This song is most appropriate for young children and those who are learning Spanish for the first time. The numbers are repeated 4 times and the song has a pattern that students pick up easily. My students use the song when counting to 10. Leslie Barger also has similar songs for the numbers 1-20 and 1-100. I haven't heard the whole album yet, but the songs seem to all follow the same rubric:
- Repeats the target vocabulary several times
- Does not include too many other words
- Slow enough pace that all students can sing along/listen
After playing this song, I created a powerpoint presentation showing different sets of animals (1-10.) Students got a chance to come up to the board and count the different sets of animals in Spanish.
I also found a couple of great videos on YouTube that were exciting for the students to watch.
I taught students ¿Cuántos hay? and had students practice responding with numbers to that question. This is not the best video because of how many other words are used but if you forward to about 1:17 there is great practice hearing the phrase ¿Cuántos hay?.
This last video is more of a cultural option. Celia Cruz sings the numbers 1-10. I do not know if it helped them remember the numbers any better, but I really like the video for the sheer chance to mention Celia Cruz in my classroom.
I also found following books helpful:
"Fiesta!"
Written by Ginger Fogelsong Guy
Illustrated by Rene King Moreno
(Greenwillow, 1996)
Written by Ginger Fogelsong Guy
Illustrated by Rene King Moreno
(Greenwillow, 1996)
I really like the simplicity of the text. The story is simple: children go to buy things to fill a Pinata. Along the way they count to 10. The only problem comes in visually counting the pictures. They are sometimes too small for a whole class to have the one-to-one correspondence as you count aloud.
By Pat MoraIllustrated by Barbara Lavallee(Clarion Books, 1996)
I really like this book because it incorporates rhyme and repetition. I loved the look of the illustrations. They are beautiful and very culturally relevant. Students could even later go on to understand each of the cultural pieces that are being counted in the story. However, that strength could also be it's downfall in that students may not understand what we are counting as we go through each page. Nonetheless, a great resource when teaching numbers 1-10.
Connect the Dots:
I really like connect the dots which could be used to ask students what number comes next. ABCya! has a game where you can click to connect the dots. After all the numbers are created an animation shows up. It works great on a smart board, but would work equally well with choral responses.
If you do not have a lcd projector or smart board you could always do it on a lamp projector by taking worksheets and copying them on clear paper. BlueBonkers has 15 different worksheets to connect the dots up to 10.
I got an idea from the Sonrisas Spanish Preschool and Elementary Spanish Curriculum to have students make number books. I slightly modified their lesson of texture rubbing (embossing) coins to just drawing pictures of objects for numbers 1-10. To create the book, take three sheets of 8.5 x 11 size paper and fold in half. Each page of the book represents a different number. Below is an exemplar from my Kindergarten student Stella.
Connect the Dots:
I really like connect the dots which could be used to ask students what number comes next. ABCya! has a game where you can click to connect the dots. After all the numbers are created an animation shows up. It works great on a smart board, but would work equally well with choral responses.
If you do not have a lcd projector or smart board you could always do it on a lamp projector by taking worksheets and copying them on clear paper. BlueBonkers has 15 different worksheets to connect the dots up to 10.
