Teaching Tips – Cuentacuento

10 COOL WAYS TO HELP YOUR KIDS LEARN SPANISH THIS SUMMER.

Andrea — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 15:30:00 +0000

Summer days are perfect for splashing in the ocean or pool. But what do you do with the kids during those scorching hours when it is not good to be outside? Help them learn some Spanish! These tips are fun and easy to implement. They are also a very natural way to acquire a language. And what’s best, YOU DON’T HAVE TO KNOW SPANISH! In fact, you can learn together! Enjoy and let me know how it went.

1. Read some books.

Reading stories is one of the best ways to learn vocabulary in a contextualized way. In addition to this, you can also teach a bit about the target culture. You don’t speak Spanish? No worries, many authors, especially independent ones, offer youtube channels where they read books. (They also offer free ebook downloads often) Here is mine: Andrea Olatunji Youtube Channel and here are a couple I can recommend: Lilo cuentos infantiles and SheySheyland

2. Listen to Spanish podcasts for kids.

On my previous blog post I shared some of my favorite podcasts: My favorite Spanish Podcasts for Kids. These are a fun and easy way to get your kids to enjoy some quiet time while they learn.

3. Do a home, store, or supermarket scavenger hunt.

You can make a bilingual list of food, clothes, furniture words, or any vocabulary you want to target. then, get kids to go on a scavenger hunt and find these things. If you are at the store, they can walk with you, tell you when they find one and check them on their list. You can use Google translate or a dictionary if you don’t know Spanish.

4. Listen to songs and dance.

Music is fun, appealing, relaxing, and it gives kids an opportunity to get their wiggles out while indoors. Youtube offers a million examples if you search “Spanish songs for kids”. I have used the Cds Muevete and Cha Cha Cha with my students and they loved them. You can also download the songs from Amazon. Don’t focus on learning the lyrics. Just dance and watch what happens.

5. Make some art.

Kids can learn colors and shapes by creating a collage using these. Cut out shapes out of construction paper in different colors and listo! Encourage the kids to tell you what they created using the color and shape vocabulary.

6. Do some yoga or zumba in Spanish.

Again, you can find a lot of examples on the Internet. Here is a good one: Zumba by Sara. She will give them a workout!

7. Learn with PBS

PBS offers some good quality stuff. In any laguage. Oh Noah! is cute and fun!

8. Create your own flashcards. With audio and visuals!

I have mentioned this resource many times. It is that they are just so good and easy to make! Tiny Cards allows you to make bilingual, visual, and audible cards.

9. Arbol ABC offers games and activities for all levels.

Full of activities by subject and levels. Kids need to know some Spanish for most of these, as so do you to navigate the site. Arbol ABC

10. Take advantage of what Cuentacuento books have to offer.

I created Cuentacuento Books to offer teachers and parents an opportunity to help their kids learn Spanish in a fun, meaningful, and contextualized way. Did you know my books have an educator’s guide with ten lesson plans, photocopiable activities, guiding questions, and project ideas? There are also vocabulary cards which are so much fun. Check them out!

My favorite Spanish Podcasts for Kids

Andrea — Mon, 07 Jun 2021 20:14:16 +0000

In the past couple of years, I have developed a true love for podcasts. I listen to them to learn new skills, to find spiritual inspiration, to enjoy stories with my son, and to teach!

These below are my top five favorite Spanish podcasts for kids. You can enjoy them with your young ones at home, or if you are a teacher, these can be an amazing resource in the classroom.

CLICK ON EACH IMAGE TO ACCESS THE PODCAST. And let me know in the comments below if you have other suggestions or what you think about these ones.

Enjoy!

Andrea

1. HOY QUIERO CONTARLES

Level: Intermediate/ Advanced

This is a great podcast with a high quality production. The narrator is a writer from the Dominican Republic and she is super warm and charming.

2. EAT YOUR SPANISH

Level: Beginners

The narrators are a bilingual Louisville based family with a background in Montessori education methods. They were recently named one of the “Best New Latinx Kids Music Groups” by Billboard.com. Easy, fun, and high quality episodes. Perfect for beginners!

3. SÉSAMO EN LAS COMUNIDADES

Level: Intermediate

Following the style of Sesame Place where kids are engaged in discussions, this podcast offers content on health, well-being, emotional topics, and school.

4. LOS NIÑOS Y JIMENO

Level: Intermediate

I love this conversational podcast based on the conversations Jimeno has with kids in his TV show. Perfect to use in the classroom as a conversation prompt or at home to practice your Spanish.

5. DUOLINGO SPANISH PODCAST

Level: Intermediate/ Advanced

I have used Duolingo’s Tiny Cards forever in my classes and my students love them. This podcast is another successful product by Duolingo. These are true stories, filled with cultural elements, narrated in easy to understand Spanish with English narration. Hosted by Martina Castro, co-founder of NPR’s Radio Ambulante.

What is your superpower?

Andrea — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 16:04:03 +0000

What is in you is yours and nobody can take it. We all have a unique gift that makes us special. It also guides us on pursuing our purpose and passion in life. When we put this gift to the service of others, we are not only enhancing our stay in this planet, but we are also contributing to its divine purpose. Finding our talent validates who we are and gives us focus for our daily actions.

Children are incredibly intuitive beings, and many times, they know right off the bat what they are bringing to this world. Yet, outside noises, school standards, and expectations cloud this knowledge and they forget.

As parents and educators, we need to help all kids remember how amazing they are and how WE NEED their talents to make this world a better place.

When I wrote “Guillo, el armadillo” I was thinking about all of this. Guillo, gets frustrated at school because he cannot accomplish any of the proposed challenges. At the end, he discovers that he can roll into a ball, something that most animals can’t do. The story came up based on a project I usually do with my students. The project is called “Mi talento” (My talent) and it consists of them teaching the rest of us something they know how to do well. For some, this is a fun experience where they get to show off what they know. Yet, for others, it is a pretty intimidating one.

Helping these kids discover their talents has always been very rewarding for me. It just makes my heart grow to see them get validated by the activity and learn that they not only have a unique talent, but also that the rest of us are entertained, inspired, and enriched by learning about it.

The younger we learn about our talents the better. However, it is never too late. What is your superpower?

Thursday Tips 8- Ten tips to get your students to read and write.

Andrea — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 18:48:06 +0000

It can be really challenging to engage your students in meaningful reading and writing activities, especially if you teach virtually. Here are some tips that might help:

Make sure the content is relevant. Focus on student’s personalities, lifestyles and preferences to choose books and writing prompts.
Use music as prompts. They can listen to a song and write about how it makes them feel, or change the words keeping the same rhythm. What about listen to music without lyrics and write a story inspired on it
Use art as prompts. They can describe what’s going on in the picture, what happens next based on that scene, how the painting makes them feel, how they can relate to the painting.
Highlight everyday situations. Ask your students to tell you about their routines. Things like what they ate for breakfast or what is on their playlist are meaningful and fun.
Start with Storytelling. Using books as springboard for writing is a great way to go. Students can react to the story, rewrite the story changing details, re-tell the story to their peers, etc. This provides a contextualized platform with a more real purpose.
Encourage journaling. Students can describe their daily experiences, research findings, responses to prompts, a travel journal, or their experiences as a historical character!
Connect with Pen Pals. This is truly a fun way to read and write! You can find Pen Pals abroad, in another state/school, or maybe there can be secret Pen Pals where they write to classmates without knowing who they are.
Get your students to sell. I love using projects where students have to do research and accomplish some sort of mission. Some of my favorites are: Sell your teacher a vacation package, a seasonal wardrobe, or a city tour.
Provide surveys and tests. End of the quarter/unit surveys and tests (the kind you need to find out what personality type you are or what’s your lucky number) are fun and a great way to read and write with purpose.
Create a book club. See what your possibilities are. It can be a poetry club, a riddle club, a joke club, etc. Anything that requires writing and sharing collectively.

Well, I hope this is useful for you. You probably noticed that I used the words meaningful and fun a lot here. Well, these are the key ingredients to engage your students and make them love reading and writing! Let me know if you have any questions.

Thursday Tip 1- “Virtual classes” doesn’t mean all the activities have to be on screen.

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:34:39 +0000

I know many teachers are raking their brains trying to come up with activities to teach a language online. The most natural approach is question-answer on screen or worksheets to complete and submit. This is quick and easy but not so engaging for our kids. Here are a couple of suggestions/prompts. I added the possible topic addressed in parenthesis:

For lower levels: Ask the kids to MOVE!

· How many steps can you count from your bedroom to your kitchen? (numbers)

· How many toy cars do you have? (numbers)

· Send me a picture of your favorite toy. Can you describe it? (vocabulary/adjectives)

· Go outside, get some sticks and build a bridge for me. Send me a picture and describe it.

· Draw a picture of your favorite season and share it with me, etc.

· Search in your closet. How many red socks do you have? (colors/numbers)

For upper levels:

· Post a picture of your favorite clothes. Do a fashion show. (clothes)

· Cook and share a picture/video of it. Explain what you made. (food)

· What did you eat for breakfast today? Share a picture and tell me about it. (food)

· Make a video telling me about your daily routine (routines).

· Read a short story and report on it. (vocabulary)

These are just some examples. As you see, these are not too sophisticated. Yet, they encourage kids to go about in their environment and perform instead of being passive in front of a screen. They also embed topics and elements they pertain to the kids’ lives making learning more personal and relevant.

Can you share other ideas to get kids off the screen that work for you?

Thursday Tip 2- Give students voice and choice

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:31:34 +0000

Traditional teaching is usually one of compliance. Students need to BE QUIET, LOOK at the teacher, LISTEN, and then respond to the teacher’s questions. This usually leads to disengagement because the student is basically PASSIVE. No wonder, during virtual teaching, the disengagement is even more evident. Being away from school and separated from the teacher through a screen, the alienation becomes bigger and kids cannot connect to what is happening in class.

Something that might be of help is to give kids VOICE & CHOICE. What does this mean? Allow students to have input in what is being taught. Yes, I know. You are the teacher, and you have a curriculum to teach. BUT, how you teach it and in which order doesn’t really affect its effectiveness.

Students love it when they get empowered and can choose what to do. Here are some specific tips:

Create a choice board with all the activities you want them to do for the day and let them choose in which order to do them.

Simply tell them “today, we are going to do this, this, and this. Where would you like to start?”

When being evaluated, ask them to choose between a paper quiz, a presentation, or an audio recording.

Provide them with surveys to get feedback about what is working and what is not.

Tell them the topics you are planning to address in the coming weeks and ask them if they would like to add or modify something. Yes, they can help you!

These are just a few suggestions. Of course, you need to adapt to your students’ needs and ages. Yet, never underestimate their input. I have had the best feedback and ideas from my students. Having a choice makes them empowered and more involved in their learning. Thus, everybody is happier. Do you have other suggestions, ideas that worked for you, or questions? Let me know.

Thursday Tip 3- You can’t just transfer your in-person class to virtual.

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:28:54 +0000

It was Friday. I was in a faculty meeting when we heard that schools were closing due to COVID-19. We had to recalculate our direction and plan to start virtual teaching the following Tuesday. I was teaching six Spanish classes to middle school kids. Great kids. I had been using a lot of technology in my classes and we had a class platform, so I thought: “This shouldn’t be so terrible”. Little did I know that we were at the beginning of an unprecedented pandemic that would make people sick, or worse, die. A pandemic that would change family routines and dynamics. A pandemic that would bring so much stress and uncertainty.

So, I found myself working at home teaching six classes online with my five-year-old taking his classes online, and my husband upstairs taking business calls and video conferences. Half of my students froze. Yes, they didn’t know how to navigate their classes, or they simply freaked out with all the demands. I knew I had to change my teaching and my curriculum if I wanted to get somewhere with those kids. Here is what I did:

I reconsider how I evaluated them. Not all assessments have to be tests and quizzes. Video and audio posts, discussion threads, and projects became the norm.
I reconsider attendance. A student was PRESENT if he or she was with me during our meetings OR if the student responded to the daily discussions and submitted the required daily assignments.
I gave students options on how they wanted to do the work (video? audio? written? in groups?, etc).
I provided a space for venting and chatting. We called it the cafeteria (it was just a page on our platform with room for discussions).
I provided room for laughter and being goofy doing happy dances when they submitted all their weekly work, doing pajama parties on Fridays (yes, we did those), awarding badges to “the most disconnected”, “the most forgetful”, etc.
I checked the “temperature” every day. No, not their body temperatures (we were distant), but their emotional temperature. Just with a simple “how are you feeling?”, “show me one to five fingers if…”, or a joke, I could tell if they were ready to work or not.
I checked on them individually on a weekly basis. One hundred and ten of them. My class platform made it easier for me to just click their names and send a message (short but sweet).

These are some of the things that worked for me. Was it perfect? Nope. But we manage to finish the year with my sanity and their love for Spanish. Will it work for you? I don’t know. Every teacher and students are different. The common denominator here is:

CARING + REFLECTION + LAUGHTER + TRIAL AND ERROR. I hope this helps you and I am praying for every single one of you while we navigate this unique teaching existence.

Thursday tip 4- Embrace and address your student diversity.

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:24:19 +0000

When conducting teacher webinars, I often ask: “So, tell me about your class diversity. How do you address it?” To my surprise, many educators don’t know what to say. Some believe that their class is “not so diverse”. Or I hear comments like “I don’t see color. I treat everyone the same way”. How come? I wonder. We are not all the same! We live in a complex and diverse world, and we need to be comfortable with that. Not try to make everybody “the same”. The same as who?

There are many layers to diversity, a lot of which are not so obvious. Here are some tips on how to embrace and address diversity with your students:

Educate yourself. Yes, different races and ethnicities have different behavioral and cultural codes we need to understand as educators. Yes, boys and girls are different in the way they learn and process information. Ask, take courses, read, get informed.
Provide your students with evidence that people who don’t look or behave like them are still like them. Thus, worthy of their respect and consideration.
Embed your curriculum with multicultural role models who made an impact in the world.
Teach history from different perspectives. Put the facts out there for your students to judge. Don’t be the judge.
Create a diverse environment (with class décor, music, books, etc.).
Validate your students own cultural heritage and personal identification. Show interest in them and their background.
Don’t assume. Ask first. Not every Hispanic kid speaks Spanish, not every girl is girly, not every black child is African American, etc.

I hope these tips help you. Please, share your opinion with me. I would like to hear your voice. Finally, remember that being diverse is ALWAYS a plus, and being in a minority doesn’t mean being less valuable or able to contribute to our enrichment. Creating a culturally responsive classroom gets us a bit closer to a more empathic, respectful, and kind world.

Thursday Tip 5- Don’t assume your students understood your instructions.

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:09:13 +0000

This is hard to do during virtual or in-person classes, but of course, the former emphasizes the challenge. Many times, as teachers, we make many assumptions and think that our kids got it. Probably, they didn’t. Here are some things you can do to ensure comprehension:

Focus on one set of directions at a time.
Be concise and explain why you are requesting this from them (yes, it helps to know).
Provide examples (other student’s work, videos, photos, etc.).
Use visuals (pictures, videos, screenshots, screensharing).
If teaching synchronous, ask a student to repeat the directions so everybody can hear them again.
Provide a checklist so they don’t miss a step (this has worked wonders for me!).
Be very specific (i.e.: instead of “create a brochure” say “create an 8”x11” digital or paper brochure…”. Instead of “answer…” say “answer in complete sentences using words from the vocabulary list”.
Don’t forget to include things like “provide examples”, “don’t use electronic translators or help from others”, “do it in Spanish”, “use the vocabulary learned”, etc. (if you didn’t say it, then they would think it is allowed or not required).
Post and repeat the directions in different formats and several times.
When creating directions, focus on the questions: What? When due? How? How many? What kind? What for?

Thursday Tip 6- Never work harder than your students

Andrea — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 16:00:09 +0000

This tip’s name actually comes from the title one of my favorite books about teaching by Robyn R. Jackson. She argues that the secret is not a specific strategy or technique, nor it is endless hours of prep time. It’s developing a master teacher mindset—rigorously applying seven principles to your teaching until they become your automatic response:

Start where you students are.
Know where your students are going.
Expect to get your students there.
Support your students along the way.
Use feedback to help you and your students get better.
Focus on quality rather than quantity.
Never work harder than your students

I know that as teachers, we have a tendency to grab control of the instruction and try to do everything ourselves. “Who else?” you may wonder. Well, …your students? Here are some tips to give your kids control of what they are learning:

Communicate clear instructions and expectations.
Assign roles.
Create check lists and charts so they can track their work.
Create opportunities for discussion, self-correction, and reflection
Give them choices
Channel their super-powers! Can they help others? Can they do it themselves?
Don’t tell. Ask and encourage them to find the answers.
Be there as a check point, advisor, or consultant.

I hope this helps alleviate the workload on your shoulders. Let me know if you have questions.