My song for the ILILC3 Show and Tell is….

El pollito pio!

httpv://youtu.be/dhsy6epaJGs

If you want the actions, here’s a cute kid doing them!

httpv://youtu.be/oxuyvHLveCc

And here’s a version with the lyrics – a stronger South American accent though!

httpv://youtu.be/sEszVwMn7t8

Also available in

Italian

Dutch

German

Catalan 

Portuguese

French

Greek

Cyprus version

Romanian

Lyrics :

Pulcino Pio – El Pollito Pio (Il Pulcino Pio – Radio Globo)

En la radio hay un pollito,
En la radio hay un pollito,
Y el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay una gallina,
En la radio hay una gallina,
Y la gallina coo, el pollito pio
el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay también un gallo,
En la radio hay también un gallo,
Y el gallo cocoroco y la gallina coo,
y el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay un pavo,
En la radio hay un pavo,
Y el pavo glu glu glu, y el gallo cocoroco,
y la gallina coo, y el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay una paloma,
En la radio hay una paloma,
Y la paloma ruu, el pavo glu glu glu,
el gallo cocoroco, la gallina coo,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay también un gato,
En la radio hay también un gato,
Y el gato miao, la paloma ruu,
el pavo glu glu glu, el gallo cocoroco,
la gallina coo y el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay también un perro,
En la radio hay también un perro,
Y el perro guau guau, el gato miao,
la paloma ruu, el pavo glu glu glu,
el gallo cocoroco, la gallina coo
y el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay una cabra,
En la radio hay una cabra,
Y la cabra meee, el perro guau guau,
el gato miao, la paloma ruu,
el pavo glu glu glu, el gallo cocoroco,
la gallina coo y el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay un cordero,
En la radio hay un cordero,
Y el cordero beee, y la cabra meee,
el perro guau guau, el gato miao,
la paloma ruu, el pavo glu glu glu,
el gallo cocoroco, la gallina coo
y el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay una vaca
En la radio hay una vaca
Y la vaca moo, y el cordero beee
y la cabra meee, el perro guau guau,
el gato miaoo, la paloma ruu,
el pavo glu glu glu, el gallo cocoroco,
la gallina coo y el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay también un toro,
En la radio hay también un toro,
Y el toro muuu, y la vaca moo
y la cordero beee y la cabra meee,
el perro guau, el gato miaoo,
la paloma ruu, el pavo glu glu glu,
el gallo cocoroco, la gallina coo
y el pollito pio, el pollito pio,
el pollito pio, el pollito pio.

En la radio hay un tractor,
En la radio hay un tractor,
Y el tractor bruum y el tractor bruum,
y el tractor bruum y el pollito prrrr.

Inspired by ideas from Jan Lewandowski and Sandra Longden on the CFBT Primary forum for snow related songs, I was reminded of a previous post in which I shared a song about Un muñeco de nieve that I had subtitled using Amara (previously called Universal Subtitles.)

Below is the unsubtitled version – subtitled version is available here (can’t embed it on my WP blog)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gb-KU3awXw

Then there’s this simple song to the tune of Frosty the Snowman – Mi hombre de nieve

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sESUMaLl2o

I particularly like this song too about winter becoming spring – Es invierno

httpv://youtu.be/ACvLQL0WqTk

La letra –

ES INVIERNO Y HACE FRÍO.
EN INVIERNO, NO CALIENTA EL SOL.
ES INVIERNO Y CAE LA LLUVIA
Y EL PAISAJE PIERDE SU COLOR.

EL INVIERNO
EMPIEZA EN DICIEMBRE
EN MARZO SE TIENE QUE IR.
EL SOL CALIENTA,
LAS FLORES YA SALEN.
ES PRIMAVERA POR FIN.

And finally, here’s a simple story about a sad snowman- El Muñeco de Nieve está triste.

httpv://youtu.be/UuhuJJKKBCU

I also wrote a post back in 2008 about using The Snowman by Raymond Briggs using resources from HGFL.

Finally, it reminded me of this post from way back about snow!

An excellent video from Junta de Andalucia about the use of technology.

It advises children –

• ask an adult e.g. your parents to help you find suitable sites
• don’t give out your personal details
• playing with your friends, reading and playing sport is fun too
• be selective about what you play/watch
• your imagination is the best game

A worthwhile message and a great video to teach good online behaviour in a fun – and different – way!

httpv://youtu.be/dZQxORd0icA

There are other videos in the series – watch out for more posts in the near future!

httpv://youtu.be/d_smmARX-TI

Cuento de Navidad. Matias ha pedido un tren a los Reyes Magos. Matias sabía que los Reyes Magos no dejan regalos a los niños que están despiertos pero esa noche le entran unas ganas terribles de hacer pis. Un cuento divertido para disfrutar con los niños esta Navidad.

Beatriz Montero cuenta una adaptación del cuento “Cuando a Matías le entraron ganas de hacer pis en la Noche de Reyes”, de Chema Heras, Ed. Kalandraka.

A great story for tonight! You can see the original story here and here’s a lovely little song to go with the story!

Thanks to Pinterest I came across the blog Mummy Maestra today, and thought that this post would be well worth sharing for those of you that are back to school in time to make use of the resources mentioned.

Día de los Reyes Magos Lesson plans, Books, Activities mentions a number of books and associated lesson plans which may not be so useful unless you already have the book(s), but the craft activities are great. I particularly like the 3D Reyes Magos and the more challenging Wee Three Kings beanbags! And the link to the website El Boricua has a good account of the whole festival as it happens in Puerto Rico in English; likewise, Rosca de Reyes has details of celebrations around Reyes as well as recipe!

Below are three images linked to websites – the first is to a simple story about Los Reyes (click on the initial image in the post and the story is easier to read!); the second links to an online jigsaw puzzle, and the last to the download of the colour in flag – print one per child and make a garland!

Thanks Mummy Maestra for the ideas!

Thank you for reading ¡Vámonos! in 2012. Wishing you all the above and more in 2013.

Lisa xx

Today in Waterstones in Coventry, Maria Alexander aka @IamMariaAlex has been holding a book signing for her first book – very exciting! Entitled Welcome to Planet WizZ, it is the first of a series of books ‘Teaching children Spanish the WizZ way‘, and Maria kindly let me have a pre-launch look!

Planet WizZ is ‘a mysterious little planet..that never stays still and keeps whizzing among the other planets.’ The planet is inhabited by wizzes, including Marrón and Naranja who are twins and the ‘stars’ of the story, along with Señor VerdeRojo who runs the only school on WizZ. Spanish is the official language on Planet WizZ and, whilst the book is written in English, there are Spanish phrases in the text besides the characters names. Each chapter (five in this book) has a theme in the form of a question e.g. ¿Qué hay en tu mochila? ¿Cuántos años tienes? ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? and within the chapter, relevant vocabulary is used which is then listed at the end of the chapter.

I enjoyed the story – the characters are amusing and you quickly get to know their personalities and traits. The Spanish does not detract from the story by which I mean that the story doesn’t seem stilted as you switch reading between the two languages, and there aren’t too many new words introduced in each chapter. All the Spanish is highlighted in bold so it’s clear to the reader when the Spanish is coming, and the characters’ names are also written in the colour of their name (as I wrote the names above!) I loved the graphics – simple but very amusing and appealing. (I think all teachers could do with 5 eyes like Señor VerdeRojo) And I particularly liked the little bits of incidental ICU that appear as you read such as information about Spanish speaking countries, and also the ‘valuable lessons’ that the characters often learn by the end of the chapter! The page of vocabulary at the end of the chapter promises sound files for the pronunciation of each item on www.planetwizz.com – you can currently register for future updates and I sure that this will follow soon along with other supporting resources as soon as website glitches are sorted out.

Whilst the books are aimed at 6-9 year olds, as Maria says in this lovely interview by one of her pupils, Ellie, they can equally be used by older beginners as a starting point as the themes such as numbers and the alphabet, are ones you usually meet at the start of language learning.

The interview also talks about how some of the proceeds from the book will got to M.A.M.A., an organisation that uses art and music to make the world a better place!

According to the Bablake newsroom you can buy the book, priced £6.99, from Waterstones in Coventry (where Maria will be signing more copies  during late night shopping on Wednesday 19th), WHSmiths, independent retailers and on Amazon (although it says currently unavailable, they’ll have more copies very soon)and the Book Repository.

This is billed as the first of many Spanish books, and there’ll be more languages too…(see below!)

Good luck Maria! Looks great!

I came across this website earlier when searching for something else and thought I’d share it.

TuDiscoveryKids is the website for DiscoveryKids in Latin America and features all sorts of activities in Spanish linked to some of their programmes. I thought I’d highlight a few that you might find interesting!

Juego de los colores

In this game, learners are given five tubes of paint and challenged to make the colour indicated – in the example above ‘bordo’ or burgundy. They squeeze the tubes to squirt the paint onto the palette, use the paintbrush to mix the colour and then paint the picture with the colour they mixed. Great for linking to colour blending in art.

Fábrica de palabras

In this game, the crane challenges you to complete words by finding the missing consonants. The letters are then hoisted into the word and the crane repeats the sound and tells you if you’re correct. Then you are asked a yes/no question about consonants and vowels before being given another challenge. Great for looking at sound/letter link.

Todos a bordo

A game for dinosaur fans – and every class has them! The dinosaurs travel from Triassic to Jurassic to Cretaceous period and you are in charge of showing the dinosaurs to their seats, checking the tickets, feeding them and making sure that they get off in the correct period. As you go, you learn what type of food the dinosaurs eat and also in which time period they belong.

 Conoce los 5 sentidos

This game links to your senses and asks you to choose from three objects that match a description e.g. Algo que tiene olor – something that smells or algo brillante – something shiny, and then decide which sense you would use to find out. As you play, you can learn the names of the objects from which you select, increase your knowledge of adjectives, and also consider your senses. You need to be careful as well not choose the correct sense for the adjective e.g. I had to find something ‘silencioso’ (silent) which was ‘una pluma’ (a feather), and this linked to ‘Oido’ – hearing rather than touch which you might have chosen had the adjective been ‘suave’ – soft. A fun link to science!

Each game also has links to other activities that have a link – for example, a video called Masa repugnante is suggested for this game which links to a video about an experiment to make a gooey yucky dough!

And there are also articles that would be of interest to educators and parents. This one links to the game above.

  Así se dice

This is a very simple game that wants you to indicate the animal that makes a certain sound by clicking on the animal. This is made harder by the animals being in silhouette on what looks like a sight chart! A fun game that could be played when discussing animals as well as when thinking about how languages have similarities and differences.

 Leer es un juego

Our final example is accessed via the image of a library where you click on the book you’d like to read. The book is read to you but there is a missing word in the text. In the first example, there are three images from which to choose to fill the gap; in the second you have to choose the word that has the syllables correctly ordered. A fun way of keeping attention if you are using the story with the whole class as well as a little challenge for an individual reader.

I hope you’ll investigate the site more yourself – there are many more games and activities that merit attention. Perhaps I’ll come back with a follow up post in the future to explore further!

Linguamedia is an app that allows you to watch foreign TV stations online. Originally launched earlier this year with French channels,  Linguascope announced today that their Linguamedia app has been updated so you can now watch German, Spanish, Italian and English channels as well as French ones. They’ve also improved video playback, and updated it for the iPhone5 screen.

The app costs 69p and offers 16 French, 6 German, 12 Italian, 12 Spanish and 5 English channels (NB the channels are in that language not necessarily from that country so there is an Austrian and a Swiss channel for German) It is possible to access TV online e.g. by searching “RTVE” you can watch the stream of RTVE1, RTVE2, Telesport and Canal 24H, but for convenience, this app is great. You need a wifi connection to view the stations, and as Linguascope warn

I’ve mentioned Linguatrivia Spanish and Newshound previously but there are many other apps from Linguascope available. Worth a look!

I was having a mooch on Youtube and came across this song, and it reminded me of @valleseco and #ililc1

Here’s the Grupo Encanto version with the fun actions and below that is the version with pictures to illustrate the lyrics!

httpv://youtu.be/fTzTFQbdYEQ

httpv://youtu.be/zI8ZTVBSTbI

And finally some kids singing and dancing – cuter and less cheesy than Grupo Encanto!

httpv://youtu.be/fKHXnV1eTPI