Jenny

Spanish Earth Day Phrases

Crafts, Earth Day, Holidays, Outside-Nature, Printable, Reading, Vocabulary No Responses »

Apr 092013

Earth Day is April 22nd, and these Spanish phrases remind us of ways we can take care of the planet. They can be written or printed on the reverse side of anything you no longer need – homework, letters from school, junk mail, envelopes or cardboard from cereal boxes. You can use them as reminders to hang around the house, bookmarks to share with a friend or with pictures in a collage to brighten up a room.

The printable of the phrases has no pictures, just the Spanish text. Kids can add borders, drawings or decorate them for any number of projects. Of course, there are many more things that we can all do to protect the planet. Be sure to help kids add their own ideas to the list.

Apaga las computadoras durante la noche. / Turn off computers at night.

Come menos carne. / Eat less meat.

Vuélvete vegetariano una vez a la semana. / Be a vegetarian once a week.

Usa menos servilletas de papel. / Use fewer paper napkins.

Usa los dos lados de cada hoja de papel. / Use both sides of the paper.

Toma agua del grifo. / Drink tap water.

No compres agua embotellada. / Don’t buy bottled water.

Cierra la llave al cepillarte los dientes. / Turn off the water when you brush your teeth.

Báñate rápido. / Take short showers.

Planta un árbol. / Plant a tree.

Apaga las luces. / Turn off the lights.

No uses bolsas de plástico. / Don’t use plastic bags.

Tira la basura en un bote. / Put trash in a trash can.

Si vas al campo o a la playa, déjalo limpio como estaba. / If you go to the country or the beach, leave it clean the way it was.

Reciclar, Reducir, Reutilizar / Recycle, Reduce, Reuse

No compres artículos desechables. / Don’t buy disposable products.

No abras el refrigerador muchas veces o por mucho tiempo. / Don’t open the refrigerator often or leave it open for long.

Ve andando o en bicicleta. / Walk or bike.

Dona objetos que no necesites. / Donate things that you don’t need.

Link to Printable Spanish Earth Day Phrases

How to Help Protect the Earth

You may also be interested in this post: Free Spanish Activity Book on Conserving Resources – Great for Earth Day

Spanish Song for Spring – Los Pollitos

Animals, Easter, Online activities, Printable, Seasons, Songs, Spring, Videos, Vocabulary No Responses »

Apr 082013

The snow is almost gone here in Wisconsin, and many of us are talking and singing about the change of seasons with our kids. Los pollitos is a traditional song that fits in well if you are talking about spring, hens, eggs and chicks.

Los Pollitos Vocabulary
I like to sing this song in class because it has lots of useful vocabulary. It describes how a hen takes care of her chicks, and children learn the phrases tener hambre (to be hungry) and tener frío (to be cold). It also uses the common verbs decir, buscar, dar and dormir in a context where children can easily understand them.

The song starts Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío (The chicks say peep, peep, peep). This is an opportunity to talk about other animal sounds, so that kids can get more practice with the verb decir and with animal vocabulary. Using the structure ¿Qué dice el/la…..?, I show kids a cut-out or picture of an animal. This way I am sure that they associate the word they hear with the image and the animal sound they make.

You can also talk about how animal sounds are a little different in different languages. These are some of the sounds that farm animals make in Spanish:

caballo (horse) – jiiiiiii, iiiiou
cabra (goat) – bee bee
cerdo (pig): – oinc-oinc
gallina (hen) – coc co co coc
gallo (rooster) – kikirikí
gato (cat) – miau
oveja (sheep): bee, mee
pato (duck): cuac cuac
perro (dog): guau guau
vaca (cow): mu

Because the song is traditional, there are versions with slightly different lyrics. I teach a very common version with these words:
Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío
Cuando tienen hambre, cuando tienen frío.
La gallina busca el maíz y el trigo.
Les da la comida y les presta abrigo.
Bajo sus dos alas, acurrucaditos
Hasta el otro día, duermen los pollitos.

Here is a video with the lyrics on the screen and illustrations to support the meaning of the words.

You can purchase and download the illustrations from the video to make a book and use as coloring pages here. The download also includes other activities. The song is available to download from Music with Sara.

Spanish Poems for Kids – 17 Activities for National Poetry Month

Books, Online activities, Poems, Printable, Reading, Websites No Responses »

Apr 072013

April is National Poetry Month. Poems are a wonderful way for children to hear and speak Spanish and enjoy the rhythm and sounds of the language. Spanish language learners can read and listen to poems and with support they can also write their own. Here are a few ways to share poetry in Spanish with children during National Poetry Month.

17 Ideas for Sharing Spanish Poems with Kids

1. Watch videos of animated poems or children reciting poems on YouTube by searching poemas infantiles. Here are a few to get you started:

Aquel caracol
El invierno
La largartija

2. Teach counting-out rhymes, also called choosing rhymes. They are short poems with rhyme and rhythm, and kids can use them as they play. These posts are about the rhyme Cinco ratoncitos and two rhymes with numbers.

3. Do activities with rhyming words. There are online games here (the game takes a minute to load) and you can do similar activities with printable rhyming picture cards.

4. Enter text or lyrics from a song and make a word cloud with Wordle or Tagxedo.

5. Write about your city, school or family using the structure of the That’s so Miami (Eso es Miami) project. That’s so Miami asks for a poem, up to 100 words, in English or in Spanish, that contains the line That’s so Miami. Many of the entries are in both Spanish and English. You do not have to live in Miami to appreciate how clever they are. Many are appropriate for children and the idea can be applied to any place.

6. Use instant poetry forms from ETTC to help children write poems. Kids are given a prompt, for example, “choose a color word.” They fill in the online form according to the prompts and them click “create poem.”

All of the forms are in the left sidebar. The ones I list here work just as well in Spanish, because the form does not contribute words to the poem. The prompts are in English, but you could certainly translate them and do the activity on paper instead of online. About half of these instant forms have to do with the number of syllables. Color my world, 5W, Explorer, Holiday poem, Pensee and Verb Verse structure content.

Color my world
Big day hiaku
Cinquain
Diamond
Explorer
5W
Holiday poem
Lune
Pensee
Phone number poem
Quinzaine
Septet
Tanka
Verb verse (use infinitives)

7. Kids can illustrate a poem with their drawings or with pictures they cut out.

8. Add movement to poems or act them out. These short poems get kids moving.

9. Readwritethink suggests taking kids on a poetry walk (suggestion 3).

10. Kids can write a theme poem on paper shaped like the subject of the poem, or they can use the interactive tool for writing theme poems here.

11. Have kids choose 5 to 10 related pictures and write a word or two about each. Glue the pictures around the poem.

12. Share short poems from the book Costal de Versos y Refranes from the Biblioteca Digital (Mexico). In particular, poems like Paloma blanca and Colores y más colores work well with Spanish language learners.

13. Teach El rap de las parejas based on the poem Las parejas by Gloria Fuertes. The video is below and the song is available on iTunes. There is a vocabulary activity on this website. You can also find the poem and activities on this slideshare. There is an interesting animated visual of the poem La parejas here.

14. Introduce students to other poems by Gloria Fuertes. You can find poems and ideas for teaching them in this PDF by CEPLI (Centro de Estudios y Documentación de Promoción de la Lectura y Literatura Infantil). Specifically, the poem Los reyes is a fun one to use with Spanish language learners.

15. April 18th is “poem-in-your-pocket day”. Help children choose a poem to carry with them on April 18th to share with others. This is a wonderful way to speak Spanish!

16. Listen to poems by Amado Nervo, Pedro Villar and other poets that have been set to music by Antonio Selfa.

17. Explore El Jardín de Douglas and chose an illustrated poem to share with children. Douglas Wright is a well-known poet from Argentina. El Jardín de Douglas is his blog of poetry and art for children.

Spanish Song for Kids and Free Printables – De Colores

Outside-Nature, Printable, Seasons, Songs, Spring, Vocabulary No Responses »

Apr 052013

The traditional folk song De Colores is sung throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The song is often associated with the Catholic church, but it is also taught as a Spanish song for kids to celebrate spring without specific references to religion.

De Colores is a song that many teachers sing with classes at this time of year. It is a good way to introduce or reinforce spring vocabulary such as la primavera (spring), las flores (flowers), el arco iris (rainbow), los colores (colors), los campos (the fields), los pajaritos (the little birds), el gallo (the rooster), la gallina (the chicken), and los pollitos (the chicks).

I am happy to share this printable wall art with lines from the traditional lyrics to De Colores. Hanging printables like these is one way to help create a print-rich environment. Research has shown that a print-rich environment in classrooms and at home is an essential component of early literacy. It is important for children to recognize print in their surroundings and understand that print carries meaning. This is especially important for children learning Spanish in the United States because most of the print they see in the community is in English.

Children learning Spanish will love this bright art of the familiar song and will learn to recognize the words as they sing along. It is perfect for a bedroom and would also make a pretty addition to a classroom as we celebrate the arrival of spring.

Link to Spanish Song Printables – De Colores

De Colores – Los campos
De Colores – Los pajaritos
De Colores – El arco iris

De colores has been recorded by many artists and there are several versions available to download on both Amazon and iTunes. Joan Baez recorded the song, as have many children’s artists like José Luis Orozco and Sarah Barchas. Los lobos also recorded a wonderful version with children in Los Angeles. In addition to the chorus, most of these versions sing the first verse and the verse that begins “Canta el gallo.” Because the song is traditional, are slight variations. For example, while Los lobos sing pajaritos, Sarah Barchas sings pajarillos. Some versions use pollitos and other polluelos. These differences in the versions are really details. Kids learning Spanish will soon recognize the different diminutives.

These are traditional verses that most children learn:

De colores, de colores
Se visten los campos en la primavera.
De colores, de colores
Son los pajaritos que vienen de afuera.
De colores, de colores
Es el arco iris que vemos lucir.

Coro:
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 quiri, quiri, quiri, quiri, quiri.
La gallina,
La gallina con el cara, cara, cara, cara, cara.
Los pollitos
Los pollitos
Con el pío, pío, pío, pío, pí.

Coro:
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.

The Estudiantina de la Universidad de Guanajuato also recorded the version that they sing as they go callejonando and it is available on Amazon. If you spend much time in Guanajuato, Mexico you will see the musicians leading groups through the callejones (alleys) singing traditional songs. In the version they recorded, they included the first verse and the traditional second verse that goes like this:

De colores, de colores
Brillantes y finos se viste la aurora.
De colores, de colores
Son los mil reflejos que el sol atesora.
De colores, de colores
Se viste el diamante que vemos lucir.

De Colores is a wonderful way to share language and culture with your students and family. The bright printables also help create a print-rich environment for children learning Spanish.

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Song for Spring – Somos como las flores

Spanish for Toddlers – 10 Tips for a Language-Rich Home

Books, How to, Language learning, Miscellaneous No Responses »

Apr 032013

Giselle Shardlow is the author of Kids Yoga Stories. Her yoga-inspired children’s books get children moving, learning and having fun. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. Find her books at www.kidsyogastories.com or on Amazon worldwide.

“¡Agua, Agua, Agua!” Your Toddler Speaking Spanish.

“Agua, agua, agua,” our daughter says in excitement as she learns to talk.

I love Spanish – the romantic language of the community-oriented culture of the picturesque, vibrant and welcoming Latin American countries.

So after I gave birth to our daughter last year, my husband and I wanted her to learn Spanish. However, our first language is English. I learned “conversational” Spanish while living in Guatemala as a primary school teacher, but not enough to feel confident to teach it to our daughter. The three of us are working together to learn Spanish as a family.

Today, I would like to share a few ideas for English-speaking parents to create a home environment where their children can learn Spanish for life.

10 Tips for Creating an Early Learning Environment
for Your Toddler to Learn Spanish

Start early. Studies show that children learn languages best when they are under one year old. It’s never too early to start learning Spanish, and it’s never too late to start, either!

Be light and playful. Creating a healthy learning environment is important. Keep it simple. Integrate Spanish into your everyday life and allow them to experience Spanish in a fun, lighthearted way.

Be passionate and excited. Studies point to children feeling comfortable and relaxed as an important part of learning at their best. Enjoy yourselves as you learn Spanish. Link the Spanish words to their real life. Appeal to their different senses. For example, on your next trip to the zoo, talk about the Spanish names of the animals.

Have a dedicated Spanish speaker. While training to become a teacher, I learned that the best way for a child to learn a second (or third) language is for each person to speak only in that chosen language. Because I chose to speak my first language of English to our daughter, we decided to hire a Spanish-speaking nanny for one day a week. I also get to practice my Spanish so it’s win-win. If you have a Spanish-speaking friend or relative, that’s even better.

Offer a variety of books and resources. Have different media around your house in Spanish. For example, check out board books and picture books from the library, find Spanish stickers, or play with Spanish picture cards. It’s important for them to see the language in different formats and in different mediums throughout their environment. Spanish Playground reviewed my yoga-inspired Spanish book as a way to teach Spanish through movement and story.

Play audios or videos. Bring out your Spanish songs, music CDs, and child-friendly videos. We love Umbral Yoga’s Spanish Kids Yoga video. Our daughter is enthralled with the children practicing yoga and follows them by standing in tree pose while “counting” to ten in Spanish. The video is another great way to experience movement and learn together.

Reinforce key words. Our daughter’s first Spanish word was “agua.” But of course, it comes out as “agua, agua, agua!” We praise her new Spanish words and model repetition to reinforce her learning. We also count to ten in Spanish every time we walk up the front steps. Reinforce the keywords that interest your child.

Join Spanish playgroups. Look in your area for Spanish-speaking playgroups or story times. In San Francisco, there are toddler classes by Toddlers Discovering Latin America and our library offers Spanish story time. These are great ways to meet other like-minded bilingual parents or native Spanish speakers.

Travel to a Spanish-speaking place. We are lucky to live near a Spanish-speaking neighborhood, so our daughter can hear Spanish in everyday life. Also, when you are considering a holiday destination, consider visiting a Spanish-speaking country with your family. The idea is for your children to hear Spanish in different contexts and situations, so it becomes part of their lives, not merely an isolated Spanish class.

No need to reinvent the wheel. As Spanish Playground has shown us, lots of resources out there support us in teaching our children Spanish. Connect with other parents who are teaching their children Spanish as well and share ideas. You don’t have to do it alone. Reach out and ask for help.

We hope to raise our child to be a responsible global citizen who speaks at least two languages. I have loved being able to speak Spanish to people around the world throughout our travels. Learning Spanish has been extremely rewarding.

Is there at least one tip above that you can implement with your child right away?

I would LOVE to hear from you if you have any other ideas for teaching Spanish to your toddler, or if you have any questions, please email me at giselle at kidsyogastories dot com.

Get free kids yoga resources in your inbox by signing up for Giselle’s weekly Kids Yoga Stories newsletter or check her out on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Spanish Curriculum – Spanish Champs

Books, Curriculum, Language learning, Product reviews No Responses »

Apr 022013

I have had several readers ask for my impression of the Spanish Champs program, so I was thrilled when the company sent me the Level 1 materials to review. This engaging curriculum is for children 2 to 10 years old, with an emphasis on developing oral communication. The curriculum is a 32-week program that is intended to be repeated. A Level 2 curriculum is under development and will be available in the fall.

Spanish Champs offers well-structured resources based on fundamental principles of language acquisition. The complete complement of materials enables those who have little or no background in Spanish to use the program, making it ideal for both home-schooling families and classrooms. Spanish speakers will also appreciate how this easy-to-use program provides the tools they need to teach the language effectively with little preparation time.

The website demonstrates the Spanish curriculum and has detailed information about their approach and each component. These are a few of the features that impressed me most.

Highlights of the Spanish Champs Spanish Curriculum

Children understand Spanish from context.
The Spanish Champs curriculum was structured to maximize exposure to comprehensible input. Children acquire language when they understand it in context – that is, when they can deduce meaning from pictures, actions, objects and the situation.

The Spanish Champs program creates context in different ways – all of them fun for kids. Children do activities during class where they understand Spanish through gestures and props. They sing songs with actions that support the language and watch short videos where the meaning is clear from visual clues. Parents or teachers read stories with a close text-to-illustration correspondence and children use the Activity and Coloring Book which clarifies the language with drawings.

There is minimal translation into English.
With Spanish Champs, children understand the language from context, so there is minimal translation into English during class time and in the materials. The lessons do include the option of using English when vocabulary is introduced, but it is always accompanied by actions or props. I consider this an important feature of an elementary curriculum because it develops a skill essential to successful language learning – the ability to deduce meaning from context rather than expecting to hear the word in English.

The program incorporates sufficient repetition.
Children need to be exposed to structures and vocabulary over and over to truly learn them. However, this repetition has to be engaging enough to keep kids interested. Spanish Champs presents and reinforces material in many different ways. Music, stories, video, and activities all combine to provide the repetition needed for real learning.

The material is challenging but achievable.
Spanish Champs presents children with a lot of language. It also builds to hearing and producing fast Spanish. In other words, it is challenging in terms of quantity and speed. However, it is also completely achievable because the program builds in effective repetition of the material and a careful structure to ensure that children are succeeding without being overwhelmed.

The music has meaning.
If you have read much on Spanish Playground, you know that I believe songs are one of the best ways for children to begin to learn a language. The Spanish Champs songs expose children to structures and correct pronunciation, and they also reinforce the meaning of the language they are learning. Actions support the lyrics, the video gives visual clues and there are images in the song book. In other words, meaning is present at every step and in every format.. Also, many of the songs are traditional or are adaptations of traditional songs providing an important, age-appropriate cultural component to the program.

The curriculum establishes a strong home connection.
I appreciate how Spanish Champs makes it easy to involve parents in the learning process. The curriculum includes parent letters for each lesson. These letters have the vocabulary with translations, an activity to do with the children and several suggestions for reinforcing the language at home. Involving parents is one of the best ways help children succeed as language learners.

The Spanish Champs curriculum is affordable.
We all invest in our children’s education and need to make decisions about how to use our resources. If you want to introduce your children to Spanish, or start a school program, there is no question that Spanish Champs is an excellent value.

Spanish Champs is available in three different kits: Starter, Deluxe and Curriculum, or as individual components. The components – videos, CDs and books – can be purchased separately, and I understand that for many people this is an attractive alternative to one of the kits. Be aware though that the effectiveness of this program increases exponentially with the structure and repetition provided by different formats. Each product can be used alone, but it is not the same product as it is when used in combination with the other materials. If you are purchasing the CD, I would strongly encourage you consider the Songs and Activities book or the Activity and Coloring book to get even more out of the songs.

Disclosure: The company sent me a copy of this product to be able to write the article. All of the ideas and opinions are my own.

Spanish Questions for Kids – Una Preguntita for Beginners

Adult learning, Language learning, Questions, Reading, Spanish Questions for Kids, Toys and Games, Vocabulary No Responses »

Apr 012013

This set of Spanish questions is based on some of the first vocabulary that children learn. The questions include words for numbers, body parts, colors, animals and food. I use questions like these for all kinds of activities, including board games and classroom games.

Una preguntita is a continually growing collection of questions that encourage kids to draw on information they know to understand Spanish. Although some words in the questions will be new, kids use their prior knowledge as context to understand and answer. You can find a more complete explanation of using knowledge as context here, along with suggestions for using the questions. The category Spanish Questions for Kids has additional question sets. Be sure to check back for more as the collection grows.

These questions are intended to be asked orally and some depend on kids listening but not seeing the question. You can also select questions for kids to read.

A few suggestions
- Begin with easy questions to give kids the opportunity to get used to the wording of the questions.
- Let children work in pairs or small groups. This expands their knowledge base. They also learn from observing different comprehension strategies.
- If a child or class does not understand a question orally, show them the written question. Often seeing sentence structure and cognates will help children make connections.
- Depending on your situation, if you are playing a game you may want to give credit or partial credit for understanding the question. This could mean accepting a partial answer or letting them answer in English.

Easy Spanish Questions for Kids

Una preguntita – Set 3
The answers follow the questions.

1. La luna sale de noche. ¿Qué sale de día y nos da calor?
2. Un perro dice guau, guau, ¿Qué dice un gato?
3. ¿Qué animal nos da leche?
4. ¿De qué color es un plátano?
5. Si yo tengo cinco galletas y le doy dos galletas a un amigo. ¿Cuántas galletas me quedan?
6. Siempre compro una docena de huevos. ¿Cuántos huevos hay en una docena?
7. Es parte de una casa. Es un rectángulo que se abre y se cierra. La usamos para entrar y salir. ¿Qué es?
8. Una cebra es un animal de dos colores que vive en el continente de África. ¿Cuáles son los dos colores de una cebra?
9. Tienes dos pies. ¿Cuántos dedos de pie tienes?
10. Voy a decir cuatro palabras. Manzana, plátano, naranja, uvas. ¿Cuál dije primero?
11. 2, 4, 6, 8, ¿Qué número sigue?
12. ¿Se usa un lápiz para leer o para escribir?
13. Cae del cielo en el invierno. Es blanca y muy fría. ¿Qué es?
14. ¿Los peces en el agua nadan o caminan?
15. ¿Cúal corre más rápido, una persona o un caballo?
16. Si mezclas amarillo y azul, obtienes el color verde. ¿Qué color obtienes si mezclas rojo y azul?
17. Voy a describir una fruta. Dime cuál es. Puede ser roja o verde. Es redonda. Se usa en los pays y los pasteles. Es una comida favorita de los caballos.
18. Las personas tienen dos en la cara. Con éstos podemos ver. Pueden ser negros, azules o de otro color. ¿Qué son?
19. Es hora de dormir. Duermo en una …
20. La Tierra es un planeta. Saturno es otro planeta. ¿Cúantos planetas hay en el sistema solar?

Respuestas
1. el sol
2. miau
3. la vaca (también la cabra)
4. amarillo ( a veces verde, pero no está maduro)
5. tres
6. doce
7. la puerta
8. blanco y negro
9. diez
10. manzana
11. diez
12. para escribir
13. la nieve
14. Nadan.
15. un caballo
16. morado (o violeta)
17. la manzana
18. los ojos
19. cama
20. ocho

Spanish Online Stories with Activities

Books, Online activities, Reading, Vocabulary No Responses »

Mar 312013

These Spanish online stories were created by a group of teachers in Montville, Connecticut. Each story is followed by a set of vocabulary and comprehension activities.

There are three simple stories that kids can read online: Pepa y su cesta, El viejo y su paraguas and El pájaro y el pan. They all have illustrations to help students understand what they are reading. On each page, several words in the text are in red and students find those words in a table below the story. They can see the translations by clicking in the cell where the definition would be and dragging to the right. If you read these stories with your students or children, encourage them to use the context and illustrations to guess at the meaning of a word before they look at the English.

These stories are geared for language learners, so the sentence structure is simple and there are plenty of patterns. Also, the narrative includes almost all the elements in the illustrations. Be sure to have children point out the different objects and people that are mentioned.

When students finish the story, they have the option of going to an activities page. The activities are designed for children who are reading independently in Spanish. Two of the activities are ordering exercises and these would be difficult to do orally because it would be hard for kids to remember the options if they cannot read them. However, if you have a beginner reader or a child who is not reading yet, you could certainly do the quiz questions together.

You will find these activities for the stories.

Pepa y su cesta
- Vocabulary Review – A list of the words that were below the story. Again, kids see the English by clicking and dragging to the right.
- Sopa de Letras – A word search on Quia. This is the only activity from this story that leaves the original site.
- Sentence Order Exercise – Students drag sentences into the order in which the events occur in the story.
- Jumbled Sentences – Kids click on words to order a sentence from the story.
- Quiz – Students answer reading comprehension questions about the story. Both the multiple choice questions and the answers are in Spanish.

El viejo y su paraguas
- Sopa de Letras – A word search on the Quia website. This is the only activity from the story that leaves the original site.
- Sentence Order Exercise – Drag sentences into the order in which the events occur in the story.
- Jumbled Sentences – Click on words to order a sentence from the story.
- Take A Quiz – Answer questions based on the illustrations. The multiple choice questions are in English.

El pájaro y el pan
- Sopa de Letras – A word search on the Quia website. This is the only activity from this story that leaves the original site. Students are given the words in English and find them in Spanish.
- Sentence Order Exercise – Drag seven sentences into the order in which the events occur in the story.
- Jumbled Sentences – Click on words to build a sentence from the story.
- Read the Story & Take A Quiz – This exercise reproduces the story with just the text (no illustrations) and there are quiz questions on the reading. The multiple choice quiz questions are in English to check comprehension.

Link to Spanish Online Stories

Three Spanish Stories for Kids

You may also be interested in this post: Spanish Reading Comprehension – Large Collection of Printable Readings with Exercises

Spanish Easter Conversation Questions

Easter, Holidays, Printable, Questions, Reading, Seasons, Spring, Toys and Games, Vocabulary No Responses »

Mar 272013

Easter is just a few days away and many of us will be spending time with friends and family. These gatherings can be a good time for kids to practice simple Spanish conversation, or if your family speaks Spanish at home, to spend time listening and speaking the language with relatives. Also, those plastic eggs are just so handy, I could not resist putting a little Spanish in them!

These Spanish conversation questions are at all different levels. I made them with an Easter gathering in mind; to be put into plastic eggs and added to an Easter table setting, an egg hunt (there will be room for candy too!) or for after-dinner fun. They can be used anywhere family will gather, talk and listen. The questions are personal; there are no right answers.

Many of these questions can also be used in a classroom setting, although as I mentioned the level varies. If you were going to do an activity with questions in eggs for class it would be easy to make your own questions related to the material you have been covering. In class, the questions do not have to be personal and kids still have fun opening eggs and answering. Of course, it is most fun to talk about yourself and your friends! If you have beginner learners, consider questions where kids have choices like ¿Te gusta más jugar al futból o al básquetbol?

These are the questions you will find on the PFD, without the English, of course. Print, cut them apart and put them in plastic Easter eggs. The link to the PDF is below.

Si pudieras encontrar cualquier cosa en tu canasta de Pascua, ¿qué te gustaría encontrar? / If you could find anything in your Easter basket, what would you like to find?

¿Qué color de gomita te gusta más? / What color jelly bean do you like best?

Si pudieras viajar a un lugar, ¿adónde irías? / If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

¿Qué te gusta más de la primavera? / What do you like most about spring?

¿Cuál es tu lugar favorito? / What is your favorite place?

¿Qué parte de un conjeo de chocolate comes primero? / What part of a chocolate bunny do you eat first?

¿Qué te hace sonreir? / What makes you smile?

¿Cuál fue el mejor momento de tu día hoy? / What was the best moment of your day today?

¿Cuál es tu película favorita? / What is your favorite movie?

¿Cuál es tu color favorito? / What is your favorite color?

¿Cuál fue el último libro que leíste? / What was the last book you read?

¿Qué día festivo te gusta más? ¿Por qué? / What is your favorite holiday? Why?

Si pudieras quedarte con solo un juguete, ¿cuál sería? / If you could have just one of your toys, which would it be?

Si pudieras encontrar cualquiera cosa en un huevo de Pascua ¿qué te gustaría encontrar? (Recuerda, será chiquito.)/ If you could find anything in an Easter egg, what would you like to find? (Remember, it has to be small.)

¿Qué consideras la mejor característica de tu familia?/ What do you think is the best characteristic of your family?

¿Qué comida elegirías para comer por el resto de tu vida, si pudieras tener solo una? / What food would you choose to eat for the rest of your life, if you could have just one?

¿A qué persona famosa admiras? / What famous person do you admire?

¿Qué libro recomiendas que lean tus amigos? / What book do you recommend your friends read?

¿Cuáles son las dos cosas que más te gustan de ti? / What are the two things you like best about yourself?

¿Qué pariente tuyo se parece más a tí? ¿En qué? / What relative is most like you? How?

¿En que época de la historia te gustaría haber vivido? / When in history would you like to have lived?

¿Cuál es el lugar más hermoso que has visto? / What is the most beautiful place you have ever seen?

¿Quién es tu superhéroe favorito? / Who is your favorite superhero?

¿Cómo te describirías a ti mismo en tres palabras? / How would you describe yourself in three words?

¿Cuál de las culturas del mundo te interesa más? / Which world culture interests you most?

¿Cuál es la palabra que más usas? / What word do you use the most?

¿Qué te gusta hacer cuando llueve? / What do you like to do when it rains?

¿Qué te aburre? / What bores you?

Link to Spanish Easter Conversation Questions

28 Conversation Questions in Spanish

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Spanish Easter Word Search – Adding Context

Easter, Printable, Spring, Toys and Games, Vocabulary No Responses »

Mar 262013

Below you will find a word search with Spanish Easter vocabulary. The words go in all directions, including backwards. The solution is included in the PDF.

Lots of kids really like word searches, or sopa de letras, in Spanish. As a supplemental activity, these puzzles can focus attention on a specific category of Spanish words that a child is learning. They are also useful for reinforcing the letter sounds and the sounds in specific words. Because Spanish is phonetic, children doing a word search will say the word aloud, in syllables, as they circle each of the letters.

Add context with visual clues
Word searches alone do not provide context to make the meaning of the words clear or to reinforce the meaning a child has learned. If teachers and parents add some kind of context for the vocabulary, the puzzle is a much more valuable language learning activity. One of the easiest ways to support the language is to add a visual clue for each word. If teachers and parents include drawing as part of the activity, kids have the meaning of the word in mind. The easiest way to do this by having children draw a picture for each word around the border of the puzzle and label it with the word they are going to look for in the word search. You can also use stickers for this, if you happen to have them. Another option is for children to draw one scene with all of the words in the puzzle and label them in the picture.

Of course, some words are abstract and hard to draw. In that case, kids can choose a symbol to represent a word. For example, for domingo, they might choose a church, a cross, or a bed because they sleep late. It really does not matter, as long as they associate the correct meaning with the word. Felices pascuas and primavera are also abstract, so kids will have to choose something to represent those words.

Add context with sentences, questions or a story.
Another way to add context is to use the words in complete sentences that make the meaning clear. You can do this as a class, or kids can write their own sentences if they have enough Spanish. You can also give the kids sentences to complete before they do the word search.

For this puzzle, sentences like these work. Be sure to tell kids that they will need to use the plural in some of the sentences. These are the words in the word search: chocolate, conejito, pollito, gallina, huevo, canasta, primavera, dulces, flores, patito, zanahoria, felices pascuas, nido, domingo.

En mi canasta de Pascua hay un conejo de ____________________y lo voy a comer.

El ____________________ de Pascua trae huevos y dulces.

El ____________________ dice pío, pío cuando tiene hambre y la gallina le da comida.

La ____________________ cuida a los pollitos.

Este año voy a pintar unos ____________________ para la Pascua.

Espero encontrar muchos dulces en mi ____________________.

La ____________________ es una estación muy bonita porque florecen muchas flores.

En la primavera los patos nadan en el río con sus ____________________.

La comida preferida de los conejos son las ____________________.

Para saludar en este día festivo se dice ___________ ___________.

Los pajaritos están en su ____________________.

La Pascua se celebra el ____________________ y muchas familias van a misa.

Another way to use the words in context is to ask questions that relate the words to each other or to kids’ experiences. You can also use the words in a story activity.

Link to Spanish Easter Word Search

Spanish Word Search with Easter and Spring Vocabulary

These are the words in the puzzle:
chocolate – chocolate
conejito – rabbit, bunny
pollito – chick
gallina – chicken
huevo – egg
canasta – basket
primavera – spring
dulces – candy
flores – flowers
patito – duck
zanahoria – carrot
Felices Pascuas – Happy Easter
nido – nest
domingo – Sunday

Spanish Body Parts and Sana, Sana Colita de Rana

Animals, Body parts, Crafts, Toys and Games, Vocabulary 2 Responses »

Mar 252013

Preschoolers love imaginative play, so we do lots of it in my classes. One game that is always a big hit is when we pretend that our pets are hurt and need una curita, a band-aid. We practice Spanish body parts with this activity and I also teach the traditional saying Sana, sana colita de rana, si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana.

All you need to play are felt band-aids and a stuffed animal for everyone. I make my curitas using different colored felt and a little two-sided tape. The felt will stick to the animals. The two-sided tape is to put the white square on so they look more like band-aids.

With some groups, I play using this simple rhyme:
- ¡Oh no!
- ¿Que pasó?
- Mi perrito (gatito, osito) se lastimó. Se lastimó la cabeza (la oreja, la nariz).
Then everyone puts a band-aid on their animal in the right place. Little ones who need help to complete the rhyme just put the curita on the animal where they want it and I help them say the word.

You can also add Sana, sana, colita de rana, si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana. After you say where the animal is hurt, everyone rubs their animals in that spot saying the rhyme together.

Both of these rhymes help children produce Spanish as we play. Preschoolers and children in the early elementary grades often understand lots of language, but coming up with original sentences is complicated and takes time. They need to hear structures over and over to be able to produce them spontaneously. Fortunately rhymes, like songs, help children with this process.

In the first rhyme, children ask ¿Qué pasó? (What happened?). This common question is an excellent example of the kind of structure that children can learn and apply as a complete sentence. They do not have to understand how the preterite tense is formed to use it correctly. In addition, learning the question will help them absorb how verbs are conjugated in that past tense and also that the preterite is used for completed actions. Those are important concepts from one little question!

Another advantage of including rhyme in this game is that it helps children acquire correct pronunciation. Kids mimic vowel sounds and the stress patterns and can reproduce them accurately with just a little practice. In this case, the accented final vowels in no, pasó and lastimó anchor the rhyme and children easily produce the sounds and the rhythm.

The second rhyme is traditional and used all over the Spanish-speaking world. It is important to include cultural elements in language education, and rhymes and songs are one of the best ways to do that with beginner learners. Also, using the rhyme lets kids practice the Spanish body parts twice – once as they sana, sana colita de rana and once as they put on the band-aid.

This is a very simple game, and kids hear and produce lots of Spanish as they play. We end the game by putting our animals to bed. They had a very eventful, accident-filled day!

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Spanish Song for Kids – En la granja de mi tío

Animals, Songs, Videos, Vocabulary No Responses »

Mar 242013

Old McDonald is a song many English speakers learn when they are very young. The equivalent Spanish song for kids is En la granja de mi tío, and it is a fun way for children to learn animals and animal sounds in Spanish.

There are several variations of the song in Spanish with different melodies and lyrics. In Spanish, it can be la granja de Pepito, la granja de Juan or la granja de Miguel. The number of animals also varies; sometimes there are ten of each. If you find a version you like, the differences in lyrics are details, but teaching a version with the same tune as the English does make it easier for children to learn.

Last fall Música Vaca put this version on YouTube. I like it because it is slow and clear. It has one of each animal, like the English, and the video reinforces aquí and allá by moving the animal closer and farther away. You can see the lyrics by clicking CC and choosing Spanish. This video has just three animals – cow (vaca), cat (gato), pato (duck), and cabra (goat). Of course, you can add as many as you like! There is a list of animals and the sounds they make in Spanish at the end of this post.

Unfortunately, the version by Música Vaca is not available for download. Another common version with the same tune has these lyrics:

En la granja de mi tío, i-a-i-a-o
hay diez vacas que hacen mu, i-a-i-a-o
una vaca aquí, una vaca allá, mu, mu, mu, mu

En la granja de mi tío, i-a-i-a-o
hay diez gatos que hacen miau, i-a-i-a-o
con un gato aquí, con un gato allá,
con una vaca aquí, con una vaca allá
miau, miau, mu, mu
etc.

As you can see, the Spanish matches the English that most kids know, except that it is in the present tense and there are ten animals. This is the version that Las Gaticas sing. It is clear and used in several YouTube videos, like this one.

The version by Las Gaticas is available on Amazon and iTunes. There is another clear version with the same lyrics by Hugo Liscano and Javier Galue. It is also available on Amazon and iTunes.

Of course, because this song is so familiar, you can just sing it with kids. These are common farm animals and the sounds they make in Spanish:
caballo (horse) – jiiiiiii, iiiiou
cabra (goat) – bee bee
cerdo (pig): – oinc-oinc
gallina (hen) – coc co co coc
gallo (rooster) – kikirikí
gato (cat) – miau
oveja (sheep): bee, mee
pato (duck): cuac cuac
perro (dog): guau guau,
vaca (cow): mu

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