Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Teach colors in Spanish with this song!

Finally, a new action packed color song is available from Calico Spanish on our CD: Mi guitarrí: Spanish Songs for Kids! This song is taken from a traditional German folksong. We modified it slightly to make it our own and to give children everywhere a chance to laugh and learn their colors.

The songs starts with the color green, which the singer loves because his/her father works in a forest. The song continues through the colors with each color corresponding to another career.

Get into the groove with this fun-filled color song. Move from green to red, blue, black, white, orange, yellow and colorful.


Saturday, October 17, 2009

Spanish Songs for Learning Farm Animals

Learning animal sounds is always fun for children.  When you learn a second language, you will want to learn the corresponding animal sounds which can differ surprisingly around the world!  Of course, domestic animals don't sound drastically different from region to region, but the interpretation of what words or sounds best represent the farm animals does vary greatly.  For example, when a rooster crows, we say "cock-a-doodle-do." In Spanish, that rooster will say, "qui-qui-ri-quí." In German the rooster says, "kikeriki."

Mi guitarrí: Spanish Songs for Children has a fun song to teach the sounds of many familiar animals.  Sing along with Mi tio tiene una granja (My uncle has a farm) and get to know the names and sounds of animals in Spanish.  As you sing with Joel, you'll have plenty of time to practice your rooster crow, your dog bark, your horse whinny and much, much more.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Kids' Spanish Dancing Song

Amiguito baila conmigo is a perfect song to use when introducing partner dancing to young students. This song is adapted from the Hansel and Gretel opera written by Engelbert Humperdinck in 1893. In the early 1900's this opera was frequently cited as one of the operas every child should know. This was a time in history when such lofty cultural goals were the norm for students.

The original melody is a lively tune and we translated the lyrics to suit our Spanish goals while holding true to the pattern first written by Humperdinck.  As the song begins, the children invite one another to dance by putting their hands together and moving to the left, right, up, down and in a circle.  They then clap their hands, and tap their feet to the tune.  Finally, children can tip their heads from side to side, and snap their fingers before completing the full body motions of left, right, up down and a full circle.

You'll love this action packed song and dance, but more importantly, the lyrics will engage your students, teach them some key vocabulary and bring merriment to one and all!

You can listen to a sample of this song and purchase it on iTunes or Amazon.com by visiting the Mi guitarrí CD, track 3.  Physical copies of the Mi guitarrí CD are available here on our website; just click the "Mi Guitarrí" tab at the top of this page.


Friday, October 2, 2009

Start your class with this Spanish welcome song...

Hola a todos is the perfect song to sing as you start your Spanish class or Spanish circle time.  This song teaches some key phrases in an immersion style; of course that means no English is included in the song lyrics!

Some of the words your students will learn while singing this introductory welcome song include:

Hola a todos.  Hello everyone.
Buenos días.  Good morning/day.
¿Cómo estás?  How are you?
Yo estoy muy bien.  I am very well/good.
Vamos a empezar la clase de Español.  We are going to start Spanish class.

Enjoy our sample song below.  You can see additional sample videos on our YouTube channel.  You can buy this CD, Mi guitarrí: Spanish songs for kids at www.miguitarri.com.


Thursday, October 1, 2009

Do you need a great action song to teach Spanish verbs?



My kids love to learn new verbs through singing and dancing.  They never tire of making up crazy motions and singing at the tops of their lungs as they work to memorize new action verbs in Spanish.  Now Mi guitarrí: Spanish Songs for Kids offers them a new favorite as they learn new verbs.  Joel invites the kids to come right now and get active with Vengan ya.  


Track 23 of the CD has ten verses and ten verbs for you to practice.  Then when your students are ready to learn some new verbs, you can let Joel lead you on bonus Track 30 and introduce any verbs you choose.  This is like playing high speed Simon Says.  You can shout a verb and all the students join in to make up actions for the verb.  I am sure you realize this as an immersion, kinesthetic learning opportunity that is way too much fun to pass up!!