“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:
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.
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!
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.
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.
This is a fun song that will get everyone in your class moving. For this activity you will need a paper or puppet bunny. Place it in a bag or box, and have your students guess the name of the animal that could be inside. Once you introduce the bunny, tell the children that you have a “conejito
blanco,” and invite everyone to jump like the bunny. You also will need to pre-make some carrots (using felt or paper) to feed the bunny. Give one carrot to each child in class. Tell your students that the bunny is hungry and that they will need to feed it with their carrots. Introduce each line in the song, and start singing with everyone.
One more idea is to have each student decorate a conejito finger puppet. Click HERE to download the template. Students should cut out the shape and the circles to place on their fingers.
Last, but not least, use this activity to review or introduce colors. Print and cut out each color bunny. Give them to your students. Instead of singing “el conejito blanco,”you can sing “el conejito azul,” replacing “blanco” with different colors. The students who have that color will jump around the room. Click HERE to download the templates.
You can close this activity by reading the books suggested below:
¡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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