Nov 132011
 
Spanish food vocabulary - Thanksgiving printables from Nourish Interactive

This is a set of Thanksgiving materials and activities in Spanish from the wonderful website Nourish Interactive. The free printable materials include coloring pages, word games, bookmarks, lunchbox notes, dinner place cards and a organization sheet to help with Thanksgiving planning. All of these activities teach Spanish food vocabulary and Thanksgiving vocabulary if you talk about them with kids learning Spanish. The following activities have simple text and work particularly well with Spanish language learners. [...]

Sep 222011
 
9letras - Great collection of printable resources for teaching kids Spanish

9letras is the blog of Alberto Abarca Fillat of Huesca, Spain. Alberto shares educational material for teaching Spanish and the website has an impressive number of printable activities for young Spanish language learners. All of the material is created by the author, and lots of the activities have pictures to help Spanish learners interpret the language. Many of these activities with pictures are designed for beginning readers. They also work well with children who do [...]

Sep 122011
 
¡A comer! - A dual language picture book about food, family and good fortune

Let’s Eat! / ¡A comer! is a picture book in Spanish and English by Pat Mora. This story fits into any number of my classes. It has family vocabulary, food vocabulary, simple structures, a strong cultural component, and detailed pictures that can be used for all kinds of conversation about home and family. The story line of Let’s Eat! / ¡A comer! is straightforward. A family comes to the table, and there is plenty of [...]

Aug 092011
 
Printable healthy eating charts teach days of the week in Spanish

Children can learn lots of Spanish while they are focused on another task. These printable charts are designed to help kids establish healthy eating habits, but they are an excellent way to teach the days of the week in Spanish. They are also great for using Spanish food words. These printables are from Nourish Interactive, a site dedicated to promoting a healthy lifestyle. Each day, children color stars or a box to show that they [...]

Jul 312011
 
15 inexpensive ways to add Spanish to your home

A text-rich environment is very important for children learning Spanish. One of the difficulties of teaching Spanish as a minority language is that children are not exposed to the written language the way they constantly see signs, labels and advertisements in English. It is important to keep an interesting, changing flood of Spanish text at home and in classrooms. Here are 15 ways to create a world of Spanish words in your home. 1. Make [...]

Jul 242011
 
Simple activity helps children learn Spanish food words

This is a quick, simple activity to review food vocabulary with children learning Spanish. Tengo hambre y quiero comer is based on the memory game kids play in Spanish called Me voy de viaje, but uses pictures to provide a visual reminder of the meaning of the words. I play it with groups of 4-8 students and up to 20 food words, but it also be done with two or three children. Of course, it [...]

Nov 222010
 
Giving thanks in Spanish

Many children learn to say thank you in Spanish when they are little even if they are not learning more of the language. Although gracias is the basic and most common way to give thanks in Spanish, there are some simple variations that you can easily teach children.  These are a few expressions and some vocabulary that you can use to express your appreciation in Spanish. Gracias – Thank you Gracias por… -Thank you for [...]

Sep 262010
 
Polite expressions in Spanish that every child should learn

Expressions of courtesy are a part of our daily interactions. If a child is learning Spanish, these polite words should be part of her vocabulary.  By learning a few basic words and phrases, children can understand and use appropriate Spanish expressions of courtesy in most situations. It is polite to greet others with one of the following phrases: Buenos días – Good morning Buenas tardes – Good afternoon Buenas noches – Good night When asking [...]

Aug 102010
 
Kids get listening practice and learn Spanish food vocabulary with online game

Your child will practice listening skills in Spanish and will also learn Spanish food vocabulary with this game. In this online game, she selects a fruit or a vegetable, according to the Spanish instructions she hears. When your child clicks on the correct item, a short text about the food appears, and that text is read aloud. With this activity, your child can practice listening for key words in Spanish. There are three food items [...]

Jul 302010
 
Speak Spanish with your child during meals

Meals provide an opportunity and context for speaking Spanish to your child.  In addition to food vocabulary, there are many common verbs that you can use at the table. These are some common Spanish phrases that are used at mealtime. They are not word-for-word translations of the English because often word-for-word translations do not make sense or would be something that no one would say.  These are phrases that you can learn and use with [...]

May 122010
 
Talking about a photograph of fruit in Spanish

Children learn Spanish grammar and vocabulary by hearing correct grammatical structures. Reading the questions that follow the photograph, you can help your child learn Spanish question words and verbs. Look at the picture with your child and read the questions that follow. Answer the questions together. You can often understand the main idea without understanding each word. To learn Spanish, children need to develop the ability and confidence to listen (or read) for the main idea.  [...]

Mar 172010
 

This simple Spanish circle activity is great for a family, a group of friends, day cares or classes.  It uses por favor, gracias and de nada and also is a way to practice Spanish animal vocabulary. Choose a snuggly stuffed animal that the children know how to say in Spanish, for example, el gato. Give the cat to a child, and model asking for the cat by saying “El gato, por favor” and when the [...]