Tres Pececitos

I remember my mother singing this song to me in English. Three little fishes is the perfect song to go along with our ocean theme this year for homeschool Here is a video on Youtube made by KidsConceptCorp. Below are the lyrics taken from their website here.
Tres Pececitos



La Letra:
POR LA PRADERA EN LA LAGUNA ELLOS VAN
SON TRES PECECITOS CON SU LINDA MAMA
ELLA DECIA: NO DEJEN DE NADAR!
Y NADANDO AL DIQUE QUERIAN LLEGAR
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
HACIA EL DIQUE NADARON JUNTOS SIN PARAR
ALTO! LES DIJO LA MAMA AL OBSERVAR
QUE PUEDEN PERDERSE SI MUY LEJOS SE VAN
SI VIERON QUE JUNTOS LO PODRIAN LOGRAR
Y NADARON Y NADARON HASTA LLEGAR AL MAR
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHUY
PRONTO LLEGARON HASTA EL INMENSO MAR
VIVA!! GRITARON , LO PUDIMOS LOGRAR!!
NADAREMOS TODO EL DIA HASTA QUE LLEGUE EL FINAL
Y PRONTO ACERCANDOSE SE PUDO AVISTAR
UN GRAN TIBURON QUE LOS HIZO TEMBLAR
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
EL GRAN TIBURON YA MUY CERCA ESTA
SOCORRO!!! GRITABAN CON UN MIEDO FATAL
QUERIAN QUE ALGUIEN LOS PUDIERA AYUDAR
LAS GRANDES BALLENAS PUDIERON ESCUCHAR
Y EL FEROZ TIBURON SE EMPEZÓ A ALEJAR
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
Y DEL MAR SE ALEJARON PARA AL DIQUE LLEGAR
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
BOOP BOOP DIT-TEM DAT TEM WHAT-TEM CHU
Y SEGUROS VIVIERON JUNTO A SU MAMA

Put on a Play!

Giveaways are coming back! I have a lot of fun, exciting giveaways coming this week and the weeks to come! I also want to start posting more regularly :)

My children love to pretend and act out stories, the more dramatic the better. My second daughter (age 3 1/2) sometimes will not speak completely in Spanish. If I am using a silly voice in a play, she will repeat it all in Spanish! Lately we have been enjoying reading out of Horas Encantadas by Dorothy Sword Bishop, a book full of simple plays. Some stories include Cinderella, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Don Quijote, etc. They have a lot of repetition and simple vocabulary so they are perfect for beginners/intermediate level.

We choose characters (I usually give my second daughter the smallest part). Since my children cannot read, I usually whisper in their ear what they have to say. I encourage them to really act the part (have a deep voice, a mean voice, a sweet princess voice, etc.) We will practice the same play multiple times and soon I don't have to repeat some of the words. Last week, the girls acted out Don Quijote and my second daughter was the horse. You can find options for buying it here. I bought mine used and it looks like new.

Dialogues are a perfect way to get children speaking in another language. The more they practice the dialogue, the better it is. When I was younger about 8 years old, I remember waking up before breakfast and my Dad teaching me a simple dialogue he had learned while studying Spanish. We memorized it and had a lot of fun with it. I could say my part quickly and it gave me confidence that I could speak Spanish.

Sarita at her Musicuentos blog posted a perfect dialogue the kids would love to act out- DORA! Here is a link to her simple, fun play acting out a Dora episode. This is a perfect, FREE play to try out.

Do you know of any books that have simple Spanish plays to use with children?

Songs to Shine About/ Canciones Para Brillar :)

I haven't blogged about anything religious that I do with my girls, but this is a big part of what we do! I love teaching my children about their Heavenly Father. It's fun to help them learn this vocabulary in Spanish as well.

I have started doing devotionals in the morning in Spanish. Our church has a website that includes children's songs in Spanish. I just love the songs about shining and being a good example to others.

Here are two songs we love to sing and we just learned in devotional.
**If you teach Spanish, these would be two perfect songs to teach about when to use subjunctive and not to use subjunctive.

Cristo Me Manda Que Brille (click on to see written music)

*The site has both the accompiament with voice and music and then just music if you go here scroll down to Cristo Me Manda Que Brille and click on the mp3 buttons. The mp3 on left is letra y musica and the mp3 in middle is just musica. you can save target as and save on your computer. It's free!

Letra: Cristo Me Manda Que Brille
Cristo me manda que brille, que brille para el
siendole siempre humilde, y siempre siendo fiel
Que brille, que brille, cristo me manda que brille.
Que brille, que brille, Yo brillare para el.


Yo Soy Como Estrella Que Brilla is another really sweet one. Here is my oldest singing the song with a cough in the middle :)




Letra: Yo Soy Como Estrella Que Brilla
Yo soy como estrella que brilla
para todo el que la ve
con felicidad, mostrare bondad
porque me ama mi padre lo se.


*You can get this one with music and with words as well. go here scroll down to Yo Soy Como Estrella. The mp3 button on left is letra y musica and the mp3 in middle is just musica. You can "save target as" and save on your computer. It's free!

Tatilandia Videos

I have heard of Tatiana and I think I saw some of her TV show she did a while ago. I found these videos and they are very fun. I'm not a fan of her mini skirt. But the first song does mention some fun ways of transportation. The girls love them and sing along. Enjoy!

Moving Picture Books Review & Giveaway

***Giveaway Closed***

Winners are: #9 TRICIA, #12 SUSAN, #6 ADRIANA. Thank you for entering!

I am always on the look-out for materials that my children can listen to or watch to add to the Spanish they hear from my husband and me. It gives them a wider range of vocabulary and motivates them to speak more Spanish. One of the most important aspects for me personally is that it is a native speaker reading or narrating, since I am not a native speaker :)

Moving Picture Books takes adorable children's picture books and then animates, adds sound effects and puts music to them. They have them in English, English with read-along text and Spanish! The animation is well-done and perfect for kids to help them understand even if they know only a little Spanish.

Here is one preview of "On Top of Spaghetti" in Spanish:




My girls love watching them and giggle as they see the stories come to life. My oldest daughter was fascinated with the "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." "Como puede tragar un caballo?"

Things I love:
-how children see what is spoken so they understand it
-you can buy individual episodes for only $1! I can pick out my favorites that weren't on the DVD I reviewed :) Very Affordable!
-they are short and could be digitally downloaded to an video MP3 or iPhone easily (imagine waiting in a doctor's office and showing your child a quick clip)
-they have adapted some of my favorite books.

Things to watch for:
-the Spanish translations are direct translations. The ABC stories or The Day Pigs Fly don't translate so well. But you can preview all of them and decide which ones your children would love the most!
-Most of the stories are narrated by native speakers. There are a few stories read by children which is adorable. But there are also a few read by someone who Spanish is their second language. She has a great accent, but I am picky and I notice even the slightest accent. To some this would be an advantage, because the speaker's Spanish might be easier to copy.

Moving Picture Books has generously offered to give away 3 DVD's to 3 different readers of this blog!! You may request which DVD you would like and they will send you that DVD depending on availability. The DVD's have English, English with read-along text and Spanish versions on them! Isn't it wonderful!!!

Here is how to enter:
- Go here to look at their previews. (All previews are in English and Spanish!) Come back to this post and make a comment telling us which was your favorite story that you previewed.

Additional entries:

-Become a facebook fan of Wanna Jugar with Migo page (you must already be a part of facebook). Search for Wanna Jugar with Migo. Come back to this post and make another comment saying you are a fan.

-Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post and receive 2 more entries in the contest. Remember to come back to this post and make 2 more comments with a link to your blog entry.

-Become a follower of this blog. Make a comment telling us that you follow our blog (even if you are already a follower)

Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 27th at 10 pm Central Time.

Contest Rules- You can enter only up to four times for the contest by doing each one of the instructions above. Contest ends Tuesday, October 27th at 10 PM Central Time. The winner will be chosen randomly by random.org. Comments must provide a name, no completely anonymous. Only USA addresses, sorry. I will announce the winner on October 28th and the winner must e-mail me within 72 hours. If you provide an e-mail, we will e-mail you.

*If you think you will not check back when we announce winners, please e-mail me at wannajugarwithmigo [at] gmail [dot] com with your e-mail so I can send you an e-mail that you win. In the past, winners might lose out on products they win if they don't respond.

Spanish Rap Giveaway

What could be more catchy and fun than listening to rap to learn Spanish? I came across a sample video of Spanish rap by John de Mado and my kids loved it. I have to admit I enjoyed it too! The great thing about this CD and DVD it is for all ages. Kids and teenagers will love it the same!

From his website:

"John De Mado has been a vocal advocate for language acquisition in the United States for many years. John De Mado is fluent in English, French and Spanish. He has co-author of various foreign language textbooks published by Holt McDougal and McGraw-Hill, Inc. Since 1993, Mr. De Mado has directed John De Mado Language Seminars, Inc., a full-service consulting firm dealing exclusively with language acquisition issues. He has also been the Foreign Language Instructional Leader to Shepaug Valley Regional School District #12 in Connecticut where his primary task was to articulate a K-12, content-related language program. "

Here is a clip with family vocabulary:

I learned a lot by interviewing John De Mado. It helped me understand the language acquisition process better. It made me feel better about teaching my children Spanish and the mistakes I make. He talked about how we think language is "fossilized" like set in stone and never changes, whereas, it is constantly changing. If my children or I make a mistake, it doesn't mean they can't change it later.

Want to win an incredible Spanish rap DVD and CD called Festejemos?

This is what you need to do:

Click here to read the interview. Come back to this post again and comment telling me one thing you learned from about language acquisition from the interview.

For additional entries:

After reading the interview and making a comments you may do one or more of the following things to increase your chances of winning!

*Go to John De Mado's website here and come back and make a comment telling me one thing you learned about him.

*Become a follower of this blog. Click on the Follow button on the right side bar. Come back to this post and comment saying you are now a follower. (Comment even if you are already following :)

*Blog about this giveaway, come back, comment and give me a link to your giveaway post. Or e-mail 4 friends about this giveaway with a cc to wannajugarwithmigo [at] gmail [dot] com. Come back and make another comment telling me you sent e-mails.

Good luck!

Contest ends Monday August 24th at 10 PM Central Time.

Contest Rules- You can enter only up to five times for the contest by doing each one of the instructions above. You can only win one signed book. Contest ends August 24th at 10 PM Central Time. The winner will be chosen randomly. Comments must provide a name, no completely anonymous. Only USA addresses, sorry. I will announce the winner on August 25th and the winner must e-mail me within 72 hours. If you provide an e-mail, we will e-mail you.

Online Spanish Games!

There are some cute games and programs out there for young children that cost money, like Foreign Language Friends. I always want games that are age appropriate for my children that don't require Spanish reading skills. Most games for teaching Spanish do require reading because Spanish is usually taught when children are older.

But I found some great games that repeat words and phrases and are perfect for my kids.
Did I mention they are free? They came from one of my favorite blogs from Spain(http://www.marife.wordpress.com/) You have to check them out!

They are created by la Junta de Castilla y León. They have juegos infantiles you can find here. There are games for body parts, musical instruments, cleaning the forest, letters and seasons. The Juega y Aprenda birdhouse games would not work on my computer. Did they work on yours? Here is a screen shot of the page. You can click the image to go to the site :)

La Junta de Castilla y Leon comes out with new games each summer. This summer has not yet come. Some of the games did not work on my computer, but click here or the image below to play some of the summer games.

If you go to the website above and then click on the Juega y Aprenda button, then click Aprende Jugando button. It will then take you to the screen shown below (there is no direct link to these games). They were some of our favorite games.

Enjoy!

SUPER activities

This post is dedicated to my almost 3 year old daughter that I call Súper Niña . She loves to run around with an intense look on her face and yell out Superman! Well, here are a few fun super hero type activities.

We went to a story time with the most incredible immersion teacher I have met, Super Maria. She reads her stories so dramatically. I have tried to read my stories more expressively, because it just makes it so much more fun. She read this book and when the words are big, she says them loudly and like a super hero would. Now my girls are hooked and love this book!

Superconejo is about a little rabbit that thinks he is a superhero that must fight all the bad guys. When he gets a splinter while playing, he comes crying to his mother. After he is brave while getting the splinter out, he goes back to being SuperConejo with the splinter as his super sword.

SuperConejo By:Stephanie Blake


Click on the picture for the link to walmart to buy it.

I actually have a funny story that goes along with this book. In the book, Super Conejo gets a splinter (una astilla), but he pretends that it is a trozo de espada (piece of a sword) in his finger. The other day at the park, Princesa found a friend and heard her mother speaking Spanish to her. Princesa went up to the girl and started speaking only in Spanish. I was on the other side of the playground and she came up to me and said, "Mami, tengo una amiga y habla español!" The rest of the time they played together only speaking in Spanish. (A very proud Mommy moment :)) Anyways, as they were climbing on the playground, Princesa got a splinter and she yelled out, "Tengo un trozo de epada en mi dedo!" I had to let her know it was only an astilla.


Another favorite of my girls is Pocoyo. Here is a cute episode with him pretending to be a Super Pocoyo.




*We will be moving in the next month, I will be stopping my Juego del Jueves for a while. I will still try to post ideas, songs and other activities as much as I can!

Juego del Jueves: Érase una vez

This game might be better for kids that can speak more Spanish. This game is mostly for my oldest daughter who I call Princesa on this blog. We decided to make-up our own story. Princesa loves telling stories. Her daddy and her sometimes play this game of taking turns to make-up a story. So I decided to try it in Spanish.

Juego del Jueves: Érase Una Vez...

I started the story with saying-

Erase una vez... una princesa que le gustaba jugar con su perrito.

Un dia estaban jugando y de repente...

Next it was her turn to continue the story and we alternated until the story was finished. She loved it! She loves imagining stories. I found it to be pretty funny the things she came up with and how she used phrasing from stories we have read in the past.

*Ways to make this more fun could be passing around a microphone or a wand to the person telling the story at the moment. If your child has a hard time thinking of different ideas for the story. Take a bunch of random objects around the house (a cup, food, stuffed animals, little toy cars, etc) and put them in a bag. When it is their turn to tell the story, they can draw an object out of the bag and they have to include that object in the story they are telling.

Something that might help with this activity is to read a bunch of stories beforehand. We have a lot of fairy tales we enjoy. Below are links to some versions we like that are affordable or might be at your library. They are pretty advanced stories, but after reading them many time, my older daughter understands them well.

***I have edited this adding on the stories that were suggested in the wonderful comments! Check out the comments and the links I provide-

Habia una vez

Little Red Riding Hood

Does any one know of a good fairy tale story book in Spanish that has simpler language? Sometimes with the advanced stories, I change the more difficult words into simpler language. But I have been searching for some time now and I can't seem to find any simpler fairy tales!

Juego del Jueves: Free Mini-Album

This week I decided to play a game or activity speaking in the past tense. In our regular daytime routine, we speak a lot in the present, command form and future tense, but past tense doesn't come up as regularly. My girls love looking at their baby pictures. I decided to make a mini scrapbook that told all the things they did when they were babies. I made it for my oldest daughter and it was a big hit! I read it to her once and then she read the entire thing back to me perfectly (she doesn't read yet, so she is just saying what she did when she was a baby). I really liked all the speaking this activity has! I plan on making it for my two-year-old soon.

Here is a mini version of what I printed for her:

Here is the final version all put together:

Here are some templates you could use to put in your own photos. I included un bebe and una bebe versions. You can easily make your own not using this template, also.

Instructions how to mini baby book album:

*Click on the image above and it will take you to a higher resolution. Save it to your computer. Open the file in a photo editing program or you could even use it in word in landscape without any margins. Add your own baby photos according to the words of the pages. Print on white cardstock with borderless printing option. Cut along black lines, punch holes through the black dots. Arrange each page in the order you want (I like dormia at the end). Stack all the pages together. Tie a string through the two holes and tie a knot or bow. Read and enjoy!

Please let me know if you need help using this! Also, let me know if you use it!

Giveaway- Mientras Se Enfria El Pastel

I am so excited about this giveaway! This book is one of our favorites. The illustrations are darling, the story unique and it is a great counting book that goes along with telling the time. I know you will LOVE this book. The wonderful Colombian author/illustrator, Claudia Rueda, has generously offered to give one person this book. This book is completely in Spanish.

*picture is linked to amazon.com

Here is the description from Claudia Rueda's site:

As mother hen and her chicks prepare for a birthday party, one gluttonous chick simply can't wait for the cake to cool. He eats a slice for each of the 12 steps it takes to organize the event. As the cake shrinks, the book introduces reader to counting and to tht hour hand on the clock.

To enter this giveaway:

-Comment on this post telling us your favorite children's book right now (it can be in Spanish, English or any language!) and you're done entering the giveaway!

Want to increase your chances of winning? You can enter two other ways...

-Go to Claudia Rueda's website here and look at the books she has written/illustrated. Come back here and make another comment telling us which other book of hers looks fun to read.

-Blog about this giveaway, come back here and comment with a link to your blog post about it or e-mail 4 friends about this book giveaway and come back here and make another comment telling us you e-mailed them. This is the link to the post: http://wannajugarwithmigo.blogspot.com/2009/03/giveaway-mientras-se-enfria-el-pastel.html

This giveaway ends Thursday, March 26th at 10:00 P.M., Central Time.

Contest Rules- Contest ends March 26th 10 PM Central Time. The winner will be chosen randomly. Comments must provide a name, no completely anonymous. Only USA addresses, sorry. I will announce the winner on Friday, March 27th and the winner must e-mail me within 72 hours.

Another Song for Dancing

I found this cute video and song. It is so much fun to dance to. I wrote out the lyrics as best I could and also my version with blanks. Make sure to dance as you sing!




El Baile de Las Vacas

Esta canción es para que todos los niños bailen con nosotros
Y los adultos también. Vamos.

Ven a bailar.
Ven a cantar.
Ven a gozar.
Con las vacas lobotómicas.
Subiendo las manos,
Y dando una vuelta.
Arriba y abajo
Los pies hacia afuera,

Puedes bailar con sus amigos o hermanos,
Puedes bailar con que tengas bailad,o

En una casa,
En el patio,
O en la escuela
Puedes bailar y cantar con quien quieras.

¿A ver? ¿A ver?
¿Dónde están los niños?
Aquí.
¿No los escucho?
Aquí
Muy bien
Vamos hacer el baile para que se lo aprendan.
Bailen con nosotras.

Perfecto
Ahora vamos de nuevo todos juntos . Ya.

Puedes bailar con tu amigo, tu hermano
Puedes bailar lo que tengas bailado.

Here are the lyrics with blanks to use as a listening exercise.

El Colesteról is Great

I saw Tati´s post and was so excited to try El colesteról with my Intermediate Spanish class. I have three Jr. High and High School Homeschoolers. They enjoyed it. One of them said they could make up a video with it. That would be a fun project. I gave them the lyrics with blanks for some of the words and they have to listen to the song and fill in the blanks. I made the terms of endearment bold so we can discuss them.

I went over the words with a friend of mine. She had never heard the endearment, puchungita. She said it was probably used in Southern Mexico. Anybody know the word?

Here are the lyrics I used with blanks, ready to print. Try it with your kids. Enjoy!

Story Telling Activity

I have been trying so hard to think of ways for my kids to speak more in Spanish (and not Spanglish). No one responded with any suggestions or ideas to my earlier post (please, I need help!!). As we sat down to read books after lunch, I pulled out a books series we read often- Tupi books. Here is a picture of Tupi y La Tortuga By Merce Aranega

One of my girls' favorites is Tupi y El Muñeco de Nieve. All the books have pictograms. So in order to read the story, the children have to say whatever the picture is as the story is told. I love how at the end of the book, she has a key for all of the names of the pictures (sometimes you don't know what word they are looking for).

My oldest daughter (4 years old) told me she wanted to read the book aloud to us all by herself. We have read this book many times. She was able to tell the whole story by using the pictograms as her guide. I could tell some of the phrases she had memorized from when I had read it to her and other phrases she made up to make sense of it.

****I just found that on Amazon.com they are selling Tupi En La Banera for only $4! And it is eligible for free shipping! This is another cute story. To see it, click here.

Books like this with pictograms or even illustrations that tell a story are excellent ways of getting students or children to speak more. Even if you have to tell the story first and then they repeat it back in their own words, they are learning fluency with telling everyday stories. I hope to use other pictures and wordless books to help my daughter learn how to tell stories in Spanish. Here is an example of a picture that might be helpful:

You can also take pictures from magazines with people in unusual situations, take out any words that are around the pictures and the students/children have to imagine what the people are saying.

I have a list with the names of all of my favorite books and authors in Spanish that I will have to share with you later on!

Please share any experience you have with storytelling in your classroom or home. What other ways do you get your students/children to speak in Spanish?

Spanish Dictation

I teach a group of three girls Spanish lessons. I wanted to work on their ability to write and to read in Spanish. So I started doing Spanish Dictation every week. I give each one a sheet.

On the first section, I read a line and then they repeat. We sing the first two lines from the song that is on the Muzzy video. "A, E, I, O, U te quiero." Then we do the same with "La, Le, Li, Lo, Lu te quiero."

Then when we get to the colored lines each one takes a color. They first repeat the line after me with their fingers following along the line and pointing to each one as it is read. Then they take turns reading their line again.

Then we do the same with the sentences. First they repeat then read on their own. If they were older I might not have as much repetition.

Then we do a simple dictation. I say ten syllables and they write them. It is hard at first for them to get used to the vowel sounds so we do a lot with consonants that are the same in English.

As we advance through the other sounds we do a lot with explanations and feeling how the sounds are made to improve their pronunciation. We are using the Pronunciation Exercises at StudySpanish.com. This is a fantastic website with lots of free instruction and exercises. I will write about it more later.

Here is a sample page. If you want me to send you the file I use for all of them just send me a message.