Community Helpers Unit in Spanish

The past week we began our community helpers unit, which I was SO excited about because it is such a relatable unit for our kids! Students get to learn about different community members and I've seen them make such amazing connections to their own lives, such as sharing what their parents do for a living, or how they've seen police/firefighter cars/trucks in their town and by sharing what they want to be when they grow up and how they will be community helpers as well! 

Therefore, I was excited to bring together different elements to teach/share with students about our community helpers in Spanish. I utilized Spanish nonfiction texts, videos, a song with a video, bubble maps, Important Words, student booklets, Venn Diagram activities, and a cumulative collaborative activity at the end of the unit. 

These are the books that I have found in Spanish and utilize for our community helpers unit:

Before beginning the unit I went over our learning scale (based on Marzano) and had students understand and try to verbally say what the learning goal was (which in a concrete sense was difficult for them to say the whole learning goal in Spanish, but they were able to verbalize who we were going to learn about and most of our Important Words for the unit).

We dedicated a day to each community helper and we focused on: Doctor, Firefighter, Teacher, Police, Vet and Chef.

First, each day we would go over our "Important Words":

Then, we would watch the video of "Las Profesiones" and try to sing along! This is a GREAT video because it has really beautiful visuals and words to sing along!

Then, we would read a book about the community helper and possibly watch a video. There were some great videos for firefighter in Spanish ("Sam el Bombero") and for police ("Caillou el oficial de polica") and a very catchy song about a vet ("Tio Mario Veterinario") and a Peppa Pig episode about the vet ("el veterinario volador"). I must warn you - the Tio Mario Veterinario song is SUPER catchy and students have continued to ask me to play it for them everyday after I introduced it to them!!

Then, I would read our community helper poem, which provided a quick definition of what the community helper does:

Next, we would create a bubble map for that specific community helper together. Something crucial for a dual language classroom is VISUALS and so I had cards with each community helper's tools that I would tape up when a student said that tool. If students didn't mention the tool, I would show it to the class and have students recognize that tool. Here are our bubble maps:

 After we filled out the bubble map, I had each student fill out the respective community helper page in their own little booklet about community helpers. You can find this booklet in my Community Helper product!

Throughout the week I also incorporated various learning centers with this community helper theme. Here are some pictures of the students at work at those centers and engaged in activities that have to do with this theme, which they all really seemed to enjoy!!

 Math subtraction center using community helper's tools!

Writing community helper names in alphabetical order!

During guided reading I had students write down 4 things they learned about some of their community helpers and then illustrate the image in their notebooks! Here is one students example:

Students also put two of the poems in their Poetry Notebooks - the doctor and teacher poem! Here is one students notebook, where she illustrated both poems with amazing details!

  

 Also, during literacy workshops several students wanted to draw pictures of community helpers and they know the rule - if they draw they must write or label the picture to practice their writing! Here are some students' examples of their AMAZING drawings:

 Another student decided to go to our pocket chart and categorize the tools under the community helpers. I LOVE his concentration!

 I really enjoyed teaching this unit and working with students to learn more about our awesome community helpers! The kids really enjoyed it, especially because they were able to talk about what community helper they want to be when they grown up!

If you're interested in this unit, check out my Community Helper Unit product on my tpt store! The product is all in Spanish, with some parts in English as well!

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!