Today we reviewed many of the words we have been practicing by singing a song many of you may remember from church growing up: "My God is so big, so awesome and mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do." We sang it in Spanish, of course, with lots of big hand motions. Here are the words:
Mi Dios es tan grande
tan fuerte y poderoso
no hay nada que no pueda hacer (two claps)
Las montañas son suyas
los ríos son suyas
las estrellas son suyas tambien
(repeat first verse)
We moved on today to descriptions of physical so that the children can begin to ask and answer the question, "¿Cómo es?" We featured the parts of the face today: Eyes (Ojos=OH-hose), Nose (Nariz= nah-DEES), Mouth (Boca= BOW-kah). We did a little rhyming chant:
Yo tengo dos ojos
Yo tengo una nariz
Yo tengo una boca
¡y estoy muy feliz!
We also made a face on a plate. The older children may have pointed out to you that the word OJO kind of looks like two eyes and a nose, so we used that word as the basis for the face.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
¿Cómo es? Fuerte/Débil
I am thrilled when many of you tell me that at home you hear your child singing songs and using the Spanish vocabulary they are learning. So much fun!
This week your child probably brought home a picture of David and Goliath. This week the new words I introduced to answer the question ¿Cómo es? were fuerte (strong) and débil (weak). I used these words and many others we have learned this year to tell the Bible story of David y Goliat. I taught fuerte and débil, but other words I emphasized this week were cinco piedras (five stones) and the color black (negro.) The Incredible Hulk "helped" this week (grande/verde/enojado/fuerte). We are having fun with these opposites!
Email me with questions! shannon@shannonspaintbox.com
This week your child probably brought home a picture of David and Goliath. This week the new words I introduced to answer the question ¿Cómo es? were fuerte (strong) and débil (weak). I used these words and many others we have learned this year to tell the Bible story of David y Goliat. I taught fuerte and débil, but other words I emphasized this week were cinco piedras (five stones) and the color black (negro.) The Incredible Hulk "helped" this week (grande/verde/enojado/fuerte). We are having fun with these opposites!
Email me with questions! shannon@shannonspaintbox.com
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Pez grande/ Pez pequeño
Today your child probably brought home a little orange fish. I read the book Hooray for Fish. This book doesn't have a Spanish translation available, but it is a favorite at our house and the story uses all the vocabulary we have been practicing this year so far. Here is a link to the book:
We mostly reviewed vocabulary we have learned so far this year, including happy (feliz), sad (triste), mad (enojado), big (grande), small (pequeño), red (rojo) and green (verde). I taught the color orange (anaranjado), yellow (amarillo), and the word for eye (ojo)
I introduced a new chant that says, "Do what I do": "Haga lo que hago, Haga lo que hago, Haga lo que hago, Haga esto: ______). I have the children do things like clap (Aplauda), give a kiss (Bese), etc.
We mostly reviewed vocabulary we have learned so far this year, including happy (feliz), sad (triste), mad (enojado), big (grande), small (pequeño), red (rojo) and green (verde). I taught the color orange (anaranjado), yellow (amarillo), and the word for eye (ojo)
I introduced a new chant that says, "Do what I do": "Haga lo que hago, Haga lo que hago, Haga lo que hago, Haga esto: ______). I have the children do things like clap (Aplauda), give a kiss (Bese), etc.
¿Cómo es? (Grande y pequeño)
This week we began working with descriptions, to answer the question, "¿Cómo es?" (What does it look like?) We used the words grande (big) and pequeño (small). We talked about this in the context of mother and baby animals. We also reviewed words for emotions (feliz, triste, enojado.) I was thrilled that many of the children knew either the word that matched a happy/sad/mad face or they could make the corresponding face when I said the Spanish word.
The children are wonderful this year! They are very engaged and they participate well. I hope you are hearing them sing a few songs in Spanish... and I expect you to hear them say a few words here and there!
The children are wonderful this year! They are very engaged and they participate well. I hope you are hearing them sing a few songs in Spanish... and I expect you to hear them say a few words here and there!
Monday, September 12, 2011
¿Cómo está Ud.? More emotions (Sept 16)
This week we are extending answers to the question, ¿Cómo está Ud.? The three emotions we learned today were: feliz, triste, and enojado (happy, sad, mad). At this point I wouldn't expect the children to be able to answer the question ¿Cómo está Ud.?, but most of the students can respond with a big smile if you say "feliz"(fay-LEES), a sad face or cry if you say "triste" (TREE-stay), or a frown if you say "enojado" (eh-no-HAH-dough). Most children can also ask and answer how they are doing when they sing the Buenos Días song (to the tune of Frere Jacques.) This week I used the book "Happy Hippo, Angry Duck" by Sandra Boynton. It does a good job showing emotions and it is a fun interactive book. I am posting the book so you can look at it-- it's a very fun book in English! It's brand new, so it hasn't been translated into Spanish. Of course, in our Spanish time, I talked about it in Spanish.
This week's new song is the Spanish equivalent of "If You're Happy and you Know It." ("Si Ud. está feliz" from Dr. Jean's CD). Click here for a link to the Olé, Olé, Olé CD.
Finally, for those of you with children who will be in Kindergarten next year: If you are interested in having your child learn a language in an immersion elementary school (Fayette County offers Spanish at Maxwell Elementary and Chinese at Dixie Elementary), NOW is the time to turn in an application. Children are selected by a lottery; all applications for that lottery are due by October 7th. Click here for more information and/or to sign up. Other schools such as Liberty and Northern do offer a Spanish Immersion line, but you must live in that school's area to be in that program.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
¡Bienvenidos!
I am very excited to start back to Spanish again this Fall. Many of the children are starting their third year of Spanish, so you should be hearing them use more and more of the language.
Classes this year will be organized around the Spanish equivalent of the basic question words in English: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. I will be weaving vocabulary for colors, numbers, shapes, and actions into the topic for each week. You will be able to read about the specific language we have practiced here on the web. I will also post books and songs we use so you can hear a sample and download if you are interested in having them at home.
This week we are introducing ourselves, learning how to say hello and asking/answering the question, ¿Cómo está? (How are you?) I also featured the color green (verde) and I introduced circle (círculo), two dots (dos puntos) and a smile (una sonrisa) as we drew faces on the take-home sheet. I brought along a frog puppet (rana verde) to reinforce the color green.
This year we will use Dr. Jean's song "Hola, amigo" to start our time together. You can find a link to that CD here.
This week we sang:
-a name song based on the "hola, hola, hola" chant from the Baile y Canto CD. The whole CD is wonderful.
-a ¿Cómo está? song to the tune of Frere Jacques:
Buenos Días (Buenos Días)
¿Cómo está? (¿Cómo está?)
Muy bien, gracias (Muy bien, gracias),
y Usted (y Usted)
-a movement song called arriba, abajo. This little gem is a favorite among the children. You'll find yourself singing the song all day (and after a few weeks you will likely hear your child singing it too!)
Feel free to e-mail me with questions: shannon@shannonspaintbox.com
Thanks for allowing me to work with your children. This age is wonderful for language acquisition!
Classes this year will be organized around the Spanish equivalent of the basic question words in English: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. I will be weaving vocabulary for colors, numbers, shapes, and actions into the topic for each week. You will be able to read about the specific language we have practiced here on the web. I will also post books and songs we use so you can hear a sample and download if you are interested in having them at home.
This week we are introducing ourselves, learning how to say hello and asking/answering the question, ¿Cómo está? (How are you?) I also featured the color green (verde) and I introduced circle (círculo), two dots (dos puntos) and a smile (una sonrisa) as we drew faces on the take-home sheet. I brought along a frog puppet (rana verde) to reinforce the color green.
This year we will use Dr. Jean's song "Hola, amigo" to start our time together. You can find a link to that CD here.
This week we sang:
-a name song based on the "hola, hola, hola" chant from the Baile y Canto CD. The whole CD is wonderful.
-a ¿Cómo está? song to the tune of Frere Jacques:
Buenos Días (Buenos Días)
¿Cómo está? (¿Cómo está?)
Muy bien, gracias (Muy bien, gracias),
y Usted (y Usted)
-a movement song called arriba, abajo. This little gem is a favorite among the children. You'll find yourself singing the song all day (and after a few weeks you will likely hear your child singing it too!)
Feel free to e-mail me with questions: shannon@shannonspaintbox.com
Thanks for allowing me to work with your children. This age is wonderful for language acquisition!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
May
I am back! It was so good to work with the children again after a few months off. Many of you mentioned that your children have been singing songs to you at home and have been anxious to begin Spanish again.
Because we had been away for a few months, the first week of May was a review of foods and colors we had worked with a lot in February, as well as many of the children's favorite songs like un elefante and la canción de los números. In my time off I collected some fun new music and got a few puppets (so far the children have only met the chef, el cocinero.)
By the way, this version of the elefante song is very close to what we sing in class:
...and this whole Whistlefritz CD is full of fun songs:
I have taught the children how to introduce themselves (me llamo) various ways this year, but this new song has been the most fun and most successful! Hear a portion of it or download it here:
From the same CD, we sang échale la fruta to give the children more ways to talk about good foods.
If you want a well-produced CD full of excellent songs for teaching, get this one. It includes a few songs we have sung this year such as chocolate, and many songs we will sing next year! It is our new favorite at home:
This month we sang another fun movement song (which also teaches some prepositions) called arriba, abajo, delante, atrás. We move to this song by sticking our hands up, down, in front of us and behind us.
In all the classes this month, we read La semana de Cookie, a cute story about a cat (gato) that gets into something each day of the week. I stressed the days of the week in the four year old class, but focused mostly on comprehension for the younger children. It is an easy book for anyone to read and understand (you may have read it in English).
The 4-year old class sang this song to reinforce the days of the week. It is another great movement song!
Two other songs that we will work with next year and that I recommend purchasing if you play Spanish music for your children at home. They both come from a CD called Muévete. The first is called A limpiar. It is a clean up song that is very catchy. An easy one for anyone to learn and sing along:
The second is ¿Quién soy yo?. Even if you don't know Spanish, it is easy to understand this song. It asks, "who am I?" as you hear an animal in the background. The song asks the children to walk like an elephant, trot like a horse, etc., after they hear that animal sound. Hear a sample or download it here:
I have loved working with your children this year. Thank you for the opportunity to teach them some of the foundations of Spanish. I hope they continue to pursue the language and I expect them to recall many of the songs and chants we have done this year as they study foreign languages in the future. Please contact me this summer if you have any questions. I am also willing to teach a playgroup if you have children who would like to continue to learn Spanish this summer. ¡Que disfrutes el verano!
¡Hasta pronto!
-Sra. Shannon
Because we had been away for a few months, the first week of May was a review of foods and colors we had worked with a lot in February, as well as many of the children's favorite songs like un elefante and la canción de los números. In my time off I collected some fun new music and got a few puppets (so far the children have only met the chef, el cocinero.)
By the way, this version of the elefante song is very close to what we sing in class:
...and this whole Whistlefritz CD is full of fun songs:
I have taught the children how to introduce themselves (me llamo) various ways this year, but this new song has been the most fun and most successful! Hear a portion of it or download it here:
From the same CD, we sang échale la fruta to give the children more ways to talk about good foods.
If you want a well-produced CD full of excellent songs for teaching, get this one. It includes a few songs we have sung this year such as chocolate, and many songs we will sing next year! It is our new favorite at home:
This month we sang another fun movement song (which also teaches some prepositions) called arriba, abajo, delante, atrás. We move to this song by sticking our hands up, down, in front of us and behind us.
In all the classes this month, we read La semana de Cookie, a cute story about a cat (gato) that gets into something each day of the week. I stressed the days of the week in the four year old class, but focused mostly on comprehension for the younger children. It is an easy book for anyone to read and understand (you may have read it in English).
The 4-year old class sang this song to reinforce the days of the week. It is another great movement song!
Two other songs that we will work with next year and that I recommend purchasing if you play Spanish music for your children at home. They both come from a CD called Muévete. The first is called A limpiar. It is a clean up song that is very catchy. An easy one for anyone to learn and sing along:
The second is ¿Quién soy yo?. Even if you don't know Spanish, it is easy to understand this song. It asks, "who am I?" as you hear an animal in the background. The song asks the children to walk like an elephant, trot like a horse, etc., after they hear that animal sound. Hear a sample or download it here:
I have loved working with your children this year. Thank you for the opportunity to teach them some of the foundations of Spanish. I hope they continue to pursue the language and I expect them to recall many of the songs and chants we have done this year as they study foreign languages in the future. Please contact me this summer if you have any questions. I am also willing to teach a playgroup if you have children who would like to continue to learn Spanish this summer. ¡Que disfrutes el verano!
¡Hasta pronto!
-Sra. Shannon
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