Thursday, May 28, 2015

Yo veo algo azul

One of the first things I teach my kindergartners is their colors in Spanish. Mostly this is because they learn colors in English when they first get to school so it's great for reinforcing core content. Plus they LOVE the song El gusano Tutu. 

But you can't just teach the colors once and hope it sticks. I come back to them over and over again. With the Calico Spanish curriculum there is a new color with each chapter. One of the games we play is Yo veo or I spy. I keep it easy with Yo veo algo (insert color). The game is simple - Srtudent 1 thinks of something in the room in the target color and says "Yo veo algo (azul, amarillo, verde, cafe, o rojo.) Student 2 guesses by saying ¿Eso? and pointing. Continue until Student 2 guesses correctly and then switch. 

I would introduce the new color, play the game with the whole group and then let students play with a partner for 3-5 minutes. Then we would move onto the next item on the agenda. We would play about every other class so students really got into the routine of it. 

As a treat at the end of the year I found I Spy images online (just do a Google search to find LOTS of images), printed, and laminated them. Then I handed them out and let them play. I have posters and other displays that have colors of them for reference if the students needed them. I used them first as a fast finisher but I hope to use them more regularly next year since the students really seemed to enjoy playing with them. They also work well as a backup game in case your projector breaks or the electricity in your building goes out (yes, that happened today!) 



The best part is that these can be used in variety of ways for different levels- ask students to look for specific vocabulary (I tried to find images that included various animals so they could use that vocabulary as well) or instead of guessing with just "That?" you could have them name the item in the target language. It might even be fun to have students make their own. 

So that's how we play I spy. Spanish Playground also has a great article on the song Veo, Veo. I'm hoping to teach it to my students next year now that they have a good foundation. Do you play I spy? Share in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #earlylang!

1 comment:

  1. I play Veo Veo as follows: I put up different colored die cuts (bears for Oso Pardo, fish for El pez arco iris, butterflies for Oruga muy hambrienta etc), that go wit our story and say "veo veo" class resonds "que ves?" "Veo un oso amarillo." students raise their hands to point it out. " Muy bien es un oso amarillo." or similar, then class repeats color or phrase. You can do this with flash cards of vocabulary or numbers, as well. I put the die cuts on the wall with ticky tack for weeks at a time. :) sorry no accent marks on lap top.

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