Magic Words in Spanish

Magic Words in Spanish

by | Jan 28, 2018 | #Yoquieroaprenderespañol, Elementary Spanish, Las palabras mágicas, Magic Words in Spanish, songs for teaching Spanish


These words come in handy in every class! Use fun reminders and encourage children to use them in their daily interactions. Print the flash cards and laminate them for durability.  Introduce them in a bag. Take each word out and read it aloud. Pretend to do magic tricks using the paper wand included in the cards. Create movements or gestures for each word. You can also use Google to learn the signs from American Sign Language that goes along with each word. Use them when singing the song and invite everyone to sign and sing with you.

Download your flash cards HERE!

Have fun!
Carolina
You might like these resources on Teachers Pay Teachers:
 

ROCKALINGUA IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

ROCKALINGUA IN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

by | Aug 31, 2017 | Rockalingua, songs

Rockalingua was created by an elementary Spanish teacher who really knows the needs of Spanish teachers in the classroom. Cesar and Rockalingua make our jobs as Spanish teachers easier. Rockalingua has engaging songs with different online components to engage students. The videos are appealing to an elementary level audience. They all love the online games! Rockalingua has now added a student tracking system for us for teachers to know how much they have been practicing in our classes and at home! Teachers are now able to print not only supportive worksheets but also stories and flash cards.  I am so lucky to be able to host a giveaway where one teacher will get to win a one-year subscription with a full access membership to Rockalingua’s website.  Scroll all the way down to participate!

 I also got inspired by Rockalingua so I am sharing some supportive ideas to use in your classes. I am using the video “Los animales de la granja” as a reference. This post ended up being quite long, so please bear with me! You are also welcome to go all the way to the end to enter to participate!

You can find the complete version for free on Rockalingua’s website
 

Basic vocabulary and expressions:

La granja: Farm
Hay: There is/There are
Perro: Dog
Gato: Cat
Cerdo: Pig
Pato: Duck
Vaca: Cow
Oveja: Sheep
Gallo: Rooster
Caballo: Horse
Mi animal favorito: My favorite animal

Materials:
Animals flashcards from Rockalingua (multiple copies), bag and Rockalingua’s video.

Activities

Introducing the vocabulary: Place cards of different animals in a bag. Invite the children to take turns taking the flash cards from the bag. Introduce the name of the animal and the sounds it makes, one at a time. Talk about their colors. You can also count to see home many animals are in the bag.
You will need to choose the amount of vocabulary you would like to introduce depending on the time and frequency with which you see your class.
Place the flashcards around the room and have the children jump next to the one you name.
You can also make a line with the flashcards and have the children jump next to them while naming them.

 

Mi animal favorito: Make a chart with the animals and have the children place their name under their fruit they like the most. Talk about the chart with the class.

More games: Divide your classroom into two spaces. You may use tape to divide the space. One side, place a sign with the expression “Es mi favorito” and the other side “No es mi favorito.” Have the children make a line. Name an animal, have the children jump to the side according to what they decide. A variation is for the teacher to speak a sentence in which he or she decides whether the response is “es mi favorito” or “no es mi favorito”, and to make it a game that stresses listening skills. For example, the teacher might say: “El perro es mi animal favorito,” and all the children must jump the “es mi favorito” side. If they jump to the other side, they will be out of the game.
 
Animales, animalitos (tagging game): This game is based on a popular game called “color, colorcito”. This game works best in an outdoor space, but it can still be done in the classroom. In preparation for this game, you will need the flash cards, two or three copies per animal. Spread the flash cards across the field. Have one child be the tagger. The tagger will have to say “animal, animalito” and then name an animal. The tagger will have to tag a person who is not touching the flash card for that animal. You and your students can decide on the amount of time you would like to play this game.

TPR® (Total Physical Response)

 

    • Your students and you can create gestures or movements to go along with each animal.
    • Play “Simon says”: Play this game and sing the gestures that you and your students agreed on. Have your students make a circle. The teacher or one of the students should be the caller for the game. The caller has to say “Simón dice, “gua, gua, hace el perro” and everyone in class will do the gesture for perro. 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.
    • Play charades: Show the card to one student and have that student show the gesture to the class. Whoever guesses the name of the animal gets a turn.
  • Reverse charades: Have a student close his/her eyes. Show a card to the class. The class will show the gesture for the animal. The student has to guess. You can decide on the amount of turns or opportunities you give the student to guess.

Introducing the video: Once you are sure the children know the vocabulary and structures for the song, show the video. A recommendation is to show the video by frames and talk about what students notice in the picture.See the picture below:
 
1. Talk about the animals they see, their colors and how many.
2. Talk about the expression “Mi animal favorito.” Ask questions of your students using this expression.
3. Ask them which one they like the most and which one they like the least.
Talking about the song is also a good way to provide repetition without making it obvious.
Once you have talked with the children about different parts of the video, show it without interruptions.
 
Playing with the song: Caiga en la nota: Invite your students to play along. Play the song for a few seconds and the mute the sound. Your students should continue singing. Turn the sound back again and see if they were on track with the video.
 
Make a video with your class: Record your students singing and dancing to this song, and share it with their families. 
 

More activities: Download Rockalingua’s worksheets and have your students take them home to sing their song to their parents. If you want to assign it as homework, you can ask your students to bring their worksheet back with a parent’s signature, noting the number of times they sang the songs for them.

Have fun singing!

Bringing Different Rhythms to Class {Cultural Corner}

by | Aug 17, 2014 | culture, teaching strategies, teaching tips

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!

 
Happy singing!
Carolina
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Homeschooler, Staff - TeachersPayTeachers.com
17 GAMES TO PLAY IN SPANISH CLASS

17 GAMES TO PLAY IN SPANISH CLASS

by | Aug 16, 2012 | games, games in Spanish

Over the years, teaching Spanish to different age levels, I have learned many games from my students and other colleagues. Here is a list of some of the favorites my students and I enjoy playing in class.

ARROZ CON PAN: Game of elimination played in a circle where the students chant “Arroz con pan (3x) y sal” then a number is called out and counted around the circle.

CIERTO – FALSO: A person (often the teacher) stands between the stands of the trees and calls out phrases related to the class’s latest vocabulary. If the statement is true about the student, they must try to run to the other side without being tagged. (Example phrases: “Si te gusta comer helado. Si tienes hermanos, etc.)

BINGO: Sometimes students make their own boards and fill in the latest vocabulary we have been learning in class. We also have bingo boards for different topics.

ROBA LA VACA: This game is really simple. One student stands guard by a small animal but is blindfolded. The students chant “Roba la vaca” while someone (usually chosen by the teacher) steals the cow and hides it. The blindfolded person may ask three questions about who stole it (in Spanish) and then must guess by saying “Maria tiene la vaca.” If the student guesses correctly, a new guardian is chosen.

DRAW IT: A stack of cards with various words, (usually actions, adjectives and nouns) is set out next to a large dry erase board. Students come up and choose a card. They can not say the word, but they must try to draw out the ideas, and the group (or their team) must try to guess the word (this can be done with phrases too.) Alternatively, students may also act out words on the cards while the others guess.

CHARADES: A student makes a TPR movement, and the rest of the class has to guess it. Variation: Pick a student, show a flashcard to the class, and hide it from the student, then the class makes the TPR movement and the child has to guess it.

¿QUÉ ES?: Ask a student to hide an object (manipulative, picture card, etc.). The rest of the class has to guess it by asking, for example, “¿Es la manzana?” And the student answers “no, no es la manzana” or “si es la manzana”. The student who guesses the right answer takes the new turn. Variation: Tape a flashcard on the back of a student. Show it to the class, then have the student ask the class, “¿Es la manzana?” and  have the class answer back “no, no es la manzana” or “si es la manzana”.

FRIO, TIBIO, CALIENTE: Ask a student to leave the classroom. While the student is outside, the rest of the class hides an object. The student comes back to the classroom to try to find the object. Other students help by saying “frio” (when the student is far away from the object), tibio (when student is getting close to the object) or caliente (when the student is really close to the object). If the student is taking a long time to find the object, the class will start counting from 1 to 10. If the student finds the object, he/she will have to say its name.

MANO A MANO: Divide the class into pairs. The teacher calls out two body parts and the student pairs have to put these parts together. For example: Mano a mano –they put together their hands. Make it more fun by calling different body parts Codo a rodilla – they put together their elbow and knee. Variation: You can also use flash cards for this game.

MEMORY GAME: In this game students have to find the matching pictures. A student uncovers two cards. If the pictures match, the student gets to go on and uncover two more pictures. If the pictures don’t match, the student puts the two non-matching pictures back to cover them up and another student gets a turn.

GO FISHING: Place pictures of fish of different colors in basket . Each fish has a magnet pasted on the back. Give a student a fake fishing pole and have him/ her fish while the class chants: “Pesca, pesca, pescador, pesca un pez, ¿de qué color?” The student who is fishing must say the color. Variation: Write questions on the fish, and instead of saying the color, the student will have to answer the question.

SIMÓN DICE: This is a great TPR game. To play this game you need to have a group of three or more students. Pick a student to be “Simón”. The rest of the class must do what Simón tells them to do. If Simón says, “touch your eyes”, the other students touch their eyes (the student who doesn’t do the right action is out of the game). However if Simón says jump without first saying “Simón dice” and a student does the action, the student is out of the game too.

PASA LA BOLA: Place the class in a circle. Give a ball to pass around the circle (they will have to pass the ball to the person sitting next to them and the ball goes in one direction only). While the ball is coming around, the class chants: “¡Pasa la bola, pasa la bola, pasa la bola, para!.” The student who gets the ball must answer a question or pick an object from a magic hat/box placed in the middle of the circle. If the student doesn’t know the answer, the class can help and start passing the ball again. Variation: Have the students quietly listen to traditional music from Latin America or Spain while passing a ball around. When the music stops, the class should ask “¿Qué es?,” and the student who has the ball must pick an object from a magic hat/box and give the answer to the class.

LINE OF NUMBERS:. Using masking tape, make a line on the floor and place numbers from 1 to 5 in a line. Have two students stand on either side of number 1 facing each other. Show a flashcard. If both students identify it at the same time they both get to move to the next number. If only one of the students gives the answer only he/she will move to the next number. The student who gets to number 5 first wins the game.

FUTBOL (SOCCER): Make a fútbol chart out of construction paper and print out 12 fútbol balls. Divide the class into two teams (to make it more fun you could name the groups by using names of Spanish speaking countries). Each group will get the score on the opposite side of the field. Show a picture card or ask a question and the team that gets to answer first gets a point (place one of the fútbol balls on the opposite side –remember that in fútbol you score on the other side of the field). If both teams answer the questions at the same time they both get points. When the teacher is placing points (balls) on the field, the whole class chants “gol, gooooooooool!” Whoever gets the most points wins.

LA RANITA: Have the class sit in a circle. Place pictures or objects of the unit of study around the circle. Have a student be “La Ranita” (while wearing a frog mask) and jump around naming the vocabulary.  Variation: Another student can tell “La Ranita” where he/she should jump.

LA FILA (THE LINE): Have the class be in a circle. Place a line of picture cards or objects in the middle. Pick two students from the class and  have them face to face on either side of a particular card. The teacher or another student calls out some of the vocabulary placed on the line. The two students have to jump to find the card. Non-Competitive variation: Have one student jumping around the line. When you or a student calls out the name of an object, they find their place on the line.

Have fun playing in Spanish!