Every year in February, the city of Barranquilla, Colombia hosts one of the most beautiful carnivals in the world: El Carnaval de Barranquilla. This carnival has been declared by UNESCO as one of the “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. That’s a mouthful, but it really is amazing! It’s important to share this with our students not only because of its recognition but also because it’s an opportunity to bring some language to the classes in a colorful way. It’s also worth mentioning that this is the city where Shakira was born and raised.
I am a big fun of using Google Earth when doing cultural explorations. You can also add the use of a play passport. With your students, first locate Colombia and the Barranquilla. Bring the language alive by asking questions such as:
¿En qué continente está Colombia?
¿Qué lengua se habla en Colombia?
¿Dónde está Barranquilla?
¿En el norte o en el sur?
¿Qué pasa en Barranquilla en febrero?
Carnival time is a happy one in Barranquilla. Dances, parades and even children celebration in their schools. Here is a short video of “El Carnaval de Barranquilla”.
One of the most iconic characters is “La Marimonda”. It’s a funny character – a combination of monkey and elephant.
Here is a cute video of two children trying to figure out what “La Marimonda” really is.
Children recreate Marimonda dances at school.
Here is a video of a professional group of dancers doing “La Marimonda” dance.
A video of the history of the Marimonda.
Now it’s your turn! Have your students create their own Marimondas and get ready to celebrate carnival in your class with this story and activities. You can find it on Teachers Pay Teachers.
December is a busy month in Colombia. Many schools close early in the month, and everyone gets ready to celebrate “la Navidad” with friends and family. Everything starts on December 7th with “La Noche de la Velitas,”a night for everyone to celebrate la Inmaculada Concepcion. You will find candles in many houses, and they will stay lit all, night and the celebration continues until December 8th.
From December 16 to the 24th, many families gather to recite prayers and sing Christmas songs next to the Nativity scence. This is called “Las Novenas” because it lasts nine days.
December 24th is a family night, when everyone awaits with joy the rebirth of “El Niño Jesús.” People share Colombian treats such as natilla, brevas, and manjar blanco to celebrate. The children that attended all the novenas without missing a might will get presents from the family hosting the celebration. This is the most important night when people stay up waiting for Niños Dios to arrive. Children have to go to bed before midnight to be able to receive their presents.
December 25th is the day when the children celebrate opening the presents “El Niño Jesús” left next to the Nativity scene, the Christmas tree, or under the bed.
All these celebrations lead to December 28th, “El Día de los Inocentes,”a day that is similar to April Fools in the United States. It is a day filled with jokes and fun.
And on December 31st everyone gets excited about the New Year and the resolutions it brings. Año Viejosare built in many places to leave the bad things from the previous year behind and make a new start. They are be burned at 12:00am. The five minutes before the year ends are crucial and frantic, withyellow underwear for good luck, suitcases filled to go around the block (to ensure you travel much), a dollar bill in your pocket (you probably get the reason for this one), 12 grapes with 12 wishes or resolutions, and many other exciting and fun thing for a new start to a new year.
January 6th is usually not a big day in Colombia, but it is in other countries like Spain. In Colombia, it’s the date that marks the end of the Christmas season which means it’s time to put away the pesebre for next year!
I am one of those Spanish teachers that loves singing in class for many reasons. Through songs, students learn new vocabulary, internalize grammar structures that may be useful in the future, and explore vocabulary in context – and singing along to a tune is a great way for them to practice pronunciation.
I teach at the elementary level and of course some songs may be complicated for my students. However I ensure there is a natural progression, where I first introduce some basic rhythms, and later, with greater familiarity of beats and timing, we use the rhythms in the various songs we learn in class. We sing the songs while adding some features of the rhythms and some basic dance steps, which adds some movement to the singing and gets everyone moving in class to break the ice and get circulation moving! I also have a set of flash cards with some famous singers that I show while doing the activity. You can download the cards for this activity HERE.
This is how I use the cards:
Rock: Pretend you are playing an electric guitar while singing. Bachata: Use a soft voice and pretend to hold a microphone. Salsa: Sing faster and use the basic Salsa step. Merengue: Use the Merengue step and sing fast. Ranchera: Use a deep voice and pretend to hold a sombrero while singing. Vallenato: Pretend that you are playing an accordion, which is the main instrument in Vallenato.
I have put together a list of songs that go along with the pictures. This might help your students identify the rhythms with the singers. This is also a fun way to bring some culture (and pop culture) into your classes. Feel free to add more traditional rhythms to your list. ¡A cantar y bailar!
Running around with a maleta (suitcase)in one of the most fun traditions to do at the end of the year. This tradition requires some preparation, but not many things. All you need is a suitcase, some clothes in it, a desire to travel during the new year, and a passport if you have one.You only have five minutes to run around the block before the year ends, thinking about all the places you want to go in the new year.
I have to be honest that I have done this a few times and have gotten great results!
This is an opportunity to pull out a map and point out all the Spanish-speaking countries in the world. If possible, use Google Earth to take a virtual trip, then invite your students to get their suitcases ready.
Depending on the level of your students, you can choose the difficulty of their task. They could complete simple sentences such as “Yo quiero visitar _______________” or write a long paragraph about the place where they want to go. For example:
1. Yo quiero visitar Colombia.
2. Colombia está en América del Sur.
3. En Colombia se habla español.
4. Los colores de la bandera de Colombia son amarillo, azul y rojo.
Make sure your students have their pasaportes in their suitcases and have fun running around the room!
December 31st is an exciting day in Colombia and many other Spanish speaking countries. Everyone is focused on family and fiesta, and the resolutions and wishes for the New Year come to mind.
Those five minutes before the year ends are especially important. Yellow underwear for good luck, suitcases filled to go around the block, a dollar bill in your pocket, and many other exciting and fun things for a New Year.
My favorite tradition is “las Doce Uvas”. The tradition of eating twelve grapes that represent wishes for the New Year. Every grape is eaten when the bell of the end of the year strikes. It strikes 12 times before the New Year starts.
This is a fun tradition to share with your students. Depending on the level you teach have your students make pictures or write about their wishes on every grape (see freebie below). You can also create bunches of grapes (see freebie below) in class and have your students work on just one wish.
Here are some examples of wishes you can teach your students:
1. Yo deseo más recreo.
2. Yo deseo paz.
3. Yo deseo amor.
4. Yo deseo jugar.
5. Yo deseo ver películas en clase.
6. Yo deseo tomar una siesta.
7. Yo deseo comer dulces.
9. Yo deseo tener más amigos.
10. Yo deseo bailar.
11. Yo deseo aprender más español.
12. Yo deseo una fiesta.
Every year on December 7th, Colombia celebrates “La Noche de las Velitas” (also known as El Día de las Velitas), a night filled with candles and joy to celebrate Virgin Mary. This night also marks the beginning of all Christmas activities in Colombia.
What a good opportunity to bring some culture to your Spanish classes. Use a map and invite your students to find Colombia. You can also use Google Earth to make the trip more interactive and use a play passport for the trip. Share with them some information about this important celebration. Here are some useful resources for teachers to learn about the celebration:
¡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.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
