Calico Spanish for Elementary Students

The following is a sponsored post in collaboration with Calico Spanish. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

YEARS ago, I wrote a review of Calico Spanish as a resource for teaching Spanish at home. At that time, it was a great program. Since then, they have continued to grow their curriculum and have now completely revamped and updated it, embracing new technology and the needs of modern families. Calico Spanish has changed dramatically and is now an engaging online program for schools and families. 

Today, I'm focusing on their homeschool program designed for children ages 4+. 

The Curriculum

When you sign up, you gain access to 365 lesson plans, 32 video stories, 27 song videos, 15 storybooks, 99 activity sheets, 549 flash cards, 24 posters, and 20+ games. That's a LOT of content!

You start off by choosing the level that best suits your child's needs. There are four total, each with a different theme and skill level. It is a scaffolding curriculum, building on what your child has learned in the previous level. Each level teaches specific concepts and vocabulary. The four themes are:

1. A: I Am Special 
2. B: I Love My Family
3. C:  I Live Here
4. and D: Welcome to the Farm

Here's an example of what your child will learn in level B:

If you are worried by the amount of screen time your child will have, then let me reassure you that your child doesn't spend the whole lesson staring at a screen. Each lesson includes activities and resources for offline learning. Although it is 100% digital, you can still print resources for free, or order professionally printed ones. These resources include flash cards, posters, and games your child can use offline.

The Lessons

When you open your level, the first thing you see is an introduction capsule that contains an introductory PDF for that level that you can open or download and print. You'll also find a lesson checklist and a student progress checklist, both of which you can view or download. 

Then you can open one of the eight units in each level. The daily lessons are carefully laid out for you and presented in bite-sized chunks to fit a young child's attention span without overwhelming. EVERYTHING you need is included in each online lesson. You simply scroll down from one activity to the next. And you can easily navigate from one day's lesson to the next using the tabs at the top of the page... 

I'm also very happy to see that each level includes 4 to 5 capsules dedicated to culture. I think that is one really important element of learning a new language and it's hard to teach effectively without also teaching about the cultures that speak the language.

I think, though, that what children will love best about the program is the story-based approach and the fun animated characters. In addition to the stories, there are also songs, animated video clips, and game-based play.  

Calico Spanish has done all the work for you. All you have to do as a parent is sign up and follow the lesson plans. It's no-prep and easy for parents to implement, and fun for your kids.

Over the last six months, I've read comments from a LOT of parents who don't speak a lick of Spanish, but had their children enrolled in dual language/immersion schools. This is a program that allows monolingual parents to teach Spanish to their children who find themselves learning at home for virtual schooling or homeschool. I love that this available for them!

Pricing

The price is also unbelievably reasonable considering the program. Do you know why? Because the COO of Calico is a HOMESCHOOLING MOM of three! She gets it. 

Homeschoolers have three options: pay monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Honestly? The best savings is the annual subscription which works out to only $7.42 a month!!! (Whaaa?? I know! Crazy!) Really, even $16 a month for daily lessons is a steal. Find the exclusive homeschool pricing here.

But you know what I ALWAYS say: Print sample pages or use the free trial of ANY curriculum you are considering before you buy it. I love that Calico lets you try the program for free for one week. Their free trial gives you access to 8 full units (2 per level) for 7 days. TRY IT YOURSELF.

I think you will love it. 

Special Black Friday Deal for MommyMaestra Readers!

MommyMaestra.com readers can purchase the full curriculum access for just $1 for the first month.  The subscription automatically renews at the regular low homeschool price of $16 per month, and families can cancel anytime.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received access to this program for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are mine. 

Free Spanish eBook for K - 5th

Spanish teacher alert!

Parents and teachers of bilingual students, I'm so happy to tell you about a new free resource! This collaboration between 18 Spanish-language TpT authors is a goldmine for you. All of them are fantastic and brilliant at creating quality content for your bilingual or Spanish classroom. I was happy to contribute to it, as well.

The Spanish eBook 2017 for grades K - 5 is now available. It is jam packed with tips, inspiration, and FREE RESOURCES for your Pre K-5th Grade Spanish classroom! Each author contributed a free printable, an original teaching tip, and other fantastic products that they have available to help you have a stellar school year. Take a look...

Mundo de Pepita is hosting this year's eBook on her TpT page. So don't hesitate! Get over there and download your copy today.

Introducing Tomás Rivera to High School Students

The following is a guest post by the talented Kali Lin of For the Love of Spanish.

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This year, I am entering my first year of homeschooling with my oldest child. I’m also entering my last year of teaching Spanish to my youngest brother—a homeschool senior.

When it comes to working with high-school students, I know I have a lot to learn. My experience with the high-school age is limited to the few small classes of homeschool students I have taught Spanish to over the last five years or so. I have enjoyed those classes a lot. But when it came to getting students excited about Spanish or Spanish-speaking cultures it sometimes felt a bit like pulling teeth.

Sure. They would do their homework and get good grades. They would turn in assignments and read the assigned passages in The House on Mango Street. I can deal with students begrudgingly doing grammar exercises because they have to. But when it comes to sharing the culture of the language—I want something different this year.

The Case for Culture

Learning about culture should make the classroom come alive. Culture is where the love for the language is born. Some teachers consider culture to be the “Fifth Skill” of the foreign language classroom, and it could probably be argued that it is the most important skill.

Usually, in my classes, we learn about Spain and Mexican-American cultures the most. Spain because the language originated there, and Mexican-American culture because it’s closest to home and can be found all around us. Each year, I pick a literary text that introduces the culture we’re learning about.

This year that text is …y no se lo tragó la tierra/…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him by Tomás Rivera. I’ve never taught this text so I’m pretty excited! Usually, we read The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (which I love). What’s different about …y no se lo tragó la tierra/…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him, is that it was originally written in Spanish. The beautiful English translation accompanies it in the back of the book. Both books are coming-of-age novels that shed an effective light on a distinct place in history and culture.

Charlotte Mason says of biographies, “Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age.” (Home Education, Vol. 1 Part XVIII.–History, p.280)

The Chicano Experience

Although …y no se lo tragó la tierra/…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him is not a biography of a historical character, the fictional biography that Rivera tells serves just as well to document the lives of Mexican-American migrant workers of the 1940s and 1950s—an important part of the Mexican-American experience that should be told and should be known.

Now that I’ve made the case for teaching culture in the high school Spanish classroom, and teaching it from a literary text rather than a textbook, we can talk about how to make it happen.

1. Read Shorter Passages

Normally I would assign students large passages of reading to do on their own at home, have them fill in pages with discussion questions, and then we would come back together as a class and discuss. We might dedicate one or two classes to discussing the book — because time spent on the book felt like time away from the grammar that they had to learn by the end of the year. Discussions always felt forced and stale, and now I’m beginning to wonder if it was because we had read through too fast, not lingered enough with each chapter, not allowed ourselves time to think and get a feel for what the text was trying to say.

The book has 27 chapters; few enough to read one per week and get through it. Doesn’t it sound like a neat opportunity to spend an entire year getting to know the author’s voice, letting each scene and passage soak in from week to week?

2. Read Aloud

Over the summer I read a few articles and listened to a few podcasts about the power of reading aloud. I think by the time students are in high school we expect them to do most of their work independently, but I thought it would be better to let this culture piece be a shared experience. The joy of reading will be the focus. Students won’t feel like the reading is work. They may simply listen and enjoy the story.

3. Narrate Each Passage After Each Reading

I’ve been immersing myself in Charlotte Mason’s writings and methods this summer (in preparation for our own homeschool this year). Narration is a device she suggests to help students become active listeners with what they read and to become self-teachers. Reading shorter passages will lend itself well to narration.

4. Read & Narrate in Both Languages

Because the text has both languages together in one book, and we are reading one chapter at a time, I will be able to read in both languages. Not only will we get to hear the beautiful stories in the language they were written, we will get a chance to learn Spanish while we’re at it and practice narrating in the target language.

5. Understand the Text Historically

Getting to know the time in which the story was written and the time in which the story is placed makes reading the story a richer experience. We will watch videos like this one from Annenberg Learner to understand the migrant struggle and learn about eco-literature; we will use this interview with Arturo Madrid to get another Mexican-American perspective; we will research the Chicano experience; we will read stories from Latino in America by Soledad O’Brien to see how things have changed (or not) for Mexican-Americans. I’m really excited for the year, and if you’re looking for a great piece of American Literature to add to your high schooler’s syllabus this year, I highly recommend …y no se lo tragó la tierra/…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him. If you do read it, I’d love for you to connect with me and share your thoughts about it! You can find me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

What literature do you use in your classroom to introduce culture?

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Born and raised in Kansas City, Kali took Spanish in college and fell in love with it -- especially after spending time studying in Costa Rica & Spain and volunteering in Peru.  Once graduated, she began sharing her love of Spanish through her blog, For the Love of Spanish, and by teaching Spanish to local homeschool students. This year, she embarks on her first year of homeschooling her own children with the goal of raising them and educating them bilingually.

Assessment Organizers for Bilingual Ed & Spanish Teachers

One of the most important aspects to teaching is actually tracking our children's/students' progress. For those who teach in a school setting, assessments are critical for monitoring when/if students reach benchmarks or if they are struggling in any given area. May's freebie from our sponsor, Lectura para niños is a set of Spanish assessment organizers. 

How to Use these Assessment Organizers  

Leah says:

I have an assessment that I use throughout the year. The first assessment, I write on this paper and keep it for their portfolio. I transfer their data to the scoring assessment page and from then on assess monthly for progress throughout the year. Once they have mastered, I only assess the areas of need.

The other is a page that I keep in the homework folders for the kids. I tell the kids if they have time, they can practice this page for fluency. I do NOT expect them to read the entire page at once, only little by little. At the end of the year, most students are able to read both pages (back to back) within 10 minutes or so.

Download this Set of Spanish Assessment Organizers

Here are the three files for you to use in your classroom.

Download your practice organizer

Download your assessment organizer

Download your scoring assessment organizer

And don't forget that you can find more of Lectura para niños posts and downloads here on MommyMaestra.

Other Posts You May Enjoy 

• Spanish Mini Books by Lectura para niños
  
  
• Free Download: Making Words in Spanish (Advanced Level)
  
  
• Free Download for Spanish Readers: Word Wall

eeBoo's Spanish Bingo

The after school Spanish enrichment class at my son's school is going well! Setting foot in the classroom has reminded me how rewarding it is to teach children. Diego is encouraging and the rest of the kids have been really interested in everything and anything I present to them on Wednesdays. Of course, they love playing games! After a session of conversation, reading and writing practice, we have played several different things, but eeBoo's Spanish Bingo, has been their favorite!

The game includes 6 game boards and I have paired children to work together. I love that this game of bingo does not have any English words anywhere. The kids, who do know how to read, have to carefully listen to me and look for the Spanish word on their board. The boards all have a specific theme, so the children only have to focus on either articles of clothing, nature, colors, food, vehicles or animals at a time.

There are 48 tiles, which allows the kids to hear a good amount of vocabulary before a winner is declared. The game boards and tiles are sturdy. eeBoo's Spanish Bingo has already endured four years in our house of very boisterous boys (and an abuelita who loves to play)! The children at the enrichment program have been very gentle with the game and even decided the winner should put all the tiles back in the gorgeous cloth bag that comes with it!

No doubt that the more children hear vocabulary in Spanish and practice repetition, it will foster confidence. Their ability to start speaking a new language can only come from mastering basic vocabulary. For non-native speakers like my students, it's great to try games like this Spanish Bingo, because it also makes learning so much more fun!

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Betty Galvan, is writing "for smart and stylish moms" over
at My Friend Betty Says... She is a teacher and mother to three fun little boys.

Launching a Spanish Program for K-1

I'm very excited to share with you that today will be my first day back in the classroom! Although it is simply once a week for an hour in my son's school...it is a great feeling. When I stepped out seven years ago, I never imagined I would be away this long.

This is a small step for me but a big step in teaching languages in our elementary schools. My son's school starts a Spanish curriculum in the first grade but for some parents (including myself), forty minutes every six school days wasn't enough. It was remarkable that they took the initiative and suggested adding Spanish as an after school enrichment program. It was also impressive that the school quickly agreed and I was happy to accept the recommendation for the spot.

I'm going in with great ambition to hold the entire class speaking only in Spanish for the entire hour. The majority of the children are in the first grade and love their Spanish teacher, I know they have been paying attention! The basics such as introductions, letters, numbers and shapes have been covered by her and will be reviewed with me. This will be more of a support class with no reason for me to believe the children who are not of Latino descent, cannot benefit from an additional one hour a week of Spanish.

Today I will start with resources that we have mentioned here on Mommy Maestra, books that are perfect for reading aloud, music and games! Diego has been asking me all day if I am prepared! Of course, it is an added bonus that he will be sitting in the same class with me. It also goes without saying that this opportunity continues to support our family's effort to keep the Spanish language alive in our home. Diego is proud of the fact that I will be in his school teaching (even if it is only an hour a week) and as what seems to be the only Spanish speaker in the lower grades, it shows that his first language is important.

Please wish me luck! I promise to report back!

image via

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Betty Galvan, is writing "for smart and stylish moms" over
at My Friend Betty Says... She is a teacher and mother to three fun little boys.