Want to learn more Spanish this summer?

Occasionally, students or parents will ask how they can learn more Spanish on their own.  Between our local libraries and online resources, there is no shortage of material:

• Holland's Herrick Library (both branches) and Zeeland's Howard Miller Library feature growing collections of children's material in Spanish.  Discover a new book or find an old favorite in a new language.  Check out their DVD collections and audio books for great listening practice in Spanish.

• Listed below are some online resources I've used or recommended in the past.  Most are music or game based to make learning Spanish as much fun as possible!  
• (Parents, please note that many of these sites use Google Ads.  I can not control nor predict the ads that are shown.  You may want to preview the sites with ads ahead of time or have an ad blocker set up on your browser.)

Games and Activities for Students:

Rockalingua:  This site offers great songs and games to practice different vocabulary themes in Spanish.  Some resources require you to purchase a subscription, but there is a lot of material that is available for free.

Online Free Spanish:  The "beginner" level includes a lot of basic vocabulary.

1, 2, 3, Teach Me:  In addition to games and vocabulary activities, this site also includes listening activities with simple conversations.

StoryPlace:  Listen to a story online, then follow up with online activities, a "take home activity" (craft), and get suggestions of other books to borrow from the library.  Great for younger (K-2nd) learners.

Salsa Online Video Series:  According to their website, "Salsa is Georgia Public Broadcasting's award-winning Spanish language series for young learners in kindergarten through the third grade. Puppets in familiar stories, digital graphics and animation teach the language."

PBS Spanish Games:  These games feature PBS Kids characters in a variety of Spanish games.

BBC Primary Languages:  This site is geared toward slightly older students (3rd grade and up), and features vocabulary practice, games, and videos.  (Note:  This site emphasizes the pronunciation and culture of Spain while most US-based sites emphasize Latin American pronunciation and culture.  See what differences you notice!)

SpanishTown:  This site provides 30 "lessons" of interactive vocabulary lists and short videos.  There are also printable activities and grammar lessons for older students.

Duolingo.com:  Parents will want to check this one out as it can be a bit "reading heavy" for young learners.  It may be an activity you can complete together.  Older students, however, will love the competitive game-based language learning!

For Parents:

Spanish Playground:  A fantastic resource with ideas and resources for teaching Spanish.

Mommy Maestra Blog:  This blog is run by a Latina homeschooling mom.  She posts a lot of bilingual books, resources, and other activity ideas.

5th and 6th Grade: April 25, 2018

**Note:  If you're interested in learning more Spanish on your own this summer, click HERE to see some of my favorite online resources and activities.

Today in class, students were able to use stickers they had earned in class to buy small prizes.

We also played Toma Todo, a traditional Mexican game.  The spinning tops we used in class were from Mexico, but you can follow THESE DIRECTIONS to make your own version of the game to play at home!

Vocabulary:

• pon - put
• toma - take
• todos - all, everyone
• todo - everything
• toma todo - take it all
• todos ponen - everyone put one in

Have a great summer!  ¡Qué disfruten el verano!

4th Grade: April 25, 2018

**Note:  If you're interested in learning more Spanish on your own this summer, click HERE to see some of my favorite online resources and activities.


Today in class, students were able to use stickers they had earned in class to buy small prizes.

We also played Toma Todo, a traditional Mexican game.  The spinning tops we used in class were from Mexico, but you can follow THESE DIRECTIONS to make your own version of the game to play at home!

Vocabulary:

• pon - put
• toma - take
• todos - all, everyone
• todo - everything
• toma todo - take it all
• todos ponen - everyone put one in

Have a great summer!  ¡Qué disfruten el verano!

2nd and 3rd Grade: April 25, 2018

**Note:  If you're interested in learning more Spanish on your own this summer, click HERE to see some of my favorite online resources and activities.

Today in class, we played our number memory games.  A few weeks ago, everyone worked hard to make the cards for the game.  Because of that, we had enough game boards for each student to take one home!   Ask your student to teach you how to play!

Have a great summer!  ¡Qué disfruten el verano!

1st Grade: April 25, 2018

**Note:  If you're interested in learning more Spanish on your own this summer, click HERE to see some of my favorite online resources and activities.

Today in Spanish class, we celebrated the end of the year together with some of our favorite activities.

Have a great summer!  ¡Qué disfruten el verano!

Kindergarten: April 25, 2018

**Note:  If you're interested in learning more Spanish on your own this summer, click HERE to see some of my favorite online resources and activities.


Today in class, we finished our Animal unit by playing some games and putting the finishing touches on our books! Ask your student show the book to you, they were very proud of them!

Have a great summer!  ¡Qué disfruten el verano!

5th and 6th Grade: April 18, 2018

We finished our "amigo del día" unit!  I enjoyed learning a little more about everyone and I was impressed by all the Spanish we spoke in class!

Ask your student:

• Who were the amigo del día today?  What did you learn about him?  What does like?  (If you need to refresh your memory, we had just had one amigo today!  Look at the vocabulary list below.  To protect privacy, I just listed each amigo's initials before the words we learned while talking about them.)

Vocabulary:
Words in bold are new this week, others are review.
To keep this list from getting too long, only this week's amigos are listed.  You can view previous blog posts to review vocabulary from other "amigos."

• JW
• jugar - to play
• videojuegos - video games
• nadar - to swim

Grammar Concept
Me gusta vs Me gustan

• In Spanish you use "Me gusta" (I like) when what you like is either an action or a singular noun.
• Examples:
• Me gusta cantar.  = I like to sing.  (sing = action)
• Me gusta la casa.  = I like the house.  (the house = singular)
• Me gusta limpiar la casa.  = I like to clean the house.  (I like "to clean" = action)
• Me gustar leer los libros.  = I like to read the books.  (I like "to read" = action...even though books is plural, the action comes first.)
• In Spanish you use "Me gustan" (I like) when what you like is plural.
• Examples:
• Me gustan las piñatas. = I like the piñatas.  (piñatas = plural)
• Me gustan los zapatos.  = I like the shoes.  (shoes = plural)
• Me gustan los zorros.   = I like the foxes.  (foxes = plural)
• Me encanta/Me encantan is used to talk about something you REALLY like or love.
• Examples:
• Me encantan los pastelitos. = I love cupcakes.  (pastelitos = plural)
• Me encanta nadar. = I love to swim (swim = action)

Homework:

Please email me if you need your Quia username and/or password.

• Quia Vocabulary/Language practice~
•   Nothing this week. :)

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!)  This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 
•  Previous Assignments:  Did you miss last week's assignment?  If you were absent, you may still complete it for 2 stickers each.  If you weren't absent, but didn't get to the assignment, you may still complete the assignments for one sticker each.
• Week of  April 11
• Assignment:  Amigo del día, 4/11
• Week of March 28
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/28
• Week of March 21
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/21
• Week of March 14
• Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/14
• Week of March 7
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/7
• Week of February 28
• Final Eduardo Assignment

4th Grade: April 18, 2018

Today in class we finished our unit about "las descripciones/descriptions."  We looked at some paintings by Spanish speaking artists and described people in the paintings.

Ask your student:

• What do you remember about the paintings you saw in class?  (We looked at paintings by Fernando Botero (Colombia) and Simón Silva (Mexico).)
• Orgullo de familia (Pride of Family), Simon Silva

• 
  
• El general y su familia (The General and His Family), Fernando Botero

• 
  

Vocabulary
Words in bold are new this week, others are review.

• alto - tall (boy)
• alta - tall (girl)
• bajo - short (boy)
• baja - short (girl)
• la barba - the beard
• el bigote - the mustache
• las pecas - the freckles
• las gafas - the glasses  (note:  some countries use the word "anteojos")
• el pelo - the hair
• el cabello - the hair (used in some Spanish speaking countries.  In class, we'll use "el pelo.")
• el pelo rubio - blonde hair
• el pelo castaño - brown hair
• el pelo negro - black hair
• el pelo rojo - red hair
• el pelo canoso - gray hair 
• calvo - bald
• tiene-he/she has
• tengo - I have
• tienes - you have
• ojos azules - blue eyes
• ojos verdes - green eyes
• ojos grises - gray eyes
• ojos castaños - brown eyes

Homework:

Please email me if you need your Quia username and/or password.

• Final Assignment: 
  
  • Our final assignment for this unit was handed out in class.  If you misplaced it, you can print another copy HERE.

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!). This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 
• Previous Assignments:  Did you miss last week's assignment?  If you were absent, you may still complete it for 2 stickers each.  If you weren't absent, but didn't get to the assignment, you may still complete the assignments for one sticker each.
• Week of April 11
•  Quia Assignment
• Week of March 28
• Quia Assignment 
• Week of March 21
•  Quia Assignment
• Week of March 14
•  Quia Assignment
• Week of March 7
• Quia Assignment
• Week of February 28 
• Vocabulary Practice (flashcards and matching)
• Here's a BATTLESHIP game to practice our vocabulary from Feb 21 and 28.
•  Quia Assignment 
• Week of February 21
•  Assignment (Be sure to click on "Log in for credit."  If you can't find the "Log in for credit" box or if you forget to fill it in before starting, please have a parent send me a quick email or write me a short note)
• Week of February 14
• Quia Assignment

2nd and 3rd Grade: April 18, 2018

This week, we had fun acting out the story of the Tres Cerditos and experimenting with "el viento" (the wind).

Ask your student:

• Which of the three houses was your favorite to build?  Why? (We worked in groups, to construct buildings and we tested them with a small fan--our "lobo feroz.")

Vocabulary

Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• el cerdito - the little pig
• construye - he/she builds
• la paja - the straw
• los palillos - the sticks
• los ladrillos - the bricks
• el lobo feroz - the big bad wolf
• grita - he/she yells
• sopla - he/she blows
• corre - he/she runs
• Cerdito, cerdito, déjame entrar - Little pig, little pig, let me come in.
• Ni de pelusita de mi barbita - Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.
• Entonces soplaré, y soplaré, y tu casita derribaré - Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down.

Homework:   

• Quia Vocabulary/Language practice: 
• Practice the numbers Spanish numbers from 0-60 with these games!

• Songs!   
• Sing along with our new numbers songs:  El Canto de las Decenas (The Song of the Tens...counting to 100 by tens in Spanish), Counting to 100 by Tens

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!). This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 

1st Grade: April 18, 2018

This week, we continued learning community related vocabulary all in Spanish.  To practice at home, there are a few videos linked under the Homework heading.

Ask your student:

• Do you have your map from Spanish class?  What can we do with it?  (If your student misplaced the map, there is a link below to print a new one.  You can watch some videos linked below and answer question in Spanish using the map.).

Vocabulary

Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• la maestra - the teacher
• el médico - the doctor
• el vecino - the neighbor (boy)
• la vecina - the neighbor (girl)
• el bombero - the firefighter
• el policía - the police officer
• el pastor - the pastor/minister
• el cartero - the postman
• el supermerdado - the supermarket
• la escuela - the school
• el hospital - the hospital 
• la tienda - the store
• la casa - the house
• la iglesia - the church

Homework:

Note:  In first grade, most of our Spanish homework consists of watching short videos or songs to reinforce the vocabulary we learn in class.

• Fun ways to practice Spanish at home!
• Watch the video and see if you can figure out where all of the animals are going! (VIDEO LINK)
• Use the maps and people from class to play along with THIS video.  
• If you misplaced the map or people from class, you can print a new copy HERE.
• Practice the places in the community vocabulary with THIS video. 
• Practice the people in the community vocabulary with THIS video

• Colors song!  It's a fast paced song, but a fun way to review colors in Spanish!
• Watch this video to practice our weather vocabulary words.

Kindergarten: April 18, 2018

In class today, we continued our Animal unit!  We also watched a short video to practice our animal vocabulary words.

Ask your student:

• What is a "mono"?  How do you say what color it is in Spanish? (A mono is a monkey.  They are marrón or café - brown.)

This week's vocabulary:
Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• el mono - the monkey
• come - he/she eats
• el oso - the bear
• amarillo - yellow
• el león - the lion
• anaranjado - orange
• negro - black
• el tigre - the tiger
• corre - he/she runs
• blanco - white
• negro - black
• el pingüino - the penguin
• canta - he/she sings
• rojo - red
• el pájaro - the bird
• vuela - he/she flies
• la tortuga - the turtle
• marrón - brown 
• café - brown
• lento/lenta - slow
• la rana - the frog
• verde - green 
• salta - he/she jumps
• dice - he/she says
• el pez - the fish
• nada - he/she swims
• pequeño - small
• el elefante - the elephant
• grande - big
• gris - gray

Homework:

Note:  In Kindergarten, most of our Spanish homework consists of watching short videos or songs to reinforce the vocabulary we learn in class.

• Watch THIS VIDEO to practice the animal action words.
• We learned a fun rhyme and hand clap from Spain to use up a little extra energy.  Watch the video and practice the actions!  Chocolate, Chocolate (jumping game).
• Colors song!  It's a fast paced song, but a fun way to review colors in Spanish!
• Bible Memory Verse:  This semester we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 in Spanish! 
•  En cambio, el fruto del Espíritu es amor, alegría, paz, paciencia, amabilidad, bondad, fidelidad,  humildad y dominio propio.

5th and 6th Grade: April 11, 2018

We continued our "amigo del día" unit.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be highlighting students in our class as we learn all about each other and "me gusta" (I like) vocabulary phrases.

Ask your student:

• Who were the amigos del día today?  What did you learn about them?  What do they like?  What don't they like?  (If you need to refresh your memory, we had FOUR amigos today!  Look at the vocabulary list below.  To protect privacy, I just listed each amigo's initials before the words we learned while talking about them.)

Vocabulary:
Words in bold are new this week, others are review.
To keep this list from getting too long, only this week's amigos are listed.  You can view previous blog posts to review vocabulary from other "amigos."

• KB
• la universidad (la uni) - the university
• el fútbol americano
• LN
• los botes - the boats
• la lacrosse - lacrosse
• jugar - to play 
• GM
• las arañas - the spiders
• las fresas - the strawberries
• el pescado - fish (food you eat)

Grammar Concept
Me gusta vs Me gustan

• In Spanish you use "Me gusta" (I like) when what you like is either an action or a singular noun.
• Examples:
• Me gusta cantar.  = I like to sing.  (sing = action)
• Me gusta la casa.  = I like the house.  (the house = singular)
• Me gusta limpiar la casa.  = I like to clean the house.  (I like "to clean" = action)
• Me gustar leer los libros.  = I like to read the books.  (I like "to read" = action...even though books is plural, the action comes first.)
• In Spanish you use "Me gustan" (I like) when what you like is plural.
• Examples:
• Me gustan las piñatas. = I like the piñatas.  (piñatas = plural)
• Me gustan los zapatos.  = I like the shoes.  (shoes = plural)
• Me gustan los zorros.   = I like the foxes.  (foxes = plural)
• Me encanta/Me encantan is used to talk about something you REALLY like or love.
• Examples:
• Me encantan los pastelitos. = I love cupcakes.  (pastelitos = plural)
• Me encanta nadar. = I love to swim (swim = action)

Homework:

Please email me if you need your Quia username and/or password.

• Quia Vocabulary/Language practice~
•    Quia Assignment (worth 2 stickers)

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!)  This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 
•  Previous Assignments:  Did you miss last week's assignment?  If you were absent, you may still complete it for 2 stickers each.  If you weren't absent, but didn't get to the assignment, you may still complete the assignments for one sticker each.
• Week of March 28
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/28
• Week of March 21
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/21
• Week of March 14
• Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/14
• Week of March 7
•  Assignment:  Amigo del día, 3/7
• Week of February 28
• Final Eduardo Assignment

4th Grade: April 11, 2018

In class today, we learned a few more words for describing people.  Using our new vocabulary we played a game for drawing more characters.

Ask your student:

• Can you describe the person you drew in Spanish class?  Was he/she tall or short? How did you decide what to draw? (We rolled dice and each roll corresponded to a different feature.)

Vocabulary
Words in bold are new this week, others are review.

• alto - tall (boy)
• alta - tall (girl)
• bajo - short (boy)
• baja - short (girl)
• la barba - the beard
• el bigote - the mustache
• las pecas - the freckles
• las gafas - the glasses  (note:  some countries use the word "anteojos")
• el pelo - the hair
• el cabello - the hair (used in some Spanish speaking countries.  In class, we'll use "el pelo.")
• el pelo rubio - blonde hair
• el pelo castaño - brown hair
• el pelo negro - black hair
• el pelo rojo - red hair
• el pelo canoso - gray hair 
• calvo - bald
• tiene-he/she has
• tengo - I have
• tienes - you have
• ojos azules - blue eyes
• ojos verdes - green eyes
• ojos grises - gray eyes
• ojos castaños - brown eyes

Homework:

Please email me if you need your Quia username and/or password.

• Quia Vocabulary/Language practice: 
• Vocabulary Practice:  Same as previous weeks
• Flash cards and matching
• Rags to Riches
• Battleship
• Quia Assignment (worth 2 stickers) 

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!). This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 
• Previous Assignments:  Did you miss last week's assignment?  If you were absent, you may still complete it for 2 stickers each.  If you weren't absent, but didn't get to the assignment, you may still complete the assignments for one sticker each.
• Week of March 28
• Quia Assignment 
• Week of March 21
•  Quia Assignment
• Week of March 14
•  Quia Assignment
• Week of March 7
• Quia Assignment
• Week of February 28 
• Vocabulary Practice (flashcards and matching)
• Here's a BATTLESHIP game to practice our vocabulary from Feb 21 and 28.
•  Quia Assignment 
• Week of February 21
•  Assignment (Be sure to click on "Log in for credit."  If you can't find the "Log in for credit" box or if you forget to fill it in before starting, please have a parent send me a quick email or write me a short note)
• Week of February 14
• Quia Assignment

2nd and 3rd Grade: April 11, 2018

This week we learned some new words and acted out the story of "Los Tres Cerditos" (The Three Little Pigs) in Spanish.  Next week, we'll continue with some fun hands on building activities!

Ask your student:

• What story did you talk about in Spanish today? (We told the story of the 3 Pigs in Spanish.  Students helped me by repeating the lines below.)

Vocabulary

Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• el cerdito - the little pig
• construye - he/she builds
• la paja - the straw
• los palillos - the sticks
• los ladrillos - the bricks
• el lobo feroz - the big bad wolf
• grita - he/she yells
• sopla - he/she blows
• corre - he/she runs
• Cerdito, cerdito, déjame entrar - Little pig, little pig, let me come in.
• Ni de pelusita de mi barbita - Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin.
• Entonces soplaré, y soplaré, y tu casita derribaré - Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down.

Homework:   

• Quia Vocabulary/Language practice: 
• Practice the numbers Spanish numbers from 0-60 with these games!

• Songs!   
• Sing along with our new numbers songs:  El Canto de las Decenas (The Song of the Tens...counting to 100 by tens in Spanish), Counting to 100 by Tens

• Bible Memory:  (Second semester verse!). This semester, we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 as an (HC)2 group.  We will practice memorizing this verse in Spanish.
• Printed Version
• Bubble Letter Version (Color it in as you memorize it!) 
• Audio Version  (Coming Soon!)
• Online Games and Practice (More coming soon!)  
• Fruit of the Spirit Vocabulary
• Put the phrases in order 

1st Grade: April 11, 2018

This week, we began a new mini unit.  Over the next few weeks, we'll be learning a few community related vocabulary all in Spanish.

Ask your student:

• What was your story about in Spanish class today?  (It was about a postman who had to walk all over town delivering letters to each place.  Students each had a map and postman of their own to follow along.)

Vocabulary

Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• el supermerdado - the supermarket
• la escuela - the school
• el hospital - the hospital 
• la tienda - the store
• la casa - the house
• la iglesia - the church
• el cartero - the postman

Homework:

Note:  In first grade, most of our Spanish homework consists of watching short videos or songs to reinforce the vocabulary we learn in class.

• Colors song!  It's a fast paced song, but a fun way to review colors in Spanish!
• Watch this video to practice our weather vocabulary words.

Kindergarten: April 11, 2018

In class today, we continued our Animal unit!  We also watched a short video to practice our animal vocabulary words.

Ask your student:

• What is a "tigre"?  How do you say what color it is in Spanish? (A tigre is a tiger.  They are anaranjado y negro - orange and black.)

This week's vocabulary:
Words in bold are new this week, others are review

• amarillo - yellow
• el león - the lion
• anaranjado - orange
• negro - black
• el tigre - the tiger
• corre - he/she runs
• blanco - white
• negro - black
• el pingüino - the penguin
• canta - he/she sings
• rojo - red
• el pájaro - the bird
• vuela - he/she flies
• la tortuga - the turtle
• marrón - brown 
• café - brown
• lento/lenta - slow
• la rana - the frog
• verde - green 
• salta - he/she jumps
• dice - he/she says
• el pez - the fish
• nada - he/she swims
• pequeño - small
• el elefante - the elephant
• grande - big
• gris - gray

Homework:

Note:  In Kindergarten, most of our Spanish homework consists of watching short videos or songs to reinforce the vocabulary we learn in class.

• Watch THIS VIDEO to practice the animal action words.
• We learned a fun rhyme and hand clap from Spain to use up a little extra energy.  Watch the video and practice the actions!  Chocolate, Chocolate (jumping game).
• Colors song!  It's a fast paced song, but a fun way to review colors in Spanish!
• Bible Memory Verse:  This semester we'll be memorizing Galatians 5:22-23 in Spanish! 
•  En cambio, el fruto del Espíritu es amor, alegría, paz, paciencia, amabilidad, bondad, fidelidad,  humildad y dominio propio.