Spanish e-book to support learners as they begin to speak Spanish. 160 pages of explanations, examples, exercises and resources to help and encourage your students.
Written in Spanglish, the English - Spanish mix that maximises exposure to the target language at the same time as allowing full comprehension (as long as the student is preparado to make a few guesses inteligentes). Cognates are used wherever possible.
The course is written around 5 themes: introductions, countries, occupations, the family and ordering in a cafe. There are also lots of varied activities throughout to practice the basics of pronunciation and using numbers.
This book is designed to be easy to use in the classroom, and for learners to be able to read through and remember outside the classroom. It minimises preparation time. With plenty of pictures throughout, 14 point text and double line spacing, it is accessible to dyslexic students. This book has a friendly, conversational style and makes suggestions about how to study and how to remember new words.
Non-Spanish speakers have read this book, and told me that they were able to read it from cover to cover. One reviewer said, "You don't realise when it is Spanish you are reading, because it all blends in." I hope Spanish teachers and students give this book a try, because I have found it to be successful in engaging my learners and giving them the knowledge and the confidence to speak Spanish.
The monster is a group of 3 children under a sheet. We find out how many of each body part it has by asking it. The monster sticks eg. its arms out from under the sheet and we count them.
I teach the body parts with a game of simon says. The learners match body parts to words on a sheet, then after a quick revision of numbers 1-5 learners comment on the monsters. Then they choose one or more monsters to draw.
This gives learners the chance to write a letter at an early stage of their learning, explaining where a friend will be able to find different items in a department store.
Introducing will and going to futures, the learners build a monologue and a dialogue about their forthcoming vacation followed by a performance for a group of peers who need to note details.
Children practice the numbers 1-12, and learn the words of the phrases in this game:
'What's the time Mr Wolf?'
'It&'s 3 o clock'
'It&';s dinner time'
The children play the game with sheep counters on a board.
3 simple songs. We invent a barn dance for the first, a ribbon dance for the second, a barn dance for the third, and a self evident presentation or game for the 4th Thanks to my daughter for singing along with me.
This activity for a large group to follow your actions as you give Spanish instructions, will lead to the children hearing and understanding all the words to a simple action song.
Thankyou lisilu for your comments - I have added an audio, nothing fancy, just so you can hear the tune
Learn phrases for giving directions and words to describe landmarks. Draw your own map to include the given landmarks and direct people around. An introduction to using the imperative.
Words and expressions for weather
A telephone conversation about the weather
A postcard about the weather
A narrative about the weather through the year in a place you know well (invention allowed, as always)
In addition to these 2 books with sentences about manners that learners earn points for using, I like learners to make a poster of 'las palabras mágicas' - please, thankyou, pardon, etc. in Spanish.
There is a bingo game, a facebook in which children can name people they know as bats, witches, pumpkins etc., and flashcards to initially teach the words. I ask children to call 'tengo' and hand out counters to cover them, and to call 'casa' when they have a full house.