30 de septiembre, el fútbol, 7+

Dear parents,

We didn´t make it to the soccer field today due to the rain, but we will try again for next week.

Here is a short video showing some kids playing soccer.  It is so much fun!

This is a video teaching Spanish speakers how to say a few soccer-related words in English. It shows the Spanish word, the English word and then a phonetic spelling of that English word that a Spanish speaker who does not speak English could use to pronounce it correctly.  I think you will find it fascinating.

This video is just a song, it is Spain´s soccer song for the 2006 World Cup and continues to be sung at soccer games in Spain.

Here is the next part to the song we are learning ¨Jesus loves me¨.

Cristo me ama
bien lo sé
su Palabra me hace ver
que los niños son del aquel
quien es nuestro amigo fiel

Sí Cristo me ama
Sí Cristo me ama
Sí Cristo me ama
La Biblia dice así

30 de sept. Los pollitos dicen, niños 4-6

Dear Parents,

Today was a blast! We read a book, sang this song and played a game- we kept very busy!
The kids really followed along today and they all know the prayer.  Great job!

Below are some really cute videos.

¨Los pollitos dicen¨

Los pollitos dicen (hop up and down like little chickies)

Pío pío pío (pinch hands open and closed like a chicken's beak)

Cuando tienen hambre (rub your tummy)

Cuando tiene frío (wrap arms around and shiver)

La gallina busca (hand over eyes and look from side to side)

El maíz y el trigo (Pretend to pick up food from the ground)

Les da la comida (Hands forward like you're offering food)

Y les presta abrigo (pretend to put a coat over your shoulders)

Pío pío pío (pinch hands)

duermen los pollitos (eyes closed and head on hands like a pillow)

Pío pío pío (pinch hands)

dicen los pollitos (hop up and down like little chickies)

Vocabulario

tienen hambre - they are hungry

tienen frío - they are cold

busca - looks for

maíz- corn

trigo-wheat

comida- food

abrigo- coat

duermen - they sleep

dicen - they say

los pollitos - the chickies

This song teaches farm animal sounds in a song. 

This video is a popular song that is very silly.

24 de sept., Mediopollito, 7+

Dear parents and students,

Today was an interesting day.  First, we lined up according to alphabetical order of the names and then in order of age, all in silence! We talked about how we can communicate without speaking the same language.

We also talked about how our names would be written and pronounced in Spanish.  Some names were very similar, two had no change at all and others were much different!  Here is how they are spelled.  Can you remember how to pronounce your name in Spanish?

Betania  Micaela  Mateo  Andrés  Aarón  Carlota  Magdalena  Miqueas  Isaías  Esteban  Moriah  Eva Deborah   Dakota

This is the song we are learning.  It is the Spanish version of "Jesus loves me". This week we practiced the chorus.

"Cristo me ama"

¨Sí, Cristo me ama,

sí Cristo me ama,

sí Cristo me ama,

la Biblia dice así¨.  

Our story was a folk tale about how the weathervane came to be.  In our story, the Half-chicken was kind to those in need and as a reward was helped by them in return.  In this version of the story, the Half-chicken does NOT help out the others and you will see what happens in the end!

Here is a group of kids acting out the exact story we read! They do a great job! Kids, can you explain what happens in this story to your parents?

This is a very famous Italian song, translated into many languages and very popular in Spanish! It is about the sounds animals make.

23 de sept. De colores, niños 4-6

Dear parents and kids,
Today we learned a classic song: ¨De colores¨.  Many people are familiar with this song.  We focused on the sounds the animals make and also the colors.  These are listed below the lyrics and below are two videos the kids can watch to hear the song and practice the colors.

Enjoy!

¨De colores¨Below is a video with the lyrics.

La letra de ¨De colores¨

De Colores 
De Colores se visten los campos en la primavera 
De Colores 
De Colores son los pajarillos que vienen de afuera 
De Colores 
De Colores es el arco iris que vemos lucir 
Y por eso los grandes amores 
De muchos colores 
Me Gustan a mí  
Y por eso los grandes amores 
De muchos colores 
Me Gustan a mí 

Canta el gallo 
Canta el gallo con el kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri 
La gallina 
La gallina con el cara cara cara cara cara 
Los polluelos 
Los polluelos con el pío pío pío pío pi 
Y por eso los grandes amores 
De muchos colores 
Me Gustan a mí 
Y por eso los grandes amores 
De muchos colores 
Me Gustan a mí.

Vocab.

Me gusta- I like it

Me gustan- I like them

Canta- he sings/she sings/it sings

El gallo- the rooster (the gallo says kirikiriki)

La gallina- the hen (the hen says cara cara cara)

Los polluelos- los pollitos (say pío pío pío)

Pajarillos- Little birds

Colores- colors

Arco iris- rainbow

Rojo

Naranjado

Amarillo

Verde

Azul

Morado

Primavera- spring

Los campos- the countryside

Zorro- fox

Oruga- caterpillar

Mariposa- butterfly

Mariquita- Ladybug

Saltamontes- grasshopper

This video teaches colors.

16 de septiembre, Nube va a la escuela de CLASS COOP, 7+

Hola niños y padres,

Today we reviewed the colors and animals we learned the first week.  We played a flyswatter game and ¨Los gatitos morados¨won the game.  We talked generally about verb conjugations, but just as an introduction.  Then we told a story about a cute dog who came to class and tried to copy the students.  We learned these action words:

va- goes
viene- comes
besa- kisses
juega- plays
dice- says
escucha- listens
presta atención. pays attention
levanta la mano- raises a hand
abre el libro- opens a book
lee- reads
cierra el libro- closes the book
escribe- writes

We acted out the story twice and the students glued pictures in their booklet.  I think we had a lot of fun today and will play a game every week!

Here is the story:

Nube va a la escuela de CLASS COOP

Los niños dicen, “Adiós, Nube, vamos a la escuela CLASS COOP”

¡Guau Guau!

Los perros no van a la escuela.

Nube va al parque.

Nube va a la escuela de CLASS COOP. 

¡Guau Guau!

Nube juega con la pelota.

Nube besa a los niños y besa a la maestra de español.

______________ dice su nombre.

Nube dice “Guau Guau.”

______________ y ______________  prestan atención.

Nube presta atención.

______________ y ______________ escuchan a la maestra.

Nube escucha a la maestra.

______________ y ______________ levantan las manos.

Nube  levanta la mano.

______________ y ______________ abren el libro y leen.

Nube abre el libro pero no lee.

______________ va a la pizarra.

Nube no va a la pizarra. ¿Pizarra?

______________ y ______________escriben en el papel.

Nube no escribe porque no tiene papel.

Nube dice “Guau Guau” y besa a los niños.

FIN

This is a video of Mafalda, a famous Argentinian cartoon character who is known for her insightful commentaries on society and politics, somewhat like Calvin and Hobbes.  You will see a typical uniformed classroom of Argentina and observe some cultural norms, as well as some political criticism.  Mafalda doesn´t understand the point of the dictation, which is to write correctly and beautifully.  Instead, she congratulates the teacher on having a mother who loves her and spoils her, as the phrase of the dictation was ¨Mi mamá me ama¨ (my mother loves me), ¨mi mamá me mima¨ (my mother spoils me). 

Next, Mafalda realizes she switches her paints for her father´s toothpaste.

This video and song will reinforce the verb endings we introduced today.

9 de septiembre, Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?, 7+

Queridos padres y estudiantes,

Thank you for being a part of our Spanish class.  We hit the ground running yesterday and even so, didn't finish all that I had planned for the day!  (On that note, the older or more advanced students might want to try and answer the questions I ask below, based on the lesson "Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?" It is okay if your children do not know the answers.  This class is based on discovery learning and the students are encourage to make hypotheses and generalizations about language: so every idea, even incorrect, is one step closer to solid critical thinking.)

Since Spanish is so common and so accessible linguistically we are working on memorizing and telling stories in Spanish.  Your children should practice retelling ¨Oso pardo, oso pardo¨, several times throughout the week, as their knowledge of colors and animals is contextualized in that story.

For a review, I have included this video below.

This video is just about colors. I like it because you can guess the color before it is spoken.  Note that the word ¨marrón¨is used instead of ¨pardo¨(one of many regional differences in Spanish vocabulary!)

I also encourage you to check out the songs on the niños 4-6 blog entries.

Finally, I would like to thank Dana Hanley for the idea of using a Blog for communicating and sharing our learning with you.  Dana does the same for her German classes and as a parent I find it very helpful and fun!


Critical thinking questions for older or advanced Spanish students:

In the story ¨Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?¨you see three similar, but different words: 

ves
ve
ven

What do you think this word means? (if you know the story in English or remember by gestures in class, you probably know).

Why do you think there are three different versions of this word?

Can you come up with a rule for when each version is used?

Be ready to share in class next Tuesday!

16 de septiembre, Tengo tengo tengo, niños 4-6

We learned a folk song about having sheep and what they provide for us.  There is a video below.

                                Tengo, tengo, tengo                                           

Canción:

Tengo, tengo, tengo,                                                           I have, I have, I have,

Y tú no tienes nada,                                                             and you don´t have anything,

Tengo tres ovejas                                                                  I have three sheep,

En una cabaña.                                                                     in a cabin.

Una me da leche,                                                                 One gives me milk,

Otra me da lana,                                                                   Another gives me wool,

Y otra mantequilla,                                                               and another, butter,

Ay, para la semana.                                                              For the (whole) week.

Phrases to practice with your child:

¿la tienes tú? (do you have it?)

Sí, yo la tengo. (I have it)

No, no l tengo. (I don´t have it)

Oveja- sheep

Vaca- cow

Cabra- goat

Uno- one

Dos- two

Tres – three

Leche- Milk

Mantequilla- butter

Lana- wool

Here is another Cri Cri song about the three pigs 

9 de septiembre, Un elefante, niños 4-6

Queridos padres (Dear parents),

Today we learned to sing and act out this silly song.  It is a counting song and we emphasized the numbers 1-5.  We learned these words and your children will probably remember them:

elephant - un elefante

 spider - una araña

We also practiced recognition of these words:

 spider web - tela de una araña

 balanced - se balanceaban

 didn’t fall - no se caían

 to call - llamar

 another - otro

Letra para                                            Un elefante

Un elefante se balanceaba 
sobre la tela de una araña 
y como veía que no se caía 
fue a llamar a otro elefante. 
Dos elefantes se balanceaban 
sobre la tela de una araña, 
y como veían que no se caían 
fueron a llamar a otro elefante. 
Tres elefantes... 

You can listen to the song in this video.

Here is a video from the famous Cri-Cri, the character that inspired Walt Disney´s Jiminy Cricket.  These are very old but beloved songs.  This one is called ¨Gato de barrio¨ and a cat sings about what he loves about his neighborhood.

Spending time listening to Spanish is crucial at this age for your children to develop native like fluency later on in their lives.  It doesn't´t matter if they understand everything...or anything at this point!