Ana Maria was born in Colombia and she currently lives in the United States. She is the founder of Spanish Plus Me, an initiative to promote the introduction of the Spanish language to children through the use of songs, movement, and fun.
There are many ways to incorporate Earth Day into Spanish class. As a way to review or explore new vocabulary, even to add Global Education, and raise awareness through Spanish class.
One of the biggest challenges I faced a few years ago while doing a 30-minute Spanish class for beginners was trying to find a simple and short Spanish song for Earth Day that would allow me to introduce basic vocabulary and phrases. Despite many great options out there (beautiful videos with great messages), I couldn’t find a fit for my specific needs regarding time and amount of vocabulary included in the lyrics. I decided to compose my own song to make sure I was targeting the vocabulary I needed and that the song was simple enough for my students to sing along.
Mi Tierra is the name of the song I composed, and it is now available on my album, Short + Fun Spanish Beats. I also have created some activities to get the best out of it in the classroom, and I will share some of them with you. I hope the following ideas can help you make it a memorable and fun Earth Day celebration that raises awareness for your students.
Prior to playing the song, familiarize yourself with the lyrics and the vocabulary.
Show the students an image of our planet. If there is technology available I recommend Google Earth.
Talk about color, shapes, who and what lives on Earth, and brainstorm ideas to take care of our planet: reduce, reuse, recycle
Read aloud the lyrics of the song while emphasizing the key words. Then ask the kids to listen to the song and raise their hands when they hear words they know. Play the first verse and stop.
Review the words in the second verse and repeat the exercise. For students who can read, you may project the lyrics on the board and have them point at the words they recognize.
Colors: Usually the first vocabulary kids learn in Spanish class includes colors. Finding familiar vocabulary in a song will help the kids to feel confident about being able to understand the lyrics, singing and using additional vocabulary. Singing will help your students to practice pronunciation and retain what they have learned.
Depending on the amount of time available for the class and the age of your students, you can try the following activities:
Make circle shapes attached to popsicle sticks in green and blue, or paint your students’ palms: one blue and the other one green. Then ask them to raise up each shape or painted hand whenever they hear to the word in the song
Add blue and green colors to an Earth drawing (Check out the guide to sing “Mi Tierra” on my TPT store for pre-made coloring and cutting out activities)
TPR (Total Physical Response): Representing the words with gestures and body movements is the best way to remember the vocabulary and also making it fun for the kids.
For this song you can play around with different options to use body movements. You can choose some words to use American Sign Language (example: tierra, azul, verde, recycle), or create movements to represent some of them (animals, plants, people, take care, cities, and towns).
I usually create the movements and then teach them to the kids, but I sometimes like to give them a couple of options to choose from. They are also creative and happy to help you come up with the gestures or movements to connect with the words. For example, they might like to make lion claws or roaring faces, or imitate a monkey when singing about animals.
Pop-up activities: My students love pop-up activities, and we do them with different songs on the album, and also with this one. You can divide your class in different groups, depending on the amount of students and the amount of words you think they can identify. Assign a word to each group and make tally points to count when they pop up (raise their hand or say the word aloud, whatever you prefer) as they listen to the assigned word while you play the song.
This exercise is great to help them to attune their ear to the pronunciation of the words, and to pay attention to the words in the song, as well as making it easy to identify other words.
Thank you to our guest blogger Ana for sharing your knowledge, songs and experience with all our readers. Please make sure to stop by her website to learn all about her and Spanish Plus Me.
“Color colorcito” is a simple tag game that my kindergarten students love! In fact, they ask for it almost every class! I am still trying to understand why they love it so much, as it is just so simple. I have also used it as a brain break with my 4th and 5th grade students, and they have had the same exciting reaction. I don’t play as often with the older grade levels because we play it indoors in my classroom, where littler bodies have more space.
Before playing the game, it is important to state the rules clearly. If playing it indoors, you might want to ask your students just to walk fast instead of running. I like playing in my classroom because I have so many colorful things in the room, and it makes it exciting for them to have so many options for the colors. I also need to remind them that they need to be careful with the posters, and any art I have in the room and our classroom library. Once the game is over, I ask everyone to check the room and help to make sure everything is how it was before playing the game.
I am lucky that I see my kindergarten students in groups of 8 which makes it easier to keep things under control. That being said, I have also played with my 18 fourth graders and 21 fifth graders and so far we haven’t had any collisions yet. Fingers crossed!
How to Play The Game
There is not really that much preparation, but I like to project slides on the board with the names of the different colors in Spanish, just in case any of the students forget how to say a color.
Pick one student to be “it.” That student will have to say “Color colorcito” followed by a color in Spanish. Students walk fast around the room looking for that color to touch to be safe. The “it” student will try to tag a student who is not touching the color. Then this student becomes the new “it” and the game starts all over again.
I typically play this game for no more than 3 or 4 minutes. It’s a good, quick brain break where everyone gets to participate and move a lot!
Are you ready to try it in your classes? Let me know in the comments how it goes!
You might like this resource on Teachers Pay Teachers:
MovieTalk is a Comprehensible Input tool created by Dr. Ashley Hastings. Students get engaged listening to comprehensible language in a short video or clip. These videos are usually not longer than five minutes and are compelling to the learners. In my experience using videos with lower elementary students, videos that are not longer than 3 minutes work great.
Every time I start a MovieTalk I remind my students that I will be talking and pausing the video. As recommended by others, this video will be played silently. And once we are done with our MovieTalk their prize will be to watch the video entirely without me pausing it.
In preparation for the MovieTalk, I choose a short video, look at it, and prepare in a script in my head that I will be using with my students. I always make sure the videos provide space for repetition. I identify structures that I know I can TPR with my young students before doing the MovieTalk.
Here is an example of a video I have used with first graders. It’s called “Feliz San Valentín con Pocoyo”.
Some words that I can TPR with my students before presenting the video: mira, camina, feliz, baila, escucha, vuela, se ríe, le tira and busca.
Most of the time I write a script of what I want to say in the video – download the script for this MovieTalk HERE. (After clicking on the link, it will prompt you to make a copy). Having a script helps me identify structures and repetitions in the video, as well as some questions to PQA (Personalize Questions & Answers) while talking about the video.
I take screenshots of the movie and also use the pictures to talk about them when done with the MovieTalk. I also like putting the story together and read it later to class. Since this is meant to be used with kinder and first graders, I don’t ask for a lot of output. However I do hear some phrases and words my students produce after we listen to the MovieTalk and talk about the pictures. Click here to download the story to read to your students.
My students have been enjoying the chance to use movement cards for our brain breaks, especially my kinder students. They love seeing the different themes for special occasions. Feel free to explore all the different movement cards featured on this blog. For now, here are the ones for Valentine’s Day!
Download them here, and get ready to have fun! Read them aloud to your students, and have them do what the cards say. Movements cards are not only great for brain breaks but also a good way to introduce or reinforce vocabulary.
As far as I know, this game is only played in Colombia, but I am sure there are other variations in other parts of Latin America. I have been using this game as an energizer in my 4th and 5th grade classes. My students have really loved playing this game. I thought it would be great to share this with other teachers here.
In preparation for this game, all you need is a space where your students can sit in a circle and an object to pass around. I use a small ball made of fabric. I try not to use anything that will bounce off their hands because then it becomes a distraction for the students.
Students sit in a circle. Choose one student who will close her eyes and will be the one chanting “tingo….tango.” The children in the circle will be passing the object while she chants “tingo, tingo, tingo…” as much as possible. When the student who is chanting “tingo” says “tango,” the student who has the ball or small object must come to the middle of the circle to choose a “penalty.” I added a chart with penalties that I project up on the board in my room, so this way it is easier for my students to choose a penalty to do. I also added that the whole class says “penitencia” when the person who is saying “tingo” says “tango.” Some of the “penitencias” I use are taken from the movement cards I have previously shared in this blog. The penitencias are simple – for example, sing like a rooster, dance like ghost, or move your head like a turkey.
Once the student has completed the penalty, this same student takes the place of the person who was chanting “tingo….tango,” and the game starts all over again.
¡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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