ABC en Español is a website created by Lauren Peacock, a Spanish teacher who writes her own songs and makes her own videos that go along with her songs. She has a great collection of resources for teachers to use with their students. To learn more about her teaching resources, visit www.abcenespanol.net.
I am a Spanish teacher who travels to different classrooms. I carry a lot in my bags, and it can be a pain at times. This is when having a set of flashcards can be really handy, instead of lugging tons of heavy materials around! Plus, my students really enjoy playing games like the ones you will find below.
The Flyswatter
Place different flashcards on a table or the floor. Describe one of the flashcards. For example, It’s a big animal, its colors are black and white and it says “moo”. After the description, have one of your students tap or slap the right card using a fly swatter.
What’s missing?
Place 3 to 5 flashcards on a table or on the floor. Look at them with your students and name each of them. Have one of your students close his/her eyes while you hide one of the cards. Have your student open his/her eyes to guess the name of the card that is missing.
The jumping game
Place a line of flashcards on a table or the floor. Call out some of the vocabulary placed on the line and have one of your students jump next to the correct card.
Place a flashcard in a box and have a volunteer guess the name of the card in the box. You can give your child some cues about the card.
Little translator
Show one side of the card and have your students give you the word in the other language.
Storytellers
Arrange a set of flashcards in a pile. Take the first several flashcards and create a sentence. Have your students take another flashcard to continue with the story. Continue with the same procedure until all the flashcards in the pile are gone.
Since in many of my classes my students read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, and also to support the butterfly unit they explore in their homerooms, I came up with an adapted version which I love calling “la versión criolla” of Eric Carle’s story. This oruga decides to take a trip around Latin America and tries different traditional dishes. I used a picture of a caterpillar, a big colorful map, and pictures of the different traditional dishes and places where they originate that la oruga visited. Children had fun learning about the different dishes, and it was also an opportunity to learn about geography and the butterfly life cycle in Spanish!
La Oruga Comelona
En un día en el que hace sol, la oruga sale de su huevo para cantar una canción:
“Tengo hambre, tengo hambre, debo crecer muy grande. Mis maletas debo empacar y por Latinoamérica me voy a viajar”
El lunes comió en Colombia un sancocho que la dejó como un ocho.
El martes fue a México, comió un pozole y luego se durmió sobre unas flores.
El miércoles fue a la República Dominicana, comió mofongo y se quedó dormida sobre un hongo.
El jueves fue a Cuba, comió tostones y se quedó dormida sobre un par de cajones.
El viernes se fue a Argentina, se comió unos alfajores que después le dieron dolores.
El sábado fue a Perú y comió ceviche como loca que otra oruga la confundió con una foca.
El domingo fue a Ecuador y sintió que comer una hoja sería mejor.
Después de tanto viajar, a su casa en Colombia tenía que regresar. Había ganado tanto peso que ya no cabía en la hoja de su árbol de cerezo.
¡Upa, upa, es hora de construir una pupa! Y después de tanta fiesta en su nueva casa decidió tomar unalarga siesta.
En la mañana, junto al sol, de la pupa una linda mariposa salió.
I always love bringing literature to support my lessons during the middle of a unit or to end a unit. I have found it difficult to find books that are well written in English and Spanish. Sometimes the translations are not very relevant to the original text in Spanish which makes it lose flavor when reading in class. These books are well written in both languages and the author, Adriana Pacheco, wrote both the Spanish and English versions.
The stories in each book are simple and easy to understand. The colorful illustrations represent accurately what is being expressed in the text and place the readers in the settings of the story. Many of the characters make multiple appearances in various stories, helping readers become more familiar with them, and many of the situations are very relevant to the day to day life of young learners. Each book includes a CD, and these are perfect to support listening skills in Spanish and English. What’s best, the speakers in the CD’s are native with very clear pronunciation! In each CD you will find the stories read in Spanish and English with time for the children to read along with the speaker. Even though these books are bilingual, the languages are not mixed together in sentences, a major bonus that is too often ignored by teachers and curriculum developers who think that a child needs immediate translation, forgetting that a young language learner’s mind is very different than their own! I love the idea of having bilingual books with audio because it is a tool that children who are learning or exploring the language can take home to invite their parents into their process of learning a new language.
2. Share the love with other friends! Let them know about Fun for Spanish Teachers andHeritage Language Booksand encourage them to join as fans of each of our sites. 3. Stay tuned and check back often! The winner will be announced on July 21st, 2012. You will have 24 hours to contact me to claim your prize.
4. The book will be sent as soon as you contact me with delivery details.
5. Enjoy reading and exploring the wonderful world of language learning!
This is a fun and short game to keep your class moving. I like using tape to divide the area and also pictures to clearly mark “tierra” (land) and “mar” (sea). Have the class line up on one side and have them jump to where you say. If the child goes to the place you didn’t name, then he/she is out of the game. If the game gets long, I use a dice to end the game (with simple numbers instead of dots). Simply role the dice and have the children jump the number of times shown on the dice. If they land on “mar,” they are all out, and if they land on “tierra,” we keep rolling the dice until they land on “mar” which will mean the game has ended.
¡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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