Once upon a time, I thought I’d figured out how to teach elementary Spanish. Then, they asked me to teach preschool. Preschool is a different sort of animal. Standing in a line is a fluid concept. Rules my son’s 3-year-old class worked on last year: – We do not lick the wall. – We do not […]
Free video lesson + activities for kindergarten Spanish
The first time I taught kindergarten Spanish, I thought if I read the story La oruga muy hambrienta (The very hungry caterpillar) enough times, kids would learn something. Right? So, I faithfully came into my kindergarten classes, once a week for 15 minutes, and read the book to them. I was animated and I pointed and […]
Send home a summer activity record! Free “En casa TicTacTó” download
Summer break = break from kids’ learning? Is summer break really a good idea relative to children’s learning journey? That’s certainly a hot topic for teachers and parents, and we won’t debate here. Surely, though, over two months of little to no contact with Spanish can only hurt language development. Here’s an idea: Let’s encourage kids to keep […]
Mother’s Day Spanish printable activity celebrates Mamá y Abuela (free)
Happy Mom’s Day! We recently saw an adorable Mother’s Day “My mom and I” printable activity in English. We love these activities and thought it was such a great idea we’d do something similar in Spanish. In ours, we’ve featured some of our Stories Online characters with their moms and grandmothers. Here at Calico Spanish, we are […]
Prepositions of location + Twinkle, twinkle à la Brooks & Dunn = new music magic!
Is there anywhere a fun song for early Spanish learners that targets prepositions of location? We couldn’t find any. So we did it ourselves. What phrases, exactly? We call this song “Pañuelito” (little handkerchief). It accompanies Level C of Calico Spanish Stories, themed “I Live Here.” In this level, several of the Video Stories feature our characters […]
Parts of the body: “Todo mi cuerpo” NEW Calico Spanish song video!
Ready for our next new song? It’s all about parts of the body! In this all-new video for our song “Todo mi cuerpo,” a boy decides to dance and swim with his whole body. Like the English song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes,” this new Calico Spanish song helps children can learn how to talk about the parts […]
7 ways to repeat without being repetitive
It feels like a catch-22, doesn’t it? Research shows that language learners need to hear or see a word in context many, many times in order to be able to use that word or phrase or language feature whenever they want. But wait- those learners also have to be engaged in order to acquire language. Bored […]
Maximize your time limits Pt. 3: Send it home!
How can learners given less than 90 minutes per week for language class develop real proficiency? They can’t, according to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Unless, that is, they have additional time outside of class to receive comprehensible input and interact in the language. But how will they get this extra time? […]
Greetings in Spanish: FIVE new videos!
Are you looking for more content to help you show Spanish greetings and introductions to your learners? GREAT NEWS! After recently uploading one of our first non-song videos in a long time, we’ve just added FIVE more, and we think that you’re going to find them super useful and that your learners will love them. […]
Maximize time limits, Part 2: Leverage library time
It’s undeniable: when it comes to contact time with students in world language classes, elementary teachers have the short end of the stick. (Don’t miss a post; follow us on Bloglovin’!) (This GIVEAWAY is CLOSED.) In part one of this brief series, we shared some tips on how you can partner with your school’s computer […]
