Learning to Read & Write... in Spanish!

As I began the school year I reflected upon the ways in which I learned to read in Spanish as a young child. One of the many amazing things about the Spanish language is that it is a phonetic language and it is actually pretty easy to read! When I was younger I learned to read Spanish by learning about the syllables (ma, me, mi, mo, mu, pa, pe, pi, po, pu, and so on). Therefore, when imagining how to go about teaching Kindergarten children (of varying levels) how to start reading/recognizing words/sounds in Spanish, I came up with this plan:

1. Teach children the vowels (las vocales) and reinforce them throughout the year. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Begin teaching the more prominent syllable combinations and continuously move to other syllable combinations.

• Ma, me, mi, mo, mu
• pa, pe, pi, po, pu
• la, le, li, lo, lu
• sa, se, si, so, su
• ta, te, ti, to, tu
• na, ne, ni, no, nu
• ra, re, ri, ro, ru
• lla, lle, lli, llo, llu
• ba, be, bi, bo, bu
• ca, ce, ci, co, cu
• cha, che, chi, cho, chu
• da, de, di, do, du
• fa, fe, fi, fo, fu
• ha, he, hi, ho, hu
• ja, je, ji, jo, ju
• ka, ke, ki, ko, ku
• ña, ñe, ñi, ño, ñu
• que, qui
• rra, rre, rri, rro, rru
• va, ve, vi, vo, vu
• wa, we, wi, wo, wu
• xa, xe, xi, xo, xu
• ya, ye, yi, yo, yu
• za, ze, zi, zo, zu

3. As we learn our syllables, I also teach sight words in Spanish (palabras de uso frecuente) that can allow children to recognize/build short sentences. 

• "Yo veo un pajaro" (sight words: yo, veo, un + a "pa" syllable word we learned)

Our Kindergarteners also have a poetry book that we put poems/chants in weekly (in English with the English side teacher and/or in Spanish with me), and so I started creating sentences with repetition that aligned with our sight words and our syllables for the week. Here is the one I created for our "pa, pe, pi, po, pu" syllables:

The children put their poem in the notebook and accompanying pictures that match each part (pajaro, pelota, piña, pozo, puma/leche, lupa, lata, limon, loro). Since these sentences include sight words and syllable words, students can read these on their own and feel proud of what they know in Spanish! We also began our Sight Word folders this week, with 10 Spanish sight words:

Children take their folders home and practice the sight words. When they are ready to be tested, they bring the folder back, I test them, and if they know all of them, I will give them the next list and put it in their folders!

In addition, during our Center Rotations, I include at least one sight word practice center and for the Word Work center I include syllable work, which can include building/reading sentences from our poems/chants.

"Tira, Di, Traza/Escribe" (Roll, Say, Trace/Write) sight words

"Pescando" nuestras palabras de uso frecuente como pescaban los peregrinos/indigenas ("Fishing" for our sight words just like the pilgrims/Native Americans fished for their food)

Furthermore, in Kindergarten we have literacy workshops (Talleres de Alfabetizacion) where students get to choose their own learning! They have to pick something to do that will help them become better readers and writers. These are some of the activities my kids frequently choose:

• iPad learning games 
  
• Spanish alphabet puzzle
  
• QR code reader (with a binder I prepped filled with QR codes of Spanish books being read on a video)
   
• Reading Rods (from Learning Resources) where students build words using the Alfa-Libritos
   
• Building words/practicing syllables using magnet letters/cooking sheet 
  
• Using stamps for letters & words (and using picture stamps & labeling the pictures)
  
• Drawing pictures & labeling them 
  
• Reading to/with friends
  
• Reading in our classroom library
  
• Writing on the dry erase board
  

• Playing teacher (reading/writing on boards) 
  

I am so proud of all the progress my students have made and love seeing them so engaged in different activities! I strongly believe that children needs these opportunities in the classroom to not only progress academically, but also build their social skills!

STEM: Push/Pull Activities in Spanish

So our school has designated several days throughout the year (primarily early release days) as "STEM" days! This means that every classroom should be engaged in a STEM activity on those days. Each grade level team came up with certain topics for each STEM day. We have already done two! In Kindergarten, the first STEM activity had to do with building sandcastles while learning about the 5 senses and the second was on gravity in relation to Humpty Dumpty!

Today, we had our 3rd STEM day, where we explored the concepts of force and motion, more specifically, the push/pull motions! I set up 6 different exploratory centers all related to this topic. I put the students in groups and had them at each center for about 5 minutes. Once they heard the timer go off, they knew to go to the following center (they are already so used to centers that this flower super smoothy!).

The 6 centers were:

1. Yo-Yos
2. Dominoes
3. Elastic balls
4. Blowing air through a straw to move objects
5. T-Chart (Categorizing push/pull pictures)
6. Cars down a ramp at different angles

In each center the idea was for students to engage with the materials and explore the concepts of how force can cause objects to move. Through these centers, the students engaged with different types of forces, such as hand movement (yo-yos), pushing with a finger (dominoes), stretching out/pushing together (elastic balls), air (straws) and angular position (cars/ramp). We discussed why some objects were harder to move by blowing air (football shaped rubber ball), while others were easy (pompoms) and why the cars went down the 'ramp' more smoothly at certain angles.

Here are some pictures of the children at their centers:

If you're interested in check out or implementing these activities in your classroom, check out my product on TpT: STEM Push/Pull Activities Spanish.

Welcome!

Hi everyone:) Welcome to my Learning Bilingually blog! Bienvenidos!

I am so excited to be starting this blog and sharing with you my adventures as a dual language elementary teacher! This past summer 2015 I moved from New York City to South Florida (big change I know!) so that I could start my job at Gator Run Elementary. I was hired to be the Kindergarten Dual Language teacher, on the Spanish side, for their new dual language program! I am currently in my first year of teaching and really enjoying it while also continuously learning a lot about the intersection of primary education and the language learning process.

It might be a combination of first year teaching with teaching solely in Spanish to Kindergarteners, but I have been creating a lot of my materials for my lessons/my classroom (since our K team teaches through thematic units) and that's why I also decided to start my own teacherspayteachers site as well as chronicle my adventures in dual language through this blog!

I hope to be able to generate conversation about the importance of dual language and how we can continuously develop this conversation across the nation, but also help/inspire any other dual language educators who might be experiencing similar struggles and accomplishments!

Thank you & enjoy!