Weeks 14 and 15

Los pingüinos

We have been continuing our winter theme these past two weeks. Each week we begin by talking about the weather and describing different weather clothing items (see previous posts for songs and vocabulary).

I told a story about un muñeco de nieve triste (a sad snowman) that incorporated vocabulary we have been using throughout the year as well as vocabulary from the current theme:

• Ojos / eyes

• Nariz / nose

• Gorro / hat

• Triste / sad

• Contento or feliz / happy (I mostly use feliz with the children but you will hear contento used in the story below)

• Muñeco de nieve / snowman

• Tengo frío / I’m cold

Below is a version of the story I told by a native speaker from Spain. Listen and see if you can pick up on the words we have been using in class in his story.

We also have introduced new friends to our classes, los pingüinos (penguins). I brought in a grande (big) and a pequeño (small) penguin. One is the Papá (dad) and the other is the hijo (son). Our penguin friends are very hungry and we have been feeding them lots of fish. Feeding the penguins fish is not only a ton of fun for the children but it also gives them practice using the following concepts:

• identifying different sizes in Spanish (grande y pequeño)

• using the phrase tengo hambre (I’m hungry)

• identifying colors in this activity we are focusing on rojo (red) and amarillo (yellow)

For some movement fun, we used the song below to Bailar como pingüinos (dance like penguins). A couple of children told me they were familiar with the song too and they had a lot of fun with the dance!

For the toddler classroom, I also read the Spanish version of Grande Pequeño by Leslie Patricelli. If you are interested you can find the book on Amazon here.