Welcome back to Spanish Tuesday…or whatever it is I call this thing.  It’s our weekly lesson for easy, simple Spanish for your wee ones.

Objectives:

• Review alphabet, counting, and colors
• Have a little conversation to practice greetings & basic questions/answers
• Learn some new actions

For this lesson, you will need a box with a lid that can be opened and closed.  I’m going to attempt using M&Ms {very dangerous with little ones} because I can make sure everyone has lots of colors and the same things.

Lesson:

1. Let’s do the alphabet chant, ya’ll!  The kids love it and it’s such a great foundation for getting the sounds down.
2. Re-introduce the name/vowel rhyme.  We did this before, but it has been so long- another way to pull out those vowel sounds and get in “me llamo.”
3. Now it’s time to jump right in to some very practical, helpful commands- if you watch Dora, you may already know them: open, close, take it, put it back.  Okay, pull out the boxes- you will need one, too, to demonstrate.  Tell them to open, close, take out, put back various M&Ms and even specific colors.
4. End with Colores song, reviewing previous colors and adding crema/tan.

Tips: As a Spanish teacher, one of the hardest things to break is mispronouncing vowel sounds because of yeeeaaars of saying them in English.  So, it’s really good to practice the alphabet and even that little rhyme.

Feel free to use something other than M&Ms in your boxes.

Vocabulary:

• abre- open
• cierra- close
• toma- take
• pon de nuevo- put back
• crema- tan
• cachorro- puppy

Spanish Tuesday

el 21 de febrero

Objetivos

• Review alphabet, colors, & actions {I know we’ve done this for a while, but we’re still adjusting from Christmas break}
• Learn some new actions

Lección

• Review as a reunited group for the first time since before Christmas!
• We reviewed the alphabet by repeating the chant together 2 times- the kids remembered it pretty well and it’s a lot of repeating, so it was a great review type activity.
• We reviewed numbers by counting chicos, chicas, and padres.
• We reviewed colors by having the kids and parents stand up if they were wearing a certain color.  This was pretty fun for them, I think.
• I read them most of a Spanish Elmo book: Dulces Sueños.
• Lastly, we sang “Salta, Little Bunnies” and then we practiced action verbs by calling out and doing various actions.  This was also highly effective and a great way to get out some serious toddler/preschooler energy!

Vocabulario

• Levántate- Stand up.
• Siéntate- Sit down.
• Salta- Jump.
• Camina- Walk.
• Corre- Run.
• Haz ejercicio- Exercise.
• Para- stop.

Tip: Action verbs are crazy fun, not to mention usually successful, for small children because they enjoy DOING something and the action itself cements the word into memory.  Plus, calling out action verbs is such an easy way to learn some Spanish!

Disclaimer: As an Amazon affiliate, if you buy the book I linked to, I will receive some {paltry} amount of cash.  I’m all for it, just wanted you to know.  As always, I am recommending books/DVDs I already own and therefore can vouch for myself!

el 8 de febrero

Objetivos:

• Reacquaint ourselves with español!
• Review, review, review!

Lección

1. Review basics: greetings, names, ages, how we are.  Have mom assist in getting kids to listen and be able to ask and answer these questions.
2. Review colors and counting.  I had each child pick a couple trains or cars.  We talked about what colors they were and how many there were.
3. It started snowing.  :)  So, I punted on “me gusta” and got the kids in the window and we practiced “Está nevando,” etc.  Then, we drew “la nieve” with white crayons and black paper.  Total spur of the moment, but I liked it.

Abigail & Patches

Joshua & Goofy Rebes

I loved Rebekah's totally self-drawn snowman and snow! {she did finish her name later}

Vocabulario:

• For review items, please check my Spanish page.
• Está nevando.= It’s snowing.
• la nieve= the snow
• Hace frío.= It’s cold.
• Tengo frío.=I’m cold. {It’s a tener idiom, so literally it’s, I have cold.}
• more snow-related terms

Tip: It really pays to practice!!  So, whether you’re walking around or driving, try to use a little Spanish at a time to get the kids used to it!  These weather phrases are great for strolling around outside; act it out over-dramatically and they’ll not only love it, they’ll remember how to say it!

{Don’t forget about my Valentine’s Day request!}

Last week, we looked at the various “me gusta” options for what we {well, I, to be more accurate} like.  This, week I thought we could change it up a bit by adding what other people like.  This could be fun especially if your child has a sibling who can participate {or at least has obvious preferences}.

{Check my Spanish Page for the previous lessons.}

A quick review:

• Me gusta __(1 thing).= I like (1 thing).
• Me gustan __(2+ things)__.= I like (2+ things).
• No me gusta(n)….=I don’t like….
• ¿Qué te gusta?= What do you like?
• ¿Te gusta(n) _______?= Do you like _______?
• You ALWAYS use the article (el, la, los, las) when you use this phrasing even when it doesn’t sound right in English.

Ejemplos:

• Me gusta la coca-cola zero. {singular “gusta” because Coke zero is singular}
• No me gustan los gatos. {plural “gustan” because cats are plural}

Note: For your grammarians shaking your heads…

This doesn’t literally translate as ‘I like.”  That’s why there is no “yo” and the conjugated verb is not in the first person.  This is actually backwards from how we English-speakers say it: Coke Zero pleases me.  Cats do not please me.  So the subject actually follows the verb in this construct and the “me” used is actually a direct object pronoun.

Okay, I’m done.  Man, I do miss teaching, though!

Le gusta(n)….

Let’s keep it simple today.  We can apply the same principles for what other people like, there are just a few more words.  Remember that kids don’t need to understand the grammar- in fact, you’ll run them off if you even try to explain it {trust me}.  Just repeating it with fun things they know and like will suffice for most.

• 

  A Rebekah le gusta el pastel.

  A Rebekah le gusta el chocolate- Rebekah likes choclate {literally, Chocolate pleases Rebekah}.

• A Luke le gusta las dulces. Luke likes sweeties {literally, Sweeties please Luke}.

*Note, both times, I used the object pronoun “le” which refers to any thrid person {he she, it, etc}.

*Also, notice that the singular/plural versions of gusta(n) still applies.  I wouldn’t harp on this at all, even if the kids mess it up {or you do, which you will if you’re not used to speaking Spanish}, they’re still getting the basic construction…and better yet, they’ll develop ears for it when native speakers use it.

We’ll leave it at that for today- kudos to you if you’ve been practicing!!

I’ll leave you with a fun little gustar song.  You’re welcome.

Okay, we’re back on track for español escosés, or affectionately referred to as Spanish Monday.  Since we’ve had a loooong break, we’re planning on mostly reviewing.

{Check my Spanish Page for the previous lessons.}

el 25 de enero

Objetivos

• Review alphabet, colors, numbers, and common phrases
• Practice “me gusta” etc.

Lección

1. Ask each child how (s)he is, what their names are, and how old they are.
2. Review alphabet chant.
3. I asked each child to bring a favorite toy.  Each kid will show it like it’s show and tell.  I’ll ask each child what color the toy is and we’ll review colors that way.  Then, I will model “Me gusta(n)____.”
4. Play, “Salta, little bunny, salta, salt, salta” and practice other commands by playing our version of “Simon Says.”

Me gusta la pizza.

Grammar Notes:

• Me gusta __(1 thing).= I like (1 thing).
• Me gustan __(2+ things)__.= I like (2+ things).
• No me gusta(n)….=I don’t like….
• ¿Qué te gusta?= What do you like?
• ¿Te gusta(n) _______?= Do you like _______?

You always use the article (el, la, los, las) when you use this phrasing even when it doesn’t sound right in English.