Caperucita Roja

I started out the school year with a story in 2nd grade this year - Caperucita Roja - to review the structures we learned last year using the Calico Spanish curriculum. While I love Calico, I added this before we jumped back in since students tend to forget so much over the summer. Caperucita Roja has so many opportunities to practice basic structures in the language and the kids love it because it´s familiar. 

Target Structures (Things they've seen before are bolded):

¿Cómo te llamas?  Me llamo ______.  
¿Cómo estás? Tengo hambre. Estoy triste. Tengo miedo. Estoy enferma.

Mi abuela está enferma.
¿Por qué?

Necesito ir (a la casa de mi abuela).
Necesitas venir aquí. 
Necesitas abrir la puerta.
¡Yo veo (body part) grande!

Necesito mirar/escuchar/comer.

Gracias/De nada. 

I told the story first using props from www.kizclub.com. I never tell the students what story they are listening to is one they already know in English because it's so much fun to listen to them as they figure it out. Before we start we repeat the expectations - Necesito mirar. Necesito escuchar. Necesito participar. Students participate by repeating the target structures with me as I tell them the story.

After hearing the story in one or two classes, I showed them a powerpoint with the same target structures. While I had individual students come up and act out certain parts, everyone read together (so that we ALL got practice.) My actors held their masks and had to look sad, sick, hungry, and ferocious. :-D At the end we discussed who were the characters, what was the problem in the story, and what was the solution. I let students answer in English (unless they were heritage speakers and then I insisted on Spanish) but we read the answer together in Spanish.

After doing the readers' theater version twice, I handed out envelopes with introductions to each characters. Students had to work together with a partner to match the introductions to the right character. Our staff recently went through Kagan training so we are all trying to use Kagan structures. I told the kids to work together and match them up AND THEN read them to each other using Rally Robin. But my second class didn't quite understand and instead one student would read a sentence and the other student had to find the picture and match it and then they switched - making it more like Rally Coach and a much better way to ensure everyone was engaged, reading AND listening. Don't you love it when students think of a better way to do something? Once they finished they got a worksheet with Sr. Lobo that they had to label the body parts. 

We had to move on quickly to make sure we had enough time to get our Journey North butterflies ready in time but our summative assessment for this unit will be a reading & matching exercise similar to the activity they already did.

Here's a great video (and authentic resource!) to use too. I have my novices listen for key words and it works great for differentiating for my heritage speakers. 

Do you teach any fairy tales? What resources do you use? Share in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #earlylang!

What's your name game for kindergarten

Fellow Spanish teacher, Emily, here in Lexington recently emailed me with a great game for kindergarten.

I tried a new game this year and the kids have really loved it and we were able to speak in Spanish for the entire game. Thought I’d share. It’s so simple, but great.

Have students in a circle/desks/you could even do this in small groups once they get the hang of it.

Call on someone by asking ¿Cómo te llamas? They answer with Me llamo ___.

Whole class tell them Adios ____.

Cover them with a bandana or I used  a Spanish flag.

Whole class asks ¿Dónde está? ¿Dónde está? Until student pulls the flag off and the class shouts ¡Hola ____!

I demonstrated with my stuffed animal and myself so they wouldn’t feel silly about covering their heads. It is so simple, but I’m telling you their belly laughs are precious and they were all speaking in Spanish and loving it.

I played it this week with my kindergarten classes and like Emily's students we had a great time. 

Proficiency Level Pyramid

I have never done a really good job of explaining proficiency levels to my students. One of my goals this year was to make sure my kiddos understood the process of learning a language. I didn't want any of them to get frustrated because they couldn't speak Spanish fluently after a month.

The Chinese and Japanese teachers in our district have these awesome illustrations where students "climb" the Great Wall of China or Mount Fuji from novice low up to intermediate.  But us Spanish teachers didn't have anything nearly as cool and culturally relevant.  So this summer I decided to make a proficiency level pyramid using Chichen Izta in Mexico.

I introduced it to my fourth and fifth grade this past week and they loved it! I printed one large one in color to put on my bulletin board and each student got a half sheet in black and white to keep in their folders. I explained that even in English we aren't born speaking in complete sentences. We are at the top of the pyramid in English but at the bottom in Spanish working our way up. 

We also looked at pictures of the real Chichen Itza and reviewed the taco rubric from Mundo de Pepita.  Both the pyramid and the taco rubric really gave them good images to associate with their learning in Spanish class. And I know it was working when they asked me how they could get to intermediate.  Do you talk about proficiency levels with your students? How do you explain them? Share in the comments below or on Twitter using the hashtag #earlylang!

Get the large version here.

Get the half sheet student copies here.

Clip art by Phillip Martin - check out more great clip art here.

New year - New schedule

I just started my fourth year and I'm officially OUT of the Specials rotation. I will see every class EVERY OTHER DAY!!! 2nd-5th grade will get 25 minutes every other day and Kinder-1st will get 15 min. That's 75 min in 6 days for the older grades.

How did I get more time? By advocating. By showing off what my students CAN DO. With a little help from the KY Dept of Education and their new World Language Program Review that requires all schools to provide WL instruction. By getting creative with the schedule and being willing to go back on the cart if I needed to. By getting lucky in that our population is getting smaller so we have less classrooms. By simply asking for more time. By being patient and flexible the last 3 years.

Am I at the recommended 90 minutes per week? No, but I'm getting there. I'd be there if I worked at a smaller school but with 24 classes and only 1 of me it's hard to get to that number. The good news is that we are headed in the right direction.

Only 15 minutes for K-1 does mean, however, going back on the cart. (I get to keep my room for the older grades.) Señora Speedy is making a grand comeback with a new face and speech bubble. As much as I love having my own room I have to admit I missed Speedy. Now I get to have the best of both worlds.

I'm so excited to start my new schedule on Monday. What are you excited about for this upcoming year?

Scholarships for teachers to travel abroad

I spent almost 5 weeks of my summer this year in Spain! Thanks to a scholarship from SCOLT I was able to study for 3 weeks at Estudio Sampere in Madrid, Spain.

My scholarship included 3 hours of classes during the week and lodging with a Spanish family who not only provided a bed but also breakfast and dinner, as well as laundry once a week. It didn't include airfare, the extra week and a half I tacked on to travel around, or the extra activities the school provided (like weekend excursions to Toledo, Segovia, and Avila.) Sampere was a great place to study - right next to Retiro Park, lots of activities outside of class, as well as great teachers and staff who all insisted on all Spanish all the time. I really enjoyed my time there and would recommend Estudio Sampere to anyone.

I had two great teachers and awesome classmates at Estudio Sampere in Madrid

I spent my time speaking so much Spanish. Not that I don't speak Spanish during the year but the level of language I use with my novice learners is not sufficient to maintain or raise my own level. Three weeks of intensive classes certainly helped and I was able to learn lots of colloquialisms that make me sound less of a guiri or gringa and more like a fluent speaker.

In addition to all the Spanish I was speaking I got to

1. Visit lots of cool places (Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Barcelona, Tarragona, Cordoba, El Escorial, in addition to thoroughly exploring Madrid.)

2. See amazing art (I went to the Prado twice, attended a lecture on Guernica, discovered Sorolla, developed an obsession with both Velazquez and Picasso's Las Meninas, and was inspired by Miro.)

3. Take part in cultural experiences that I can't wait to share with my students (Castellars building their human towers in Tarragona, cooking classes, huge annual water fight called La Batalla Naval de Vallecas, a live flamenco show, buying cookies from cloistered nuns on a wooden turntable.)

4. Collect books, games, puzzles, take pictures, and other miscellania for use in my classroom this upcoming year.

5. Meet, hang out, and get inspired by other Spanish teachers in my course.

A weekend excursion to Segovia

All of the following organizations have scholarships each year - I highly recommend looking into applying for next summer.


SCOLT - Southern Conference on Language Teaching

CSCTFL - Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

NECTFL - Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

SWCOLT - Southwest Conference on Language Teaching

ACTFL - American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

AATSP - American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese


School starts for me in less than 2 weeks. I'm sad to see summer go but I have to say it's certainly been memorable!

Reflections on the year

I'm done for the year!!! And what a year it was - it was both awesome and challenging.  I kept and refined certain things while I let others drop to the wayside (sometimes on purpose and other times unintentionally and with regret.)


90% TL - It didn't always happen but for the most part I met my 90% goals. It's become a habit and with some classes it was even 100% TL most days. I had several little "policemen" in kindergarten and in 3rd grade whose favorite phrase was ¡No inglés!  Only my new students seemed to freak out - the other kids are so used to it. My heart burst one day when a brand new student complained about not being able to understand and another student said, "It gets a LOT easier and we always do fun stuff in here."

It's not hard to pinpoint the times I didn't use enough TL - rowdy 5th grade classes at the end of the day when I was tired and they were tired. And specifically the entire month of February when I suffer from SAD. My Classdojo contest did seem to motivate students but it lost steam after awhile. I think next year I will wait and implement it when me and the kids need it the most.  A shorter contest in the dead of winter should add enough excitement and motivation to get us through that tough spot.


Spiraling - I can't stress enough how important this has become in my classroom. The more they see the different structures in different contexts the more comfortable they will be using them. I used to teach things in isolation and then move on but this last year I have seen so much more growth from students when they are constantly seeing/hearing/using things over and over.  Next year I want to continue to build on that prior knowledge even when introducing new material.


Assessments - It was still a struggle. I did do more assessments this year but I don't know that they were very meaningful. I'm still trying to find a way to do this in a way that benefits the students' learning (i.e. I can give good feedback) but doesn't become unmanageable for me. With 600+ students it's not an easy task. Although I've had some great conversations lately with awesome teachers about how to handle so MANY students - A colleague talked about si se puede sheets that she would have kids bubble in when she heard them using the TL - love this because it makes the kids do the hard work of finding their name and recording data. Another colleague put the target questions for the year up on the board and did a pre&post test at the beginning and end of the year. I love the idea of having that focus up where both me and the kids see what we're working towards. He said the kids loved seeing their progress from the beginning to the end of the year and only 1 major summative assessment at the end of the year would be totally manageable.


Communicating with families- I did send more "stuff" home this year - speaking rubrics & assessments, stamp pages, & coloring pages with links to the videos we were watching in class. My goal next year is a newsletter every 2 months with vocabulary, links to videos, & game ideas to play at home.  Already this summer I have created a template and written the first few editions (that way in the craziness of the start of the year it's already done and just needs to be printed & copied.)

Now I'm ready for summer break. I plan on resting, planning for next year, and spending 5 weeks in Spain shopping, studying, and playing tourist. What are your summer plans?

The cart as advocacy

Have you just learned that next year you won't have a room? You have to fit all of your papers, props, technology, and other teaching materials on a cart? After you have a good cry (and possibly a large drink) it's time to look at the positive side. Being on a cart is a great opportunity to show off and advocate for your program.

Don't get me wrong - I loved having a room this year but I'm just as grateful that I spent the first two years at my school on a cart. Here's why...

Teachers all over the building could SEE and HEAR what I was doing with students in Spanish class. If they chose to stay in their room during Spanish class they got first-hand knowledge of what was going on in my program. 

They told me things like, "Wow! The kids are learning so much more Spanish this year." (Not true - but the previous Spanish teacher had a room so they never heard the kids speaking Spanish.) 

They told their students, "I just love hearing you guys speak Spanish! I wish I had had Spanish when I was your age." 

They emailed my principal and wrote things like, "I just want to let you know that Ms. K is doing a super job."

And it wasn't just teachers who were more aware - parent volunteers working in the rooms also got first-hand experience with their child's Spanish class. (And parents that volunteer are also the ones that serve on SBDM committees, PTA, and email the principal & superintendent when their child's language program is on the chopping block.)

All that exposure and all I had to do was my regular teaching gig. There are other ways to get similar exposure - I sent my administration videos and pictures of what we were doing in Spanish class. This year I invited teachers and administrators to certain lessons (the ones with food) and my goal next year is to send home a regular newsletter to parents and families but being on a cart is its own special advocacy. 

Are there challenges to teaching off a cart? Oh yes! But are there some special benefits too? MOST DEFINITELY.  So mourn your room (if you were lucky to have one to start with) but then buck up and realize what a great opportunity to show off your program to teachers and parents teaching off a cart will be. #ThatsHowIRoll