Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Sentence Card Games {For the Classroom or Small Group}

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When I used to teach at a local high school one of the favorite grammar games of my students were sentence cards. Basically, I would take a grammatical concept, come up with sentences to practice the concept and then create a card for each word in the sentences. If I was doing the game in the classroom the cards were actually sheets of regular-sized paper. If it was a small group lesson then I would use half index cards. I would make two sets of cards (make the sets different so they are easy to tell apart by either writing each set of cards in different colored Sharpies or using two different colors of paper). This way you can have two teams by splitting up your group in half. I would set up teams and then call out a sentence in English. The first team to create their sentence correctly won that round. I would keep points for each team to see who came out with the most points at the end.

Here's the process for setting all this up:
{Yes, this takes a bit of time, but I am telling you, this is one of the most popular activities I have done with language students and what I love about it is that they really have to use teamwork, teach each other, and learn sentence structure during the game.}

1. Decide what grammar point you want to practice. Negation, verb conjugation, and pronouns (directs, indirects, and reflexives) are great concepts with this game. Any concept that is dependent on word order works well, too.

2. Decide how many students you will have on a team. I normally took the size of my class and split it in half. Ideally, you will need at least two cards for each person on a team.

3. Make a list of words you want to use to create your sentences. You want words you can use over and over again. You also need a variety of words to make complete sentences. REMEMBER: You need enough words so that each student has at least two cards if you are doing this in a classroom setting. To give you an idea here is my list for a sentence card game with negation:

siempre, alguien, algo, alguno/a/os/as, no, nunca, nadie, nada, ningun/a, yo, nosotros, ella, patinamos, trabajo, trabaja, habla, hablamos, a, escribo, escribimos, carta, cartas, en el invierno, en el verano, tomo, toma, el sol, con

4. Using the list make up sentences in English. Make sure you use all your words in your list at least once. Here are sample sentences for the above list of  words.

We always speak to someone.
We never speak.
She never speaks to anyone.
I don't write any letters.
We never skate in the summer.
I work with someone.
She never sunbathes in the  winter.
We write some letters to someone.
Nobody speaks on the plane.

5. Make two sets of cards, each a different color. If you are doing this in a classroom setting each person on the team needs at least two cards. In a  small group setting (teams that are no bigger than five people) then the whole team has the cards set in front of them to work with. Call out a sentence in English. The students then need to create that sentence with their cards. In a classroom setting I would have students at their desks and they would have to run up to the front with their card and get in order with their other team members to create the sentence. They would hold their card in front of them so we could clearly see the sentence. Reward a point to the team that creates the grammatically correct sentence first.

I saved all cards and the sentences in English for the game from year to year so that I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. In a small group setting with half index cards I even laminate them so that I can get as much use out of them as possible. No sense in doing all your work over again!

Enjoy! Who knew grammar could be so much fun?!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Resources for Teaching Una Carta a Dios {Free Printable}

{Photo courtesy of Capgros}
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I love when students get advanced enough to read literature in Spanish. The short story, "Una Carta a Dios" by Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes, is one of the first stories I have my students read. It can be found on the web or in the reader, Album {which I highly recommend if you have students that are beginning to read literature. Please see this post.}. The story incorporates tragedy and humor with a surprising punchline at the end. It is the perfect story to start with because of its high interest story line. Album has great comprehension questions, literary analysis, and language exercises, but there are also activities and resources online.  Here's a look at a few...

Online Vocab Cards for the story




Here's the vocabulary list I use with my students...




A lesson plan for Una Carta a Dios

A short biography on Gregorio Lopez y Fuentes

Do you know of any other resources for this short story? I would love to hear from you!




Monday, March 9, 2015

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?



Saturday, February 21, 2015

Veinte Mundos {Helpful Website and Free Printable}


This past year I have been using Veinte Mundos with one of my advanced students to improve his Spanish listening and writing skills. This online magazine is perfect for students to increase their skills and learn more about the cultures that speak Spanish.

Looking through the library of articles you can see that there are all sorts of topics to choose from. Here are some that I have used in the past that are good...

Dulce de Leche-The delicious caramel of Latin America
Quitapenas-Worry dolls
El Guarani en Paraguay-The native tongue of Paraguay
Silbo Gomero-A language of the Canary Islands that consists of whistles

Each article (either categorized as intermediate or advanced) can be listened to as your students read it on the screen. Within the article students can highlight a word and click it to see a definition. Besides the article there are tabs like the "lenguaje" tab that goes over grammar points, vocabulary, and has comprehension questions. Many articles have videos (under the "multimedia" and "viaja" tabs) to watch related to the article.

I created a worksheet to be used with any of the articles on the site. It is a place for students to record new vocabulary, color in a map of the country or countries in the article, and then write a summary of what they learned.  



This site is such an awesome way to bring Hispanic culture to you high school students in the target language! Not to be missed!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Rainforest Unit in Spanish {Free Printables}


This semester I will be doing a rainforest unit with my younger Spanish students. It will be an opportunity to learn nouns and adjectives related to animals and to learn how to do comparatives and superlatives in Spanish.

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Here is a look at what I have rounded up...

These books: 
Un Recorrido por la Selva
El loro tico tango
El Gran Capoquero: Un Cuento de la Selva Amazonica

I am using these resources from Teachers pay Teachers...

La Selva Tropical
Rainforest Math Game {For the game I laminated the cube, then cut along the black lines before putting it together with Zots Clear Adhesive Dots. This made the cube sturdier to use with multiple kids.}

Here are some of the other activities we will be doing...a few have links for free printables:

-Using a map of South America color in the area of the rainforest. Also, my older students will have to label and memorize the Spanish-speaking countries.

-The vocabulary list we will use.

-We will use these rainforest stickers and the outline picture of a forest (see La Selva Tropical unit) to review prepositions. I will call out an animal sticker and tell them where to put it on  the picture in relation to items and animals on the picture.

-Roll and draw a parrot

-Teach comparatives and then call out two rainforest animals. Can the students create a sentence comparing them like "El mono es menos perezoso que la serpiente."?

-Teach superlatives. Give the students a group of animals and have them create sentences like "La mariposa es el menos grande de los animales."

-With the book El loro tico tango use these graphics to make cards to play Memory or Pesca (Go Fish) with. The students have to match the correct animal with the fruit it had in the book. With Memory students are supposed to say the words of the cards they pick up each time in order to learn them better.

-Use Spot It Junior Animals at the end of the unit as a fun review game. NOTE: Not all these animals are from the rainforest, but this game is so worth it. My students ADORE it!



Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Teaching Supplies {for World Language Teachers}



As a language teacher there are certain supplies that I come back to again and again.  Here's a list of the top ten supplies I use in teaching...

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1. Dice are useful in playing games and creating sentences in the target language. Read more about using dice to teach a language here. 

2. I recently invested in a classroom calendar which I find helpful for young kids. Reviewing dates, days of the week, weather, and seasons on a regular basis helps solidify the vocabulary. What I love about doing a calendar at the beginning of a lesson is that it only takes a few minutes, yet if you are consistent students really learn the information.

3. File folders are great for making games like this game to tell the difference between the preterite and the imperfect or this one for the days of the week. Library Card Pockets are also useful when making file folder games.

4. Speaking of games, there are some pre-made ones that work well in a language classroom like Spot It! Alphabet, Spot It Animals, and Guess Who.

5. Stickers are also great for listening activities. These monster stickers are great for reviewing body parts. Penguins stickers are great for reviewing prepositions {See this post.}

6.Color bean bags can be used to not only review colors, but also to work with prepositions. For example, you can give commands like "Put red next to blue." or "Put the yellow one under the black." I also use the bean bags with other items like plastic food or plastic animals so that I can review colors, prepositions, foods, or animals as the need arises.

7. An atlas in the target language is also invaluable to have. So many times students (elementary through high school) don't know where countries or landmarks are located. When you are teaching history or culture it is great to have an atlas in the language you are working with.  Here are some atlases in Spanish:
Atlas del Mundo
Mi Primer Atlas

8. Sharpie Permanent Markers can be used by students (especially high schoolers) to take notes. I like to have my students put verb endings in a different color to highlight that the endings are what need to be memorized.  See this example:

Hablar
hablo
hablas
habla
hablamos
hablan

Or to emphasize a stem change in verbs:

Pensar
pienso
piensas
piensa
pensamos
piensan

9. Having a laminator can help preserve any items that you create for your lessons or classroom. Even if you have access to a laminator at your school, it can be helpful to have a small one at home. This laminator works really well and is compact and not very expensive. I love mine!

10. Literature or reading material can play a big part in your teaching. Check out this post on literature for high school students and this post on children's books in Spanish.

So what are your favorite supplies when you teach? I would love to hear what you use!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Mi Calendario {Teaching Dates, Seasons, and Weather with a Free Printable}


Over my years of teaching Spanish to young kids, I have found that the calendar, seasons, and the weather can be a challenge for them to cement in their brains. It takes a lot of review, and the best way is to talk about it each day for awhile until the concept of the passing of time becomes familiar to them. I recently purchased this calendar at half price and have been using it with my students. I am seriously wondering if I bought the last one available {I know I did from the company I ordered it from}. I wanted to have a smaller take-home version for my parents to be able to use with their kids at home.

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So I created this calendar that reviews yesterday, today, tomorrow, the date, season and weather for the day. You can download it and print it using the link below. {On the screen the page looks off, but print it out and it will be fine.} I then laminated these pages using this laminator {If you are looking for a laminator to use at home this is it! Inexpensive and works really well!!}. By laminating them I can give one copy to each parent and they can have their kids use a dry erase marker to pick the date, days, etc. It can be used over and over again. {Note: Some colored dry erase markers are harder to remove. The black seems the easiest. Also, rubbing alcohol helps the cleaning process.}


So here is the file...There is also a second page with questions in Spanish that parents can use as they review the calendar each day.

Mi Calendario

Here are some more items to use with kids to teach weather and seasons...




Weather and Clothes Puzzle-With this puzzle you can go over clothes, weather, colors, and seasons.




Pink "Mi Calendario"-Similar to the one above that is no longer available.


Laminated Weather Chart in Spanish