Category: crosscurricular

I am so behind with posting things – rather a lot going on at the moment!

Apologies to those who have been patiently waiting for my presentation at the Comenius Conference at Newman College on June 29th – here it is!

It was a really great day and it was a wonderful way to finish this phase of the project.

Image by ninette_luz

This week is My Money Week in many schools across the country including my own.

For the first time this year, I’ve been asked to contribute some ideas for Spanish activities. I’ve done them in the past but it’s a sign of the increasing willingness – and excitement – on the part of some of my colleagues that I was specifically asked this time.

So off I popped to do some research and found a site called MamutMatemáticas where I found some resources for all sorts of mathematics in Spanish!

There are free resources for each topic as a sample – there are five for Dinero (see below) and I could have just used those. However, for £2 I downloaded a 52 page PDF offering ideas and worksheets on recognising coins, adding up, giving change, c to € and vice versa, prices and solving word puzzles.

So, in conjunction with the euro coins that are lying in the Maths cupboard, year4 are next week going to do some Spanish maths. Again. (I need to tell you about my excursion into CLIL but that’s for another day…)

The instructions won’t make much sense without the PDF but I’ll share them if anyone buys it!

I also found a number of sites that might help with the week –

facts about currencies  – http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/world-factbook/currency
online activity on currencies – http://www.pitara.com/activities/quiz/online.asp?qname=currencies

making amounts of money in euros http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/eurosite/wb/makemeEURO.html

a VERY challenging game that involves buying items to an exact amount of money http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/eurosite/games/picknmixEURO.html

this one’s about giving change http://www.teachingmoney.co.uk/eurosite/games/changeEURO.html

I’m sure there are plenty of other sites too that offer similar activities. I’d be interested to know if you’d like to share some!

PS here are the sample sheets on money from Mamutmatematicas –

http://www.mamutmatematicas.com/muestras/Dinero_Europeo_Contar_monedas_uno_dos_cinco_centimos.pdf

http://www.mamutmatematicas.com/muestras/Dinero_Europeo_Practica_comprar.pdf

http://www.mamutmatematicas.com/muestras/Dinero_Europeo_Repaso_de_contar_monedas.pdf

http://www.mamutmatematicas.com/muestras/Dinero_Europeo_Euros_parte_2.pdf

http://www.mamutmatematicas.com/muestras/Dinero_Europeo_Problemas_dinero_matematicas_mental.pdf

The last video has a footballer reading 2 non-fiction books about animals – always a popular subject in primary schools.

The first links into geography, culture and the environment; life cycles – who eats who – and habitats – who lives where.

Here’s a link to the West Sussex Grid where there are some resources linked to habitat. And some animal / habitat flashcards.

The second is about elks – venados – and how they live. Really interesting!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE_AtnV0Cjo

The second video I’d like to share –

A story about a girl called Maria finding some lines on the ground at the base of a mountain in Peru opens up the possibility of looking at the history of a Spanish speaking country, the culture and heritage, and the art of that area. Here’s some background information that might help!

I think it’s be a brilliant way of integrating lots of different areas of the curriculum – what about making your own Nazca lines on the school field?

Nazca lines

Nazca Lines and Cahuachi culture

Nazca lines facts

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PMPsqBAMfw]

On Tuesday I was in sunny (yes, it was sunny!) Manchester, delivering my AQA course.

Apart from the problems with the internet, I believe a good day was had by all – lunch was once more a highlight!

Rather than repeat all the links, can I refer you to my last post where you will find all the ‘new’ links about PLL, and also some recommendations from other delegates of sites and learning materials that they’ve found useful.

I forgot last week to put a link to a resource listing many many games and quick activities for the PLL classroom, so here it is.

Via my Google Reader, I was led to the following book published on Scribd.

Over 300 pages of games and activities for use in the PLL classroom.  What’s more, there are all mapped to the KS2 Framework objectives and helpfully split into sections for specific vocabulary areas, counting, literacy and language learning.  Plus there are sections of vocabulary in Spanish French and German to support those who are less fluent.

Looks a brilliant resource to enhance the learning of languages at primary – and I’m sure there are a few secondary pupils who wouldn’t mind a nostalgic game of Duck duck goose once in a while?
Games and Activities for Primary Foreign Languages

PS I am checking re copyright as the author is not the one who uploaded it!

Here is the Slidecast of my second presentation from Brighton.

Apologies for the audio cutting out before the end – no idea what happened there!  Perhaps the iRiver overheated!

Apologies to @wizenedcrone for forgetting her real name – it’s Fiona Joyce!!!

And the German site I mentioned was called GenkiGerman.

Today sees the beginning of another wonderful offering from Radio Lingua Network as episode 1 of NewsTime Spanish is launched.

Made by a highly talented trio – Mark ‘Mr RadioLingua’ Pentleton, José ‘just say Edmodo and I melt’ Picardo and Chris ‘where’s it to?’ Fuller, this weekly podcast keeps you up to date with news from Spain and Hispanic countries.

In this week’s edition of News Time Spanish we’ll be looking at the major financial reform in Spain as a result of the ongoing issues around Europe. Other stories include:

• UK elections news
• Spanish sporting successes
• Mexican/US immigration issues
• Health problems in Spain

You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and listen for free, whilst a Premium pass will allow you access to transcripts, exercises and a slower version of the audio.

Here’s my second presentation from Vida Latina, offering ideas for making Spanish cross curricular. Included are ideas from my classroom and also links to other cross curricular ideas such as Mira Miró and Jumping through hoops.

I sadly forgot to press record on my iRiver so there’s no audio this time I’m afraid. However, if you’d like to ask questions, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try and reply.

I’m a great fan of Pocoyo – just a shame that Stephen Fry doesn’t do the voiceover for the Spanish version. In the following video, Pocoyo encourages us to join in with La Hora del Planeta.

Tomorrow from 8.30-9.30pm is Earth Hour – when we are encouraged to switch off the lights and vote for the Earth.

A cute clip with a worthwhile message that little things – and little people! – can make a big difference.