Monday, October 13, 2014

¿Qué día es hoy? - El Calendario

Wow!!! Talk about enthusiastic foreign language students, and on a Monday! My fourth graders loved their class today, especially because they had the chance to laugh, sing, and dance. Good visuals and music are invaluable tools to the World Language teacher because they are motivating, provide repetition (music), and help students connect to the material.  

First, we reviewed the months of the year orally, and then watched an awesome cartoon by SAS Curriculum Pathways. This video is excellent especially during Hispanic Heritage Month, as it touches on popular Latin-American holidays by month (including the dates), but especially focuses on the names of the months of the year in Spanish.



Second, we reviewed our numbers in Spanish orally, making sure to enunciate each word slowly. Many of my students can and try to say their numbers quickly, but then cannot pronounce them slowly, as they do not know them as well as they originally think. We reviewed numbers 0 - 10 first. Then we practiced 0 - 31 because those numbers are utilized in the monthly calendar. Finally we practiced counting by tens from 0 - 100. Then, as I began to play this video, I observed all their heads bopping, their arms and hands being raised, and smiles coming to their faces; they instantly sang along without ever having heard this number song before!

  

Finally, as we have reviewed the days of the week over the last couple weeks and they were already familiar with the terms, we jumped right into our song and dance. From a suggestion I learned at a FLENEF session two summers ago, I tried to incorporate movement in the classroom. We watched this wonderful video below and danced the macarena (at least the first 6 moves plus a swing of the hips)!



It is days like these that my students impress me with their enthusiasm, and I am reminded how much I love my job! 

Gracias a Uds. por todos estos recursos: SAS Curriculum Pathways, Sr. Ashby, y BASHO & friends!

https://www.sascurriculumpathways.com/portal/

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spanish-Ser-Rap-Song-962828

http://bashoandfriends.com







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