativity in a vibrant teaching and learning community. It’s the perfect stop if you are looking for songs, games, teaching tips, stories, and fun for your classes.
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