I have been a fan of Rockalingua since it started. This small company is run by Cesar Chinchilla, a talented elementary Spanish teacher based in California.
I have firsthand experience using the songs in my classes, and they truly engage my students. I was pleased to learn that Rockalingua released a DVD that includes 13 fun songs. This DVD has colorful and live animations that students love. The songs are well paced and allow space for repetition in class. Some of the tracks even include a karaoke version!
I have used this DVD as a warm up in my classes or as a way to support my units. This DVD has become my students’ favorite, and many of them ask for it every class.
Rockalingua has a great collection of songs and videos in their online store. You can purchase the songs and videos as you develop your lessons or get everything with a yearly membership.
Giveaway Time!
I am lucky enough to own my very own Rockalingua DVD. I would love one of my readers to own a copy too! To participate, enter below. Winners will be announced on Monday, September 29th, 2014. World wide participants are welcome! ¡Buena suerte!
It doesn’t matter if it’s the first or the 20th year teaching, the feeling of the butterflies in the stomach always comes back on the first day of school, and I had mine this week!
Every year I have new students so I put together a book or a powerpoint. This year I decided to go with a Prezi presentation – I used the free version. I included pictures of my family and Colombia and shared them with my students. I used this with my second and third grade classes. At the end of my presentation we played a game called “Falso o Cierto,” and it was basically questions about my presentation. I asked questions such as ¿Es tu maestra de español de Costa Rica?, ¿En la familia de tu maestra de español hay 5 personas? and the children had to answer if it was false or true. They seemed to enjoy playing this game. Many of them participated, and the new ones got to learn something about me.
After the game we played “pasa la bola,” and students had to answer, using full sentences, when asked ¿Cómo estas? and also ¿Cómo te llamas?
They needed a little bit of movement, we reviewed colors and the shared about their favorite color before playing the “color, colorcito ” game.
(image taken from the Boston Children’s museum website)
It was time to settle down and talk about the rules in class. Toward the end of last school year, I started using “Whole Brain Teaching“in my class. I had great results, so I decided to implement it from the outset of this school year.
We went over the first 5 classroom rules and practiced them a lot!
At the end of class, I used an oral “exit ticket” about the rules and then they went to line up to go back to their classrooms.
It was a simple lesson, but it seemed to be a good fit to start the new school year. If you were wondering if this all happened in Spanish, yes, it did! Modeling a lot, using TPR, and tons of visuals help! It was a 45 minute period too!
Conversaciones de maestros en nuestra página de Facebook
Fun for Spanish Teachers asked the following question based on an article published by Education World.
“Should Teachers Assign Target-Language Names?”
Joe: I teach approximately 300 students and try to make positive contact with every child and her/his family every year. I cannot imagine trying to remember every child’s given name AND target language name.
Erin: I agree with Joe. I teach a large number of students so I don’t give them Spanish names. I know they would live it though. unsure emoticon
Danyell : I have over 500 and I don’t give them target language names either.
Jeffrey: Same here. I teach 700 kids a week.
Sarah: Sometimes I will call a student using Spanish pronunciation or add “-ito” or “ita” like Briannita for a girl name Brianna, or Rosita for a girl named Rose. It makes it feel more like how a Spanish speaker would possibly address them and can be fun and endearing. I have a student named “Religion” and sometimes I say her name as it is in Spanish Religión… However, I am opposed to children choosing a new”name and especially do not want them to feel like they are “acting”… I want it to be authentic communication as their own identity and self.
Fun for Early and Elementary Spanish Teachers: Same here! I don’t give them names in Spanish. I have too many students and it doesn’t feel natural to me to call them by a different name.
Danyell: I have a Simon, Carolina, Brianna, and a few others that I use more of an accent with, too. I love this idea!
Simone: I have given Spanish names to my students who are new to the study of Spanish each fall. I use the Spanish version of their name or a name with many of the same letters, when necessary. Most of these children are first graders. They are normally thrilled with their new “Spanish names,” but occasionally I offer an alternative or two to a child who doesn’t like the sound of my first choice. I find it is useful in teaching them some of the basic pronunciation rules and correspondence to spelling in the beginning.
Brigette: I only teach 2 classes at the moment. We are in an area that is majority Hispanic, so Hispanic names are normal here and there is nothing to be learned from adopting one. I give my students a list of animals and plants. They choose from there or can choose any “kind” vocabulary word from the glossary of the text. They learn their classmates’ new names fast and therefore have 25 or so new words they know if Spanish. I did not do this when I had 250 students a day.
Mundo de Pepita: I give my kiddos Spanish names when they get to 2nd grade (I teach K-4)…they clamor for them like mad! BUT, I explain the difference between their real name and the one we use for Spanish class, which is like a ‘code name’, and that they would absolutely need to introduce themselves to a native speaker using their real name. I have to say that it continues the sound of Spanish throughout the class, and they so enjoy it. They are also useful when we start introducing the alphabet (3rd grade) and rudimentary reading skills… especially letters like ‘j’, ‘ll’, and ‘ñ’… they are able to make the connection between the Spanish sound and the letter because they have seen and used it with their name.
Caroline: Short I do give them Spanish names and they love it! They laugh at their new names and love hearing their names being called out in class.
CrianzaBicultural: I don’t think you need to change their names, but it is important to show them the equivalent of their names in the language they are learning. And the idea of using it and ita or even pronunciation in the target language is great for immersion purposes.
SeñoraSpeedy: I don’t give my students names either since I can barely remember their real names! I saw a great idea on the Nandu listserv through – a middle school teacher had students choose adjectives to go with their names. They learned descriptions and she had a way to help remember all their names.
Margaret: I did this one year with second grade, they were also studying Mexico in class. I spent hours on a Spanish baby name site trying to find names as close as possible to real names. We also made the name “necklace” tags, helped us all remember. The kids enjoyed it.
Janina: I teach PK to 8th. Only the 3rd graders get to pick their Spanish names from a list of 100 most common Spanish names. They make their own name tags. This way I can call them by their new name. They have a blast, especially because they are the only ones in school allowed to do so.
Conversaciones de maestros en nuestra página de Facebook
Ana Alicia says:
“Whole Brain Teachers! How do you introduce your rules in Spanish class. Do you use only Spanish? A little bit of English? English? This will be my first year using WBT. I am also trying to translate “Teach, OK” , “Mighty Groan” and “Mighty Oh Yeah.” Any ideas? Thanks for your help. Have an awesome school year!”
SeñoraSpeedy : I love WBT! I keep the rules in English so that there are no excuses for not following them. I do Clase, clase – sí, si, Espejo, Enseña, and Cambia. For the scoreboard they do ¡OH Sí! and ¡Quepena! We also did the air punctuation (well sometimes and only in 1st grade but they loved it and I need to remember to do it more.) Here is a link to a few blog entries where I outline how I use WBT in my classroom. https://senoraspeedy.blogspot.com/2013/12/whole-brain-teaching-part-one.html
Fun for Early and Elementary Spanish Teachers Wow! This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. I started using WTB a little last year and it worked great. I plan to start with WTB from day zero. I am still reading the book.
Neen: I have pictures next to my rules which are written in Spanish. I try to keep everything in the TL.
Christina: I have them in Spanish too!! Love WBT!
Roxanne:We say the rules in Spanish and have hand gestures that accompany them. My partner teacher, who teaches in English, does them I’m English making sure to use the same hand gestures.
Danyell: This is great!
Kimberly: I have the rules posted in Spanish! I will go over them in English for the first weeks until they get the hang of them
Tabitha: Many thanks, SeñoraSpeedy…I’m moving from high school to Kindergarten (Spanish immersion) and I was wondering how to introduce WBT and in which language!!
Jeisa: I teach Spanish Immersion too. I have my wbt rules posted in Spanish. At the beginning of the year we go over the rules every day in the target language. I have the posters already made in TpT in Spanish. Good luck!
SeñoraSpeedy:Tabitha – I think you could easily do the rules in Spanish if you are immersion. I am in the Specials rotation so I don’t see my students often enough for me to feel comfortable doing them in Spanish. Although by the end of the year I did have students asking how to say them in Spanish so I might start in English and transition to Spanish later on in the year.
Mundo de Pepita I have the rules posted in Spanish, along with all our other procedures. Like Kimberly, we go over them in English and Spanish at the beginning of the year so everyone is clear and by the end of Sept I’ve transitioned over to only Spanish. (I teach in a Specials rotation like Señora Speedy). For getting their attention when I need it, I use the call and response ‘Nachos’, ‘Salsa’. I would also note I teach using Responsive Classroom, so lots of modeling and reinforcing throughout the year.
Kristy: What do the rules look like in your classrooms? This is only my second year teaching Spanish in the elementary classroom.
I am so excited to be part of this bilingual blog hop that will help you get ready for the new school year. 19 bilingual teachers have teamed up to share with you all these amazing resources that I hope will make your transition to the new school year easier. If you have already started teaching, these materials will serve you well too!
ONE DAY FREEBIE ALERT!
I have put together a set of six flipbooks with vocabulary related to the fall season. These flipbooks can be used as a way to introduce or support your units.
Last but not least! As part of the blog hop we are also hosting a big shopping spree giveaway. Two lucky teachers will win $100 worth of products from our TpT store. Just fill out the Rafflecopter to participate. ¡Buena suerte!
¡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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