Una tortillita

Reinforcing some new "family" vocabulary with this little ditty that sounds suspiciously like "The Itsy Bitsy Spider!"

Una tortillita para mi mama (A little tortilla for my mom, etc.)
Una tortillita para mi papa
Una tortillita para mi bebe
Y una tortillita para mi

Next time your family eats a meal that includes tortillas, ask your child to sing you this song!

Pulgarcito (Where is Thumbkin?)

Pulgarcito

Pulgarcito, Pulgarcito, ?donde esta?
Aqui estoy.
?Como esta Usted?
Muy bien gracias. Ya me voy, ya me voy.

We sing this to the tune of "Where is Thumbkin?" The Spanish version is translated:
Thumbkin, Thumbkin, where are you?/Here I am./How are you?/Very well, thank you. Now I'm going, now I'm going.

Then, we substitute the following names for "Pulgarcito:"
Senor Indice (Mr. Pointer)
Senor Medio (Mr. Middle)
Senor Anular (Mr. Ring Finger)
Senor Menique (Mr. Pinky)

Participation Grades

The majority of the feedback that the World Language portion of your child's report card offers relies on his/her class participation. In the first weeks of school, I kept daily participation grades as a way to get to know the students. Since then, I occasionally record a sumative participation grade. This is the rubric that I consider as I record grades on a 1-4 scale. Taking the four categories into account, I can judge if a student is meeting learning expectations. (For 3rd-5th grades, I also keep traditional scores on a small number of quizzes and assignments.)

Always-4 Usually-3 Sometimes-2 Never-1
Siempre-4 Por lo general-3 A veces-2 Nunca-1

Participa en actividades de la clase
Participates in class activities

Contesta en grupo
Answers with group

Contesta individuamente cuando tiene oportunidad
Answers individually when he/she has the opportunity

Se porta de una manera que facilita el aprendizaje
Behaves in a way that facilitates learning

Upcoming Quiz: Colores

Next week, 3rd-5th grade will be taking their quiz on color words. Their objective is 80% accuracy or higher in writing. The format of the quiz has not been announced to them because I want them to study a little harder than they need to, but it will look like this:

purple __ o __ __ d __

orange a __ __ __ __ n j __ __ __

etc.

Here are the words they are studying:

blanco (white)
negro (black)
gris (gray)
rojo (red)
anaranjado (orange)
amarillo (yellow)
verde (green)
azul (blue)
morado (purple)
rosita (pink)
cafe [accent on "e"] (brown)

Noticiero en espanol

The newsletter is an image, so if you click on it you can enlarge the text.

Did you know? Podcasts for Kids in Spanish

Wow! This is cool.

Search on iTunes for "Spanish Podcast." There are a number of free subscriptions available and I've begun listening to "Elementary Spanish Podcasts from DVE" or "Podcuentos de DVE" and I am intrigued. As a teacher, I'm thinking about how they can be used in class, but I know they would be great reinforcement at home! Download a few before you go on your next roadtrip for sure! I'll share more specific tips and ideas as they occur to me if you promise to share how you like to use them.

Cuando Tengas Muchas Ganas

Cuando tengas muchas ganas de aplaudir [clap, clap]
(patear [stomp, stomp], gritar [shout, "Hura!"])
Cuando tengas muchas ganas de aplaudir [clap, clap]
(patear [stomp, stomp], gritar [shout, "Hura!"])
Cuando tengas la razon
Y no pongan atencion
No te quedes con las ganas de aplaudir [clap, clap]
(patear [stomp, stomp], gritar [shout, "Hura!"])

The tune is "If You're Happy and You Know It" but the translation is quite different:
If you really want to clap (stomp, shout, "Hurray!")
If you really want to clap (stomp, shout, "Hurray!")
If you know you're right
And they're not paying attention
Go ahead and clap (stomp, shout, "Hurray!")
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kindergarteners are learning this song starting this week (10-5-09.) In previous lessons, K-2 students learned the words "caminar" (walk), "brincar" (jump), and "marchar." They easily substituted these acquired words for the lyrics of their new song and added in the actions!

Tarea: Grafica

Students should have the following when they begin their graph:

1) a list of five classroom objects in Spanish

2) a tally of the objects from the Spanish classroom

3) a tally of the objects from their homeroom

Each graph should include:

a) a title in Spanish

b) Spanish labels on the horizontal and verical axes (See example below)

c) bars in two colors

d) a key