¡Hola Amigos!
During the last few years I have been thinking about the latest trends in foreign language learning and teaching and how as teachers we can use them to help our students learn Spanish in the future. I have found that one of the most successful ways to teach Spanish to kids is through technology.
I am confident to say that we have found a perfect formula for our students to success: the combination of Spanish videos, catchy songs and interactive games with vibrant images, accompanying worksheets and now also our new Spanish books.
During this year in the Spanish Department we are very excited to announce that all the students at Blouberg International from grade 1 to 6 each have their own access with their own username and password to the learning online resource called Rockalingua.
As many of you already know – Rockalingua is an interactive website where you will find songs, worksheets and games all in Spanish.
You can access Rockalingua by following the below 3 steps:
- Go to the web site https://rockalingua.com/
- On the top right of the page click ‘Login’ in and enter your child’s unique username and password.
Please note this website only works on tablets and laptops, Not on cellphones.
Start to enjoy the videos, songs and the games and complete the assigned tasks.
These videos are designed to combine vocabulary with high frequency structures so that students don’t feel like they’re “learning Spanish”, but instead enjoying it.
Since last year, students have been learning from this online resource in the classroom, and they really enjoyed singing along to the songs.
This year they will have to complete certain assigned tasks every week to progress and gain more vocabulary together with the exercises in their Spanish books.
By customizing the curriculum for each class by blocking and unblocking certain content the students can focus on the topics they are working on in class and complement perfectly the content of their textbooks.
Please allow the students to log in to complete their tasks. To play these games is vital because it takes the pressure off learning the language and provide an opportunity for students to have fun and practice the language at the same time.
In each task you can also view the instructions from the teacher that will indicate all the related content from the Spanish book that the students should complete together with their weekly task, offering in this sense a perfect complement for the Spanish lessons and learning. On the other hand, parents can also easily view their child’s progress during the year.
Rockalingua is a fantastic tool to test their knowledge, and presenting the exam in a more entertaining way, lowering the level of stress, and helping them to increase their vocabulary and knowledge of verbs: essentially to be able to speak Spanish in the future.
The structure is also effective because it promotes repetition by presenting the material in many different formats. Repetition helps students develop the four basic skills of communication—listening, speaking, reading and writing.
In these first weeks I have noticed that the students were very much engaged, working on the tasks I had assigned them, and that differentiated instruction was easily implemented since the program allows me to assign tasks to a whole class or to specific students that might need easier or more challenging assignments.
When I assign tasks the analytics will allow me to see, at a glance, how the class is performing those tasks so I will be able to see which students are already working on the assignments and which students have not yet started make it easier for me to keep track of students’ work and progress.
I will also be able to gauge which concepts each student, and the class, are having trouble with. This data is useful in order to structure the class and for preparing revisions.
Students can immediately see which assignments within the tasks they have already done and which ones they have yet to complete. This interactive learning management system gives students a sense of independence since they can work at their own pace and they can also see their % of right and wrong answers. They can also redo specific interactive games to improve their % of right answers! Keeping them motivated.
To ensure the success of “gamification” in learning a new language, we (teachers and parents) need to work together to capture and retain learner’s attention by allow them to play the games and listen to the songs at home. www.rockalingua.com
Everyone loves games. Albert Einstein himself indicated they are the most elevated form of investigation. He knew games are avenues for something deeper and more meaningful than a childish waste of time. Often times, playing games are the first method children use to explore higher-order thinking skills associated with creating, evaluating, analyzing, and applying new knowledge.
Profesor Javier Vidal
Spanish Teacher Junior School
Spanish In Term 4 – Putting Everything Together
During this term the Spanish students from Year 1 to 3 are going to review all the vocabulary and topics learned in the first three terms together with some new topics:
Numbers, colours, class objects, family members, animals, parts of the house, city buildings, days of the weeks and months of the year, just to name a few.
To gain as much vocabulary as they can during the first two years, is key for the future use of the language. It is very important during this last term and in the holidays that the students go through their Spanish books as often as they can, to refresh the vocabulary related with each topic, together with the games on Rockalingua. Please feel free to take the Spanish books home as often as you can.
In Year 3 we are learning how to use nouns together with some adjectives – such as colours, to describe animals and objects and to translate simple phrases. We will also focus on the students to introduce themselves in Spanish (name, age, nationality and where they live).
The Year 4 students are learning a little more complex ways to describe objects (such as their house) following four easy steps that will help them to structure their thoughts:
- Name all the rooms in your house (My house has a living room, two bedrooms…).
- Describe the house (My house is: colour (white), aspects (big, modern).
- Location of the house using the prepositions of place: (My house is near to the beach, in front of the commercial centre, behind a petrol station).
- Add extra fixtures using there is, there are. (At my house there is a swimming pool, a garage).
- They are also requested to know how to introduce themselves and their family members in 5 easy steps:
- This is my mother (relation).
- Her name is Maria (name).
- She is forty years old (age).
- She is from South Africa (nationality).
- She Lives in Cape Town (place of living).
It is also fun to practice with them at home and take any opportunity to show them how proud you are for them to be able to introduce you in Spanish.
The students made brilliant progress students in Year 5 and Year 6, delivering some outstanding oral presentations: talking for 2 minutes, all in Spanish and without any notes! They have been able to introduce themselves; describe what they look like and their personalities; communicate their likes and dislikes and describe their own houses and home cities and even talking about their daily routines (Year 6); or the weather in Cape Town (Year 5).
More important, they show understanding, not only of the vocabulary, but also the rules of the Spanish grammar. (Verb to be, to have, to like, reflexive verbs, use of adjectives, frequency adverbs, the time, present tenses, interrogative questions, regular and irregular verbs..)
Special mention of the following Year 5 and Year 6 students:
Faith Chivaka
Maia Davies
Mbali Lumkwana
Amanda Kkomo
Tshegofatso Phalane
Shamiso Samasuwo
Iviwe Matakata
Zoe Onochie
Akhula Qwemesha
Aiden Brandt
Ian Scrooby
Siena Arpesella
Riley Hanning
Mario Da Silva Montero
Best oral presentations:
Ayesha Hassen
Gia Isaacson
Saumya Maharaj
Darian Iyer
Profesor Javier Vidal
Junior School Spanish