These are three simple and easy to understand stories that I have written for elementary students, although I have also been delighted to hear from middle school teachers that they have used them with their beginner classes. These stories have a lot of repetition in them.
Make sure to download the free resources that go along with them. Just click on each picture below, and it will take you to a new link to download the stories and activities.
This is a short story with a simple goal, to raise students’ awareness about the negative environmental impacts of latex, plastic, and other materials. I created a story after being inspired by another video (further below in this post) that demonstrates why releasing balloons into the air can have such terrible consequences for animals, especially birds.
In my short and comprensible story, a red balloon listens to two birds talk about how another bird died after eating a piece of a popped balloon. This makes the red balloon sad, and it wishes never to be big. Download the story to see what happens next!
Earth Day is on April 22nd, and using this story is a great way to introduce this celebration to class. You can download the story for free from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.
You might also take a look at organizations such as Greenpeace to complement the story. Greenpeace has YouTube channels for some Spanish speaking countries: Argentina, Colombia, México, Chile with many videos that are short, sweet and simple and can inspire many interesting lessons and reflection.
Here is a link to the video that I came across, made by Mexico-based Pamela Quibec, which served as inspiration for Simón el globito:
With the current health situation world wide bringing school closure in some places, some teachers have been advised to come up with plans and ideas students can do at home. I have put together a list of online and printable resources that teachers can share with their students. As language teachers, we all know that these types of resources can’t ever replace the value of personal interaction and contact time with students, but in this situation, these resources can certainly come in handy and continue exposure to the language. I included printable resources and recommend teachers to put them together in packets just in case students don’t have internet access at home. All of these resources have access to free materials.
Farm animals are always a hit in early elementary classes.This fun and repetitive song will be a great addition to your activities. Here are some ideas to use along with this song:
Activities
•Find Colombia on a map.
• Show a farm and the different animals. Introduce Tío Ramón (Uncle Ramón) and tell them that he lives on a finca (farm). Introduce the different animals and tell them the dog makes a different sound in Spanish. The dog says “guau, guau”.
• Have children make the sounds of the different animals when you name them in Spanish. You can also ask them the colors of the animals to link to the lesson on colors.
• Animal bag: Place different animals in a bag. Blindfold a child and ask him/her to reach in the bag and pull out an animal. Have the child guess the animal. Other children can give cues about the animal.
• Animal dice: Use a square shaped box and place pictures of different animals on every square. Have the children throw the dice while naming the animal and saying the sound it makes.
La finca del tío Ramón / Uncle Ramón’s farm
En las montañas de Colombia está la finca del tío Ramón, En las montañas de Colombia está la finca del tío Ramón. En la finca hay una vaca y la vaca hace muu. En la finca hay un perro y el perro hace guau, guau En la finca hay un pato y el pato hace cuac, cuac. En la finca hay una oveja y la oveja hace baaa. En la finca hay un gato y el gato hace miau.
Uncle Ramon’s farm is in the Colombian mountains, Uncle Ramon’s farm is in the Colombian mountains. There is a cow on the farm, and the cow goes moo. There is a dog on the farm, and the dog goes woof. There is a duck on the farm, and the duck goes quack. There is a sheep on the farm, and the sheep goes baaa. There is a cat on the farm, and the cat goes meow. Uncle Ramon’s farm is in the Colombian mountains, Uncle Ramon’s farm is in the Colombian mountains.
I have blogged about this traditional game in the past. This game is usually played without props, but to make it comprehensible I have created some to go along with the game. I am not the best illustrator, but I am happy to share this with you since some teachers were requesting the template to create their own. Stop by my previous post to understand how to play this game. Remember to download the props here! Once you download the props, print them on stock paper, laminate them for durability, and add some magnets on the back to place them on a magnetic board or cookie sheet just like the picture below. Please click hereto learn how to play this game.
Get ready to play the game and sing along with this video:
