Teaching a new language using cognates can be an effective and engaging approach, especially when dealing with languages that share a significant amount of vocabulary due to common origins. When introducing cognates to your students, it is helpful to start by creating a list. Here are some tips to consider when incorporating cognates into your class:
1. Find Similar Words: Look for words in the new language that look or sound like words in a language your students already know. These are called “cognates.”
2. Write the word: Something that’s helpful is writing the cognate for students to see the similarities.
3. Start Simple: Begin with basic words that people use a lot. These words are easier to learn and will give your students a strong start.
4. Show the Likeness: When you teach the cognates, point out how they look or sound alike in both languages. This makes it easier to remember them.
5. Use Pictures: Make learning more fun by using pictures. Show the words in both languages with their meanings and pictures that show what they mean.
Playing with Cognates in Spanish Class
This is a game that I use in my classes, and my students love it, so I thought I would share it with the teaching community. In preparation for this game, you will need to print at least 6 sets of the cards, and if you can, laminate them for durability. Review or introduce the concept of cognates before playing the game. I always like to start by talking about what a cognate is. Show your students the image with all the pictures and read them to your students. You can also use the small cards to review or introduce the vocabulary. Ask them if they know about other cognates to share with you. Then, talk about the rules of the game. This game is based on a few games known in the market. There are different versions, but I really wanted and needed one focusing on cognates. I have named this one “Busca.” Discuss the rules with your students.
The main goal of the game is to be the fastest to identify a matching cognate between cards. To get ready for the game, print a few sets, shuffle the cards, and give each student a card. Next, they will need to find a partner in the room. Both should cover their cards and say “1,2,3, ¡busca!” Then, they show the cards to each other and try to find the matching image. The student who finds the image first gets to keep the other student’s card. The student left without a card should get a new one. I’m usually the person passing out the cards. The game continues until you run out of cards, and one student is left with many of them. For a shorter or more challenging game, you can set a specific time limit for each round (e.g., 10 seconds).
Ready to play it in your classes? Click on the picture to download the 36 cards for the game!
For some reason I feel that 2022 has been the fastest year in my life. I partly attribute this to spending too much time on social media and not being fully present. I’m not a person who likes starting the new year with goals ( I used to!) because I strongly believe that setting goals and having a new beginning can be done anytime during the year, but I have decided to start 2023 with the commitment to spend less time scrolling through social media, blog more of my own ideas, and see my friends and family in person more often.
With this being said, 2022 wasn’t a bad year. I’m lucky and privileged that I got to go to my home country (Colombia) at least twice during the year, and this year I went to see places that I have never been to in my beautiful country. And the best part of it is that I got to do it with the loves of my life! ¡Mi familia!
I’m always grateful for all the support I get from readers and teachers in different parts of the United States and the world. I love the connections I have been able to make through this blog and also the friendships that have come from it! I’m grateful for you taking the time to stop by and connect here. I wish you the best in 2023!!!
And to keep my virtual tradition alive, here are my 5 most visited blog posts this year!
The end of this month is fast approaching! There are so many great things that we can do in our classes, but with limited time, especially in the elementary classrooms, we have to choose intentionally.
If you are still deciding what to do, I’m sharing some options with you here. The list includes resources for elementary, middle and high school students! Some of the resources are on my blog and others are available on Teachers Pay Teachers.
This story can be used any time during the school year, however it is a good beginning of year lesson. The story focuses on high-frequency questions and structures such as “¿Cómo te llamas?” and “Me llamo.”
How to Start With This Story?
Start by introducing yourself, for example saying “Hola, me llamo_____”. I suggest you use a name tag with your name and point at it when introducing yourself to the class. Introduce Osito, the main character in the story by saying “Este es Osito. Se llama Osito, yo me llamo (your name)”, model it a few times and ask your students their names by saying “¿Cómo te llamas?” Your students might answer with just their name or using the sentence “Me llamo”. I have shared a few more name activities on my blog. Click HERE to read them.
Before Telling the Story
You can either use the flashcards or props to introduce the characters. These are animals that live in the Andes and the story takes place in Colombia. Use the real pictures to match them to the illustrations so students can see how the real animals look. You may want to show short clips of the animals, but this is optional and can be done before or after telling the story.
Place different flashcards on a table or the floor. Describe one of the flashcards. For example, It’s a big animal, its colors are black and white and it says “moo”. After the description, have one of your students tap or slap the right card using a fly swatter.
What’s missing?
Place 3 to 5 flashcards on a table or on the floor. Look at them with your students and name each of them. Have one of your students close his/her eyes while you hide one of the cards. Have your student open his/her eyes to guess the name of the card that is missing.
The jumping game
Place a line of flashcards on a table or the floor. Call out some of the vocabulary placed on the line and have one of your students jump next to the correct card.
Charades
This is a game of pantomimes. 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 one of the animals.Have the student act out the animal and give students turns to guess. Whoever guesses first will become the next acting person.
Reverse Charades
Have a student close their eyes. Show a card to the class. The class will show the gesture for the animal. The student has to guess the name of the animal. Give that students two to three turns to guess. I usually help if they are having a hard time guessing. You can decide on the amount of turns or opportunities you give the student to guess.
Simon says
I like playing this game by replacing the name “Simon” with my name or the name of the student leading the game. Assign a sign, gesture or sound for each animal in the story. Have your students make a circle. You (the teacher) or one of the students should be the caller for the game. The caller has to say “______ dice, “Hay un oso” and everyone in class will do the gesture for oso. If someone does something different, then that person will be out.If the caller says “gua, gua, hace el perro” without saying “Simón dice” and someone still does the gesture, then that student will be out of the game. The game continues going until there is one player left. Most of the time I play this game without sending students out. It removes the stress over making mistakes.
Get Ready to Tellor Read the Story
You can project the story or print it to read it aloud to your students. Another idea would be to tell the story just using the props and then project or print the story to read it together.
Class Survey
Ask your students about their favorite animal in the story. Count the results along with your class!
Act It Out
Print out the props and give turns to your students to act out the story. This is a wonderful way to provide repetition.
More Extension Activities
Mini- Book
Have your students color the mini books and take them to share with their families. No scissors are required for this mini-book. Just color and fold!
Name Tags
Have your students fill out and decorate their name tags. Depending on the time of the school year you might to keep them and use them to learn your students’ names and use them during class to give turns or play games!
As World Language educators it is hard to find a single off-the-shelf curriculum that fits the needs of each elementary program. Some programs have less frequent class sessions than others, some are required by their schools (or have the wonderful opportunity) to make strong connections with other subjects, some have more heritage speakers in the student population, and so on! It’s also important to shape a program according to the needs and interests of the community. All this is just to make it clear that I don’t offer a set “one size fits all” curriculum for this reason.
I have shifted to using more stories with my students, but I also supplement them with songs, games, crafts, picture books, holidays, celebrations, culture, cross-curricular connections, clip-chats, and other activities. I don’t teach a unit just focusing on weather, days of the week, months, the alphabet, foods, and so on. I include these topics in our daily routine when we do calendar time. The stories focus on high-frequency vocabulary and expressions as well as vocabulary related to clothing, family members, colors, numbers, and more!
These are some of the stories I use by grade level. It might seem like a lot, but the stories themselves have a lot of repetition and recycle a lot of the same vocabulary. This is also based on the frequency and length of time I see my students. I see my kindergarten students in small groups, once a week for 30 minutes and my 1st through 3rd grade students twice a week for 40 minutes each time. I mostly follow the resources in the order presented and sometimes I recycle stories and use them again the following year to refresh some of the vocabulary and high frequency words.
¡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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