Monday, February 18, 2008

First edition almost sold out!

Just a quick note - Amazon.com has a few copies left of the first edition of Flip Flop Spanish Level 1 and they've discounted them to under $9 each!! Holy cow! 15 weeks of lessons, plus a CD for less than $10!

Order them fast, I know they'll go quick!
Sra. Gose
www.flipfloplearning.com

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Learning Spanish with the Shell Game

Here's a great game to spice up any vocabulary lesson!
For any list of three or four new words, use the age-old "shell game." But there's a twist - instead of finding which shell (or plastic cup at our house) has something under it, the child or student is simply having to remember the Spanish word (or any language) for the item that is uncovered. Here's an example:

We studied animals one week:
el gato - cat (gah-toh)
el perro - dog (peh-roh)
el pájaro - bird (pah-hah-roh)
el pez - fish (pehs)

After studying the words and doing our weekly activities, we took little people (fisher price, I think) and placed one animal under each of four cups (be sure they're not see-through!) If you don't have actual figures, a half-index card with the picture on it - from a magazine, or sticker, or draw it yourself, should fit under fairly easily.

Slide the cups around rapidly, trying to follow them with your eyes. Then one partner uncovers an animal. The other person has to say it in Spanish in order to keep it. Switch turns. The person that guessed now gets to move the cups. The guesser chooses a cup - hopefully there's an animal underneath! If there is, you must say the Spanish word. If there is no animal, or the wrong word is guessed, the turn passes to the opposite player. Keep taking turns until all four animals are gone. The player with the most animals wins. To make it more advanced, add a fifth cup, to make it easier, take one cup (and one word) away.

Have fun and good luck! Buena suerte!
For more games and teaching tips, as well as a free PDF lesson, check out the flipfloplearning.com website.

Sra. Gose