How fun is it to learn a new language? For those who don't know me, I am a full-time missionary and teacher (and administrator and tutor and youth pastor and principal, and ...) in Mexico through an organization called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) San Diego/Baja. You can read more about my journey & what all I'm learning as I travel through this adventure over on my missionary blog. Even though I took 4 years of Spanish in high school (many, many years ago) I didn't really speak it when I moved here over 11 years ago.
It took me quite a while to gain confidence in speaking this incredible language out loud, like almost 5 years, YIKES!! I spoke it often outside of our YWAM Community, at the local markets or on a house build (one of our many ministries) but not in the classroom or with my bilingual friends. I was way too timid & afraid of saying something wrong and being made fun of (yes, even in my 30's I still struggle with this).
The way I ended up getting over this was actually because of a few of my students in my first preschool classroom here in Mexico. I had 2 students who only spoke Spanish so I had to do my teachings in both languages which forced me to not only speak Spanish but to learn more vocabulary as well. I also wanted to make sure that what I was teaching was the same thing in both languages not a simplified version for my Spanish-speakers because of my lack of language skills.
This "freedom" opened so many doors for me. It was not easy because while the kids would help me with the correct word or pronunciation they often also laughed at me when I said something wrong or got tongue-tied or made a mistake. My pride was wounded but not as deeply. Not sure why that happens because kids can be ruthlessly honest.
It took me quite a while to gain confidence in speaking this incredible language out loud, like almost 5 years, YIKES!! I spoke it often outside of our YWAM Community, at the local markets or on a house build (one of our many ministries) but not in the classroom or with my bilingual friends. I was way too timid & afraid of saying something wrong and being made fun of (yes, even in my 30's I still struggle with this).
The way I ended up getting over this was actually because of a few of my students in my first preschool classroom here in Mexico. I had 2 students who only spoke Spanish so I had to do my teachings in both languages which forced me to not only speak Spanish but to learn more vocabulary as well. I also wanted to make sure that what I was teaching was the same thing in both languages not a simplified version for my Spanish-speakers because of my lack of language skills.
This "freedom" opened so many doors for me. It was not easy because while the kids would help me with the correct word or pronunciation they often also laughed at me when I said something wrong or got tongue-tied or made a mistake. My pride was wounded but not as deeply. Not sure why that happens because kids can be ruthlessly honest.
Anyways, enough about me, I know that so many of our students are bilingual & even if they are not, they are living in a Spanish-speaking nation. So I made these Puzzle Cards for Number Recognition and Subitizing in Spanish to help those students strengthen their Spanish skills and for those bilingual students to make those connections.
These are great because once the student matches the numbers correctly, they can flip the cards over & (when printed 2 sided) they create an image. This creates a control of error so the student or child can do this activity independently in a center or workshop. They gain confidence and can self-correct when needed. This is a huge part of independent learning and so prevalent in a Montessori-style classroom setting.
This week we are using our St Patrick's Day Number Fluency Puzzles in Spanish for 1-10 since St Patrick's Day is coming soon. I have an English set as well as a set for 11-20. I have also created a Valentine's, Penguins, Fall & Winter version and will be adding more seasonal and holiday themed versions soon.
You can see how these sets work out & the best way to print them and a few other ways to use them in the classrooms in the video below. This is using the Fall Number Fluency Puzzles in English for 1-10 and those can be found in my TeachersPayTeachers store.
These are great because once the student matches the numbers correctly, they can flip the cards over & (when printed 2 sided) they create an image. This creates a control of error so the student or child can do this activity independently in a center or workshop. They gain confidence and can self-correct when needed. This is a huge part of independent learning and so prevalent in a Montessori-style classroom setting.
This week we are using our St Patrick's Day Number Fluency Puzzles in Spanish for 1-10 since St Patrick's Day is coming soon. I have an English set as well as a set for 11-20. I have also created a Valentine's, Penguins, Fall & Winter version and will be adding more seasonal and holiday themed versions soon.
You can see how these sets work out & the best way to print them and a few other ways to use them in the classrooms in the video below. This is using the Fall Number Fluency Puzzles in English for 1-10 and those can be found in my TeachersPayTeachers store.
What are ways that you introduce or practice language fluency and number fluency or subitizing in your classrooms? Leave a comment below and let us know!
Until next time, I'll be working on teaching multiplication and division to one of my students and the pythagorean theorem to another and teaching 2 more how to read in Spanish. Pray for me! :0)
Until next time, I'll be working on teaching multiplication and division to one of my students and the pythagorean theorem to another and teaching 2 more how to read in Spanish. Pray for me! :0)
RSS Feed
