First grade will be learning Spanish, as well as learning about the Spanish-speaking countries of South America. Their central idea for the year is Language is a way to share knowledge.
Every lesson the students will have a 'can do' statement that we want them to be able to do by the end of that class. We will also continue to review and practice these in subsequent classes. Listed below are the various learning objectives and activities that we will be doing throughout the year.
The first day of Spanish class begins with some housekeeping like taking roll, assigning seats and going over the essential agreements for class. We learn and practice saying a little essential agreement chant.
Respect everybody and every little thing.
Control yourself, your hands, your feet, your mouth, your everything.
Pay attention. Listen up. Your eyes will tell it all.
Participate no matter what. We're gonna have a ball!
I can identify Spanish/English cognates. Students learn that a cognate is a word in one language that looks and/or sounds like what it means in another language. Some activities we do to learn and practice this: a cognate categorizing activity using the pocket chart, a 'jump-the-line' activity where students must look at an English word and its Spanish translation and decide if they are cognates or not, learning a song that we will sing throughout the year called 'Hay muchos animales.' (click to see ppt.) All animals in the song for this particular lesson are cognates.
I can use Spanish to tell where someone is.
The central idea for first grade, Language is a way to share knowledge., is introduced to students. We talk about what knowledge is and the many ways it can be shared.
We make the connection that knowing someone's location is knowledge that we can share through language. A book called Juan y Juanita is used to introduce the phrase 'está en' (is in) to tell where something is.
To practice using the words 'está en', students get to make sentences telling which place a classmate is in. Proper noun places are posted around the classroom (ie. Target, Main Event, HEB, various fast food restaurants). Sentence examples: Marty está en Burger King. Jenny está en Wendy's. Thomas no está en Target. Etc.
Students then learn the song called La pulga, which means The Flea. Here are the words and the translation. there are 2 verses.
La pulga está en el perro/gato. The flea is on the dog/cat.
El perro está en el sofá/sillón. The dog is on the sofa/armchair.
El sofá está en la casa. The sofa is in the house.
Qué problema!- dice mamá. "What a problem," says mom.
Students furthered their knowledge of cognates by identifying some locations where animals can be found:
el parque - the park
el circo - the circus
el jardín- the garden
el océano- the ocean
el desierto - the desert
el río - the river
la montaña - the mountain
el zoológico - the zoo
2 non-cognates are also introduced:
el agua - the water
la selva - the jungle
Students work on developing an ear for Spanish by listening to Mrs. Teal tell which habitat a snake is in. They then place a plastic snake on a picture of that habitat. Example sentences: La serpiente está en el desierto. La serpiente está en el circo. Etc.
Students see the introduction only of a video they will be watching segments of throughout the year. It is called The Jeff Corwin Experience: Into the heart of darkness. Students are asked to listen for where Jeff Corwin is and tell me in Spanish. There were a variety of possible answers. Example sentences: Jeff está en Ecuador. Jeff está en el agua. Jeff está en el río. Jeff está en la selva. Jeff está en South America (Sudamérica.) Jeff no está en el circo. Etc.
I can say use Spanish to say South America in 2 ways.
To review what we learned in kindergarten about where Spanish was first spoken and where it is spoken today, students are directed to the various maps around the room. We also learn that this year we will be focusing on the Spanish-speaking countries of South America. There are 2 common ways to say South America in Spanish: Sudamérica and América del Sur. Students learn a song to help them remember both ways. Here are the words:
A-A-A Sudamérica
A-A-A Sudamérica
It's amazing, that's for sure!
It's América del Sur
I can use Spanish to describe something.
We learn that there are two ways to say 'is' in Spanish - 'está' and 'es'. We have already learned that one thing 'está' is used for is to tell location. Now we learn that 'es' is used when describing something. Since color and size are common ways we describe things, we focus on reviewing our color words in Spanish, as well as the Spanish words for big (grande) and little (pequeño).
We review big and little by looking at a picture book of adult animals and their babies. For each picture we say whether it is 'grande' or 'pequeño'.
We do a snake partner up activity where each student gets either a picture of a snake or a written description of a snake. Students must find their partner (the pic that goes with their description or vice-a-versa).
After reviewing the colors, students choose between 2 coloring sheets and color them as directed. They are labeled with the Spanish color word to indicate which color each thing is supposed to be. Once finished, the teacher gives a sentence telling a color (Es verde.) and students point to indicate the correct color object on their paper. Students then take turns giving the sentence for their classmates.
Thru a video segment of Jeff Corwin in South America, students are introduced to an interesting animal called a tapir. A teaching strategy called 'movie talk' has the students viewing the video without sound and the teacher talks with them in Spanish about what they are seeing, asking comprehension questions and teaching new vocabulary (along with gestures). Once the whole segment has been 'movie talked', the segment is shown again and this time students talk about it in Spanish! Finally, students see the video with sound. This is a really awesome way to see how much students are able to do with the language! We did learn 4 new verbs during this activity. Here they are:
habla - talks
lame - licks
muerde - bites
salpica - splashes
I can use several Spanish verbs to tell what someone is doing.
We do a very fun verb chant to review or learn several action words!
Salta, salta, salta...salta, salta, salta (jumps)
Corre, corre (runs)
Sube, sube (climbs)
Nada, nada, you can't catch me (swims)
Come and come...come and come (come and eat)
Baila, baila...baila, baila (dances)
Camina, camina camina, camina (walks)
We watch and move along with a video called Con Cosmo to have fun with some of the verbs we just practiced.
We play Around the World, racing to be the first to do the action the teacher calls out. After playing the game, students are invited to come to the front of the room and do an action of their choosing. Classmates then make a sentence telling what the person was doing. Example sentences: Tina baila. Beck salta. Etc.
We learn a song about a snake (la serpiente) and then we read a book about la serpiente and describe a lot of plants and animals in the book.
SSS, SSS, SSS, la serpiente
come (eats) *other possible verbs: duerme (eats), caza (hunts), nada (swims), sube (climbs), etc.
en la selva. (in the jungle)
(repeat all 3 lines)
I know the 2 Spanish words for 'is' and when to use them.
We begin this lesson by looking at the 4 types of tapir that exist in the world and choosing the one that we saw in the video with Jeff Corwin. We then spend the remainder of the class period reviewing the 2 Spanish words for 'is' and the uses for each that we have learned thus far:
'es' is used
to name or identify things (Es una serpiente. It's a snake.)
to describe things (La serpiente es verde. The snake is green.)
está' is used
to tell the location of something (La serpiente está en la selva. The snake is in the jungle.)
to tell feelings or emotions (La serpiente está contento. The snake is happy.)
The students then make a cute foldable of a snake, complete with googly eyes, as a review resource to take home.
I can tell if a Spanish noun is masculine or feminine.
We launch into this idea via the family member names in Spanish. There is a fun song that allows us to re-order the family members and sing it multiple times. This gives plenty of repetition and challenges the students in a fun way at the same time.
Papá (clap), mamá (clap), hermano, hermana (clap), y el bebé (clap, clap, clap)
Papá (clap), mamá (clap), hermano, hermana (clap), y el bebé (clap, clap, clap)
After the song, we look at similarities between the words for the female family members and the words for males. Students notice that there are 2 words for 'the' - 'el' and 'la'. This leads into an explanation that all Spanish nouns are categorized as either masculine or feminine - something we don't do in the English language.
People nouns are easy. Males are always masculine nouns and females are always feminine nouns. But place and thing nouns are also categorized as masculine and feminine. Whereas there are some clues that might help you figure out which is which, many just have to be learned. We learned that many times (but not always) if a word ends in '-o' it is masculine, and if it ends in '-a' it is feminine. The opposite can also be true, though, and we call those rule-breakers. If a word ends in something other than an -o or -a, we call those oddballs. We then learn a fun to sing song about masculine and feminine categories.
If it ends in -o, where does it go? Masculine, masculine. (3X)
If it ends in -a, ooh-la-la? It's feminine, feminine. (3X)
We then categoriz some nouns using what we've learned about endings and the words 'el' and 'la'.
A quiz typically used in secondary school helps students feel a sense of accomplishment at what they are learning and able to do. http://studyspanish.com/grammar/test/genoun1
I can use Spanish to tell where someone or something is from.
Students are introduced to 6 animals that are going to be a part of a song we will learn soon. Some of the animals we already know, but 3 of them are new to us.
el quetzal - quetzal (a bird found in Central America)
el cóndor - condor (a scavenger bird found in South America)
la serpiente - snake
la tortuga - turtle
la llama - llama
el venado - deer (think venison!)
We then spend some time comparing and contrasting the 2 birds using Spanish:
what they are - El quetzal es un pájaro. (a bird)
El cóndor es un pájaro. (a bird)
El quetzal es en peligro de extinción. (endangered)
El cóndor es en peligro de extinción. (endangered but for different reasons)
how they look - El quetzal es bonito. (pretty)
El cóndor es feo. (ugly)
El quetzal es de muchos colores. (colorful)
El cóndor es negro y blanco. (black and white)
what they eat - El quetzal es un omnívoro. Come plantas, insectos, y animalitos.
El cóndor es carnívoro. Come animales muertos. (eats dead animals)
where they are from - El quetzal es de Centroamérica. (Central America)
El cóndor es de Sudamérica. (South America)
We review the 2 Spanish words for 'is' and talk about the difference between telling where someone is versus where they are from. In Spanish, the word 'está' is used to tell location, but the word 'es' is used to tell the origin of something.
Once we learn how to use 'es de' to tell where someone or something is from, we practice telling where different animals and non-living things are from.
Sentence-building activity: Each student receives a word card and then the whole class works to make a sentence about each of the 1st grade teachers to tell where they are from using Spanish. For example: Señora Vanzura es de Austin. This is challenging but a fun way to practice what we've been learning. Finally, students are introduced to a song called Que llueva (click the link to see the video) and is very well-known throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The title means "Let it Rain". We sing a fun version by Jose Luis Orozco, which is a variation of the original, has 6 verses, and incorporates 6 different animals. Here are the words and the basic translation of the song.
Qué llueva, qué llueva. Let it rain, let it rain,
El quetzal está en la cueva The quetzal is in the cave, (condor, snake, turtle, llama, deer)
Los pajaritos cantan The little birds are singing,
Las nubes se levantan The clouds rise up.
¡Qué sí, qué no, Oh yes, oh no,
qué caiga un chaparrón! Let there be a downpour!
I can explain where Spanish is from and how it got to the Americas.
Students will review (learn) how Spanish came to the Americas via the migration of Europeans as they conquered and colonized the New World. We will talk about some of the other changes that were set in motion, as well, as numerous cultures collided. This supports a 1st grade unit of inquiry that has the central idea "Migration affects personal histories."
I can use Spanish to tell that I like or don't like something.
We can express that we like something by saying 'me gusta', or if we like it a lot 'me gusta mucho'. We can also tell that we like something a little bit by saying 'me gusta poquito' and we can tell that we don't like something by saying 'no me gusta'. To practice, we pass different plastic foods around and tell whether we like or don't like those foods.
We read a book called Nuestras mascotas (Our Pets). This is a pattern book that uses the phrase 'me gusta' throughout to talk about our pets.
We then read and make our own take-home books called 'Me gustan los perros' (I like dogs). Here are the words and translations from the book:
Me gustan los perros grandes. (I like big dogs.)
Me gustan los perros chicos. (I like small dogs.)
Me gustan los perros mojados. (I like wet dogs.)
Me gustan los perros secos. (I like dry dogs.)
Me gustan los perros fríos. (I like cold dogs.)
Pero, más, me gustan los perritos calientes. (But most of all, I like hotdogs.)
Ask your student about the book and get them to read it to you!
I can use Spanish to tell what someone has.
We review a song that the students learned in Kinder. It is called La araña (The Spider). One of the cool things we discovered about spiders is not only do they have 8 legs, but many of them have 8 eyes. (See pic below.) Here are the words and translation of the song:
La araña tiene ocho patas. The spider has 8 legs.
Ocho patas tiene. 8 legs he has.
(repeat)
La araña tiene ocho ojos. The spider has 8 eyes.
Ocho ojos tiene. 8 eyes he has.
(repeat)
We enjoy talking about other animals (or students!) and how many eyes and legs they have.
We then learn another fun song called El conejo (The rabbit). (See pic below.) Here are the words and translation.
El conejo tiene pelaje. The rabbit has fur.
Tiene pelaje suave. It has soft fur.
El conejo tiene 4 patas. The rabbit has 4 paws.
Tiene 4 patas suaves. It has 4 soft paws.
El conejo tiene una cola. The rabbit has a tail.
Tiene una cola suave. It has a soft tail.
El conejo tiene 2 orejas. The rabbit has 2 ears.
Tiene 2 orejas suaves. It has 2 soft ears.
Students learn that adjectives like suave (soft) must also be made plural when describing plural nouns (like ears or paws.)
To further practice telling what someone has we play with Legos! After reviewing the 4 colors we will need (azul, rojo, verde, and amarillo) and practicing putting the color after the noun it modifies, we make sentences about different students to tell how many legos they have. For example, "Stacy tiene 2 legos rojos." or "Pascal tiene 3 legos azules, 1 lego verde, y 2 legos amarillos." We practiced several times as a whole class and then split up by benches to do it in small groups. Fun, fun, fun!
We act out a fun story! Here is the story and its translation:
Hay una familia. (There is a family.)
En la familia, hay un hermano y una hermana. (In the family, there is a brother and a sister.)
El hermano tiene un gato. (The brother has a cat.)
La hermana tiene un pez. (The sister has a fish.)
El gato tiene hambre. (The cat is hungry.)
"¡No, gato, no!" dice el hermano. ("No, cat, no!" says the brother.)
"¡No, gato, no!" dice la hermana. ("No, cat, no!" says the sister.)
There was no written ending to the story. Students were asked how they think the story ends. What do you think? Can you say it in Spanish?
I can make Spanish nouns and adjectives agree.
Another way that nouns and adjectives agree is masculine and feminine. Remember that in Spanish, every noun is either categorized as masculine or feminine. Therefore, any adjective must agree with the noun that it is describing by also being in the masculine or feminine form. Here are some examples.
The dog is black. El perro es negro. (Dog is a masculine noun, so the word for black is also masculine.)
The turtle is black. La tortuga es negra. (Turtle is a feminine noun, so the word for black is changed to be feminine.)
The turtle is green. La tortuga es verde. (Since the word for green ends in an 'e', it is neutral and doesn't have to be changed. It works for both masculine and feminine nouns.)
To help us see and practice this, we translated a book called 'Blue Cat' from English to Spanish. Here is the translation. Can you translate the book back to English?
gato azul
pez verde
perro anaranjado
pájaro amarillo
tortuga roja
vaca morada
pato rosado
ballena gris
Jump-the-line activity: students must decide which form of an adjective is needed to modify a given noun. They show their choice by jumping to one side or the other. A fun way to demonstrate our learning and get our blood pumping at the same time!
Students begin learning a fun song by Patti Lozano called El rancho de Pancho. Pancho has a very special ranch because he always has 2 of every animal. This song is a good way to see how nouns and adjectives must agree with each other in number and gender. Here are the words and the translation.
Chorus:
El rancho de Pancho es bonito. Pancho's ranch is pretty
El rancho de Pancho es especial. Pancho's ranch is special
Porque Pancho no quiere uno Because Pancho doesn't want one
Pancho siempre quiere dos de cada animal He always wants two of each animal
Pancho quiere dos de cada animal Pancho wants two of each animal
Verse 1:
Y Pancho dice, -Un caballo nunca, And Pancho says, "One horse never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Un caballo nunca contento está. One horse never is happy
Dos caballos siempre Two horses always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos caballos siempre contentos están. Two horses always are happy
Verse 2:
Y Pancho dice, -Una vaca nunca, And Pancho says, "One cow never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Una vaca nunca contenta está. One cow never is happy
Dos vacas siempre Two cows always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos vacas siempre contentas están. Two cows always are happy
Verse 3:
Y Pancho dice, -Una oveja nunca, And Pancho says, "One sheep never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Una oveja nunca contenta está. One sheep never is happy
Dos ovejas siempre Two sheep always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos ovejas siempre contentas están. Two sheep always are happy
Students make their own Gato azul smoosh book, using whichever animal and color combinations they choose. They are careful to make the nouns and adjectives agree. After making their book, they practice reading with classmates before taking their book home. Did you see your student's book? Get them to read it to you!
I can use Spanish to tell what someone says.
Students review the action verbs we have learned so far this year. See lessons 6 & 7 above to review them now. We then learn 3 new verbs. These are actually all verbs that we have been using since kindergarten, but needed a refresher and to practice the gestures for each of them. Here they are:
mira - looks (at)
juega - plays (sounds like whey gah)
dice - says (sounds like dee say)
A fun thing about languages is that every language has their own words for what an animal says. For example, in English we would write that a turkey says 'gobble gobble'. But in Spanish, they use the words 'glú glú'. Here is a fun video that we listened to to find out some of the other things that animals say (dice) in Spanish.
Students act out a short little skit about a new student who comes to school and doesn't speak English. Different students try saying 'hello' in various ways (hey!, What's up?, etc.) but the new student doesn't say anything until someone greets them with 'hola'.
To practice the verb 'juega', we act out a story about a dragon who doesn't have a ball to play with, but the princess has one and invites him to play with her.
I can demonstrate understanding of a simple story told in Spanish.
Next, we began acting out a longer story about a mouse family who is in the park and finds themselves face-to-face with a hungry cat. Here is the story and its translation.
I can use Spanish to tell what there is or isn't.
This is a review of a word learned in kindergarten. There word is 'hay', pronounced like our word 'I' or 'eye'. The word means 'there is' or 'there are'. Students are shown a series of pictures where they are asked questions about what they are seeing. ¿Hay dos gatos? (Are there 2 cats?) ¿Hay una tortuga o una serpiente? (Is there a turtle or a snake?) ¿Hay un pez verde? (Is there a green fish?) ¿Qué hay? Etc.
We then talk about how 'hay' is a great word to use at the beginning of a story when you want to introduce your characters. We practice with a given picture. Then students use whiteboards to draw their own characters for a story they might like to write and they get to practice introducing those characters using the word 'hay'.
I can use Spanish to tell about what I see.
Students enjoy another short segment of Jeff Corwin's adventures in South America. In this segment, he happens upon a Smoky Swamp Frog in the jungles of Peru. It is the largest frog found in that area. The really fun thing about the frog is that it sounds like a cat when it is in distress. The idea is to scare off would-be predators before they eat it. The frog has no webbing between his toes like most frogs, yet is still a great swimmer and an even better jumper - able to jump 7-8 feet! We used a method called 'movie talk' to describe what we are seeing using Spanish. Students feel pretty accomplished realizing what they are able to do as a result of their hard work this year.
We then do another movie talk with a funny video about a barking fish. Check it out! It is really cute. Students are again able to talk about what they were seeing using the Spanish they have been learning all year long.
Each year, students add to their PYP portfolio something that showcases their growth in Spanish. This year they are adding a piece of writing that is connected to the barking fish video. The picture is of a cat next to a fish in a fishbowl. Students color their picture and then use what they've learned this year to write about it. Spelling is not so important. Students are usually very good at sounding out words so that even if they spell them a little wrong, they are still readable. The important thing is to communicate what they know using the target language! Be sure to look for this in your student's PYP binder when you conference with them at the end-of-the-year! Get them to read you what they wrote and translate it!
I can recognize how people in Peru work to meet their needs.
This lesson connects with a unit of inquiry students are exploring with their homeroom teacher. Students learn about an organization called Heifer International that helps people all over the world become self-sufficient and improve their quality of life. We watch a short segment of their video Everyday Heroes to learn about Saul, a small in boy living high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Students look for and share various ways they say the villagers working to meet the needs of the community. In the process, they learn about his South American culture.
I can use Spanish to name the family members.
Students already learned the immediate family member names in Spanish earlier in the year, but after reviewing these, the words for grandmother (abuela) and grandfather (abuelo) are added. Students enjoy playing a game called ¿Quien falta? or Who's missing?. Another fun activity we do is called 'Oh yeah!' Students try to outdo each other by coming up with crazy things that their grandmother has (and it doesn't have to be true!). Oh, yeah! Mi abuela tiene un elefante morado. (Oh, yeah! My grandmother has a purple elephant!) This activity is always good for some laughs.
Storytime! Students act out a story (which includes a song) about a girl visiting her grandmother. Grandma has a mirror and the girl does things you shouldn't do with a mirror (dance, run, jump). Here are the words to the song:
Hermana corre, corre en la casa Sister run, she runs in the house
Corre, corre, corre, corre en la casa She runs, runs, runs, she runs in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no corras, no corras, no corras, por favor- Don't run, don't run, don't run, please
Hermana baila, baila en la casa Sister dances, she dances in the house
baila, baila, baila, baila en la casa She dances, dances, dances, she dances in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no bailes, no bailes, no bailes, por favor- Don't dance, don't dance, don't dance, please
Hermana salta, salta en la casa Sister jumps, she jumps in the house
salta, salta, salta, salta en la casa She jumps, jumps, jumps, she jumps in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no saltes, no saltes, no saltes, por favor- Don't jump, don't jump, don't jump, please
The students will be performing in the Afternoon of Expression towards the end of the year and one of the songs we will sing is called En Venezuela, another song by Patti Lozano. The song has a lot of the vocabulary and structures that we have been learning, so the students will find it very easy to learn. Check it out by clicking on the link below. Here are the lyrics to the song and their translation. (also, we learn that when making a noun plural in Spanish, you add -s if the noun ends in a vowel, but you add -es if the word ends in a consonant)
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un sofá. (3x)
Tiene un sofá, y nada más.
¿Tiene un sofá? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos sofás? no, no, no
¿Tiene un sofá? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un sofá y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene una cama. (3x)
Tiene una cama, y nada más.
¿Tiene una cama? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos camas? no, no, no
¿Tiene una cama? sí, sí, sí
Tiene una cama y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un sillón. (3x)
Tiene un sillón, y nada más.
¿Tiene un sillón? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos sillónes? no, no, no
¿Tiene un sillón? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un sillón y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un espejo. (3x)
Tiene un espejo, y nada más.
¿Tiene un espejo? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos espejos? no, no, no
¿Tiene un espejo? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un espejo y nada más
I can name the Spanish-speaking countries of South America.
Students review the song A-A-A Sudamérica:
A-A-A Sudamérica
A-A-A Sudamérica
It's amazing, that's for sure!
It's América del Sur
We then use a labeled map of SA to begin learning the names of the 9 Spanish-speaking countries there. After practicing how to pronounce each one and coming up with some clues to remember them, students get in small groups to play a dice game to show what they've learned.
The next activity will require students to know the Spanish word for 'search' or 'look for', which is 'busca'. A fun way to internalize this word is through the game called Busca el león. It is a hide-n-seek game when students take turns hiding and looking for the stuffed lion in the classroom. Meanwhile, the rest of the class sings the song. Here are the words:
Busca, búscalo, busca el león.
Busca, búscalo, busca el león.
Once they know the word, busca, students can do the next activity. They are shown a map of SA and each of the Spanish-speaking countries has a different piece of furniture in it. Students are asked questions about the map. This is played as a game where the room is divided in 1/2 and teams get points based on whether their player gets the answer right or not. Here are some examples:
1. yes/no questions - ¿Hay una planta en Bolivia? ¿La planta es azul?
2. either/or questions - ¿El espejo está en Peru o en Argentina? ¿El teléfono es rojo o rosado?
3. what questions - ¿Qué está en Chile?
4. where questions - ¿Dónde está la refrigeradora?
Students view another segment of the Jeff Corwin video where he talks about what he is looking for in Ecuador. We talk about it in Spanish and describe the black caiman.
I can recognize Spanish-English cognates. (review)
Students are able to easily tell what the months of the year are in Spanish because all but one of them are cognates. We practice saying them, do a fun activity where students are given a word card with a month on it and race the timer to put themselves in order, and finally, we do the macarena with the months of the year!
I can use Spanish to tell if it is hot or cold.
Students practice saying 'hace calor' (it's hot) or 'hace frío' (it's cold) as they look at a series of pictures. This leads into a book talk on the book called Peregrine's Journey. If follows the 2 month long migration of the peregrine falcon from Alaska to Argentina. It is a fascinating book that lends itself well to Spanish conversation. After talking about the book in Spanish, students get to hear the book read to them in English. Finally, they complete a worksheet related to the book. They connect the dots to show the migration path of the falcon, color the map of SA as indicated by the color chart, and then color the falcon.
I can show through music some of the things I've learned in Spanish class this year.
Students perform 4 songs for their parents during the Afternoon of Expression (usually in early May).
I can use Spanish to tell what there is or isn't. (Review)
Students enjoy the book ¿Qué hay dentro del huevo? which shows various animals that hatch from eggs. Students learn how to make the diminutive form of a noun by adding -ito or -ita to the end of the word. Here are a few examples:
gato (cat) - gatito (kitten)
Juan (John) - Juanito (Johnny)
rana (frog) - ranita (little frog)
Using plastic eggs that have a mystery item inside, students try to guess what is in each using the Spanish word 'hay' in their sentence.
Students then use whiteboards to practice writing sentences about baskets of different color/size eggs by using one of the following sentence stems:
Hay...
No hay...
Students finally get to enjoy the Jeff Corwin video in its entirety, after seeing only bits and pieces of it throughout the year. There are so many amazing animals in the rainforest of Ecuador, and Jeff does a great job of teaching us about the uniqueness of each one.
The last Spanish class of the year is spent looking back at some of the activities, games, and songs we've participated in this past year. Students are encouraged to use their Spanish when the opportunity arises because the fact is...
If you don't use it, you lose it!
Want to hear or practice some of our songs?
We act out a fun story! Here is the story and its translation:
Hay una familia. (There is a family.)
En la familia, hay un hermano y una hermana. (In the family, there is a brother and a sister.)
El hermano tiene un gato. (The brother has a cat.)
La hermana tiene un pez. (The sister has a fish.)
El gato tiene hambre. (The cat is hungry.)
"¡No, gato, no!" dice el hermano. ("No, cat, no!" says the brother.)
"¡No, gato, no!" dice la hermana. ("No, cat, no!" says the sister.)
There was no written ending to the story. Students were asked how they think the story ends. What do you think? Can you say it in Spanish?
I can make Spanish nouns and adjectives agree.
Another way that nouns and adjectives agree is masculine and feminine. Remember that in Spanish, every noun is either categorized as masculine or feminine. Therefore, any adjective must agree with the noun that it is describing by also being in the masculine or feminine form. Here are some examples.
The dog is black. El perro es negro. (Dog is a masculine noun, so the word for black is also masculine.)
The turtle is black. La tortuga es negra. (Turtle is a feminine noun, so the word for black is changed to be feminine.)
The turtle is green. La tortuga es verde. (Since the word for green ends in an 'e', it is neutral and doesn't have to be changed. It works for both masculine and feminine nouns.)
To help us see and practice this, we translated a book called 'Blue Cat' from English to Spanish. Here is the translation. Can you translate the book back to English?
gato azul
pez verde
perro anaranjado
pájaro amarillo
tortuga roja
vaca morada
pato rosado
ballena gris
Jump-the-line activity: students must decide which form of an adjective is needed to modify a given noun. They show their choice by jumping to one side or the other. A fun way to demonstrate our learning and get our blood pumping at the same time!
Students begin learning a fun song by Patti Lozano called El rancho de Pancho. Pancho has a very special ranch because he always has 2 of every animal. This song is a good way to see how nouns and adjectives must agree with each other in number and gender. Here are the words and the translation.
Chorus:
El rancho de Pancho es bonito. Pancho's ranch is pretty
El rancho de Pancho es especial. Pancho's ranch is special
Porque Pancho no quiere uno Because Pancho doesn't want one
Pancho siempre quiere dos de cada animal He always wants two of each animal
Pancho quiere dos de cada animal Pancho wants two of each animal
Verse 1:
Y Pancho dice, -Un caballo nunca, And Pancho says, "One horse never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Un caballo nunca contento está. One horse never is happy
Dos caballos siempre Two horses always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos caballos siempre contentos están. Two horses always are happy
Verse 2:
Y Pancho dice, -Una vaca nunca, And Pancho says, "One cow never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Una vaca nunca contenta está. One cow never is happy
Dos vacas siempre Two cows always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos vacas siempre contentas están. Two cows always are happy
Verse 3:
Y Pancho dice, -Una oveja nunca, And Pancho says, "One sheep never
No, no, no, no, nunca No, no, no, no, never
Una oveja nunca contenta está. One sheep never is happy
Dos ovejas siempre Two sheep always
sí, sí, sí, sí, siempre Yes, yes, yes, yes, always
Dos ovejas siempre contentas están. Two sheep always are happy
Students make their own Gato azul smoosh book, using whichever animal and color combinations they choose. They are careful to make the nouns and adjectives agree. After making their book, they practice reading with classmates before taking their book home. Did you see your student's book? Get them to read it to you!
I can use Spanish to tell what someone says.
Students review the action verbs we have learned so far this year. See lessons 6 & 7 above to review them now. We then learn 3 new verbs. These are actually all verbs that we have been using since kindergarten, but needed a refresher and to practice the gestures for each of them. Here they are:
mira - looks (at)
juega - plays (sounds like whey gah)
dice - says (sounds like dee say)
A fun thing about languages is that every language has their own words for what an animal says. For example, in English we would write that a turkey says 'gobble gobble'. But in Spanish, they use the words 'glú glú'. Here is a fun video that we listened to to find out some of the other things that animals say (dice) in Spanish.
Students act out a short little skit about a new student who comes to school and doesn't speak English. Different students try saying 'hello' in various ways (hey!, What's up?, etc.) but the new student doesn't say anything until someone greets them with 'hola'.
To practice the verb 'juega', we act out a story about a dragon who doesn't have a ball to play with, but the princess has one and invites him to play with her.
I can demonstrate understanding of a simple story told in Spanish.
Next, we began acting out a longer story about a mouse family who is in the park and finds themselves face-to-face with a hungry cat. Here is the story and its translation.
I can use Spanish to tell what there is or isn't.
This is a review of a word learned in kindergarten. There word is 'hay', pronounced like our word 'I' or 'eye'. The word means 'there is' or 'there are'. Students are shown a series of pictures where they are asked questions about what they are seeing. ¿Hay dos gatos? (Are there 2 cats?) ¿Hay una tortuga o una serpiente? (Is there a turtle or a snake?) ¿Hay un pez verde? (Is there a green fish?) ¿Qué hay? Etc.
We then talk about how 'hay' is a great word to use at the beginning of a story when you want to introduce your characters. We practice with a given picture. Then students use whiteboards to draw their own characters for a story they might like to write and they get to practice introducing those characters using the word 'hay'.
I can use Spanish to tell about what I see.
Students enjoy another short segment of Jeff Corwin's adventures in South America. In this segment, he happens upon a Smoky Swamp Frog in the jungles of Peru. It is the largest frog found in that area. The really fun thing about the frog is that it sounds like a cat when it is in distress. The idea is to scare off would-be predators before they eat it. The frog has no webbing between his toes like most frogs, yet is still a great swimmer and an even better jumper - able to jump 7-8 feet! We used a method called 'movie talk' to describe what we are seeing using Spanish. Students feel pretty accomplished realizing what they are able to do as a result of their hard work this year.
We then do another movie talk with a funny video about a barking fish. Check it out! It is really cute. Students are again able to talk about what they were seeing using the Spanish they have been learning all year long.
Each year, students add to their PYP portfolio something that showcases their growth in Spanish. This year they are adding a piece of writing that is connected to the barking fish video. The picture is of a cat next to a fish in a fishbowl. Students color their picture and then use what they've learned this year to write about it. Spelling is not so important. Students are usually very good at sounding out words so that even if they spell them a little wrong, they are still readable. The important thing is to communicate what they know using the target language! Be sure to look for this in your student's PYP binder when you conference with them at the end-of-the-year! Get them to read you what they wrote and translate it!
I can recognize how people in Peru work to meet their needs.
This lesson connects with a unit of inquiry students are exploring with their homeroom teacher. Students learn about an organization called Heifer International that helps people all over the world become self-sufficient and improve their quality of life. We watch a short segment of their video Everyday Heroes to learn about Saul, a small in boy living high in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Students look for and share various ways they say the villagers working to meet the needs of the community. In the process, they learn about his South American culture.
I can use Spanish to name the family members.
Students already learned the immediate family member names in Spanish earlier in the year, but after reviewing these, the words for grandmother (abuela) and grandfather (abuelo) are added. Students enjoy playing a game called ¿Quien falta? or Who's missing?. Another fun activity we do is called 'Oh yeah!' Students try to outdo each other by coming up with crazy things that their grandmother has (and it doesn't have to be true!). Oh, yeah! Mi abuela tiene un elefante morado. (Oh, yeah! My grandmother has a purple elephant!) This activity is always good for some laughs.
Storytime! Students act out a story (which includes a song) about a girl visiting her grandmother. Grandma has a mirror and the girl does things you shouldn't do with a mirror (dance, run, jump). Here are the words to the song:
Hermana corre, corre en la casa Sister run, she runs in the house
Corre, corre, corre, corre en la casa She runs, runs, runs, she runs in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no corras, no corras, no corras, por favor- Don't run, don't run, don't run, please
Hermana baila, baila en la casa Sister dances, she dances in the house
baila, baila, baila, baila en la casa She dances, dances, dances, she dances in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no bailes, no bailes, no bailes, por favor- Don't dance, don't dance, don't dance, please
Hermana salta, salta en la casa Sister jumps, she jumps in the house
salta, salta, salta, salta en la casa She jumps, jumps, jumps, she jumps in the house
Abuela dice, -ay, ay, ay, hermana Grandma says, "ay, ay, ay, sister
no saltes, no saltes, no saltes, por favor- Don't jump, don't jump, don't jump, please
The students will be performing in the Afternoon of Expression towards the end of the year and one of the songs we will sing is called En Venezuela, another song by Patti Lozano. The song has a lot of the vocabulary and structures that we have been learning, so the students will find it very easy to learn. Check it out by clicking on the link below. Here are the lyrics to the song and their translation. (also, we learn that when making a noun plural in Spanish, you add -s if the noun ends in a vowel, but you add -es if the word ends in a consonant)
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un sofá. (3x)
Tiene un sofá, y nada más.
¿Tiene un sofá? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos sofás? no, no, no
¿Tiene un sofá? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un sofá y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene una cama. (3x)
Tiene una cama, y nada más.
¿Tiene una cama? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos camas? no, no, no
¿Tiene una cama? sí, sí, sí
Tiene una cama y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un sillón. (3x)
Tiene un sillón, y nada más.
¿Tiene un sillón? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos sillónes? no, no, no
¿Tiene un sillón? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un sillón y nada más
En Venezuela mi abuela tiene un espejo. (3x)
Tiene un espejo, y nada más.
¿Tiene un espejo? sí, sí, sí
¿Tiene dos espejos? no, no, no
¿Tiene un espejo? sí, sí, sí
Tiene un espejo y nada más
I can name the Spanish-speaking countries of South America.
Students review the song A-A-A Sudamérica:
A-A-A Sudamérica
A-A-A Sudamérica
It's amazing, that's for sure!
It's América del Sur
We then use a labeled map of SA to begin learning the names of the 9 Spanish-speaking countries there. After practicing how to pronounce each one and coming up with some clues to remember them, students get in small groups to play a dice game to show what they've learned.
The next activity will require students to know the Spanish word for 'search' or 'look for', which is 'busca'. A fun way to internalize this word is through the game called Busca el león. It is a hide-n-seek game when students take turns hiding and looking for the stuffed lion in the classroom. Meanwhile, the rest of the class sings the song. Here are the words:
Busca, búscalo, busca el león.
Busca, búscalo, busca el león.
Once they know the word, busca, students can do the next activity. They are shown a map of SA and each of the Spanish-speaking countries has a different piece of furniture in it. Students are asked questions about the map. This is played as a game where the room is divided in 1/2 and teams get points based on whether their player gets the answer right or not. Here are some examples:
1. yes/no questions - ¿Hay una planta en Bolivia? ¿La planta es azul?
2. either/or questions - ¿El espejo está en Peru o en Argentina? ¿El teléfono es rojo o rosado?
3. what questions - ¿Qué está en Chile?
4. where questions - ¿Dónde está la refrigeradora?
Students view another segment of the Jeff Corwin video where he talks about what he is looking for in Ecuador. We talk about it in Spanish and describe the black caiman.
I can recognize Spanish-English cognates. (review)
Students are able to easily tell what the months of the year are in Spanish because all but one of them are cognates. We practice saying them, do a fun activity where students are given a word card with a month on it and race the timer to put themselves in order, and finally, we do the macarena with the months of the year!
I can use Spanish to tell if it is hot or cold.
Students practice saying 'hace calor' (it's hot) or 'hace frío' (it's cold) as they look at a series of pictures. This leads into a book talk on the book called Peregrine's Journey. If follows the 2 month long migration of the peregrine falcon from Alaska to Argentina. It is a fascinating book that lends itself well to Spanish conversation. After talking about the book in Spanish, students get to hear the book read to them in English. Finally, they complete a worksheet related to the book. They connect the dots to show the migration path of the falcon, color the map of SA as indicated by the color chart, and then color the falcon.
I can show through music some of the things I've learned in Spanish class this year.
Students perform 4 songs for their parents during the Afternoon of Expression (usually in early May).
I can use Spanish to tell what there is or isn't. (Review)
Students enjoy the book ¿Qué hay dentro del huevo? which shows various animals that hatch from eggs. Students learn how to make the diminutive form of a noun by adding -ito or -ita to the end of the word. Here are a few examples:
gato (cat) - gatito (kitten)
Juan (John) - Juanito (Johnny)
rana (frog) - ranita (little frog)
Using plastic eggs that have a mystery item inside, students try to guess what is in each using the Spanish word 'hay' in their sentence.
Students then use whiteboards to practice writing sentences about baskets of different color/size eggs by using one of the following sentence stems:
Hay...
No hay...
Students finally get to enjoy the Jeff Corwin video in its entirety, after seeing only bits and pieces of it throughout the year. There are so many amazing animals in the rainforest of Ecuador, and Jeff does a great job of teaching us about the uniqueness of each one.
The last Spanish class of the year is spent looking back at some of the activities, games, and songs we've participated in this past year. Students are encouraged to use their Spanish when the opportunity arises because the fact is...
If you don't use it, you lose it!
Want to hear or practice some of our songs?