So today’s lesson is thanks to that new amiga from Dakota County Family Child Care  reminding me of the basics of adult learning.  (I will provide the last part of the Spanish alphabet later this weekend!)

Hear The Spanish Alphabet  Click the audio link to the left and listen in on the Spanish alphabet!

I have two different audio links in this blog post:  one is to hear the Spanish alphabet all the way through and one is to hear and repeat after me the letters A - Ñ.  My suggestion would be to then use the last audio link again to write the letters as you hear them (the Spanish alphabet letters used are listed below as the alfabeto Español is just a bit different than the English alphabet).

Repeat Letters A - Ñ   I would suggest you listen and repeat, then listen and write the letters.

a, b, c, ch, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

 There is a cool book on El alfabeto found at this link for only 21 cents used!!!  Get out of town - it’s so cheap!  I have used this book a lot and it ROCKS!!!

Then this book looks cute but I have never seen it in person!  Check this link out.

These flash cards look amazing, but I don’t understand the pricing.  Check them out - they are cute looking.

Tomorrow we will have a See It! Say It! fun lesson where you will be able to see the letters, hear them and then say them after me!

Happy Educating / Sea feliz educando …

Boca Beth

Then you are at the right place amiga, amigo / friend!  This week we will help you out with the Spanish alphabet.  Read what a fellow teacher says about this song I wrote (and the fact that she is a native Spanish-speaker makes me so proud how she raves about it!):

      Anna M. Ortega-Shyne, Spanish Teacher, Florida

I have found that BOCA BETH’s Alphabet song is the first song I have been able to use with my Spanish class. The song is accurate and presents ALL of the letters in the Spanish alphabet. I have never been able to use a recording of a Spanish alphabet song in class before, because the whole Spanish alphabet was not used in the song. I am so excited that I am finally able to use a Spanish Alphabet song in my classroom! I also love the ¿ Cómo te llamas ? song. My kids love it too. There are large quantities of Spanish instruction materials out there, but I am encouraged that the songs I have chosen to use from the Boca Beth Program are helping me to instruct my students in a correct use of the Spanish language. Thanks BOCA BETH!

Enjoy the song!  Then come back as the week goes along for more ideas on how to introduce the Spanish alphabet.  Click link to the right for song:     Rappin the Spanish Alphabet with Boca Beth

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

They all won our More Boca Beth / Más Boca Beth bilingual music CD from our award-winning bilingual product line!

You know what comes to my mind from learning opposites as a kid? Grover from Sesame Street showing “near” & “far” LOL. He would get right up in the camera & really enunciate the word “near” & then run far away & enunciate the word “far”. He did that a whole bunch of times. It’s been a “million” years since I’ve seen an episode of Sesame Street & I STILL remember that, so it must have made an impact.  So, my answer: over-the-top visuals & repetition!  from Dawn

With any concept, including opposites, I love hands-on and so do my kids. We would pick out some toys/objects that demonstrate opposites such as, big and small balls, tall and short dolls, boy and girl toys, etc. I think that the concept could be understood with a realatively small number of opposite sets (like 5) so that the kids don’t become overwhelmed. We would talk about what makes something opposites and then go on to each set of objects. It would be fun at this point to introduce the sets using both the English and Spanish words (alto(a)/bajo(a) and tall/short). After going through each set a couple of times, it is always fun to try and put what you are learning to music, it is also easier to recall later.  from Katrina

I have used several ways this year. Pictures have worked very well. Seeing the differences over and over. My son does well if he can see thngs. We walk arond our house and try to find things that are opposites. We also do lots of worksheets about opposites. It would be good to put the Spanish words on post it’s and place them on items arond the house.  from Carol

I find that a great way to introduce children to any concept in a foreign language is through books and props. I would first read a bilingual book about opposites, such as “mis opuestos” to introduce the topic. Then I would have a set of large and small objects, wide and narrow, tall and short, a door that opens closes, etc… and then incorporate it into a game where each child would pick out a pair and identify the opposites in Spanish.  from Vivian

Thank you ladies and thanks to all of you for reading, sharing and using the tips from this blog that I maintain a passion to continue as long as the interest is there!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

From our I See Colors/Veo colores song I have seven/siete (7) color visual aids to share with you for preschool classroom fun and learning.  You will receive a red apple, a blue ribbon, a green frog, a yellow sun, a white crescent moon, a brown bear and a black car tire plus the color words in English and Spanish! 

For our I Know My Shapes / Yo sé mis formas bilingual children’s song I have five/cinco (5) shape visual aids to bring Spanish and English together whether you are a homeschooling family, ESL teacher, stay-at-home mom or preschool professional.  You will receive a circle, square, rectangle, triangle and oval plus the words of the shapes in Spanish and English! 

How do you get them?  Simply comment below which one - colors or shapes - of the visual aids you would like me to mail you!  I will reply to EVERY comment, asking you for your mailing address!  And, I am going to slip in a fun little Boca Beth item in the mailer!

So…go to our web site and read the lyrics for the I See Colors children’s song and then go to the Boca Beth web site and read the lyrics for the I Know My Shapes song … think about which one you would use more then comment below!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Today - it’s YOUR turn!

Today - you win our More Boca Beth / Más Boca Beth music CD and a pair of our lead-free, toy-tested mini maracas!

Simply share your idea on this blog post - by commenting below - how you have or would suggest teaching/introducing opposites to young children ages 2-8!  How would you bring the two most widely spoken languages in the United States - Spanish and English - together while teaching these opposite words? 

It’s that easy to win!  We will accept your ideas through Sunday at 5 pm EST, February 28, 2010!  We will choose two ideas to share, and both of the writers of those ideas will win a CD and a pair of maracas!  (Plus your ideas will be posted on our blog next week!)

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Here are the words to the song:

Sing opposites in Spanish & English
Canta en Español e Inglés
Sing with me! It’s easy, you’ll see!
¡Canta conmigo! ¡Es fácil, verás!
Sí es yes, yes is sí.
No es no, no is no.
SI - NO! YES - NO!
Singing opposites!
Repeat chorus
Arriba es up, up is arriba.
Abajo es down, down is abajo.
ARRIBA - ABAJO! UP - DOWN!
Singing opposites!
Repeat chorus
Día es day, day is día.
Noche es night, night is noche.
DIA - NOCHE! DAY - NIGHT!
Singing opposites!
Repeat chorus
Grande es big, big is grande.
Pequeño es small, small is pequeño.
GRANDE - PEQUEÑO! BIG - SMALL!
Singing opposites!

Here are the suggested circle time/classroom activities to bring the Boca Beth bilingual song to life:

I ask the children if they have enough energy to help me with my opposite song. (I speak in both languages back and forth as much as possible when asking questions like this. I realize if you only have command of one language that part is impossible, but it’s nice to do if you are bilingual.) I have them practice the four sets of opposites ahead of time with me. We practice shaking our heads for yes/sí and no/no, then we go up/arriba and down/abajo, then we make a sun over our head for day/día and pretend we are sleeping on our folded hands for night/noche and the last is the most fun I tell them with big/grande and small/pequeño. I remind them that it is a sway dance song so let’s “baila juntos/dance together.” We sway dance all the way until a set of opposites. I cue them as to which one is next. 

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

P.S. (Tomorrow we will ask YOU for your ideas on teaching opposites to young children ages 2-8, and the two ideas chosen to share in our blog Spanish Fun for Everyone will provide the writer of the ideas the CD this Boca Beth song is on - More Boca Beth - plus a pair of children’s mini maracas!  Start your creative juices flowing!)

For the past five years a Pinellas County Public School encouraged their first graders to learn our bilingual songs - encouraging communication in the two most widely spoken languages in this county, Spanish and English!  Then, last year, they added in American Sign Language due to a student in their class who used ASL for communication!

What you will witness in this YouTube video is their sweet, young voices sharing their knowledge of how to sing the opposites in English and Spanish.  Most of the children are Anglo, English-speaking children who have come to embrace the diversity of their community.   Do you?  As an adult are you showing young children that you respect others’ cultures and their languages?  I hope so!  Enjoy!

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

See the ball.  See the pelota.  I know it sounds so elementary, but many people think this type of learning will confuse the child.  Quite the opposite says the research - it wires the young child’s brain to become a lifetime language learner!

Use this methodology to introduce opposites to young children.  After playing our Boca Beth Opposites / Los opuestos song from yesterday’s free download, use these resources to add to the learning fun:

FREE bilingual language cards off our Boca Beth Sample Resource area.  Click here!

This adorable bilingual book from Scholastic Book Company.

Really easy to use and affordable opposite language cards on a ring stand to buy from Ingenio are found here at this link.

Another fun book called Los contrarios/Opposites (I know!  I know!  Way too many ways to say the one word from English to Spanish!)  Find the book here with cute teddy bears!

Lastly, allow some true Spanish culture to weave into the lesson with this wonderful resource from Cinco Puntos Press.  Click here to find it!

As always amigas, amigos/friends … Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth

Back to the weekly fun of sharing lesson ideas, book resources, and Boca Beth bilingual beats that introduce Spanish and English to young children ages birth - ten! (Yes!  Pregnant moms should be listening to our CDs so that their babies learn in the womb.  Read this recent article on just that subject … learning languages in the womb!)

Enjoy our award-winning song about opposites from our second of four bilingual music CDs.  This one is written to the melody of One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.  Then follow us all week for additional resources to teach opposites/los opuestos to young children in the two most widely spoken languages in the United States - English and Spanish/Inglés y Español.

  Opposites / Los opuestos  (click this link on the left to get the free music download)

Happy Educating!  ¡Sea feliz educando!

Boca Beth