Celebraciones

This month has been focused on Celebrations.  We've read books about birthday parties, Santa and his reindeer but I think the kids enjoyed Thanking the Moon (a Chinese celebration of the moon) most of all.   Here is some of the vocabulary that they've picked up.

• los globos-balloons
• las luces-lights
• la luna-the moon
• la comida-food
• las estrellas-stars
• el pastel-cake
• las linternas-flashlights

We also started learning this sweet song, called Esta lucecita.  The kids use their linternas, and shine them around the room as they sing.  We're just learning the first part of the song and will replace some of the countries with different places as we learn them.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaTQXOhIWPs

This week, I learned that students P and S's favorite song is "Old McDonald had a farm."  We learned the Spanish version, "Vengan a ver mi granja"  (Come and see my farm)  It was an immediate hit and they already know it pretty well!  www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3ccRptp5M

Just for fun

Just found out about www.pocoyo.com.  You can switch the language to Spanish and they have 6 minute videos that are easy to follow with the talented animations!  I just found this one about a stolen estrella that has lots of vocab that the kids know and will easily follow.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHRMLeu_LFs 

La familia

Canciones

November began by talking about family.  We learned a little finger play that was quickly memorized by all of the children and now they beg to do it "solito" or "alone." (A couple of them really like to put themselves on the spot).  And then they instigated a second verse which included dogs and horses (I think horses meant to include My Little Ponies as part of the family.

La familia finger play
Mamá, Papá, hermano y hermanita, y la nena aquí está

(Mommy, Daddy, brother and little sister and the baby is right here)

Abuelo, abuela, los perros y caballos en mi familia están
(Grandpa, grandma, dogs and horses are all in my family)

Then we learned this sweet little song...The link below is a recording of a child singing both verses, although we just learned the first verse and then replaced the underlined words with other members of our family including Samantha and Chloe, 2 of our little girls "perros."

Una familia feliz (click here)

Amo a mami, y ella a mí,

y a papá amamos, sí.

Él nos ama a su vez;

oh qué feliz mi casa es.

Amo a mis hermanos,

sí, y su amor me dan a mí.

Todos se aman a su vez;

oh qué feliz mi casa es.

Drama and acting

I've discovered how much the kids love to act and dramatize.  Some of their best language has come out while re-enacting stories.  Our latest story was the well-known Three Billy Goats Gruff (Los Tres Chivitos).  My son and the only boy was the "enano" or troll and the three girls were los tres chivitos.  They incorporated several of the Language Structures from the list below, such as...

1-¿Puedo pasar?                   Can I cross?

2-Quiero comer allí.             I want to eat over there.

3-No, No  Te voy a comer.    I'm going to eat you!!

Language Structures

As promised weeks ago, I've been working on creating a list of basic structures that will help the children become bilingual at a conversational level.  It isn't complete yet but I'm adding to it as I do more research.  Although I speak to them without oversimplifying I always emphasize 2 or 3 of these structures each day and then wait patiently till the day when they unexpectedly use the structure on their own accord!  It is magical when they just spit something out after hearing it for a few weeks.

Basic fluency structures	Spanish structures	Translation
Express wants	Me gustaría...	I would like..
	Quiero...	I want...
Express needs	Necesito...	I need...
Identify objects	Hay...	There are...
	Es una...  Estos son...	It's a...  These are...
	Voy a ...	I'm going to ...(dance, run, go, visit, play, etc)
Explain what you have	Yo tengo...	I have...
Describe nouns	Es...	It is ...(adjectives)
	Está...	It is (location/prepositions)
Express ability	Yo puedo...	I can...
Express possession	Es mío, Es tuya, Es de él/ella	It's mine, It's yours, It's his/hers
	mi, tu, su, nuestro	my, your, his/her, our
Be able to ask questions		Question-who, what, where, why, when, how?