Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum - Color Theme

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Sali de Paseo

As many of you know, we are currently reviewing the Level 1 Sonrisas Spanish Curriculum and we really try to make time for this class because of Alyssa's interest level and enjoyment with learning Spanish.  Although, recently we took a break due to her injury.  We also place learning a second language of high priority or importance for her education.  I am still playing catch-up so this is an old post that I have recently edited.  We did several supplemental activities for lesson 3 while we waited for our interlibrary loan books.

Greetings and Roll Call
This is a little awkward since we don't have any other students in our class.  I play a game and act goofy with Alyssa.  It can be played like "Hide and Seek."  I ask where Alyssa is in Spanish and she responds, "Aqui!" She raises her hands and pops out of hiding (if she is even hiding ... sometimes she is so anxious to start the lesson  ... that she is sitting on the floor waiting for me).  She has learned to raise her hand as if attendance was being taken.


Circle Time and Calendar
We always start Spanish listening to the songs on their wonderful CD's.  Most of the songs we are using are on the Sonrisas CD.  The tunes are very catchy and make you want to dance (at least that's what it does for us).  The words are very easy to learn!  Don't forget you can hear samples at their website.  We also review the games and role play activities from the previous lessons.  The new theme game introduced was called, "El juego de colores." This activity can be used in a classroom or with just one student.  The movement keeps the students active.  They learn what the action words mean by performing the movements during the game.  You can also incorporate new vocabulary in this lesson that will be used in the future (Lesson 11: La Ropa).  The students will quickly recognize their colors and the game changes daily based on the circumstances and what they are wearing.  You will understand once you read the manual.   I have plans to add on to this activity next time we play the game.  This game was a refreshing change from our usual color game.  We have been playing a Spanish version of "I Spy" with Alyssa for a couple years now.  It is super easy for her now since we have been playing "I Spy" for so long. We take turns so that she has the opportunity to trick me.  I can always tell what object or color she is describing because she glances in that direction.

Art Time

The first art activity in my opinion best compliments a different book listed in the manual (Oso Pardo ... Oso Pardo).  We did the same activity but I searched the internet for a different template to match the book we read, Sali de Paseo.  I found a horse outline at Activity Village and let her practice cutting strips of paper for the project to work on her fine motor and scissor skills.  Another horse template can be found at First School.  Then, she glued the colored bits of paper on the horse telling me the color of each piece in Spanish. She also wanted to label the picture with the correct Spanish term. She quizzed daddy's knowledge of Spanish colors when he came home from work using her picture.  Check out her art work!

Story Time
We read a book titled, Sali de Paseo by Sue Williams.  Oh ... how I love this book!  I only wish I could own it in Spanish.  It would be much easier to complete this curriculum in a timely manner had I bought the books from the company ahead of time.  The waiting time for interlibrary loans can take weeks (and possibly a month or so).  If I owned the books, then I would repeat activities with Alyssa.  The activities I create or plan to create can be done over and over again to gain familiarity with the concepts.  However, our homeschool funds do not allow for that expense in the budget.  Sonrisas Spanish has a online bookstore in which the curriculum books are sold.  Check out the website if you decide you want to purchase individual titles used throughout the curriculum.  Several of the picture books the company has chosen have amazing illustrations with repetitive, predictable language. This is definitely one of those books!  Many of you will be familiar with this book as is the case with several other books used with this curriculum. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the literature selections.  The authors encourage you to ask questions while you are reading about previously learned and new concepts. We always review previously learned Spanish terms and concepts.  


Supplemental Activities (NOT part of Sonrisas)
As I have said before Sonrisas focuses on communication or oral language development in regards to acquiring the new language. Alyssa's has an interest in the written form and also in reading Spanish so occasionally I will add-on activities that incorporate writing and reading Spanish.  She seems to understand it better when she can see the word in Spanish too.  I will also add-on other activities I feel would be appropriate for the theme.  I apologize for lack of photos - it is difficult at times to photograph EVERYTHING we do. Some days we just enjoy the activities instead of worrying about photography.     

1.) Farm Animal Retell
Montessori Mama created an I Went Walking Story Basket activity that inspired me.  We used plastic toy farm animals to retell the story events using the Spanish version of the book.  We also used farm animal puppets however, in both cases the farm animals obviously did not match the colors in the book but Alyssa was still able to complete the activity.  She would let me know when the colors were different and then she would tell me the 

correct Spanish color.  There are resources on the internet that sell products for this popular book.  But, we used what we had on hand that day.  We used the farm animal puppets from Oriental Trading but I do not think the ones we bought are available anymore.  You could also purchase or make a felt character set. Teacher Express sells a decent felt set online if you aren't willing to make it.  If you make or find printables you could also make a retell necklace by hole punching the character cards.  The child would sequence and lace the character cards on a string using Spanish terminology.  This activity is similar to the Brown Bear, Brown Bear necklace found at Hubbard's Cupboard - her activity was done in English. 

2.) Predictions and Farm Animal Vocabulary 
The book has great visual clues in which a child can predict what will happen next.  Alyssa would look at the illustration and I would ask her in Spanish to predict what animal might be next.  We also discussed color terminology and animal noises.  We also used the book as an opportunity to discuss farm animal vocabulary in Spanish of course.  These links may be helpful with pronunciation of farm animals and colors. 

3.) I Went Walking Mini Book
You and your child can go for a walk outside, on a farm, or at a petting zoo.  You could discuss in Spanish what you see using the predictable language of the book as a guide.  After the walk, your child could create a mini book titled,"Yo Veo."  Hubbard Cupboard has a GREAT example of a mini book you could create if you took a walk around the homeschool room or classroom.  We attended a birthday party at the petting zoo so we did this activity while visiting ... we never did have time to create our mini book.   We started making toilet paper binoculars until I remembered she was given real binoculars for her birthday a year ago. We took those instead of creating a pair, but it would have been more fun to create them.  DLTK and Almost Unschoolers show two different ways to make binoculars for your walk.  You could even have them color the binoculars different colors and review Spanish color terms. 
  
4.) What's Missing?
I found another great activity that I used with Alyssa during Spanish class at the Eight Little Monkeys blog.  We played the "What's Missing" game scroll down to read about it in English.  I just translated my words in Spanish and required Alyssa to respond in Spanish.  The idea is to remove one or two of the animals and the child tells you which animal is missing and the color of the animal.  We used printables from a paid subscription website and printed them out on construction paper using the colors from the book.  We also tried playing this game with our plastic animals and puppets.  
      
5.) Predictable Chart and Sentence Illustrations
I used to use a lot of Predictable Charts when I taught.  You can create a predictable chart with your children using the Spanish terminology.  Alyssa and I wrote sentences in Spanish on chart paper.  Then, I let  her pick two sentences to write on sentence strips.  She cut between words, mixed up the words face down, and placed them in the correct order.  Then, she glued them on paper and created an illustration for her sentence.  If you do all of the sentences from the chart you can create a book (kind of like a class book but it would be one made by one child).      


6.) Pocket Chart Matching and Sequencing 

I put together a quick activity to supplement our lesson for the day.  I wrote all the farm animal names and colors read in the book on index cards in Spanish.  Then, I made a copy of a farm animal sheet from our Itty Bitty Bookworm Bo Year 1 CD. Alyssa's job was to think about the story and what color the farm animals were in Spanish. She matched the correct colors to the farm animal pictures.  This activity was done very quickly and independently.  Then, we took them down and her job was to match them but this time the animals needed to be in the correct sequence as to when they appeared in the story.  In the end, the words were sorted into two groups on the pocket chart.  She was able to read the categorical words in Spanish vertically (farm animals and colors) or horizontally the way she would see it written in a Spanish book.  This activity was a huge success with her.  She even found a pointer and read the words for her daddy.  Alyssa may color the pictures the correct color later as another activity after reading the book again.    

We are having so much fun with this curriculum!!!  I just can't help myself from thinking about and creating additional activities even though they are DEFINITELY NOT needed.  The curriculum itself is wonderful and complete in my opinion.  I love the fact that art, music, and literature are integrated.  Alyssa's pronunciation is improving and her knowledge of Spanish vocabulary terms is increasing. Spanish remains one of her favorite subjects - thanks to Sonrisas Spanish curriculum!!!!!

Thanks a bunch,

Tracey M.