Teach Them Spanish! - Grade K

Who knew finding good Spanish curriculum for the younger grades would prove to be so difficult? After a lot of digging, I unearthed maybe six-to-nine options. Most felt very homegrown. Several were rather pricey...for no apparent reason. All lacked in some way. I finally decided on Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K by Instructional Fair, an imprint of Carson-Dellosa.

Although I studied Spanish for five years during high school and college, I am far from fluent. With a lot preparation, I could probably teach Tessa using the language immersion approach during Spanish time. However, I highly doubt that would be a pleasant experience for either of us. So, I speak to her in both English and Spanish. I do a lot of code switching. I also supplement with Spanish language immersion videos, audio/video clips of native speakers, picture books...anything I can find that's of decent quality.

Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K is full of potential. It provides lesson plans, worksheets, classroom activities, games, songs and reading lists. However, the curriculum, which consists of one inexpensive 96-page black-and-white reproducible paperback book could be much better designed. Lessons need to be better defined and organized. They require a lot of flipping back-and-forth within the book as it is. On a positive note, the content is age-appropriate, fun and requires little-to-no writing. Tessa is enjoying it.

The following plans are how I chose to divide and supplement the lessons in Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K. Most books and videos listed are not included in the curriculum. While I am confident Tessa could memorize the Spanish words and their English equivalents in this curriculum in a much shorter amount of time than noted, that isn't my goal. I want her to develop a true familiarity with them. Tessa officially studies Spanish twice a week, but I try to incorporate appropriate Spanish words and phrases into daily life as well.

Note: Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K would be easiest to use with regular access to a copy machine. However, the book could be taken apart (it's staple bound) and be used that way. After Teach Them Spanish!, Grade K, we will likely use newly released School Song Spanish by Classical Academic Press.

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These plans are a work in progress. I will add to them (and delete, when necessary) as Tessa and I progress through the curriculum.

For each lesson, I either use Forvo to download MP3 files of native speakers speaking corresponding words or search Usborne Quicklinks for the same thing. I transfer the files to my Kindle Fire and play them for Tessa several times.

Day 1

Say Hola to Spanish - Susan Middleton Elya

Introductions and Greetings - Teach (7)

"Hola Means Hello" - Song (48)

Usborne: First Picture Spanish Interactive - Play appropriate phrases from "En La Escuela" and "En La Fiesta" segments.

Pictures of Greetings - Worksheet (8)

Global Wonders: Mexico DVD - Global Wonders

Day 2

Say Hola to Spanish, Otra Vez - Susan Middleton Elya

Introductions and Greetings Poster - Review (79-80)

"Adios Means Goodbye" - Song (48)

Usborne: First Picture Spanish Interactive - Play appropriate phrases from "En la Escuela" and "En la Fiesta" segments.

Greetings Paste-Up - Worksheet (9)

Day 3

Numbers Introduction 1-5 - Teach (10)

Usborne: First Sticker Book: Easy Spanish Words - Play Quicklinks sound files for numbers 1-5.

"Cinco Amigos" - Song (48)

Classroom Counting - Activity (54)

Numbers Review - Worksheet (11)

Little Pim: I Can Count DVD (Episodes 1-2) - Little Pim Co.

Day 4

Numbers Poster - Review 1-5 (81-82)

Usborne: First Sticker Book: Easy Spanish Words - Play Quicklinks sound files for numbers 1-5.

Roll 'Em - Activity (54)

Matching Numbers - Worksheet (12)

Little Pim: I Can Count DVD (Episodes 3-4) - Little Pim Co.

Day 5

Numbers Poster - Review 1-5 (81-82)

Usborne: First Sticker Book: Easy Spanish Words - Play Quicklinks sound files for numbers 1-5.

Dominoes - Activity (54)

Number the Shoes - Worksheet (13)

Day 6

Colors Introduction - Teach (14)

Colores de la Vida - Cynthia Weill

Find Classroom Colors - Activity (55)

Find the Crayons - Activity (55)

Pictures to Color - Worksheet (15)

Little Pim: Playtime DVD (Episode 1) - Little Pim Co.

Day 7

Colors Poster - Review (83-84)

My First Book of Spanish Words - Katy R. Kudela - Find the named colors. (24-25)

McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary - Find who's wearing the named colors. (74-75)

Rainbow Colors - Worksheet (55)

Whistlefritz: Spanish for Kids, La Fiesta de Fritz DVD - Whistlefritz

Day 8

Colors Poster - Review (83-84)

El Artista Que Pinto Un Caballo Azul - Eric Carle - Read by native speaker via YouTube.

I Spy - Activity (55)

Color the Cars - Worksheet (17)

Day 9

Numbers Poster - Review 1-5, Teach 6-10 (81-82)

"Diez Amigos" - Song (49)

Uno, Dos, Tres: One, Two, Three - Pat Mora

Classroom Counting - Activity (56), or use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (28-29).

1-10 Matching - Worksheet (18)

Little Pim: I Can Count DVD (Episodes 5-7) - Little Pim Co.

Day 10

Numbers Poster - Review 1-10 (81-82)

Counting Ovejas - Sarah Weeks

Beanbag Counting - Activity (56), or count toys, beans, counters, etc.

Count the Cookies - Worksheet (19)

Day 11

Numbers Poster - Review 1-10 (81-82)

Roll 'Em - Activity (56)

Critters 1-10 - Worksheet (20)

Whistlefritz: Spanish for Kids, Vamos a Jugar DVD - Whistlefritz

Day 12

Numbers Poster - Review 1-10 (81-82)

Count on Culebra: Go from 1 to 10 in Spanish - Ann Whitford Paul

My Favorite Number - Worksheet (21)

Numbers Paper Chain - Activity (56, 69)

Day 13

Colors Poster - Review, Teach (83-84)
Colores de la Vida - Cynthia Weill

"Colors Song" - Song (49)

Find It! - Activity (57)
Birds of Color - Worksheet (22)

Day 14

Colors Poster - Review (83-84)

Find the Crayons - Activity from Colors, Part 1 (55)

Casa de Colores - Worksheet (23)

Day 15

Colors Poster - Review (83-84)

Colors Bingo - Activity (57), or use cards from a store-bought Spanish bingo game.

Flores y Colores - Worksheet (42)

Day 16

Colors Poster - Review (83-84)

I Spy - Activity (57), or use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (54-55).

De Colores - Worksheet (25)

Day 17

Read Books of Choice

My Name is Celia - Monica Brown

My Name is Gabito - Monica Brown

My Name is Gabriela - Monica Brown

Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale - Lois Ehlert

Elena's Serenade - Campbell Geeslin

Off We Go to Mexico - Laurie Krebs

Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin - Duncan Tonatiuh

Diego - Jonah Winter

Frida - Jonah Winter

Day 18

Watch Video of Choice

Families of Mexico DVD - Master Communications Inc.

More Families of Mexico DVD - Master Communications Inc.

One Wee World Celebrate Mexico DVD - One Wee World LLC

Spanish for Kids: Learn Spanish for Beginners Level 1, Volume 1 DVD - Language Tree

The Three Caballeros DVD - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Travel With Kids: Mexico DVD - Equator Creative Media/Travel With Kids

Day 19

Classroom Things - Teach (26)

"Classroom Objects Song" - Song (49)

Label the Classroom - Activity (58)

Matching Objects - Worksheet (27)

Day 20

Classroom Objects Poster - Review (85-86)

Scavenger Hunt - Activity (58), modified for home-school environment.

Draw and Color Your Classroom - Worksheet (28)

Day 21

Classroom Objects Poster - Review (85-86)
McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary - Find the named classroom object. (28-29)

Match Pictures and Words - Worksheet (29)

Day 22

Family Words - Teach (30)

"Family Song" - Song (50)

Draw Your Family - Worksheet (31)

Day 23

The Family Poster - Review (87-88) 

My First Book of Spanish Words - Katy R. Kudela - Find the named family members. (4-5)

McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary - Find the named family member. Then, count how many girls and boys. (7-8)

Family Word Meanings - Worksheet (32)

Day 24

The Family Poster - Review (87-88)

Guess Who? - Activity (59)

Matching Family - Worksheet (33)

Day 25

Food and Drink - Teach (34)

"Food Song" - Song (51)

My Meal - Worksheet (35)

Little Pim: Eating and Drinking DVD (Episodes 1-4) - Little Pim Co.

Day 26

Food Poster - Review (90)

Food Practice - Activity (60)

Food Meanings - Worksheet (36)

Day 27

Food Poster - Review (90)

Mixed-Up Food - Worksheet (37)

Day 28

Clothing - Teach (38)

"Clothing Song" - Song (50)

My First Book of Spanish Words - Katy R. Kudela - Find the named clothing item. (8-9)

Clothing Match-Ups - Worksheet (39)

Whistlefritz: Spanish for Kids, Vamos a Jugar DVD - Whistlefritz

Day 29

Clothing Poster - Review (91-92)

Who's Wearing...?/What Color...? - Activity (61), or use McGraw-Hill's Spanish Picture Dictionary (34-35).

How Are You? - Worksheet (40)

Day 30

Clothing Poster - Review (91-92)

Find the Clothing - Activity (61), modified for home-school environment.

Clothes to Color - Worksheet (41)

Day 31

Places to Go - Teach (42)

"Community Song" - Song (51)

Picture This! - Worksheet (43)

Day 32

Community Poster - Review (93-94)

Book Scavenger Hunt - Activity (62), modified for home-school environment.

My Neighborhood - Worksheet (44)

Day 33

Community Poster - Review (93-94)

Guess What? - Activity (62)

Places, Please - Worksheet (45)

Day 34

Dot-to-Dot - Worksheet (46)

Read Books of Choice

My Name is Celia - Monica Brown

My Name is Gabito - Monica Brown

My Name is Gabriela - Monica Brown

Cuckoo: A Mexican Folktale - Lois Ehlert

Elena's Serenade - Campbell Geeslin

Off We Go to Mexico - Laurie Krebs

Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin - Duncan Tonatiuh

Diego - Jonah Winter

Frida - Jonah Winter

Day 35

Watch Video of Choice

Families of Mexico DVD - Master Communications Inc.

More Families of Mexico DVD - Master Communications Inc.

One Wee World Celebrate Mexico DVD - One Wee World LLC

Spanish for Kids: Learn Spanish for Beginners Level 1, Volume 1 DVD - Language Tree

The Three Caballeros DVD - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Travel With Kids: Mexico DVD - Equator Creative Media/Travel With Kids

Life Science, Week 3

Cells

We're gearing up for a lengthy study of the human body. This week, Tessa learned about cells by taking a look at a rather large example that can be seen without a microscope!


Thursday

• Watched Bill Nye the Science Guy: Cells DVD by Disney.

Friday

• Read Greg's Microscope by Millicent E. Selsam.
• Completed RSO Cell Lab #1: An Egg is a Cell.

This was a great quick and easy lab that provided some basic hands-on knowledge of one special type of cell. Next week, we'll dip our toes a little deeper.

Tessa inspected the tiny holes of an egg shell. These holes allow air and water in and out of the cell.

After comparing her lab diagram to a real egg, Tessa labeled and colored its parts. 

My sister provided home-raised eggs for this lab. As a bonus, we cracked open an immature egg that one of her chickens laid a wee bit too soon (on left). Tessa correctly deduced that no chick could have hatched from this egg because it lacked its cell parts (yolk and blastodisc).

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

Ancient History, Week 3

First Farmers, First Towns

This week was a continuation of last week's study of stone age cave dwellers. Since Tessa didn't do anything particularly picture-worthy, I decided to use this space to show and explain how we define the dictionary words from History Odyssey.

Even though Tessa is working at the first grade level in most subjects, her coordination and hand muscle strength is closer to that of a typical kindergartner. I knew that having her copy entire dictionary definitions at her age would suck the life out of history for both of us, so I use the free version of ZB FontsOnlinePlus to create fill-in-the-blank copywork sheets. I also make enlargements of corresponding dictionary pages at 200 percent on a copy machine.

First, I have Tessa copy the dictionary word, which I already have printed on her copywork sheet. Then, we look up the word together in a children's dictionary and read its definition. (We use Merriam-Webster Children's Dictionary, which we like, but I wish the definitions were a little shorter and simpler. Dictionaries with shorter and simpler definitions do not seem to have the majority of the words used in History Odyssey.) Next, I pull out the copy of the dictionary page that I enlarged to 200 percent. We read the definition again on this sheet and compare it to the copywork sheet. Tessa underlines the missing words on the enlargement of the dictionary page. Finally, she fills in the blanks on her copywork sheet using the underlined words.

This week's dictionary word was "town." Defining the word also served as Tessa's handwriting lesson for the day.

Monday

• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 4-5).
• Completed corresponding Blue House School ancient world worksheets. 
• Completed HO map work for Lesson 2, Main Lesson Part 1 and Part 2.

Tuesday

• Read How People Lived by Jim Pipe (pages 12-15).
• Completed draw and color.
• Watched Stories from the Stone Age: Daily Bread (parts 1-4) by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Stories from the Stone Age: Daily Bread is a nice documentary created by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It may be viewed for free via YouTube. I downloaded it from YouTube user AllHistories who uploaded it in fifteen ten-minute segments. The first four segments show how the Natufian people evolved from nomads at the end of the last Ice Age to the world's first farmers. Although this series is child-friendly (at least the parts we viewed), I did edit out the first five minutes of part three. It shows a burial scene. It's not particularly gruesome, but Tessa doesn't always deal well with human actors playing dead. Had the deceased not had blood on his head, I probably would have left it in. There is also a human skeleton in part one, but she didn't have a problem with that.

If you're like me and have major problems streaming videos from the internet, check out SaveVid.com. It can be used to save videos to your hard drive where they can later be played without interruption. After doing this, I transferred and then played them on our Kindle Fire.

Thursday

• Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 2, Main Lesson Part 2.
• Read Usborne: Ancient World by Fiona Chandler (pages 16-17).
• Completed corresponding Blue House School ancient world worksheets.

* HO = History Odyssey

Atelier Art, Level 1 - Module A, Lesson 1

Caterpillar

This was our first ever lesson using Atelier Art. It is our most extravagant curriculum purchase to date, so I was a wee bit nervous. I'm happy to report success!

Atelier Art is a DVD-based art curriculum originally designed for schools without quality art programs. Something Tessa and I especially like about Atelier is that it shows several children Tessa's age completing the projects in a school setting. It shows realistic examples of student work as well.

Today's techniques involved the use of various types of line. The project, a caterpillar.

Tessa carefully watched the instructor and students model each technique before trying them out for herself. This part was a warm-up exercise completed on scrap paper.

After drawing the head and body, Tessa drew straight, jagged and curvy lines onto her caterpillar.

Tessa got extra creative and used a variety of line techniques within this segment of her caterpillar. 

Lots and lots of lines!

Tessa put the finishing touches on her caterpillar.

Tessa couldn't have been prouder of her artwork. I'm proud too. She did a great job!

Life Science, Week 2

Living & Nonliving Things

Science was fairly low-key this week. We continued our study of living and nonliving things with an outdoor lab.


Thursday

• Read Living Things in My Back Yard by Bobbie Kalman.
• Completed RSO Living Lab #2: Plot Study.

Other Books of Interest

• One Small Square: Backyard - Donald Silver (On hold at library.)

* RSO = R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey


Plot Study

We lucked out! With temperatures in the 80s and no precipitation, today was the perfect day for our plot study. Tonight, it will drop near freezing and then won't get much above 50 degrees tomorrow...plus rain!!

Even though I think this is a great lab, I was kind of dreading it for some reason. Probably because I had to go downstairs to dig out our tent stakes. Probably too because it required us going outside with no other option. Besides having to keep Tessa wrangled, it turned out just fine. More than fine, actually.

I used a yardstick, tent stakes and red yarn to section off a portion of our overgrown garden. I went ahead and did this ahead of time in order to save time during the lab.

Tessa scrutinized a mushroom with her hand lens, which she later declared a living thing. Other living things she found were a tomato plant, spider, butterfly, clover, grub worm, grasshopper, grass and acorn (dead). Nonliving things were far less plentiful. She only found a piece of red string, plant marker and tomato cage. 

We brought in a couple of samples for the drawing portion of the lab. Tessa decided on the grub worm (living thing) and the string (nonliving thing). Afterward, I filled in the rest of the lab sheet with our findings.

Ancient History, Week 2

Stone Age Cave Dwellers

I don't really dig History Odyssey's lessons for "The Move from Cave to Towns." The recommended Usborne readings, picture book suggestions and so on don't mesh well, in my opinion. I didn't want to skip the picture books, so I crafted a lesson to bridge the gap. We'll continue on with the rest of History Odyssey, Lesson 2 next week.

For what it's worth, Tessa absolutely loved studying about cave dwellers. She asked me to read multiple books multiple times. She spent the week in an imaginary stone age world where she pretended to sew clothes from animals skins, craft bone and seashell necklaces, and knap spearheads from flint. She even asked the neighbor girl if she wanted to play "cave people."

I rented Walking With Cavemen from Netflix in hopes of playing a couple of clips from it for Tessa. It was a no-go for our family. There was male and female nudity throughout, which I may have been able to work around by playing it on a small screen. It wasn't worth the effort, though. The time periods were wrong for our studies. Apparently, cavemen aren't the same as cave dwellers. There were about 30 seconds at the very end that fit. I also didn't care for some of the stereotypical caveman behaviors in the movie. (I have another DVD in my queue that I hope will work out. It won't be here until Friday. I'll be sure to post, if it's good.)


Monday

• Read How People Lived by Jim Pipe (pages 8-11) and Stone Age Boy by Satoshi Kitamura.
• Completed draw and color.

Usborne: Ancient World doesn't have a chapter on cave dwellers, so I read "Cave Dwellers: Life at Pinnacle Point" from How People Lived. Tessa and I love this book! I wish the publisher would expand it, as I think it would make a good alternative to Usborne. I will definitely keep it handy as we continue our study of ancients. There are several more selections we'll be able to use this year.

After reading "How People Lived" and "Stone Age Boy," Tessa drew a cave with all of the trimmings.

Tuesday

• Looked up and defined HO dictionary word for Lesson 2, Main Lesson Part 1.
• Read One Small Blue Bead by Byrd Baylor and The First Dog by Jane Brett.

Wednesday

• Read First Painter by Kathryn Lasky.
• Completed "Make a Cave Painting" from the SOTW activity guide.
• Listened to Magic Tree House #7: Sunset of the Sabertooth audiobook by Mary Pope Osborne.

Check your local library for digital audiobooks that can be checked out and downloaded for free via the internet. Our library uses OverDrive. We listened to Sunset of the Sabertooth during lunch.


Friday

• Read Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki.
• Examined real fossils.
• Completed handprint fossil activity from Fossils Tell of Long Ago.

Tessa had been begging me to learn about fossils, so I went ahead and added a short lesson on fossils this week since we had the time. Fossils Tell of Long Ago was recommended in HO, but that was it...no other mention of fossils. I found this a little perplexing.

Tessa examined fossils I purchased on eBay earlier this year.

Tessa pressed her hand into Crayola Model Magic to create a "fossil."

Tessa's "fossil." In the book, the children bury their "fossils" for future generations to find. Tessa wants to do this, so we may have to make a trip to the craft store to find a different type of modeling compound that will better hold up to the elements.

Other Resources of Interest

• Ug - Raymond Briggs
• Little Grunt and the Big Egg - Tomie dePaola
• Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads - Laura Evert
• Rocks and Fossils - Chris Pellant
• Me Want Pet - Tammi Sauer
• Kali's Song - Jeanette Winter
• The Wild Girl - Christopher Wormell
• Bill Nye the Science Guy: Fossils DVD - Disney (Unfortunately, I didn't have this DVD in time for this week's lessons. Tessa has since watched it. I would have shown it on Friday.)
• Dinosaur Train: Dinosaurs in the Snow DVD ("Fossil Fred" episode) - PBS Kids

* HO = History Odyssey, SOTW = The Story of the World

Cave Painting

We didn't have any kraft paper or brown paper grocery bags on hand, so I raided the gift closet. I found a roll of nearly used up wrapping paper that had a kraft paper insert, which worked perfectly for Tessa's cave painting. Instead of acrylic paint, she used tempera, mixing colors when necessary.

Tessa began by painting a simple outline of a horse in black on her cave wall (a.k.a. crumpled piece of kraft paper). I had her practice drawing the shape a couple of times beforehand on scrap paper.

Next, she filled in the body with beige paint. After that, she used "red ochre" for highlights and paint splatters.

Tessa's completed cave painting! I love how it turned out. I thought about having her add a handprint on the side, but I chickened out.

Looking for more Stone Age lesson ideas?

Check out my Simply Ice Age Play Set digital curriculum helper!