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Spanish Children’s Book and CD Giveaway: Contest Closed

Welcome book and language lovers!  I am giving away a beautiful Spanish children’s book and CD:  El Mundo, published by Barefoot Books.  It’s a “green” twist on “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”  The illustrations are vibrant and engaging and the music is fantastic!  Here is the publisher’s description:

This book is perfect for Spanish speakers, learners, and teachers alike.  Want to enter to win?  Here’s how:

Mandatory:  Post a comment telling me why you’d like to win this book.  Do you speak Spanish?  Want to introduce the language to a child?

Bonus entry #1:  Follow us on Facebook, then leave a comment on this blog post letting me know.

Bonus entry #2:  Join our mailing list (right sidebar.)  You’ll receive free Spanish and French downloads each month and you can cancel at anytime.  Remember to return to this blog post and leave a separate comment letting me know you’re on the list.

This giveaway begins and ends with the Book Lover’s Holiday Giveaway Hop, December 2 – December 6.  It will close at midnight EST.  U.S. residents only please.   I will select a winner using random.org.

Now hop along to some other fantastic blogs and giveaways.  Buena suerte

Diane

Saint Nicolas Day in France

St. Nicholas (Nicolas) is the patron saint and protector of children.  You can think of him as Santa’s great-great-great-great-great-etc grandfather!  St. Nicolas Day is celebrated on December 6 in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Holland.

On the eve of this special day, French children leave their shoes by the fireplace.  During the night, Saint Nicolas arrives and fills the shoes with sweets such as candy, chocolate or gingerbread.  He is often accompanied by his donkey and Père Fouettard.  (A scary guy who doles out whippings for naught children.  Yeeks!!)

Since Nicolas is the patron saint of school children, he often visits schools on the 6th.  Watch and listen as these French children enjoy a visit from Saint Nicolas:

Here are the words to the traditional song:

Ô grand Saint Nicolas,
Patron des écoliers,
Apporte-moi des pommes
Dans mon petit panier.
Je serai toujours sage
Comme une petite image.
J’apprendrai mes leçons
Pour avoir des bonbons.

Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas,
Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas,
Venez, venez, Saint Nicolas, et tra la la…

Introduce your children or students to the St. Nicholas Day tradition with these activities:

1.  Make and decorate a paper shoe.  It’s fun and easy to do, and more convenient that real shoes in a school setting.

2.  French teachers, use these downloads to teach your students about St. Nicolas Day customs.

Bonne Saint-Nicolas!

Spanish Thanksgiving Song

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you in Many Languages: Thanksgiving Worksheet

Thank you – Merci – Gracias – Danke

Happy Thanksgiving!

Introduce children of all ages to world languages this Thanksgiving with a fun secret message printable.  This international activity is perfect for Thanksgiving. Decipher how to say “Thank you” in French, Spanish, English, Hebrew, Hawaiian, Italian, Japanese and Swahili. Grades 2-6. Answer key included.  Click the link to purchase.

Thanksgiving International Secret Code Worksheet:  Give Thanks in Many Languages

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Lessons for French and Spanish Classes

The day before Thanksgiving break can be a challenging lesson to teach.  I know my students are sooooo ready for a break.  And so am I!  If I give a test, I have to grade it over the holiday.  Ugh.  So I opt for harnessing the excitement of the holiday to get my students talking, talking, talking in the target language.  My last pre-Thanksgiving lesson was this past Friday, and I had a fantastic time doing a variety of conversational activities with my middle schoolers.  (This would work great with high school levels I and II, too.)  I have linked the product downloads if you are interested in the actual materials for your classes.

Here’s my pre-Thanksgiving French lesson 2011:

1.  Parlez-vous “turkey”?  I talked about how animals make different sounds in different languages.  French cows say “Meuh,” French pigs say “Gron, gron,” and French roosters say “Cocorico!”  American turkeys may say “Gobble, gobble,” but French turkeys say “Glou, glou, glou!”  I showed the following video clip and my students loved it as a fun way to set the Thanksgiving theme.

I found something similar in Spanish, too:

2.  Next, I introduced a Thanksgiving vocabulary PowerPoint that we made at ForeignLanguageHouse.com.  It’s available in French or Spanish.  It was effective to have the students guess the feminine forms of pilgrim and Native American before I revealed the word.  When it came to foods vocabulary, I asked students their preferences.  I usually draw various smily/frowny faces on the board to indicate J’adore – J’aime (bien, beaucoup) – Je n’aime pas (du tout) – Je déteste.  Students ask a partner about a preference, and then I ask several students.  Follow-up questions are extremely important to keep the conversations flowing.  My students like to use “sauf” (except) and “mais” (but) to go beyond a simple statement.

If your students are younger, or if the concept of expressing preferences is brand new, consider our “Expressing Preferences with Thanksgiving Foods” downloads in French or Spanish

We also have a Tic Tac Toe board of Thanksgiving foods that can be used in any language.  Students can make a statement about the food (preference, pass me please, etc.) before placing an X or an O on the space.  You can make copies for students to play in partners, or you can project it onto a screen for team play.

3.  The main thing my students like to talk about is themselves.  (Who doesn’t, right?)  So we spent a lot of time discussing our plans for Thanksgiving break.  Luckily, we had recently learned the immediate future tense, so it was fabulous practice.  Some verbs and expressions were new, but within the context of the conversation it was easy to introduce them for use in the lesson.  We have French and Spanish printables in which students ask each other if they are going to cook, watch football, travel, shop, eat turkey, etc.  They write, they interview partners, and they circulate around the room collecting signatures for affirmative responses.  Be sure to participate in this activity as well!

Here’s a fun follow-up to the circulating activity:  Human Bingo!  Read off the names of the students you found while walking around the room asking, “Are you going to . . . ?”  For example:  Chantal va voyager.  Jean va faire la cuisine.  Juliette va regarder un match de football américain.  Students give themselves one point for every name/activity that matches the teacher’s answer.  Candy is always appreciated for the winner!

I am always thankful for lessons such as this that get my students speaking!

p.s.  Looking for a quick, easy lesson for the day AFTER Thanksgiving break?  If your students know the past tense, the downloads from #3 above also include past tense versions of the printables.

Les Nombres: Learn and Sing French Numbers with Whistlefritz

 I just received the new Whistlefritz French Cha, Cha, Cha CD (review coming soon!)  I’ve already been having a ball incorporating the fun, catchy melodies into my lessons.  In fact, there’s one song I love so much I wanted to tell you about it right away!

Les Nombres is a fantastic way to practice counting up to 20 by 1′s, and up to 100 by 10′s.  It was a success in both my preschool and my middle school classes.  My little ones shook maracas with every Cha-cha-cha and my older students made up a little dance.

Click here to listen to a sample.  Les Nombres is Track 5.

Here’s a simple numbers PowerPoint I made to go along with the song.  Click to download:  Numbers PowerPoint.

It’s very quick and easy to reinforce numbers and counting vocabulary with music and movement.

Here’s what your students will learn in French:

1 – un

2 – deux

3 – trois

4 – quatre

5 – cinq

6 – six

7- sept

8 – huit

9 – neuf

10 – dix

20 – vingt

30 – trente

40 – quarante

50 – cinquante

60 – soixante

70 – soixante-dix

80 – quatre-vingts

90 – quatre-vingt-dix

100- cent

Enjoy singing and learning with Whistlefritz!

Free French and Spanish October and November 2011 Calendars

It’s time for some new Foreign Language House printable calendars for October and November in French and Spanish.  These are useful in so many ways:  practice days, months, dates, counting; record homework, daily weather, or special events; plan units.

FREE Spanish October Calendar
FREE Spanish November Calendar
FREE French October Calendar
FREE French November Calendar

Be sure to join our mailing list (right sidebar) so that you’ll be the first to know when we publish freebies.  There’s something new every month!

Mardi Gras Halloween Costume

French Countdown: Ariane Rocket Launch

Practice counting numbers backwards in French, while introducing a little culture at the same time.  Young children will love becoming human rockets and blasting off  in French:

10 – dix

9 – neuf

8 – huit

7 – sept

6 – six

5 – cinq

4 – quatre

3 – trois

2 – deux

1 – un

Décollage!

Children can watch this video clip of the Ariane rocket launch.  Find French Guyana on the globe and show children le Centre Spatial Guyanais.  Culture can indeed be infused into even the most elementary of lessons!

For more information on the French space program, go to ArianeSpace.com

Fournitures Scolaires: French School Supplies

It’s back to school time!  Time to learn classroom objects and school supplies in French.  This French Classroom PowerPoint is a great tool for learning or reviewing important vocabulary for the classroom and school supplies.  I had my students complete a virtual school shopping web quest at the French Office Depot site.  We also enjoyed watching these short video clips as we learned about “la rentrée” in France.