TINGO TANGO – GAME FOR VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON SETTINGS

TINGO TANGO – GAME FOR VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON SETTINGS

Tingo Tango is one of those games that brings back memories of growing up in Colombia. This game is traditionally played in a circle passing a small object. I have played this game before, and my students were really asking to play – and I finally figured out how to adapt it to our current situation. Read my previous post here.

This version works well for both in-person and virtual classes. 

How to play:

1️⃣ Use the website Wheel of Names, and add the names of the students participating. This will generate a wheel spinner to pick a random person.

2️⃣ Create a list of “penitencias” (translated for this game as tasks) for your students to act out if they get chosen. Swipe to see a sample.

3️⃣ Chant together “Tingo, Tingo, Tingo …” and “Tango” when the wheel is about to stop. The person who gets chosen by the wheel will have to complete a penitencia from the list.

4️⃣ Continue playing the game and having fun! Visit my Instagram post to see the game in action!

Have fun!

INCORPORATING VOWELS IN ELEMENTARY SPANISH

INCORPORATING VOWELS IN ELEMENTARY SPANISH

I don’t explicitly teach vowels in Spanish but try to find ways to incorporate them in my lessons through games or songs. The good news is that there are five vowels in Spanish and each of them has only one sound! That makes everyone’s lives easier!

An easy way to introduce the sounds is by using the song below. In the past, I have used a puppet to sing along. As you can hear in the song, the name of the vowel is introduced, and then the sound.

Having small posters with pictures that represent each vowel sound is helpful. One activity I have used is to show the vowel and then place pictures that go along with each vowel.

Another fun way is to create gestures or movements for each vowel. Write a list of words that your students already know, project them or show them to the class, and then have your students do the movement any time they hear or see a certain vowel. I like keeping it to just focusing on one vowel per word. If you don’t want to create a different gesture for each vowel, you can just use actions such as jump when you hear the vowel A.

As I mentioned above, I don’t teach vowels or even the ABC’s as a unit anymore. I just like finding ways to incorporate them and using them when needed in class.

Click HERE to download the posters and use these activities with your students next time you see them!

 

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A TWIST TO THE TRADITIONAL VEO VEO GAME

A TWIST TO THE TRADITIONAL VEO VEO GAME

This is a twist on the traditional “Veo, veo” song/game. I used a short version and added a movement component to it. This game has been a hit in my in-person and virtual classes.

This game can be used with anything you are teaching in your classes. I have used it to review vocabulary, with images from stories for retelling and more!  As you can see in the video, I used it with my virtual students during our Zoom class and gave them access to the annotation tool.

How to play the game:

  1. One student chooses a picture of the chart projected in class. That same student says “Veo, veo” (I see, I see).
  2. The rest of the class responds by saying “¿Qué ves?” (What do you see?).
  3. The student that said “Veo, veo” says the name of the picture and also chooses a movement for everyone to do. For example, “Veo una cara feliz. ¡Corre!”.
  4. The rest of the participants start running (in place) once they see the picture.
  5. Then the student asks a volunteer to point at the picture, and the game starts all over again with a new student choosing the picture.

Here are some videos with the traditional game:

Have fun playing this game and let me know how it goes! Download the cards HERE!

GAME: A MÍ TAMBIÉN – WINTER VERSION

GAME: A MÍ TAMBIÉN – WINTER VERSION

If you are looking for games that work in any setting, either virtually or in person, then this is the right game for you and your students! I have played this game with different age groups, and it’s always a success!

This is how the game works:

You will need to print the cards or project the slide on the board. I have blogged about this game before (read my previous post HERE), but I can tell you quickly that anytime you show a card, read it aloud to your students or ask a volunteer to read it for you. Students who identify with that card can raise their hands or jump saying “A mí también”, then you stop and ask a few students questions about the card.

Are you ready to have fun! Click HERE to download the game!

Con cariño,

 

You might like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers:

 

 

 

¿QUÉ PREFIERES? GAME – HALLOWEEN VERSION

¿QUÉ PREFIERES? GAME – HALLOWEEN VERSION

This game was created to use with my younger students to review colors. Many of them are into Halloween right now, so this is a good way to keep them engaged. This game is played just like any “Would You Rather?” type of game, where you have a set of questions and students respond to choose what they prefer.

In this case, you might want to review colors first. As you can see in the pictures, there are two little hands. Students can respond by saying “uno” or “dos” or by pointing with their hands. Another option would be to divide or mark your room with the numerals 1 and 2 for students to go stand at to show their answers. You can also replace the numbers with actions like “jump” if you prefer, or “dance” if you prefer. It all depends on your space and how you are teaching these days (remotely or in-person). No matter how you are teaching these days, I am sure this will add some fun to your classes.

Before bringing this game to your classes, make sure that all your students are okay with Halloween celebrations. As a personal experience, a few years ago I had a student in one class who didn’t feel comfortable with Halloween, so in the class, we shifted to focus on the autumn season and still got to use some pumpkins and put emotions in it.

¿Qué prefieres? – Halloween Version by funforspanishteachers

You can also download a pdf version of this game! Click HERE to download it.

Need a fall version of this game? No worries! I got you covered!

¿Qué prefieres? – Fall Version by funforspanishteachers

Click HERE to download the pdf version!

Have fun!

You may like these resources on Teachers Pay Teachers:

 

GAMES FOR ONLINE DISTANCE TEACHING

GAMES FOR ONLINE DISTANCE TEACHING

I just ended our 3rd week of distance learning, however this was my first week teaching live online classes. I do have to say that it has been exhausting trying to figure out how to make the class interactive and engaging while being so far apart from my students and only interacting through a screen. Learning new tools is a plus but is also exhausting. By my first class session I thought I had mastered Zoom, but it when I taught my first class (a second grade group), I realized that there were more things to learn. I shared my plan for the class using the screen sharing function of Zoom. One of my students then started using the annotation tool to scribble over the shared screen agenda, and that’s when I knew I needed to learn more. It was a bit funny but frustrating at the same time.

Anyway, we came up with the list below while brainstorming with some of my students about quick games we could do in class without the need to share my screen. By not sharing a screen, it also becomes possible to see every student. We have played these games in our classroom before, so the students should know them well. It is necessary to adapt some of these games to make it work for our current online setting.

Simón dice: We usually play this game in class by saying “Señora dice” instead of Simón dice. Sometimes I like choosing a student to be “it” and the name “Simón” will be replaced by that student’s name.  Choose one person to give directions or say a command. Everyone should follow the direction only if they hear “______ dice.” If someone follow directions when the person directing hasn’t said “_____ dice”, that person will be out of the game. You can continue until one of few people are left in the game.

Charades: I usually have between 8 to 16 students on a live class on Zoom, so it’s not easy to divide the groups, or at least I haven’t tried it. This works great with students 2nd grade and up. You will need to use the chat tool for this game. I am not familiar with platforms other than Zoom, but in Zoom the host can choose to privately chat with a student. The rules for this game are simple. No words or pointing at anything, just acting it out for other students to guess. Choose one student to act out a word. Send the word in a private message to the chosen student only. Have the student act out the word and give students turns to guess. Whoever guesses first will become the next actor. You might want to write the word on a piece of paper or board to show to the students later.

Color colorcito: This is a game that my kindergarteners love playing in the classroom. It usually involves one person naming colors and the other students running to find the color. If the person naming the color tags someone who is not touching the color, then that person becomes the new “it.” See my previous post here for a longer explanation of the way I usually play it in the classroom.  Because it’s impossible to play a “virtual” tagging game, we made it for students to look for an object of that color in the room. The person who finds the color last will say the new color.

La caja mágica: You could either use a box or a bag. Place and object inside, describe it and have your students guess it. Click here to find more ideas.

Sigue al líder: Play some music and choose one student to lead the class in different dance movements.

Congelado: Play music for a few seconds, stop the music and everyone has to freeze. If anyone continues moving, they will join you to find other students who are not freezing or continue moving when you stop the music.

El director de orquesta: This game is known as “Follow the leader.” Choose one student to close his or her eyes, and this student will have to guess who is directing the group. While that student has his/her eyes closed, choose another student to direct the group. Write the name of  the “director” on a white board or a piece of paper and show it to the group. The student directing then has to do movements or gestures that everyone else will copy. The student who is guessing will have three opportunities to guess who is directing the group. If the student doesn’t guess, you can reveal the name of the student director, and then you can all clap for him or her. You can decide how long you want to continue with this game.

Do you have any other games to add to this list? Feel free to share them in the comments or email them to me for updates to this post.

Happy Teaching!

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