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 […]
Updated song & video: ¿De qué color es la fresa?
Committed to responsive quality If you could see us work behind the scenes here at Calico Spanish, you’d go away knowing two things for sure. First, we are truly interested in your feedback. Second, we are always working to make higher quality products that truly help children speak real Spanish to real people. So: ¿De qué […]
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 […]
Free Sing & Color Activities Download to celebrate TEN MILLION VIEWS
TEN MILLION VIEWS. In elementary schools, kindergartens, preschools, and homes around the world, children have joined us in singing in Spanish about everything from colors to animals on the farm. Kids are singing about how to answer “What’s your name?” and introduce someone to a friend. They’re showing someone around the house and commenting on the […]
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 […]
Free downloads: Culture Capsules for early Spanish learners
Especially for early novice learners, culture can be a tough topic to cover in depth, beyond the infamous “Five F’s“: festivals, food, flags, fashion, and famous people. Throw in the fact that interculturality standards for language classes can’t be met outside of the target language, and it gets tougher. Throw in a situation where the […]
Así me gusta a mí: a NEW Calico Spanish song
Could you use a new music resource to help your early learners use me gusta? What about descriptions and activities? How about a brand new Calico Spanish song? Wait. Just a minute. You mean, like the songs that are among the most popular children’s Spanish learning songs on YouTube? The ones with millions and millions of […]
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? […]
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 […]
