SUMMER MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

SUMMER MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

Summer is around the corner and these movement cards are perfect to get your younger students ready for the season! Make sure to explore this blog to grab the different movement cards and brain breaks I have shared in the past.

Download them all HERE!

Have fun!


You might like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers:

VALENTINES MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

VALENTINES MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

My students have been enjoying the chance to use movement cards for our brain breaks, especially my kinder students. They love seeing the different themes for special occasions. Feel free to explore all the different movement cards featured on this blog. For now, here are the ones for Valentine’s Day!

Download them here, and get ready to have fun! Read them aloud to your students, and have them do what the cards say. Movements cards are not only great for brain breaks but also a good way to introduce or reinforce vocabulary.

Have fun!

You might also like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers

                                    

HALLOWEEN MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

HALLOWEEN MOVEMENT CARDS IN SPANISH

My students really love the Movement Cards I shared on Spanish Playground. I though I will surprise them with a Halloween version! My students have been talking about Halloween since the middle of September. Halloween time is an opportunity to make connections with something students really love. You can find so many concepts to incorporate in Spanish class such as colors, shapes, sizes, feelings and so on. Here is an opportunity to teach some movement words in Spanish. I have added these cards to the brain breaks I will be using with my younger students during October. Download yours here!

Have fun teaching!

You might like these resources available on Teachers Pay Teachers

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“MUST HAVE” FOR ELEMENTARY SPANISH TEACHERS

“MUST HAVE” FOR ELEMENTARY SPANISH TEACHERS

This a list of what I have in my classroom and can’t survive a school year without any of these materials.

Chime: Sometimes we need breaks from using call-and-response chants or clapping our hands. I have found a three tone chime* that works well because it gives enough time for my students to settle down.

Map: I had a hard time finding a map that was simple enough for my elementary students. Luckily I came across this map on Pinterest, and it has been the best purchase ever. You can find it at Spanish Cuentos.

Puppets and Plush Toys: Puppets and plush toys are a great tool in language teaching. I love when my students make connections with some of them. They become one more member of the class. Visit my post where I talk about the use of puppets in a world language class.

 

Special Chair: I have a chair that my students use when we sing to them to celebrate their birthdays in class. They all look forward to having a chance to sit on that chair in class. They also get a small gift from me which is usually a pencil, eraser, or small craft from Colombia. They also get a birthday certificate. Click here to download some free ones for your classes!

Play Parachute: Every single one of my students seems to love parachute time, no matter how old they are. It’s always fun to use parachutes for a brain break. I have written a few posts about how I use them in my classes:

Authentic Art: I love displaying art from different Spanish speaking countries. I usually label items to show where they come from.

Favorite Music Playlist: Thank goodness for YouTube! I love how you can easily make lists of your favorite songs. I like creating playlists by grade levels. Here is a list of some of my go-to channels:

Flags: I have flags and posters from the different Spanish speaking countries. You can display them all at once or take them out one at a time when you do the country of study. This pack is available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Pointers: I found a really awesome set of pointers* that I use while looking at our “Plan de la clase” as well as when we play interactive games on the Smart Board. These ones have been the best so far! I have had them for about two years now:

List of Brain Breaks: Brain breaks are great not only to get your students’ attention back, but also for you to take a break as a teacher. I keep a list of brain breaks and yoga cards handy. Download free yoga cards here!

Simple Picture Books: Last year I started a library in my classroom. So far the books that have worked best are books with minimal text and also books that the children are already familiar with in English.

Movies: Sometimes I like using movies right before the break when I know a lot of my students will be missing. I also use them when I am out and can’t find a sub that speaks Spanish, or just being honest, to take a break!

Balls: Yes, balls of different sizes to play games or ask questions!

Instruments: Playing with these is something my younger students really enjoy!

Apron: This is not a “must,” but it has been great for me to stop putting things in my pockets when I am teaching. I used to always end up emptying my pockets of an assortment of things at home that should have stayed at school instead of hitching a ride with me – things like tiny pointers, markers, pencils, and the classroom keys. This is the one I plan to use this school year. I am especially excited about the llamas on this one!

 

What is something you think I should add to this list? Please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments box.

Have fun!

*Indicates Amazon affiliate link.

REFLECTING ON THE SCHOOL YEAR

REFLECTING ON THE SCHOOL YEAR

I have made it a tradition to end each school year with a post reflecting on the year. It’s become a way for me to keep track of my progress as an Elementary Spanish teacher. I have been teaching for 20 years, and every year I find myself ditching things that didn’t work, adapting old things, and incorporating new ideas. I have discovered that I always like to try new things each year. This was my second year teaching in Austin. I am no longer the only Spanish teacher at the elementary level, as I was in the schools where I taught in Boston. I am extremely happy that I have two new compañeras that I get to learn from everyday. Given that this was my second year at this school, it felt better than last year. I spent last year getting to know my new school and the community. I also came to a school where part of the curriculum had already been created. Things were in many ways easier this year, and I feel that I was able to find my voice and share more ideas with my fellow teachers to bring new things into our curriculum. (Wow! I can’t believe how serious my post sounds! Believe me! I am not that seria!)

Teaching in the Target Language

My goal is to stay at 90% to 95% in the target language. There are days when I am able to stay in the target language 100%, but there are days when I feel that using that 10% of English (that I like to say I keep in my pocket) for classroom management, making sure every student understands, and making connections with my students is totally fine. My students clearly know that I am from Colombia, and I am immigrant, so I also want them to know that I am bilingual, and since I am teaching them a language, I want to be a multi-dimensional role model for them.

Classroom Management

Let’ be honest! We all have those days when kids are all over the place! This year I made a poster with more simple rules. I used that poster as reference all the time, and I noticed that having the poster close allowed me to be more consistent and make sure the class was a safe learning space for everyone. I can’t take credit for the simple rules. One of my colleagues shared them, and since I love designing resources, I turned them into a poster for my classes. I placed the poster in front of the room, and I could refer to it when it was needed.

Reward Systems

I have had years that I haven’t use a system and years where I have used different reward systems. For example, los billetes, la clase/la maestra points from Whole Brain Teaching, Secret Student, and, this year, Class Dojo, but for some reason this felt tiring to me so I decided not to use the points in the middle of the school year, and I can say that it was a relief. I felt that I was wasting time when children were trading their points for prizes and sometimes it felt that some of them were willing to work hard and follow directions just for the points. I also asked my students to vote, and many of them voted for not having points because it was stressful for some of them. At this point I don’t plan on using any point system next school year. I will focus more on using Responsive Classroom since I have been trained in it, and it was used widely in the previous schools where I taught.  I will also use the SEL (Social Emotional Learning) program we use in my current school.

Brain Breaks

I am a brain break fanatic and I used a lot of them this school year. Some of my students wrote in their feedback that they feel that I need to use even more, so I plan to look for new ones this summer to add to my repertoire. Yoga worked great with my kindergarten and first grade students. I am looking forward to incorporating more mindfulness in the Spanish class since the school has a strong program too.

Culture

This is something I still need to work more on. Of course, because I am from Colombia I love teaching and sharing my culture with my students. We have included in our curriculum to share facts about two countries per month, but I still feel that we need to study this more deeply. Goal for next year!

Communication With Parents

In all the years I have been teaching, I can say that this year was by far the one I have communicated the least with parents. We are a team of three, and it wasn’t easy sometimes to coordinate to send newsletters. We have had conversations about using Seesaw more to communicate with parents. So far, I have used it as an assessment tool, but not as much I as I need too. Working on this next year!

What Am I Excited About Next Year?

It will be my third year teaching in Austin, so I know the students, the community and the curriculum! I am excited about being able to finally add my own voice and identity to the curriculum. I am excited to continue learning more about CI and TPRS, and I will also be writing stories!  I also look forward to attending some conferences and maybe presenting again! And most important, really using the summer to recharge!

How was your school year? What goals do you have for next school year?

Enjoy the summer!