INCORPORATING THE BOOK “NIBI IS WATER” IN AN EARLY ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASS

INCORPORATING THE BOOK “NIBI IS WATER” IN AN EARLY ELEMENTARY SPANISH CLASS

Nibi is Water is a beautiful picture book written and illustrated by Joanne Robertson and translated into AnishinaabeKwe by Shirley Williams and Isadore Toulouse. This book was written for babies and toddlers and is a wonderful resource for preschool and kindergarten world language classes too. By bringing this book to your classes, you are not only sharing the powerful message of protecting water and what nibi (water in AnishinaabeKwe) means for the Ojibwe but also to use it as a tool to provide  authentic language input for your students. And the most important thing! Buy the book if you can to support the author. It’s also great when you can add it to your own classroom or school library. 

I highly recommend that before engaging with the book to give input to your students, you give some background information about the author.  I believe this short clip is great to do so. The clip is obviously in English, but it is important for students to understand why the book was written and help the author spread the message about the connection between water and her culture. Remember that world language classes should be a space not only limited to learning about the culture of the target language you are studying and learning day to day, but to connect with the world as a richly interwoven tapestry of languages, cultures, and traditions. Our classes should be a space  to nurture global citizenship! 

Some suggestions for using this book:

1. After watching the video with your students, read the book to provide additional context. I added the high frequency word “puedes”. For example:

Page 1: La lluvia es agua.

Page 2: La nieve es agua.

Pages 3 & 4: En el agua puedes chapotear y remar.

Pages 5 & 6: En el agua puedes nadar. Puedes tomar el agua.

Pages 7 & 8: Puedes hacer crecer las plantas o hacer encoger un suéter.

Pages 9 & 10: Con el agua te puedes bañar y cepillar.

Pages 10 & 11: Puedes lavar los platos o bajar (descargar) el baño.

Pages 12 & 13: Puedes salpicar o tomar.

Pages 14 & 15: Puedes darle agua al perro y al gato. Puedes ver al oso en el agua.

Pages 16 & 17: Puedes dar gracias y respetar.

Pages 18 & 19: Puedes dar amor y proteger.

Page 20: Nibi es agua.

Page 21: Nibi es vida. El agua es vida.

 I use painter’s tape (Amazon affiliate link) to add text to any book I want to adapt and make it comprehensible for my students. This type of tape sticks to the book without damaging it if you decide to remove the tape in the future.

2. The illustrations are just amazing! Use them to talk about the different animals and colors in the book.

3. Print some pages of the book and use them like movement cards. There are some great illustrations that go well with TPR (Total Physical Response).

Enjoy this beautiful book!

 

THREE WAYS TO INCORPORATE GEOGRAPHY IN A WORLD LANGUAGE CLASS

THREE WAYS TO INCORPORATE GEOGRAPHY IN A WORLD LANGUAGE CLASS

Looking for ways to incorporate geography in your classes? These are some ideas that you could bring to your classes right away!

Money Basket

Over several years of teaching Spanish I have collected coins and bills from different Spanish speaking countries. Either someone brings them to me or I collect them during my own travels. I got to a point where I didn’t know what to do with them. It occurred to me that I could use them for a center in my class. I also printed some images and laminated them for students to manipulate easily and placed them with the coins in a basket. I printed and laminated maps where all the Spanish speaking countries are listed. My students really enjoy looking at the different bills and coins, comparing them to the United States bills, and locating the countries on the map.

Guess The Temperature

Create a slide with a world map and numbers on it. Choose a country, then a city and locate it on the map. If possible use Google Earth to take a quick virtual trip. Talk about the general weather and seasons. Ask your students to guess the temperature in that city. Record their answers on a paper or board. Use the Chrome extension “UV Weather” to check the temperature and find who guessed it right or came close!

Play Your Favorite Music

Create a slide with a world map and insert a video or audio to your slide. Add a flag of the country the songs belongs to. Locate the country on the map and talk about the colors on the flag. Then, make it a game! Have an object for your students to pass around. In my case I use a plush toy monster. Play the music and ask your students to pass it around. Stop the music and whoever has the object will have to answer questions. You and your class decide when to stop the game.

Have fun!

 

RESOURCES TO FINISH 2021 STRONG

RESOURCES TO FINISH 2021 STRONG

We have already started the countdown to the holidays and the end of the year.  The days before a break are often difficult. We feel tired, that we are running out of ideas, energy, or both.

Something that works very well for me these days is planning classes in which I know my students can relax a bit. I focus on sharing a little about some of the traditions that I grew up with in Colombia and do art activities. I have to be honest, the art activities require a bit of preparation on my part because time with my students is limited but generally the result is positive and I feel like it was worth the investment in that preparation time.

In the interest of keeping this post short,  I thought you might like this list of resources for the last days of the school year in 2021. This list includes resources on my blog and Teachers Pay Teachers:

  1. La maleta
  2. Las doce uvas
  3. El Año Viejo (Story and Craft)
  4. ¡A mi también! – Game (Winter Version)
  5. A Winter Song (Props)

Wishing you a lot of peace and health!

YELLOW UNDERWEAR – A GAME BASED ON A FUN END OF YEAR TRADITION

YELLOW UNDERWEAR – A GAME BASED ON A FUN END OF YEAR TRADITION

Wearing yellow underwear is a unique tradition that some people in Colombia, and other places where Spanish is spoken, have on December 31st during “La Noche Vieja” on New Year’s Eve. It is believed that wearing yellow underwear will bring good luck in the new year. This tradition is known in Colombia as “Los Cucos Amarillos” or “Los Cucos de la Suerte.” “Cuco” is a word used in some places in Colombia to refer to underwear.

Through this game children will learn about this fun tradition and three simple common expressions in Spanish: ¡Qué buena suerte!, ¡Qué chévere!, ¡Qué mala suerte! You will need good luck to play the game well, of course!
This game is simple but super fun! Find it on Teachers Pay Teachers!
TRADITIONAL SOUNDS IN COLOMBIAN CHRISTMAS MUSIC

TRADITIONAL SOUNDS IN COLOMBIAN CHRISTMAS MUSIC

I feel so lucky to have been born in such a diverse country. At this gift-giving and reflective time of year, when I am thinking about what I want and need, I think about the advice that I’ve heard repeatedly and truly believe – that, at least for someone in the middle class like me,  life experiences and travel can bring so much more happiness and fulfillment than material things. On that note, I really hope someday I have the time to travel and learn from the different cultures of Colombia. And I would love to start that journey by visiting family first. My parents are from the Caribbean coast (known in Colombia as The Coast, or “La Costa”) and moved to Cali a long time ago. I  have extended family in many places in the country so planning a trip that included family connections would be a beautiful experience and allow me to learn more about my own country and heritage.

One of the ways diversity shows up in Colombia is through music. Señal Colombia is a national television channel funded and founded by the government. The channel focuses on content that reflects the different Colombian cultures and populations. The channel also has a space on YouTube. I highly recommend that you explore it if you want to learn more about my beautiful Colombia – its cultures, people, and history!

Colombia is divided into five different regions: the Pacific, Andes, Orinoco, Amazon, and Caribbean. The country is made up of 31 departments (similar to states or provinces), all ethnically distinct from one another to varying degrees. As you can see below, each region is represented in a video, but Colombia’s musical diversity goes way beyond what’s shown here in these Christmas songs.

Song: Los peces en el río. Genre: Bullerengue/chalupa. Group: Las mujeres de mi tierra. Region: Caribean- Cartagena

Song: Tutaina. Genre: Merengue/Rumbita. Group: Cadivan. Arreglos: Region: Andina –  Boyacá

Song: Feliz Navidad. Genre: Mento. Grupo: Creole. Region: Caribean – San Andrés y Providencia

Song: El reloj. Genre: Arrullo. Grupo: Mingacho y sus Muchachos. Region: Pacific – Bahia Solano

Song: Noche de paz. Genre: Mento/Reggae. Grupo: Creole  Region: Caribean – San Andrés y Providencia

Song: Mi burrito sabanero. Genre: Arrullo. Grupo: Canalón de Timbiquí. Region: Pacific

Song: Salve Reina y Madre. Genre: Gaita Venezolana. Grupo: Herman Chala. Region: Orinoco

Enjoy!

WHAT HAPPENS ON “ALL SAINTS’ DAY” IN COLOMBIA?

WHAT HAPPENS ON “ALL SAINTS’ DAY” IN COLOMBIA?

“Día de Todos los Santos” (All Saints’ Day) is celebrated on November 1st, but if this date falls on a weekend, the celebration is moved to Monday to make it a long holiday weekend. This is known in Colombia as “La Ley Emiliani”, and it happens with some celebrations. As a result, Monday is a day off for many people in the country.

Growing up in Colombia I remember Día de Todos los Santos as a day to go to church or go to the cemetery to bring flowers and remember the loved ones who are no longer with us. Since I grew up in a big city, I could see that nothing big happened on that day. However, there are other places in Colombia where this celebration has a deeper meaning. I recently became aware of these celebrations.

The Misak People and All Saints Day

For the Misak People in the Cauca Department located in the Andes mountains in Southern Colombia, November 1st  (as this article states) marks the first day of the new year, and November 2nd is a day to take offerings to the church and the cemetery.

Read more: In Colombian mountains, natives see in winter, honoring the dead

Embed from Getty Images

Watch video here.

Angeles Somos

This fun celebration is also known as “Tintilillo” and is celebrated in some areas of the Caribbean Coast of Colombia. I was able to find some videos, and if you watch them all, you can hear that they have a variety of songs. In some places, they are asking for ingredients to make sancocho and in other places, children are asking for candy.

I am sure there are other places in Colombia that have their unique celebrations to remember their loved ones and celebrate their lives.

Con amor,