Este Alce es Mio {Teaching Mio, Tuyo, Suyo, Nuestro}

{This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting this blog.}

 Using children's books is a great way to teach another language. {See my extensive list of children's books for teaching Spanish}  Recently, I came across Este alce es mío, a sweet story of a little boy who has a pet moose named Marcel.  The plot combines humor, drama, and emotion to capture a child's attention. But I also love the book because I can teach the concept of mio, tuyo, suyo, and nuestro with it.  Before reading the book I pass out plastic animals to my students.  We go over the names of the animals.  Here are some ideas for animals to use...

Squishy Farm Critters

Zoo Animal Squeeze Stress Balls

I then go over the words mio, tuyo, suyo, and nuestro by talking about who has which animals.  I start by talking about which animal is mine.  Then the students have to say which one is theirs. From there, we talk about which one is yours, his, and hers.  Finally, we talk about how the animals are ours.  For example,

"El elefante es mio."
"La vaca es tuya."
"El pato es suyo."
"Los animales son nuestros."

This is also a good time to review noun/adjective agreement.  Finally, we read the book.  In the book are a series of rules that the little boy gives to his moose.  The rules are numbered.  When we get to the numbers I have one of the students read the number so that we are reviewing that vocabulary also.

I plan to get more of Oliver Jeffers' books in Spanish in the near future and will share how I use them to teach Spanish.