Categorizing by color

When introducing a new thematic set of vocabulary, I plan activities which tap into previously learnt vocab. At my level, this includes numbers, size vocab, and colors. One activity which I particularly like is categorizing by color. This can be done with any set of items and is a great review of color words. Long ago I made a 'color mat'- a big poster with a space for each color on it (labeled, of course).
My First Graders have just started the theme 'Ranitas'. Using a collection of small frogs and the color mat, I held up each frog and asked "What color is this frog?". I call on a student to answer- this student then gets to place the frog on the appropriate color. I have gathered over the years enough frogs for everyone to have a turn, with multiple frogs of some colors and some colors having no frogs at all. Once all of the frogs are placed on the color mat, then I ask "How many frogs are red? (blue, yellow, etc)" Colors and numbers have now been practiced with a novel item (frogs) which keeps the interest and motivation high.
Tip: since many items are more than one color (a frog could be both yellow and black), I instruct the class to identify the color that it is the most of. This makes it easier to place the item on the color mat.

Arpilleras, Part 3

And so, the people and animals are made. Though the kids will eventually get to take them home, first I safety pin them to a large arpillera background I made several years ago. When it's full, it's really a sight!
This is the kind of project to call the local newspaper about...great PR for your program!

Arpilleras, Part 2

The backgrounds finished, it is time to make little people and animals to populate it. I found head beads in Oriental Trading Company several years ago and they work really well for this part of the project. (You will need to go to their website; the head beads never show up in their catalog) I make the bodies out of pipe cleaners, put the head on the bodies, and use sheep wool and alpaca fur for the hair. I would have the kids make the bodies, but it would take too much time and frankly, many of them don't have the fine motor to be able to do it without loads of assistance. Needless to say, it is a lot of prep for me, but well worth it.


We use pieces of fabric to dress the people and half a pipe cleaner for the belt.
The animals are wrapped with yarn to give them some 'fur' - super easy and super cute!

Arpilleras, Part 1

Every March my first graders learn about Peruvian arpilleras- I like how concrete an example they are of cultural perspective. Though I do not go into the origins of the arpilleras (orginally from Chile, made to preserve and record life in rural areas as a political statement), they are so powerful visually in their representations of ordinary life that I think they convey a lot of information all on their own.
One of my standards is to have my kids participate in cultural activities- often this takes the form of authentic games and songs. I have had to modify the making of arpilleras to make them more accessible and practical for my classroom. Part one is the creation of the background.Using construction paper and a collage technique, kids made scenes inspired by the arpilleras I have and pictures I showed them of rural life in the Andes Mountains of Perú. In addition, I cut out tree shapes from fabric which kids used to make trees and shrubs. We brainstormed ideas before we started- what did we see in the arpilleras I showed them- houses, mountains, trees, gardens, streams, fruits, grass, etc. I specifically told them not to include people and animals, as that will be Part 2. Stay tuned!

An easy piñata

I love bringing piñatas into class, but frankly, I just can't afford to buy piñatas for all of my classes- it isn't in my budget. So, I go the less expensive route- I make paper bag piñatas. Besides, in a twenty minute class, there is no way (unless there is a very lucky hit) that we can break a piñata in that time. Sometimes we barely get the paper bag broken before I have to return my kiddos to their gen ed classrooms.
Paper bag piñatas are easy to make:
-buy a gift bag at your local store (Walmart sells them for a dollar)
-decorate with streamers, pictures, stickers, whatever
-stuff with candy

Tip: Instead of just putting a bunch of candy in the bag, use snack bags to create one for each student. I put their names on the bags and make sure each bag has the same amount of candy. When the piñata is broken, there are no hogs and no kiddos with nothing. (Thanks to Stephanie, one of our 2nd grade teachers for this idea!)

Play a little fiesta music (Dále, dále, dále) and you are good to go! ¡Viva la piñata!

Literacy support

Yesterday, during an activity with one of my Kindergarten classes, a student who had been asked to identify what animal I was holding up (a picture of a cat), thought for a moment then looked up at one of my bulletin boards where I had posted pictures of family vocabulary along with large labels for each word and said 'un gato'.
I am a strong advocate for presenting all vocabulary in written form along with the oral language. Even the youngest students will begin to build a visual memory of those words, and connections are built in the brain between the written and spoken language. This student already has literacy skills- she is already reading at an early emergent level. Regardless of whether a student has a set of literacy skills or not, however, the written word is an important piece of scaffolding and providing support for our students. In addition, students are encouraged to transfer the skills they have learned with the gen ed teacher to the Spanish classroom- another connection.

Fun with Geography and Flags

January is geography month- at least, for my first graders it is! We start by learning the names of the Spanish-speaking countries in South America and where they are on the map. I made a large map out of bulletin board paper, laminated it, and stuck velcro on it so I can do TPR activities with the map. For example, I printed out the flags for each country, put the other half of the velcro on the back, and have the kids put them on the correct countries.

First, I call a kiddo up and give him/her a flag and tell him to put it on ________. This continues until all of the flags have been attached to the map. This simple activity works on recognizing where the different countries are and helps the kids learn the names of the countries. Once the kids have a working knowledge of where the various countries are, we then work on recognizing which flag belongs with which country. This is a great opportunity to practice colors while you are working on geography. Instead of handing a flag to a kiddo, I would now say "Find Venezuela's flag and put it on the map." We then move to individual maps which the kiddos will eventually take home.
Flags are just one possibility- during my frog unit, we place various frog pictures I found on the internet on the countries where they live. You could do famous places (Machu Picchu, Angel Falls, etc), capitals, pictures of people in traditional dress, currency...the possibilities are limitless.

Chocolate Caliente

Ummmm! It's that time of year to get making chocolate caliente. I often make it for my students right before Christmas vacation- they're squirrelly and lessons are going, going, gone! For a class of 18 I use:
1 gallon of milk
2-4 barras of chocolate (Abuelita brand is great or Goya or whatever you have available)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean
1 package of paper coffee cups

Pour milk into a large pot and add the cinnamon sticks, and the vanilla bean. I usually scrape the sticks together a few times before adding and I score the bean lengthwise. Warm the milk without scalding over medium heat. When the milk is warm, add the chocolate bars, continue warming until chocolate has melted, stirring occasionally. When it is ready, pour into a large pitcher and use a molinillo to stir it up. ¡Bate, bate, chocolate!

Serve in the cups. ¡Que delicioso!

*Note: It usually takes about 20-25 minutes for the milk to warm up. I need to do so prior to class as my classes are only 20 minutes long. I suppose if you put the heat up higher it would go more quickly.

Great website!

Check out:
www.elhuevodechocolate.com

Super resources for sayings, proverbs, songs, poems, tongue twisters, word plays, etc.