El ciclo del agua (the water cycle)

This week as we talked about the water cycle, we soaked cotton ball clouds and let them rain and made terrariums.  There is a great free App about the water cycle and along with a flannel board description and our terrarium I think the kids were interested in the continual cycle of agua.  With all the explanation in Spanish and the aid of plenty of visuals, even our newest student exclaimed "So that's how water works!"

Language Learning Tips:

I talk to anyone I can that has experience teaching children to become bilingual.  One thing I have heard several times is that movies in the target language expand and expose vocabulary and important structures.  I think t.v. and movies can be very effective if a child has a strong base, something to build upon and if they have an opportunity to interact and exchange language in other settings.  I'm going to consistently have my son watch shows in Spanish for the next month and see how it goes.  Look for updates!

Student Updates:

Now that we've been back from winter break for 2 weeks, I've noticed some big language milestones from each of the students.  Here is a fun update about each of them:

• Madalyn who has been with me for 7 months has mastered 6 basic structures in the first person and can make short sentences with all kinds of vocabulary.  She has an incredible memory and likes to memorize books that have repetitive lines with rhythm.  Last fall, she memorized "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" after hearing it only 4 times.  
• Vincenzo LOVES to talk and has to be reminded to try and say his thoughts in Spanish but once he attempts, although not with beautiful grammer or structure, he can get his point across.  He understands everything, can pick out vocabulary from songs on the radio, and his brain switches over to Spanish when he hears someone at the store or library speaking in Spanish.
• Sydney has only been in Spanish class since the beginning of November and it only took her a few weeks to begin to understand Spanish-I think she has a natural knack for it.  She also loves music and I often hear her singing one of our songs in class.  She can uses one structure regularly and repeats everything she hears so I'm sure it won't be long before she spits out some more impromptu phrases.
• Rhiannon is my newest student and this week something clicked for her and she understands what is going on.  She also started saying her first words!  She is a very bright girl and I can see that her brain is in constant motion and can't wait to watch what happens with time.

Agua, agua, agua

This month is all about water. This week we've talked about ríos, lagos, y montañas (rivers, lakes & mountains).  Today we created ice caves with frozen blocks of ice, salt and colored squirt bottles.  We were using the structure "Necesito más sal, necesito azul, etc. (I need more salt, I need blue).   Kids loved it-while I didn't get pictures of ours they looked a lot like these.

New song:  Los diez perritos

This is a traditional counting song that starts with 10 puppies and as something happens to each one, the children begin each verse with "Yo tenía 10, 9, 8, etc. perritos"  (I had 10, 9, 8, puppies).  Click on the link to listen.

Los diez perritos

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?

El otoño (The fall)

October has been such a fun month as we've based our lessons on semillas (seeds), árboles (trees), hojas (leaves) and ardillas (squirrels).  My favorite language observation was a confusion between 2 near homophones "hojas" & "ojos" (leaves & eyes).  As we began a book about leaves, I asked the kids to point to the "hojas" one pointed to the leaves in the book and the other 2 to their own pair of "ojos."


With all the rain (lluvia) we've had, we've learned a new favorite song.  It's called Que llueva (Let it rain!).  It's a fun traditional song because it describes the crazy rainy seasons of central and south america when one minute it trickles, stops and then ends in a downpour (un chaparón)!

¡Que llueva!

Magical necklaces

At the beginning of class we put on our Spanish necklaces and this changes our mouths to only speak in Spanish (of course this is most effective for the teacher).  The kids have picked up so much vocabulary that I've become more and more strict about the power of these necklaces and they surprise me and I think themselves how they can express themselves.  As I describe under methodology in the link to the right, the goal is to get the kids to use basic structures (I have, I like, There are, I need, It is...) and then they can fill these in with all their new vocabulary.

I am composing a list of these basic structures and will put it up in my next post, then I am going to have an individual report of which structures each child has incorporated into their speech.  I'm having so much fun observing how kids learn a second language!!

Edificios y casas

This month we are talking about buildings, homes and construction.  Throughout the month we will be including shapes, colors and adjectives to describe the buildings, plus fun verbs for building.  I've tightened up on the kids by not  letting them speak in English.  They are coming up with some pretty great stuff... Little M told me in English that she was almost as tall as her mom but when I told her, "No inglés,"she came up with "Yo, alta, mamá"  Not bad for only a few months into our program!

We've added some new songs....

• Asserín Asserán
• Caracol, caracolito
• Para construir (to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb")

Para construir


A mí me gusta clavar con martillo,                                  I like to nail with a hammer,
clavar con martillo, clavar con martillo.                        nail with a hammer, nail with a hammer.
A mí me gusta clavar con martillo para construir.        I like to nail with a hammer in order to build.

A mí me gusta serruchar                                                    I like to saw, to saw
serruchar, serruchar.                                                           to saw, to saw, to saw to saw
A mí me gusta serruchar para construir.                         I like to saw in order to build

A mí me gusta lijar la madera,                                         I like to sand the wood
lijar la madera, lijar la madera.                                        sand the wood, sand the wood
A mí me gusta lijar la madera para construir.                I like to sand the wood in order to build.

Edificios (buildings)

• la casa          house
• el castillo      castle
• el puente       bridge
• el museo       museum
• la fábrica       factory
• el torre           tower
• el nido           nest (bird's house :))
• la cueva         cave

Adjectives:

Es... (It is...)

• larga y corta     (long & short)
• baja y alta         (short & tall)
• grande y pequeño   (big & small)
• bello y feo       (beautiful & ugly)

Summer Lessons

I just started a last summer session and have had so much fun with my 2 little students.  We had a science lesson on Thursday and the students learned about objects that float or sink. They started by saying that the objects were "arriba" or "abajo" (above or below the water) and then categorized the items into a "flota" or "se hunde" chart.  I'm amazed at how quickly they pick up a new language while learning about science, art, nature & math.   

To anyone interested in Spanish lessons, come try a class for free during the next couple of weeks.  These young minds are incredibly absorbent  and so fun to teach!