EARTH DAY RESOURCES FOR ELEMENTARY SPANISH

EARTH DAY RESOURCES FOR ELEMENTARY SPANISH

Earth Day is around the corner and what a great opportunity to connect it to Spanish. Here are a few resources I have found, and I think are great for elementary school.
 

Songs


Visit Rockalingua to download the free resources that go along with this video.
 
 
 
 

 

 

Short Clip

 

 

Online Games

Online Free Spanish has tons of great activities to celebrate Earth Day in Spanish class, from coloring pages, matching games to word search puzzles. Yes, they are online! No need to print!
 

Google Earth

Google Earth is one of my favorite resources to use for taking virtual trips in class. How about visiting some protected areas in Spanish speaking countries? I highly recommend you visit the Cocora Valley and Tayrona National Park in Colombia.
 
Have a fun Día de la Tierra celebration!
Ideas For Teaching  The “Los Pollitos Dicen” Song

Ideas For Teaching The “Los Pollitos Dicen” Song

“Los Pollitos” is one of those traditional songs that everyone who grew up in a Spanish speaking country knows from childhood. It’s catchy, cute, and fun so I make sure to teach it every year to my Kindergarten students. I am sharing some ideas that I use while teaching this song.

Use TPR while teaching the song. I like using American sign language, or I sometimes create the gestures along with my students. Click on the links below to see some of the signs for the song:

dicen  pio, pio, pio
cuando tienen hambre,
cuando tiene frio. 
el maiz y  el trigo
y les presta abrigo (I use love /hug for this one).
Bajo sus dos alas, (I point at the arms and bend them like wings),
Accurrucaditos, (again use sign for love or hug)
Hasta el otro día, (ASL fornext/ day“)

Make props to use while singing the song. Download them HERE!

After singing the song, your students can color a simple page related to the song.

I’ve had the chance in previous schools to have real chicks in the classroom and sing the song to them. We don’t have real pollitos now, but I still have fun teaching this song. 

Watch a time-lapse video of little chicks hatching

There are different versions of the song on YouTube. Choose the one you like or think works best for your classes.

Have fun singing!
Carolina

You might like these resources on Teachers Pay Teachers:
Teaching Days of the Week in Spanish

Teaching Days of the Week in Spanish

This is game that works wonders with preschool students and, in my experience, is one of their favorites. I have never had a class that fails to embrace this game. In fact, because there is such demand for it, the game presents a great opportunity to learn “otra vez.” Once students start saying (or pleading!) “again,”  just respond by asking them “¿otra vez?” I even use the song to teach “more” in sign language. This game is also great for students to learn how to be patient as waiting for the last person is not always something that kindergarteners and first graders like to do. This game doesn’t require any preparation other than that you might want to teach this song before playing the game.

How to play the game:

Have your students form a circle while standing. Choose a student to start first. To choose students impartially, I like using chants similar to “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” in Spanish. I use “De tin marín, de do pingüe, cúcara mácara títere fue, uno, dos y tres.” Please share in the comments if you have any other ones you use!

After deciding on the student who will go first, we start singing the song for the days of the week while pointing at the students in the order of the circle. We sing, “lunes, martes, miércoles, jueves, viernes, sábado, domingo, siéntate.” This is an elimination game. Whoever is after “domingo,” we will say “siéntate” and that student has to sit. We continue the song until two people are left standing in the circle. We continue singing, and the last person standing wins the game. We also sing using different voices that vary according to speed and pitch (fast, slow, high, low).  I hope your students have fun playing this game just as mine do!

Have fun!
You might also like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers:
   

 

CUMBIA IN ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASS

CUMBIA IN ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASS

As a Spanish teacher, I like to look for opportunities to integrate culture into my curriculum. Sometimes this happens unintentionally, but I often have to look for opportunities to make it happen. I have found that music is a great way to bring some culture into my classes. This time I am sharing  a song with you that is part of my music collection which is available on iTunes. Before you start dancing with your students you might want to share with them that cumbia is a traditional music that has its own dance and originated on the Caribbean Coast of Colombia.  Cumbia itself has influenced other rhythms in Latin America. As a proud Colombian whose both parents were born on the Colombian Caribbean Coast, I grew up listening to cumbia and vallenato 24-7, so I have a special love for it.

What a great opportunity to pull out a map and locate Colombia. You can also show a clip of the Colombian cumbia dancers to your students. The song in the following clip is called “El Pescador” and is sung by Colombian singer “Totó la Momposina.”

Ready to try some cumbia in your class? This cumbia is perfect for teaching parts of the body.

Have fun dancing!
Carolina
You might like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers
   

 

Seasons and Weather Songs for Elementary Spanish

Seasons and Weather Songs for Elementary Spanish

This is a collection of songs that can be used with different grade levels. They include a variety of vocabulary to express weather in Spanish, so I recommend you listen to them all and  pick the one that fits your curriculum or lesson the most. Here are my favorite seasons and weather songs for elementary Spanish from YouTube.

1. Las estaciones
2. ¿Cómo está el día?
3. Las estaciones y el clima
4. La canción del tiempo
5. La canción de los climas
6. Lluvia vete ya
7. Qué llueva
8. Somos como las flores
9. Copo de nieve
 10. Sol, solecito
Have fun singing in Spanish!
Carolina
You might like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers: