Como Enseñar Las Vocales

Para enseñar las vocales, lo mas importante es enfocarse en una vocal cada semana. Esto significa que le enseñanza de las vocales durará 5 semanas (a, e, i, o, u). Sigue esta esquema cada semana para organizar tu enseñanza de cada vocal:

Esquema:

1. “Los amigos de las vocales” (Introduce el sonido de las vocales)
2. Videos/Canciones de las vocales
3. Introducir el poema de las vocales
4. Mapa de burbujas de las vocales
5. Libreta de las vocales
6. Actividades de alfabetización enfocadas en las vocales
7. Repaso de las vocales

Paso 1: "Los amigos de las vocales"

Para introducir cada vocal, introduce la amiga/el amigo y lee su cuento. Después, dile a los estudiantes que repitan el sonido que hace ese amigo.

Paso 2: Video/Canciones de las vocales
En YouTube hay muchos videos buenos de las vocales y a los estudiantes les encanta verlos. También, utilizo unos "chants" o canciones de las vocales que creé que ayudan a los estudiantes repetir los sonidos y nombres de cada vocal.

Vowel Chants in Spanish  --you can listen to the chants here!

Vowel Pack in Spanish  -- if you want to purchase the vowel pack/chants!

Paso 3: Introducir el poema de las vocales

Para introducir el poema de la vocal de la semana, lo muestro usando mi proyector y primero lo leo yo. Después, les digo a los estudiantes que repitan el poema mientras yo lo leo. Por ejemplo:

Maestra: A de abeja

Estudiantes: A de abeja

Maestra: A de avión

Estudiantes: A de avión

Al final de la semana, dejo que los estudiantes tomen turnos con el “pointer” y dirigiendo la lectura del poema a la clase entera. ¡Les encanta hacer esto!

Paso 4: Mapa de burbujas de las vocales

En grupo entero, di: “Vamos a pensar en palabras que comienza con la vocal Aa. Hmmm. ¿Quién sabe una palabra que comienza con Aa?” Aquí puedes dejar que los estudiantes se den una vuelta y hablen con un compañero de la alfombra (turn & talk). Después de unos minutos, haz la pregunta de nuevo. Mientras van diciendo palabras, escríbelas en el papel grande y pega la imagen (si no tienes una tarjeta con la imagen, dibújala – recuerda que los visuales son muy importantes). Cuando terminen, deja el cartel en una pared.

Paso 5: Libreta de las vocales

Al principio de la unidad sobre las vocales, cada estudiante debe recibir una libreta de las vocales. Deja que cada estudiante escriba su nombre y coloree la portada de la libreta. Después, pon todas las libretas en un lugar asignado del salón donde los estudiantes saben donde están. Cada semana, después de que hayan hecho el mapa de burbujas de las vocales (no en el mismo día), deja que cada estudiante complete la pagina que corresponde a la vocal de la semana. Esto los ayuda a repasar la vocal y al mismo tiempo tener una libreta que después podrán leer ellos independientemente porque reconocerán los dibujos.

Vowel Booklet in Spanish 

Paso 6: Actividades de alfabetización enfocadas en las vocales

• Vocal (sonido) inicial que falta
• Vocal (sonido) final que falta
• Emparejar un dibujo con su vocal inicial
• Rompecabezas de las vocales
• Determinar la vocal inicial del dibujo
• "Escribe el salón" de las vocales

Otros Recursos:

• Missing Vowels in Spanish
• Vowel Game in Spanish
• Back to School Vowel Game in Spanish

Paso 7: Repaso de las vocales

Hay varias maneras de repasar las vocales en después de las 5 semanas. Como las vocales son una base fundamental del idioma en español, dedica una semana después de las 5 semanas para repasar lo que han aprendido.

• Mapa/Grafica en grupo entero de todas las vocales
• Utilizar WheelDecide para repasar y practicar las vocales
• Cada estudiante deben tener un pizarrón y marcador (o un papel/lápiz). Anteriormente, pon palabras que comienzan con todas las vocales en la rueda. Gira la rueda y los estudiantes deben leer la palabra y después escribirla en su pizarrón/papel propio.
• Pelota de playa plástica
• Escribe en una pelota de playa plástica una vocal en cada color (a, e, i, o, u, y en el ultimo color escribe “tu decides”). Los estudiantes deben estar sentados en un circulo en la alfombra. Tira la pelota y el estudiante debe decir una palabra que comienza con esa vocal. Después, pasan la pelota a otro compañero.

Why Theories of Language Acquisition are Important

Let's suppose you're a native English speaker. Now imagine if you were put in a classroom, as a Kindergartener, where you begin your day learning in Chinese...from Day 1. How do you think you would feel? As an adult, I can only imagine feeling the searing nervousness and anxiety running through my mind and body. As a child who is just beginning their formal schooling experience, I can't even imagine.

When I think about this, I put it all into perspective. I remember how important it is to not only think of this as a rigorous dual language education program that will be cognitively challenging (in a positive and developmentally appropriate manner), but is also the first formal schooling experience of many of our children. Therefore, we need to make sure that students are having FUN, are ENGAGED, are EXCITED and are not feeling pressured or anxious throughout the experience.

To put these ideas into theoretical perspectives, which I believe are essential in understanding how we should approach our teaching practices in dual language classrooms, let's take a look at my favorite language acquisition theorist - Stephen Krashen. Krashen's theories of language acquisition are amongst the most notable and referenced in our field because, simply put, they make sense.

Below you'll find Krashen's Five Hypotheses:

1. The Natural Order Hypothesis-- "we acquire the rules of language in a predictable order"
2. The Acquisition/Learning Hypothesis--there are two independent ways in which we develop our linguistic skills - through acquisition and through learning.
3. The Monitor Hypothesis-- "conscious learning...can only be used as a 'monitor' or an 'editor'"
4. The Input Hypothesis-- "humans acquire language in only one way - by understanding messages or by receiving 'comprehensible input'"
5. The Affective Filter Hypothesis-- "a mental block, caused by affective factors...that prevents input from reaching the language acquisition device"

Below I'm also including my favorite video of Krashen speaking (yes, I know the video is from the 80s but in my opinion, timeless!) where he explains the very important idea of "comprehensible input" and demonstrates it in a way where we can actually comprehend (oh, look at that!) how to structure a language lesson so that students get it!

Another important aspect of language learning that Krashen points out is that "language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill". I think that this is very important and something that I take to heart in my own teaching. I believe that if we continuously correct students and their grammar, then we are essentially turning them off to the process of "trying" and being proud of "trying their hardest." Research shows that extensive correction and tedious drills of grammatical practices does not actually result in better/more grammatically correct writing. This in fact can do the very opposite - it can turn students off to the process and disengage them! Therefore, we need to ease into it gradually and while we do need to expose students to to grammatical rules and practices, we should not be tedious, mundane and rote in our teaching practices of these rules.

I felt the need to write this post for several reasons. First, I do think theories are important when they are understood in a framework of actual teaching. When we just read about theories but have no experience applying them, then they are a foreign concept, without any context. However, whether you're a dual language teacher, a specialist who focuses on language learning or a parent in a household that has committed to teaching their child more than one language, it is important to understand how actual research-based theories can inform our own best practices. Secondly, as a teacher myself, I witness the everyday struggles of ALL that encompasses our day and how very often we are anxious ourselves with how many standards and concepts we have to teach by the end of the year. However, when I think about everything that needs to get done and then realize that ordinary, boring measures will most likely not get my students there (and also very likely completely shut them off from wanting to learn the target language), I realize that my kids need to have fun and so DO I! We need to enjoy this tremendously rewarding journey and also realize that if we are utilizing engaging, interactive, fun activities and practices, the concepts and standards WILL stick! 

There is a lot of really positive and helpful research out there available to us through the click of a button, so, why not use it to our advantage and ultimately, our students' advantage?!

Here are some of the books that I utilize in my own teaching practice:

 

Staying Organized!

So, ideally, every teacher is uber organized and enjoys the satisfaction of seeing their organization come to fruition and aid in their sanity! I would personally say that this holds even truer for teachers in two-way 50/50 dual language immersion programs! Being that I am a Kindergarten teacher in such a program where I work super (and I mean SUPER) closely with the English side teacher, we pride ourselves in how we have organized our program - including a two-day schedule, math unit charts and thematic unit charts!

In this post, I'll share samples of our charts and how we utilize them to inform our teaching and to make sure that we are not repeating information and that our groups of students are not receiving the material twice in both languages (what a waste of time that would be!).

First, here is a look at our rough copy of our daily two-day schedule rotation. As you will notice, we are both doing the "same thing" but just with a different group of kids. Basically, let's say DAY 1 is on Monday, then both myself and Mrs. Looky (my super awesome partner!) would be doing Calendar/Poetry/Shared Reading, and our Reading Groups/Learning Centers at the same time, just with our own respective group of students. THEN, that same day, we would switch groups of students after lunch and we would both then doing Math Centers, Writing/Literacy Workshops and our Science or SS lesson with our afternoon group of kids! Then, on Tuesday, we would both follow the DAY 2 schedule (which is basically Day 1, flipped!).

So that is our basic two-day schedule chart to its bare bones! It has made our planning for each week and month much easier and it has allowed for us to make sure we are getting all the standards, content and activities in but without repeating it with each group of students!

In addition, for our math curriculum, we teach our GoMath chapters utilizing Math Centers, so we have a whole separate chart for that. At the beginning of the unit, we rip the chapters out and send them home so students can work/practice at home with their parents and that way, the parents know the vocabulary we are using in class and they can also see what their child is learning in school!

Basically, we decided that we will teach 5 centers at a time for the math skill we are working on, meaning, that we will both have the same exact math centers happening in each of our rooms, but we have students go to ONE center per day in one language and then the next day they go to the next center in the other language, and so forth. Basically, each group will get, out of those 5 centers, 2 in Spanish and 3 in English OR 3 in Spanish and 2 in English. Here is a sample of one of our math charts:

As you can see, the children move to the next center the next day, just in the OTHER language. For example, imagine Group 1... This will be Group 1's rotation through the math centers for that skill/chapter:

Monday: CENTER 1 - English

Tuesday: CENTER 2 - Spanish

Wednesday: CENTER 3 - English

Thursday: CENTER 4 - Spanish

Friday: CENTER 5 - English

This way, they are all receiving all of the math skills, just half of the time they are receiving them in Spanish and the other half in English. We also run our classrooms this way to ensure that we are being as efficient as possible with the time that we have with each group (we really only have about 2 hours with each group!!)AND to ensure that we aren't repeating any content!

Finally, we have our VERY important thematic unit charts! So we teach our standards through thematic units and for each thematic unit we created a Unit Chart where we specify what graphic organizers, writing activities, collaborative group activities, technology (videos, songs) and poetry we will be doing with which group of students and in which language! For all intents and purposes, we call our morning group of kids our AM group and our afternoon group of kids our PM group and I am "Pantin" (the Spanish side) and my partner is "Looky" (the English side). Here is a sample of one of our unit charts:

As you can see, by using a chart like this we stay organized throughout our unit and we are able to tell what we need to cover with which group, making our lives SO much easier! Of course, we communicate daily and let each other know if perhaps we didn't get to cover something that day or if something came up, but overall, these thematic unit charts have been amazing at helping us stay focused on what we need to get done with each group!

Here are some other Unit Chart examples:

I just finished putting together our last three charts for this school year!...AND I must admit, they look MUCH cuter with a bright colored paper!

Finally, my partner and I do all 40 conferences together, since we are both teachers to all 40 of our kids! Therefore, when conference time comes around, we create this chart designating the time slots for our parents to sign in and then our Room Parent puts these dates and times on the class Sign-Up Genius. Once all the parents have signed up, we write in each parent's/student's name on the box next to the time and we have this handy throughout our conferences so we are on-task with which parent is next and the order of our conferences! This is another great and simple tool we've employed to help us stay super organized!

There is nothing more satisfying than staying organized and it is especially essential for teachers in two-way dual language programs to stay on top of it and to stay organized! I hope you will find this post helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions about our schedules or the way we run our program! :)