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!

Pumpkin Unit

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I love all things pumpkin! This fall I will be doing a pumpkin unit in Spanish with my younger elementary students. Here are the resources that I have pulled together to use...

Vocabulary

La calabaza-pumpkin

El pedúnculo-stem

El zarcillo-tendril

La cáscara-shell, peel, skin

La pulpa-pulp, flesh

Las semillas-seeds

La placenta-membrane (the stringy stuff that surrounds the seeds)

La flor-flower

El retoño-sprout

La planta-plant

Las rayas-stripes (lines on the pumpkin shell)

Todo Sobre Las Calabazas

{It includes vocabulary posters, parts of a pumpkin and life cycle worksheets, and some science investigation sheets. I also used the vocabulary cards provided to make a Go Fish and Memory game. This unit is really the backbone of my lessons.}

Artificial Mini Pumpkins
{These can be used for counting and reviewing parts of a pumpkin. They can also be hidden around a room. The teacher gives instructions in Spanish for the students to find the pumpkins. Great review for prepositions!}

Pumpkin Playdough
{My students will be required to make the parts of a pumpkin as I call them out in Spanish.}

Teaching Ordinal Numbers
{When you are teaching life cycles it is a great time to teach the ordinal numbers like primero, segundo, tercero, etc.}. For my pumpkin unit I have expanded it "from seed to pie".  We go through ten steps from the time you plant the seed until you eat the pie. Here is the simple list we will use for each ordinal number:

Primero-la semilla                                                      seed

Segundo-el retoño                                                      sprout

Tercero-la planta                                                        plant

Cuarto-la flor                                                              flower

Quinto-la calabaza verde                                           green pumpkin

Sexto-la calabaza madura                                          ripe/mature pumpkin

Séptimo-cocinar la calabaza                                      to cook the pumpkin

Octavo-mezclar los ingredients                                  to mix the ingredients

Noveno-cocinar el pastel de calabaza                        to cook the pie

Décimo-comer el pastel de calabaza                         to eat the pie      

Related Books

El círculo de las calabazas
Calabazas {Longer book...for students with more Spanish background}
El Otono {Not about pumpkins, but everything to do with fall}
Calabaza, Calabaza

Also see this post about how to incorporate the teaching of emotions during a pumpkin unit.

Here is a drawing game...you can play this game in small groups. The first person to complete all the parts of his or her pumpkin wins. You only need paper and pencil for each student, two dice and this printout... {By the way, each student starts the game by drawing a pumpkin shape on his/her paper before rolling the dice for the first time.}

Draw a Pumpkin Printable

Here is a science page you can use to investigate several pumpkins. All in Spanish!! You will need three different-sized pumpkins to do this activity.

A great way to review numbers, body parts, and a few pumpkin parts!!!

Pirate Unit in Spanish

I have been loving doing unit studies with some of my students this summer!  Here is the latest one that I have been using...resources to learn about pirates in Spanish!

The basis for this unit has been Mi Pequena Larousse Enciclopedia: Los Piratas . This cute, (if pirates can be cute) little book goes through information on pirates like what they ate, wore, and fought using short sentences in Spanish. Pirate vocabulary is introduced throughout like sword, hook, sails, and flag.

I then formally teach the vocabulary using these words. The pictures and vocabulary are free. I just reduced their size and created two cards for each word: one with the picture of the word and the other with the actual Spanish word on it.  I use these cards to introduce the vocabulary.  If students can read or are beginning to understand the Spanish sound system you can lay out the word cards on the table. Then show them one of the pictures and call out the word for it in Spanish. The students then have to find the correct word. The set of cards can also be used for playing Memory and Go Fish.

While working with pirate vocabulary I teach prepositions like under, on, close to, etc. This packet has some great pictures in it to reinforce prepositions. I also bought Jake and The Never Land Pirates figurines so that we can do some hands-on activities with prepostions by giving them commands like "Pon el tesoro debajo del arbol."  They can also give commands to a fellow student once they feel confident to do so.

Another subject to cover while doing a pirate unit is geography.  See this post for more information. This version of Twister is fun.  Just call out instruction in Spanish instead of English. A great way to review the continents in Spanish!

Also, my students LOVE the Spot It! Games! Here is one that goes perfectly with a pirate unit. It is easy enough to use with beginning language students, too!  So check out 

Spot it! Jake and the Never Land Pirates- Numbers & Shapes.

Adding Fun to Vocabulary Learning

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When you teach a language you are always looking for ways to add some fun to learning the endless amount of words that a student needs in order to communicate. A few weeks ago I bought a Magnetic Write-on Wipe-off Die and have been using it in my summer classes. The die is not quite five inches across and has dry erase surfaces that are also magnetic. Since I have been doing a bug unit this summer I decided to take the cards from a game I have, Bug Out , and use those along with the die to practice our vocabulary.

I wrote a Spanish word on each side of the die...they were all the names of insects that were represented on some of the cards.  Obviously as you can see from the picture there were more types of insects than I was able to put on the die. That is ok. It just means that students have to sort through to find what they are looking for. On one side I did put the word "insecto" so that they could pick up anyone that was a true insect. To play the game, I laid out all the cards.  The first student rolled the die and read the word.  He then tried to find the insect that corresponded with the word in Spanish.  Then we went to the next player. If a student rolled a word that no longer had a card then we just moved on to the next player. I timed the game to only last five minutes.  At the end of the game, the students counted {in Spanish, of course!} their cards to see who had the most.

This simple game can be used with any set of vocabulary as long as you have picture cards for the words you are working on. The write-on die has the potential for a plethora of uses! I am going to be on the lookout for other ways to incorporate it into my lessons.




A little more information on the die...I have read reviews that the magnetic part {supposedly you can attach magnetic pictures to the white spaces} doesn't work that great. I don't really plan to use the dice that way, but thought I would mention it. Also, as you play with the die, you have the potential to wipe off the words if you touch the white parts.  I have taught my students to handle the die on the colored areas.  It seems to work well.

Here are some links for different picture cards to use with this type of game {click on the image}...

{The caterpillar game would be a great way to review the vocabulary from that book.}

Spot the Differences {Activity for Language Learning}

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I recently picked up this Spot the Difference Card Game for a local toy store.  I am so excited to use these cards with my more advanced students!  This is meant to be a game where you compete with your opponents to find the most differences in the two pictures on the card.  However, they are EXCELLENT pictures for discussing in a target language what the differences are. There are three levels of cards:

40 challenges {20 cards with pictures on each side} with five differences
40 challenges {20 cards with pictures on each side} with ten differences
40 challenges {20 cards with pictures on each side} with fifteen differences

That's 120 spot the differences pictures!!

There are all kinds of scenes that will allow you to work with students on different topics.  Here is a list of a few of the topics...

Swimming/Islands/Oceans
Circus
Knights and Dragons
Outer Space
Animals
Doctor's Office
Fishing
Restaurant

And that is just a sample of the cards!

I plan to use these in private lessons and also in small groups where students attempt to describe to their partners what the differences are in Spanish. A great way to encourage speaking skills! These could also be used with students that finish work early in a larger classroom setting.  They can pick a card or two and write down the differences that they see. I can't wait to use them this fall!

UPDATE: I have been using these with my students and have noticed that the more they use them the better their fluency! These cards are going to be a staple with my intermediate and advanced students. Such an easy way to get them talking with so little prep from the teacher!

Another way to use these cards is when you are teaching prepositions. I pull out these cards and call out two items on the card. The students then have to tell me where the two objects are in relation to each other {like above, under, to the right, etc.}