Hide-N-Seek Vocabulary Game (for Second Language Learning)

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I struggle sometimes on how to get my youngest students to use the language especially when they are in the first few months of exposure to Spanish. The first problem is that with lower elementary-age students their attention span is very short, and when you add the fact that they have limited vocabulary at the beginning it can be challenging to find activities to get them talking in the target language. This week though I came across an activity that really worked! Not only does this activity require that they speak in Spanish, but it incorporates repetition of the vocabulary in a way that keeps them motivated. Here's how it works...

I create picture cards with the vocabulary on them we are working on. The ones you see here are for the weather, but the cards could be any group of vocabulary as long as you can use pictures: clothing, rooms in a house, places in a city, foods, etc. I laminate the cards (VERY IMPORTANT) so that I can use the dot stickers on the back of them. If the cards aren't laminated then you won't be able to get the sticker off as easily.  I lay out the cards face up on the table. If you have a large group of students you can make bigger cards and hang them up. Then I ask my students in the target language to turn around (away from the cards) and close their eyes (young ones are expert "peekers" so I have them do both actions). I then take a colored dot (See these here as they are easy to remove.) and stick it to the back of one of the cards. Then all my students can turn around and open their eyes. They take turns asking in the target language about a card to see if the dot is behind it.

So for example, if we are working on weather words they would ask, "¿Está nublado?" or "¿Hace viento?". I then reveal the underneath of the card to show them whether the dot is there or not. After I have hidden the dot a few times, I let some of my students do the hiding. If you have a large group, you may not be able to let everyone hide each time you play the game. So you may want to keep track of who has hidden the dot so that next time other students can do it. My students absolutely LOVE hiding the sticker and being in charge of answering the questions and revealing the backside of the cards. Another variation I do (normally at the end of the activity) is for me to "hide" the dot one more time. However, this last time around, I don't actually hide the dot on one of the cards. I put it some place else out of sight. This forces the students to ask about ALL the cards and review all the vocabulary. When the last card is revealed there may be some surprised looks! 😊

While I have used this with great success with elementary-age kids, it can be used as a quick review for older students (like in high school). I love how it requires students to use the language and how they get to hear the words/phrases over and over again. The other added benefit? If a child has the task of hiding the dot, he or she then also has to practice finding which card the other student is asking about. There's plenty of repetition and review without it being boring!

Clothespin Monsters and Language Learning

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I am always looking for new ways to teach Spanish vocabulary I have taught for years. It adds spice to my lessons and also keeps the teacher (me) engaged. Last week I came across this post on making little monsters and decided to make them in all the colors that I have taught my students. I also laminated them and used this glue (click here) which is incredibly durable. In the post, she suggests playing games with pom poms (find them here) with the monsters. I am using the monsters and the pom poms to review colors. Here's how I do it:

I lay out all the monsters on the table and then give instructions in Spanish like "El monstruo rojo come azul." One of my students then needs to find the red monster and use him to pick up a blue pom pom to deposit in a nearby cup. Once I have done this enough with students, I then ask them to "be the teacher" and give instructions to fellow classmates. 

Another activity is to have small disposable bathroom cups for each child. Lay out all your pom poms on a table. Each child gets a clothespin monster to use. Time them for thirty seconds or one minute and have them fill their small cups with as many pom poms as possible using only the monster to get them in the cup. When time is up, have them count the pom poms in their cups in the target language and tell you how many they got.

I also have doll clothes that I use for teaching which can also be used with these monsters. Give students instructions on which colored monster is going to eat which article of clothing. Have them deposit the clothes in another container that serves as the "stomach" for the monsters. Actually, these monsters can be used for all kinds of vocabulary in this same manner as long as you have something for the students to pick up with them. 

If you have any more ideas on how to use these monsters in a language classroom I would love to hear them! 

How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth {Book Activities for Spanish Learners}

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There are just some children's books I read that are so endearing that I immediately have to share them with my students. Como Lavar a un Mamut Lanudo is one of those books, because don't we all need to know how to wash our woolly mammoths?! This precious book takes you step-by-step through the process. Fill a bathtub. Add bubbles. Add a mammoth. You get the picture. So here are a few activities you can do with your young Spanish students after reading this book...

Younger students can count the steps (There are ten of them.) mentioned in the adventure of mammoth washing. You can also have them count in Spanish the useful items (that can clean your mammoth) on the back cover. Another idea would be to count how many times the "pato" shows up in the story or count the leaves in the illustration of the messy mammoth at the beginning of the story. Here is a coloring page to go along with the book in which your students can count the bubbles.

With the story you can do a  review of body parts and the learning of a few new ones your students may not know like tusks, hooves, and wool. Teach and review the words and then call them out to see if they can find the parts one one of the pictures of the mammoth.

There are a ton of actions words in the story...have your students get out a piece of paper (after you have read the book to them) and call out one of the steps in cleaning a mammoth. Can they draw the steps that you call out? Along the same lines, can you call out two or three of the steps in Spanish and have your students tell you if they are in the correct order or not. The steps could also be written out on cards to see if your students who are reading Spanish can put them in order.

This book lends itself well to doing some bubble painting! Here are some simple instructions for this cool art activity. After the painting are done and dried, you can talk in Spanish about the bubbles represented in the art and work on noun/adjective agreement...

Burbujas moradas, burbuja grande, burbuja chiquita, burbujas verdes, etc.

Have fun learning all about giving woolly mammoths baths!

¿Dónde Está la Oveja Verde?

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Today let's take a look at ¿Dónde Está la Oveja Verde?, a cute book in search of a little green sheep. This book is great for younger kids that are bilingual or learning Spanish. With it you can teach and/or review colors, prepositions, and opposites. Let's take a look...

Since several of the colors are mentioned in the book, this would be a great time to teach colors. Here is a free pattern to use to make different colored sheep. This would be great to use in conjunction with prepositions in the book (abajo, arriba, lejos, cerca).  In Spanish, you can ask your students to position the sheep according to your instructions. For example, "Pongan la oveja roja cerca de la amarilla."

Another aspect of the book is to focus on opposite words. In the book there are the following opposites: flaca, gorda, abajo, arriba, asustada, valiente, cerca, lejos. I love this traditional song that works with opposites. I have done it with my students in the past and they have loved the challenge of it! You start out easy having them say the opposite of what you say by making the list of three words the same (blanco, blanco, blanco), but then make it more difficult by mixing up the words. Here is a video by Luis Pescetti demonstrating how it is done:




Here are the words to the song:

Yo conozco un juego / I know a game
que se juega así. / that you play like this.
Cuando yo digo blanco, / When I say white,
Uds. dicen negro. /you say black.
Cuando yo digo negro, / When I say black,
Uds. dicen blanco. /you say white.
Este juego va a empezar; / This game is going to start;
no se vayan a equivocar. / don’t make a mistake.
Blanco, blanco, blanco / White, white, white (leader)
Negro, negro, negro / Black, black, black (group)
Blanco, negro, blanco / White, black, white (leader)
Negro, blanco, negro / Black, white, black (group)


Another option is to do a drawing activity with sheep by describing the sheep using the vocabulary in the book. Here are some ideas of what you can say and have your students draw...

La oveja azul se baña.

La oveja flaca va hacia arriba.

La oveja anaranjada juega en las olas.

La oveja asustada está lejos.

La oveja blanca está en la luna.

La oveja negra va en coche.

Esta oveja toma el sol.

La oveja valiente va abajo.

La oveja morada baila bajo la lluvia.

La oveja verde está dormida.

Finally, I know you have heard of counting sheep so why not get your kids counting...even skip counting! Here is a link to some low-cost printables to do just that.

If you are looking for more learning activities to go along with Spanish children's book, check out this post. 

Se Venden Gorras

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Se Venden Gorras is a classic book that you can use to reinforce colors, actions, and prepositions in Spanish. Let's take a quick look at what you can do with this book when teaching Spanish...

A fun activity to do with this book is TPR (Total Physical Response). There are several actions within the story that you can ask your students to perform through giving commands in Spanish. Here is a list of the actions you can use...

Dormirse, despertarse, tocarse la cabeza, buscar a la derecha (a la izquierda), buscar a espaldas, levantar la vista, señalar con el dedo, apretar los puños, dar puntapiés, quitarse la gorra, tirarla al suelo, arrodillarse

With these actions, you can also play Simon says.

Remember the old game, Barrel of Monkeys? This would be a great time to play that game and practice counting in Spanish. 

This is a great printable you can do with your students. Give them instructions in Spanish on how many blue caps, red caps, etc. they need. Then also tell them in Spanish the order of the caps (you can make up a new order that's different from the book) that go on the peddler's head. Here are some more printables that are similar in which you can do a sequencing activity in Spanish.

Here are some free printables for the book. Yes, they are in English, but be creative and think of ways you could use them in Spanish. 

Here's such a cool idea...have your students recreate the story with actual manipulatives! This idea comes from Magical Movement Company. You can find it here.

CLICK HERE for more book activities.

De la Cabeza a Los Pies

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Animals and movement. What could be better for young children? I adore many of Eric Carle's books and have used them over the years in teaching Spanish. De la Cabeza a los Pies offers a wonderful opportunity to get kids moving and learning.

As far as vocabulary goes there are animal names to learn and body parts. Each page of the book features an animal like a penguin, seal or camel doing a certain action. The text is simple and somewhat repetitive to help kids absorb the language better. Here is a look at some learning activities you can do with this book:

Play Simon says in Spanish. Since there are a plethora of actions in the book you can use them to play this simple childhood game. Here is a list of possibilities...

Girar la cabeza, doblar el cuello, alzar los hombros, saludar con los brazos, aplaudir con las manos, golpearse el pecho, arquear la espalda, menear las caderas, doblar las rodillas, dar patadas, pisar muy fuerte, mover el dedo del pie

Another option with these actions is to call out the animal in Spanish and see if your students can do the action the animal did in the book. This requires a bit of memory so it might be a better activity after you have read the book a couple times to them. Along the same lines, you can call out a body part and see if they can point to it on themselves. 

Another activity I like to do along with this book is to use songs related to body parts. Diez Deditos is filled with wonderful songs and rhymes in Spanish for kids. It contains two to three songs that would be a great go-along for De la Cabeza a los Pies. Here is the song book for the CD which is incredibly helpful because not only do you get the words, but there are suggested actions for the songs.

Check comprehension by saying a sentence outloud about one of the animals...for example, "El mono saluda con los brazos." or "El cocodrilo gira la cabeza." If the statement is correct, then the students say, “Claro que sí” (a repeated line from the book). If the statement isn't correct, they say, "Claro que no".

If you are looking for graphics to go along with the book to make cards with, here is a link from Teach Beside Me. These are in English, but you could cut that part out or leave it. If you make cards, you can then have students select a card and say what the animal and action is in Spanish and then have them act it out.

Here are more book activities in Spanish {click here}.

Activities with Children's Books

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If you have read my blog for any amount of time you know that I LOVE children's literature. I use it every day with my elementary students when I teach. Throughout my website I have several posts on how to take a book, read it to your students, and then do learning activities related to the story. Here is a list of what is currently available.

La Oruga Hambrienta is the book I use with young kids to introduce the days of the week. Here is a free printable activity to do with the book.

Si Quieres Ver Una Ballena is a sweet book with a boy that gives advice on how to see a whale. I have read this book to my students and then done this drawing activity with them.

Pinta Ratones can be used to introduce simple color theory to kids.

Here is a more advanced book with another color mixing activity.

Here's a great book to review prepositions and food vocabulary. A simple drawing activity is included. 

Oliver Jeffers' book, Arriba y Abajo, has opportunities to teach new vocabulary.

This sweet book about taking the moon for a walk is a great way to review the names of animals.

La Casa Adormecida allows you to review prepositions with young kids.

Atrapados is another awesome book by Oliver Jeffers. At the end of this post is an activity to review the vocabulary introduced in the book.

Se Venden Gorras has several learning opportunities with colors, patterns, and sorting.

To review numbers 1-20, use Un Alce, Veinte Ratones

And finally, here is my favorite book to teach emotions with a free printable activity.

More Teaching Ideas for Language Learning!

Unit Studies in Spanish

Each semester I teach one unit study to my elementary-age students. It is a time to branch out and learn about the world around them and to increase their vocabulary. So here's a look at all the unit studies I currently have on the site. They include vocabulary lists, teaching ideas, book suggestions, and many of them have free printables.

Oceans- I am planning on doing this one in the spring. I can't wait! Here is also a post on ocean-themed children's books in Spanish.

Plants-I like to do this unit in the spring or summer. It includes two free printables.

Solar System-I just finished teaching this unit to my students, and it has been one of my favorites!

Rainforest-With this one, you can incorporate some geography of South America.

Polar Animals-Since I live in Alaska, this unit study was near and dear to my heart. Learn about the Arctic and Antarctic animals. If you want to incorporate prepositions into this unit, check out this penguin activity.

Pumpkins-We measured pumpkins and talked about buoyancy with this unit. A great one for the fall. This is a great activity to do during this unit. 

Pirates-Argh!

Insects-Great for the spring and summer. You can also incorporate this ladybug unit into it.

Are you looking for more teaching ideas? See the whole series here.

A Simple Guessing Game for Language Learners

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I love the game, Secret Square , and have been really lucky to come across one of them on the used market. They aren't readily available as far as I can tell. However, there is a real simple way to reinvent this game if you have access to flashcards with different objects on them. Last year I did rhyming words with my students and used these cards. The cards don't need to have words on them. It is also good to have a variety of items in your cards like foods, animals, household objects, etc. I can now take those cards and play a version of Secret Square with them. 

Basically, you lay out a bunch of cards and put a small, flat plastic chip under one of the cards. {Or for that matter you could use a small piece of construction paper.} Students then ask yes/no questions to try to figure out which item you have chosen. So, for example, if a student asks, "Is it red?" and the answer is "no", you then remove all the cards that are red. If the answer is "yes", then you remove the cards that have no red on them. {TIP: The person who hid the chip should be the only one touching the cards. I have found that the guessers may mistakenly pick up the card with the hidden chip if you allow them to start removing cards.} Questions continue to be asked until one of the students figures out which item has the hidden chip.

Here are some questions that students could ask in the target language...

Is it alive?

Is it red {or another color}?

Is it an animal?

Is it {Fill in the blank with an adjective}?

Is it a fruit?

Can it walk?

Can it fly?

As you can see there are all kinds of questions students can use depending on the pictures you have. It is more challenging the more cards you place on the table. My students enjoy the game more if there are over 25 cards. Another way to do this game is for the teacher to ask questions instead of the students. I tend to play it both ways with my students.

Have fun guessing!

Ideas for Teaching Colors in Another Language

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Colors are one of the first things I start with when teaching Spanish to my new students. Here is a list of supplies and ideas for teaching colors in any language...

Supplies

Colors Bean Bags

Monsters Stickers -For a variety of activities like this.

Color Dot Stickers- For this activity.

Demasiados Globos-This is the very first book I use with young kids to introduce colors.

Pinta ratones-I love this book on color mixing! I incorporate this activity with it.

Sali de paseo-Another great children's book.

Sharpie Accent Retractable Highlighters are great for older kids. I use them with picture pages and have the students follow my instructions like "Put a green circle on the house." I have also used these with more advanced students having them highlight the parts of speech in a Spanish paragraph. Each part of speech gets a different color.

Spot It! Numbers and Shapes-My students LOVE these games. The alphabet and the numbers game incorporate colors.

Ideas/Activities

Se Venden Gorros-By reading this classic book you can review colors.  There are a few activity ideas at the end of the post.

Mystery Pictures-To review colors and numbers.

Shape Monsters are a fun activity for younger kids.

Color and Number Bingo

Copy Cats- A simple game for the younger set.

Mr. Potato Head can be used to review colors especially if you have different sets of accessories.

So what supplies and activities do you use to teach colors?

Teaching Numbers with Children's Books

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There are a plethora of great children's books in Spanish that focus on numbers and counting. Here is a short list that is helpful when teaching young kids to count.

Elefante tiene hipo- This book is out of print, but I LOVE the humor in it and the fact that students can practice counting down from ten to one.

Un Alce, Veinte Ratones - I have written about this book before on my blog.  Great one for teaching numbers 1-20.

Abuelita fue al mercado-A trip around the world using numbers.

Demasiados Globos-I have used this book for over a decade to review numbers and colors.

Apréndete Tus Números- A great series of books for learning to skip count...

Huevos y patas- Counting by 2's
¡Montones de mariquitas!- Counting by 5's
Correle, correle ciempies!- Counting by 10's

El Libro de Contar de Los Chocolates Marca M&M - A great activity book for reviewing numbers up to 12, colors, and shapes.  It even gets into groupings (like "seis grupos de dos").


Do you have any great children's books you use for teaching numbers?  Would love to hear what you use!

Teaching Rhyming Words

This coming fall I will be working with my younger students on rhyming words in Spanish.  There are several great sets of rhyming word cards available at Teachers pay Teachers. This is the set that I bought.  There are 100 words (50 rhyming pairs)!!  I made them into cards by adhering colored paper to them and then laminating them.  I have separated them into groups of ten (so five sets). I will be teaching my students the sets one at a time.  This will improve their vocabulary, teach them about the sound system in Spanish, and start them on the road to reading the language.

There are several things that you can do with these cards:

-Memory

-Go Fish

-Lay the cards out on the floor.  Call out a card.  A student has to find that card and its rhyming mate.

-The Slapping Game (No slapping of each other!!): Lay out the cards on the floor.  Call out a word.  The first student to put their hand on the correct card gets to keep the card.  The goal is to have the most cards at the end.  You can vary this by calling out a word on a card, but they must slap the rhyming word for it.

-Lay out the cards and spell a word in Spanish (provided your students already know the letters) and see if they can find the card.  Then can they find the rhyming word and spell that for you?

-Use picture dictionaries like Everyday Words in Spanish . Call out a rhyming word and  see if they can find it in the dictionary.

-Use this page at the end of learning all the words. Give your students colored pencils and the page. Call out a color in Spanish and then one of the rhyming words and have them color it in.

Here is a cute idea from another blog to do with rhyming words...rhyming snowballs or falling leaves.

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There are also bilingual books and books in Spanish that focus on rhyming like Huevos verdes con jamón. Or El viejo y su puerta  which is a cute book about an older man that misunderstands his wife.  She asks him to bring "la puerca" to the BBQ, but he ends up bringing "la puerta". This book can be a springboard to talk about how the change of one sound (which happens with a lot of rhyming words) can change the whole meaning!

There is a great series of bilingual books that have a plethora of rhyming in them.

Say Hola to Spanish
Say Hola to Spanish, otra vez
Say Hola to Spanish at the Circus

El loro tico tango is another great story with lots of rhyming.  Can your students pick out the rhyming words as you read it?

Have fun rhyming!