Pesca, pesca, pescador

We study a new animal and color in each chapter. My kindergartners have been working on el pez and azul. Our verb is nadar. First we practiced saying the new words and then acting them out. We made fish faces and "swam" around the room. This is also a good way to have students line up. I call their rows and tell them, "Naden a la fila. Nadamos a la fila. Andrew es un pez. Él nada a la puerta." (Later when we are talking about la rana, we will jump into line. When we did flamenco, we danced into line.)

We also went fishing using dowel rods with some string and magnets as cañas de pesca and peces de papel with paperclips. I found this adorable poem from Fun For Spanish Teachers. We recited the poem and then students listened for me to tell them which color fish to try and pick up. Needless to say, this was a HUGE hit. I even heard students reciting the poem on the way out the door. This will definitely be a go to game when I have a few extra minutes or I want to reward students. Or I might put vocab words or questions students have to answer once they grab them.

"Pesca, pesca, pescador

Pesca un pez

¿De qué color?"

In the next class we watched the following video. The first time we just watched and listened. Then we watched a second time. I paused the video and students told me what color fish they saw.

Last year we did a craft where students made el pez by tracing their hand and decorating it but I left it out this year in favor of the game and story. I liked the craft but I think the poem did a better job of really reinforcing the new language.

Do you "go fishing" in your classes? How do you practice colors with students? Share in the comments below!

El cuerpo ideas & resources

We have been learning body parts in first grade. I use the Calico Spanish curriculum so we've been singing their song Todo Mi Cuerpo which I like because it is similar to Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes but also includes the verbs nadar and bailar. (The Calico curriculum does a good job of introducing lots of different verbs and then reinforcing them as you go through the different chapters.)



We've also been watching the story Adios Monstruo. My kids are CRAZY for this video. They absolutely love it. My original plan was to continue on to Chapter Four but I had to do something more with this video since they had so much enthusiasm for it.



So first, we wrote a class version of the story on tablet paper. Next, students made their own monsters and I bound them together in a book they could keep in their classroom. (I might be a little obsessed with making class books at the moment! But the kids love them!) Students had to trace the sentences and then add in the color. Some students, like the one below, weren't happy with just the sentences provided and added things like cabello and dientes to theirs.

 

Update: Since I do this project every year and the students love it I've added it to Teachers Pay Teachers. It comes with several ways to scaffold or differentiate. There are pages where the descriptions are already written and students just draw, pages where students trace and add the color details, and pages where students write their own sentences. Check it out here!

                  

 How do you teach body parts? Share in the comments below!

All I Want for Christmas

I'll probably get lots of cookies, candles, and hand soap this year from my students. If I get really lucky someone might give me a restaurant gift card. But here's what I REALLY want for Christmas...

- For the laminator to have film. Why is it always empty when I have a bazillion things that need laminating? (Answer: Because every other teacher has a bazillion things to laminate. Solution? Stockpile film!)

- To find activities that have exactly the vocabulary that I need. I always seem to find things that have a few words I need and the rest are one of the million other ways to say things in Spanish.

- Chairs that magically push themselves in. Because my students seem incapable of doing it themselves. Despite practicing over and over. (This might be one of those things I just need to let go of.)

- For my fifth graders to stop saying buenas nachos instead of noches. It was funny the first 100 times, kids. Now it's just annoying.

- A healthy rest of the year. Because strep twice in three months is enough thank you.

- More time with my kids! Because 50 minutes every six days just isn't enough.


What do you want for Christmas this year? Leave a comment below!